-
By Instrumentation
Books on Music
-
-
-
Accessories
|
|
|
|
From Assassins to West Side Story: The Director's Guide to Musical Theatre | 
 enlarge | Author: Scott Miller
Publisher: Heinemann Drama
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy Used: $4.70
You Save: $15.25 (76%)
New (9) Used (16) from $4.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 248670
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0435086995
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.60233
EAN: 9780435086992
ASIN: 0435086995
Publication Date: May 20, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
From Assassins to West Side Story is that rare theater textbook that is so articulate, insightful, and downright playful that it can be read simply for pleasure. If you're planning to direct one of these 16 shows, though, you'll have a far richer production for having employed its points. Scott Miller shows an uncommon, detailed understanding of the emotional machinery of these shows. He explores the use of the dies irae theme throughout Sweeney Todd; points out how the title character in Pippin becomes extraordinary only when he resolves to be ordinary; proposes unceasing motion as a staging concept and a theme in Les Miserables; suggests techniques to best let an audience grasp that time flows backward in Merrily We Roll Along; and ponders the nature of reality and unreality at the core of Man of La Mancha. Keep those cast albums ready, because you'll definitely be putting them on.
Product Description
In this smart and practical guide, Scott Miller looks at twenty musicals from a director's point of view.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Essential reading for serious musical theater lovers January 2, 2002
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm a major fan of Scott Miller's books, and this one is no exception. It is readable, well thought out, and filled with perceptive analysis of 16 classic musicals. His fresh insights frequently open my eyes to key aspects of shows I have known for years. Or at least I thought I knew them! If more directors took Miller's ideas to heart, it would prevent countless run-of-the-mill productions from boring theater goers year after year. I'll admit that Miller's attitude towards Sondheim's works borders on adoration (for example, I don't believe ASSASSINS was nearly as important as he makes it sound), but that is hardly a vice. If you love musical theater, you owe it to yourself to spend some time with this book. If you stage musicals, you owe it to your casts and customers to read anything and everything this man has written on the subject. (I especially recommend his equally fascinating DECONSTRUCTING HAROLD HILL.)
WONDERFUL! October 4, 2000
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is one of the most humorous, honest and delightful books about theatre out there. Whether you want to learn about theatre or you know it all....... this book is for you!
Long time coming April 25, 2000
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
At last -- a book about musicals where the author doesn't spend half his time trying to impress us and the other half making factual errors. This is one of the few books I've read on this subject that is just good, interesting, solid info. This guy knows his stuff and he makes it all easy to understand. I've been a lover of musicals all my life and still this book taught me a lot.
Brilliant Work March 27, 2000
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
As a bi-continental director (London, New York, and Los Angeles), I was delighted to find that Miller doesn't have an American prejudice in his work -- in fact he highly respects the work non-American directors have done on American classics and that's quite refreshing. His books (this one and "Deconstructing Harold Hill") are the best examples I've seen of serious considerations of important, interesting musical theatre, yet with a sense of fun and joy, and with a devilish penchant for denying conventional wisdom when it doesn't make sense. In fact, he makes cases (in both books) for changing the conventional wisdom on a number of American classics. These terrific books are must-reads for both the theatre professional and the rabid fan as well -- both are inestimable treasures.
Flawed but still Outstanding September 4, 1999
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is the single most intelligent and entertaining book I've ever read on musical theater. Its only flaw is that the author's personal politics sometimes creep into the text -- still he admits from the beginning that his analyses are subjective and perhaps this is unavoidable. Still, each chapter contains such gems, such unexpected treasures of insight and understanding, and such a contagious enthusiasm and sense of humor. The amazon.com review is right -- it's the only textbook I've ever read that I can read just for fun -- and yet it's also an outstanding textbook.
|
|
|
| |
