The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built (46 page)

Producers, The
(film)

production numbers

Promises, Promises

Public Theater

Puccini, Giacomo

Pulitzer Prize

“Put On a Happy Face”

“Put On Your Sunday Clothes”

“Putting It Together”

Pygmalion
(Shaw)

“race” music

radio

Rado, James

Ragni, Gerome

Ragtime

Ragtime
(Doctorow)

“Rain in Spain, The”

Raitt, Bonnie

Raitt, John

Ramin, Sid

rap (hip-hop)

record business

Reilly, Charles Nelson

Rent

“Revenge”

Revolutionary War

rhymes

rhythm

rhythm and blues (R&B)

“Ribbons Down My Back”

Rich, Frank

Richardson, Natasha

Riggs, Lynne

Rivera, Chita

Robards, Jason

Robbins, Jerome

Roberts, Flora

Rockabye Hamlet

rock-and-roll; folk; musicals; pop; punk

“Rock Island”

Rock of Ages

Rockwell, Norman

Rodgers, Richard

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Rodgers and Hart

Rolling Stones

Romberg, Sigmund

“Rosabella”

“Rose’s Turn”

Ross, Jerry

Roth, Jordan

Royal Family, The

Rudin, Scott

“Run and Tell That!”

Runyon, Damon

“Runyonland”

Sahl, Mort

St. James Theatre

Saratoga

Sater, Steven

Sauter, Eddie

Sauter-Finegan Orchestra

Schneider, Anne Kaufman

Schwartz, Stephen

Season, The
(Goldman)

second acts; entr’actes before; finales of; penultimate scenes in; showpieces in; “trouble” in

Seeger, Pete

Segal, Vivienne

Selden, Al

Sennett, Mack

Sesame Street
(TV show)

set design

Seurat, Georges

1776

“Seventy-six Trombones”

Shaiman, Marc

Shakespeare, William

“Shall We Dance?”

Shaw, George Bernard

Sheik, Duncan

She Loves Me
; music and lyrics of; original cast album of; story and characters of

Shelton, Reid

Shepard, Sam

Shepard, Thomas Z.

Shevelove, Burt

“Shipoopi”

“Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo.”

Shop Around the Corner, The
(film)

Shore, Dinah

Show Boat

Show Boat
(Ferber)

show business

“Show Me”

Shroud of Turin

“Side by Side by Side”

Simon, Neil

Simon, Paul

“Simple Joys of Maidenhood, The”

Simpsons, The
(TV show)

Sinatra, Frank

“Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat”

Sklar, Matt

“Small House of Uncle Thomas, The”

“Small World”

Smile

Smile
(film)

Smiles of a Summer Night
(film)

Smith, Joseph

“Soliloquy”

“Some Enchanted Evening”

“Someone Is Waiting”

“Some People”

“Something’s Coming”

“Somewhere That’s Green”

Sondheim, Stephen; complete lyrics published by; expansion of the musical form by; lyrics-only shows of; rhyming of

“song plot”

songs: as ballads; blues; “book”; character; charm; commentary on action in; hit; integration of story and; interludes in; internal monologues in; list; as production numbers; protest; remembrance of; reprise of; second; second-couple; sheet music of; showstopper; solo; as star vehicles; tent-pole; third or fourth; title; Top 40; villain;
see also
conditional love songs; “I Want” songs; opening numbers

Sound of Music, The

“Sound of Music, The”

Sousa, John Philip

South Pacific
; characters and story of; opening number of; original cast album of; overture to

South Park
(TV show)

“So What?”

Spanish Tragedy, The
(Kyd)

special effects

Spialek, Hans

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

“Spooky Mormon Hell Dream”

Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening
(Wedekind)

“Springtime for Hitler”

Stadlen, Lewis J.

stage directions

stage sets

“Standing on the Corner”

Starobin, Michael

“Star-Spangled Banner, The”

“Steam Heat”

Stein, Joseph

“Step On Up”

Sting

Stone, Matt

Stone, Peter

Stowe, Harriet Beecher

Streisand, Barbra

Stritch, Elaine

Stroman, Susan

“Strongest Man in the World, The”

Strouse, Charles

Strunsky, Michael

Styne, Jule

“Suddenly Seymour”

“Sue Me”

Sullivan, Jo

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte, A
(Seurat)

Sunday in the Park with George
; music and lyrics of; original cast album of; reviews of; story and characters of

Swan Lake
(ballet)

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
; book of; characters and story of; music and lyrics of; original cast album of

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
(Bond)

Sweet Charity

“Sweet Thursday”

Swenson, Swen

Szot, Paulo

“Take Back Your Mink”

Taylor, Elizabeth

Taymor, Julie

Te Kanawa, Kiri

television

“Tennis Song, The”

Tesori, Jeanine

“Tevye’s Dream”

“Then I’d Be Satisfied with Life”

“There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame”

“This Land Is Your Land”

“This Nearly Was Mine”

“This Was a Real Nice Clambake”

Thompson, Amir “Questlove”

Thompson, Eric

Thousand Clowns, A
(Gardner)

Threepenny Opera

Time and Again
(Finney)

“Time Heals Everything”

Titanic

“Together, Wherever We Go”

“To Life”

“Tom, Dick or Harry”

“Tom Dooley”

“Tomorrow”

“Tomorrow Is a Latter Day”

“Tonight”

“Tonight Quintet”

Tony Awards

“Too Darn Hot”

Tootsie
(film)

“Totally Fucked”

Towers, Constance

“Tradition”

Trotter, Tariq “Black Thought”

“Try Her Out at Dances”

Tune, Tommy

Tunick, Jonathan

“Turn It Off”

“Twin Soliloquies”

Uggams, Leslie

Uncle Tom’s Cabin
(Stowe)

“Under the Sea”

Urinetown

Vallee, Rudy

Valli, Frankie

Van Dyke, Dick

vaudeville

Verdon, Gwen

“Vie Bohème, La”

Vietnam War

“Waiters’ Gallop”

Walker, Don

Walker, Nancy

Walston, Ray

Walt Disney Company

Washington, George

Waters, John

Webber, Andrew Lloyd

“We Can Do It”

Wedding Singer, The

Wedding Singer, The
(film)

Wedekind, Frank

Weede, Robert

“Weekend in the Country, A”

Weill, Kurt

“We Kiss in a Shadow”

“Welcome to the ’60s”

Wesleyan University

West Side Story
; music and lyrics of; opening number of; original vs. studio cast albums of; story, theme, and characters of

“What’d I Miss?”

“What Is This Feeling?”

What Makes Sammy Run?

“What’s the Use of Wond’rin?”

Wheeler, Hugh

“When Mabel Comes in the Room”

“When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich”

Who’s Tommy, The

“Why Can’t the English?”

Wicked

Wildcat

Wilder, Alec

Wilder, Thornton, x
n

“Willkommen”

Will Rogers Follies, The

Willson, Meredith

Wilson, August, x
n

Wilson, Lanford

Winchell, Walter

Winokur, Marissa Jaret

“With a Little Bit of Luck”

“Without You”

Wittman, Scott

“Wizard and I, The”

Wizard of Oz, The
(film)

Wolfe, George C.

Wonderful Town

Wong, B. D.

World War II

“Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?”

Yale Drama School

Yale Repertory Theatre

Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, The
(Wallop)

“Yorktown”

“You and Me (But Mostly Me)”

“You Can’t Stop the Beat”

You Can’t Take It with You

“You Do Something to Me”

“You Gotta Get a Gimmick”

“You’ll Never Get Away from Me”

Youmans, Vincent

Young, Brigham

“You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile”

“You’re Timeless to Me”

“Your Eyes Are Blue”

You’ve Got Mail
(film)

“You’ve Got Possibilities”

“You’ve Got That Thing”

Zagat, Tim

Zaks, Jerry

Ziegfeld, Florenz, Jr.

Ziegfeld Follies, The
; of 1936

Ziegfeld Theater

“Zip”

Zippel, David

Acknowledgments

Over the past thirty years or so, hundreds of theater artists and craftspeople have been my tutors. Some are quoted in the text of this book, but many more are not. There is no possible way to name them all, though I am grateful to each one, more than I can say. Their wisdom, expertise, and passion appear on every page of this book. Without them, I’d still be staring at old issues of
Variety
, wondering what a “tuner” is.

As for the book itself, I owe the greatest of thanks to my editor, Sarah Crichton, who was a first-rate cheerleader and eagle-eyed reader; a great source of advice literary, structural, and practical; and a wonderful person to have lunch with. The staff at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, particularly Marsha Sasmor but also the production editor Scott Auerbach, the copy editor Cynthia Merman, and the proofreaders Lisa Silverman and Nancy Inglis. Jeff Seroy has been an energetic and helpful resource in the marketing and publicity department, and Rodrigo Corral was flexible and imaginative in devising a concept for the cover. Courtney Hodell had the very first interest in the book as an editor, and I owe her great thanks, too. In addition, my agents, Becky Sweren and David Kuhn, took more time than they should have needed to teach me how to get into this business, and I thank them for their patience and belief in someone who had never done this before. Gail Winston, who encouraged me to just start writing, got me to David and Becky, and I’m grateful.

Several key readers of early drafts of all or part of the text had important questions and made important corrections that led to better and more accurate drafts. My thanks go to Stephen Sondheim, Rob Berman, Ted Chapin, Jennifer Gilmore, and David Schwartz; all of them made significant contributions. Michael Gildin and Josh Clayton helped me in many ways, small and large.

Jordan Roth has been generous beyond measure in allowing me the time to write this book; without his support, I could never have done it. And a succession of assistants at Jujamcyn Theaters—beginning with Beth Given and including Danielle DeMatteo, Lindsay Meyer, and Cristina Boccitto—has been tireless in keeping me on track.

John Barlow made hundreds of original cast albums available to me, and without his generosity in sharing them I would never have been able to be so opinionated about them.

The writers whose work has inspired me since childhood, and whose lyrics and occasional dialogue have been quoted here, were essential; some of them pre-date me by half a century or more, and others are very much with us and continue to make new work and to push the art form forward. I’m grateful to all of them: Lee Adams, Howard Ashman, Chad Beguelin, Leonard Bernstein, Jerry Bock, Leigh Brackett, Mel Brooks, Abe Burrows, Martin Charnin, George M. Cohan, Cy Coleman, Vernon Duke, Fred Ebb, William Faulkner, Melvin Frank, Jules Furthman, Ira Gershwin, Adam Guettel, Marvin Hamlisch, Oscar Hammerstein II, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Herman, David Henry Hwang, John Kander, Jerome Kern, Edward Kleban, Tony Kushner, Jonathan Larson, Arthur Laurents, Carolyn Leigh, Alan Jay Lerner, Frank Loesser, Frederick Loewe, Robert Lopez, Joe Masteroff, Alan Menken, Bob Merrill, Norman Panama, Trey Parker, Richard Rodgers, Sigmund Romberg, Marc Shaiman, Matthew Sklar, Stephen Sondheim, Joseph Stein, Michael Stewart, Matt Stone, Charles Strouse, Jule Styne, Jo Swerling, Jeanine Tesori, Scott Whitman, Thornton Wilder, Meredith Willson, and David Zippel.

More than to anyone, I owe my thanks to my wife, Linda, who has been going to the theater with me since four days after we met, in 1971, and who advised me every step of the way on the text as it came into being. She read draft after draft, made countless small and large suggestions and corrections, and never once complained about my sometimes overwhelming preoccupation with getting it finished. I don’t know how she did it.

A Note About the Author