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Read For Success
Learn all you can about musical theatre! You'll be perfecting your craft and acquiring valuable resources for audition material. It's a fact: the more knowledgeable you are, the more respect you’ll earn from your meetings with directors, agents, teachers, and casting directors. I’ve learned a great deal from books about musical theatre history, biographies of performers, composers, producers, and other working theatre professionals.
For your convenience, I've listed several of my favorites below. You can even search amazon.com’s vast online bookstore right from this page, and order a book by clicking on its title. Remember — even in the theatre — knowledge is power!
NEW, AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Raising a Star: The Parent's Guide to Helping Kids Break into Theater, Film, Television, or Music
by Nancy Carson
An excellent guide to breaking your child into the entertainment industry from one of America's top talent agents.
MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE:
On Singing Onstage
by David Craig
A valuable guide to song performance by the man who many say “invented” vocal coaching. I feel fortunate that I got to know him quite well, and was able to audit many of his New York classes.
A Performer Prepares: A Guide to Song Preparation for Actors, Singers and Dancers
by David Craig
On Performing: A Handbook for Actors, Dancers, Singers on the Musical Stage
by David Craig
Set Your Voice Free
by Roger Love
The Cabaret Artist's Handbook
by Bob Harrington
The Actor Sings: Discovering a Musical Voice for the Stage
by Kevin Robison
How To Make It In Musicals
by Michael Allen
The Broadway Song Companion:
An Annotated Guide to Musical Theatre Literature by Voice Type and Song Style
by David P. Devenney
How To Audition: Advice From A Casting Director
by Gordon Hunt
THE BUSINESS OF SHOW BUSINESS:
Acting As a Business: Strategies for Success
by Brian O'Neil
Actors Take Action: A Career Guide for the Competitive Actor
by Brian O'Neill
How To Sell Yourself As An Actor
by K. Callan
From Assassins to West Side Story: Director's Guide to Musical Theatre
by Scott Miller
Deconstructing Harold Hill: An Insider's Guide to Musical Theatre
by Scott Miller
The Dramatist's Toolkit: The Craft of the Working Playwright
by Jeffrey Sweet
Monster: Living Off the Big Screen
by John Gregory Dunne
The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood?
by William Goldman
Making It Big: The Diary of a Broadway Musical
by Barbara Isenberg
The Amazing Story of the Fantasticks: America's Longest Running Play
by Donald C. Farber
Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting
by William Goldman
HISTORY OF MUSICAL THEATRE:
Coming Up Roses: The Broadway Musical in the 1950s
by Ethan Mordden
Beautiful Mornin': The Broadway Musical in the 1940s
by Ethan Mordden
Make Believe: The Broadway Musical in the 1920s
by Ethan Morrden
Rodgers & Hammerstein
by Ethan Mordden
The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater
by Richard Kislan
American Musical Theatre Song Encyclopedia
by Thomas S. Hischak
OK! the Story of Oklahoma
by Max Wilk
Broadway
by Brooks Atkinson
The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway
by William Goldman
It Happened on Broadway: An Oral History of the Great White Way
by Myrna & Harvey Frommer
The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Popular Standards
by Max Morath
A concise history of the art form, major composers, lyricists, and performers.
BIOGRAPHY:
Irving Berlin: American Troubadour
by Edward Jablonski
Richard Rodgers
by William G. Hyland
Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway
by Frederick Nolan
Cole Porter: A Biography
by Charles Schwartz
Cole Porter: A Biography
by William McBrien
Footnotes: A Memoir
by Tommy Tune
Gene Kelly: A Life of Dance and Dreams
by Alvin Yudkoff
Making the Wiseguys Weep: The Jimmy Roselli Story
by David Evanier
Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey and the Last Great Showbiz Party
by Shawn Levy
Stephen Sondheim: A Life
by Meryle Secrest
Been There, Done That
by Eddie Fisher
Bette: An Intimate Biography of Bette Midler
by George Mair
Laughing Matters: On Writing Mash, Tootsie, Oh, God!, and a Few Other Funny Things
by Larry Gelbart
Rewrites: A Memoir
by Neil Simon
Showtune: A Memoir
by Jerry Herman
A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life: A Portrait by His Daughter
by Susan Loesser
Nice Work If You Can Get It
by Michael Feinstein
Jolson: The Legend Comes To Life
by Herbert G. Goldman
Gershwin: A Biography (With a New Critical Discography)
by Edward Jablonski
INSPIRATION PLUS:
There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self-Discovery
by Portia Nelson
Classical Music for Dummies
by David Pogue
Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language
by Steven Pinker
How The Mind Works
by Steven Pinker
Max Morath: The Road to Ragtime
by Max Morath and Diane Fay Skomars
My good friends, Max Morath and Diane Skomars, have created a beautiful volume celebrating Max's travels and career as an entertainer, and "channeler of American popular culture."
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