Overviews
The Oxford Handbook of the American Musical by Call Number: Print version: ML1711 .O95 2011Publication Date: 2011
Histories of the Musical by Call Number: Print version: ML1711 .H45 2018
Musical Theatre: A History by Call Number: ML1700 .K46 2017This 2nd edition focuses on landmark musicals, and on the extraordinary talents and business innovators who have helped musical theater evolve from its roots in the dramas of ancient Athens to the latest hits on Broadway and London's West End.
Broadway: The American Musical by Call Number: Reference (SV) ML1711.8.N3 M37 2019Publication Date: 2020A revised and updated comprehensive history of the musical, from its roots at the turn of the 20th century through the 2018-19 season, with performer photographs, posters, sheet music, production stills, and essays by theater luminaries.Fifty Key Stage Musicals by
Call Number: ML2054 .F54 2022Publication Date: 2022Provides overviews by different scholars of fifty musicals whose creations were seminal in altering the landscape of musical theater discourse in the English-speaking world. See the catalog record for the musicals covered.
Studying Musical Theatre by Call Number: ML2054 .T393 2014A textbook that provides a comprehensive overview of musical theater's history, theory, and practice.
Guides & Bibliographies
Research guides provide detailed listings for a composer's known musical and literary works followed by annotated bibliographies of the secondary literature on the composer's œuvre arranged by genre and important topics in the composer's life, career, and reception history—plus other features such as genealogies, chronologies, and indexes. Companions collate major essays by established experts that address key aspects of the composer's career, creative work, style, and critical reception.
The Essentials of Theater by Call Number: PN2037 .M85 2018Covers all the bases--from a brief history on theater over the centuries and basic terminology to tips on interpreting scripts, developing characters, and utilizing props.
The Cambridge Companion to the Musical by Call Number: Print version: Reference (SV) ML 2054 .C35 2017Expanded and updated edition. presents 21 articles divided into four parts by leading scholars in the field: "Adaptations and Transformations: Before 1940," Maturations and Formulations: 1940-1970," Evolutions and Integrations: After 1970," and "Legacies and Transformations."
The Musical: A Research & Information Guide by Call Number: Reference (SV) ML 128 .M78 E84 2011ISBN: 9780415994217A first stop for the researcher. Sections include reference works and general histories; musical theater surveys; film and television musicals; works and creators; performers; performance studies; periodicals; sets and series of printed material; discographies; and recorded anthologies.
Older but Still Useful
The Oxford Companion to the American Musical by
Call Number: Print version: ML 102 .M88 H593 2008Publication Date: 2009 (online)With 2,000+ entries, this overview offers a wealth of information on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers, and much more.
A Century of Musicals in Black and White by Call Number: ML102.M88 P37 1993Succinct information on almost 1,300 musical stage works written and produced from the 1870s to the 1990s with contributions by Black librettists, lyricists, composers, musicians, producers, and performers, plus thematic materials relevant to the Black experience.
Specific Topics
Changed for Good by Call Number: ML1711 .O95 2011Demonstrates how women have dominated the musical since the mid-1940s--women onstage, in the wings, and offstage as spectators and fans.- A Problem Like Maria byCall Number: ML2054 .W65 2002Shows how musicals of the 1950s and early 1960s celebrated strong female characters who defied the era's gender expectations.
On Broadway by Call Number: PN2277.N5 H63 2016qFeaturing never-before-heard backstage stories of 20 years of theatrical productions.
Broadway Plays and Musicals by Call Number: PN2277.N5 H57 2015Briefly describes 14,000 music theater productions, including plays, musicals, revivals, and specialty programs.
Gender, Sex, and Sexuality in Musical Theatre by Call Number: ML2054 .G46 2023Publication Date: 2023A broad look at musical theater across a range of intersecting lenses including race, nation, form, dance, casting, marketing, pedagogy, industry, stardom, politics, and platform.
