2021: March 30, 23, 16, 9, 2 | February 23, 16, 9, 2 | January 26, 19, 12, 5
2020: December 29, 22, 15, 8, 1 | November 24, 17, 10, 3 | October 27, 20, 13, 6 | September 29, 22, 15, 8, 1, August 25, 18, 11, 4 | July 28, 21, 14, 7 | June 30, 23, 16, 9, 2 | May 26, 19, 12, 5 | April 28, 21, 14, 7 | March 31, 24, 17, 10, 3 | February 25, 18, 11, 4 | January 28, 21, 14, 7
2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
Books Now Available:
American Musicals in Context: From the American Revolution to the 21st Century
(Greenwood - Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition)
By Thomas A. Greenfield. A fresh look at history-based musicals, helping readers to understand the American story through one of the country's most celebrated art forms: the musical. Provides the synopsis, critical and audience reception, and historical context and analysis for each of 20 musicals selected for the unique and illuminating way they present America's story on the stage.
Consider Your Ass Kissed
(Briton Publishing - new Paperback Book)
Memoir by Ruta Lee. Personal stories and anecdotes on subjects including her starring roles in films such as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Funny Face; working with Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Charles Bronson, James Garner, Johnny Carson, Fred Astaire, Robin Williams, Howard Keel, Bob Crane, Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack, and more; the iconic ladies she called friends, Rona Barrett, Phyllis Diller, Julie Newmar, Lucille Ball, Sally Fields, Gypsy Rose Lee (no relation), and Debbie Reynolds; numerous television appearances; The Thalians Mental Health Center. 274 pages.
Hymn
(Methuen Drama - Paperback Book/Kindle Edition)
Play by Lolita Chakrabarti. Published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Almeida Theatre in February 2021, starring Adrian Lester and Danny Sapani. 64 pages.
My Broken Language: A Memoir
(One World - Hardcover book/Kindle Edition/Audiobook)
By Quiara Alegría Hudes (Water By the Spoonful, In the Heights). Weaves together Hudess love of books with the stories of her family, and the lessons of North Philly with those of Yale. 336 pages.
My West Side Story: A Memoir
(Lyons Press - Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition/Audiobook on CD/Audible Audiobook)
By George Chakiris. "I still marvel at how, unbeknownst to me at the time, the joyful path of my life was paved one night in 1949 when Jerome Robbins sat Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents down in his apartment and announced, 'I have an idea.'" Audio versions narrated by George Chakiris, George Newbern. 232 pages. Released 3/1/21.
A Wonderful Guy: Conversations with the Great Men of Musical Theater
(Oxford Univ Press - Hardcover Book/Kindle Edition)
By Eddie Shapiro. Follow up to the author's 2014 book Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater. Never-before-published interviews with some of Broadway's leading men, such as Joel Grey, Ben Vereen, Norm Lewis, Gavin Creel, Cheyenne Jackson, Jonathan Groff.
MUSIC to be released this Friday, April 9:
Little Black Book
(Broadway Records - new on mp3/at iTunes)
World premiere recording. Score for the new rock musical by Billy Recce about the life and times of Heidi Fleiss. Alice Ripley, Orfeh, Mandy Gonzalez, Jessica Vosk, Brittney Johnson, Diana DeGarmo, Vonzell Solomon, Kuhoo Verma, Samantha Pauly, Natalie Weiss and Lillias White. CD format to be released 4/30/21. Also at BroadwayRecords.com.
Something Wonderful: Peggy Lee Sings The Great American Songbook
(Omnivore Recordings/Peggy Lee Associates - on 2 CDs)
40 tracks from 1951-52's "The Peggy Lee Show," most tracks previously unissued. Standards from Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Hoagy Carmichael, and more. Liner notes by journalist Joe Marchese. Deluxe digi-pak packaging. Compiled to accompany the 2020 PBS documentary, Fever: The Music of Peggy Lee.
Recordings RECENTLY MADE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:
Lights of Old Broadway
(Kino Lorber - new Blu-ray)
1925 film adaptation of the play The Merry Wives of Gotham by Laurence Eyre. Directed by Monta Bell. Marion Davies, Conrad Nagel. 2K master derived from from the Library of Congress' 2018 35mm preservation of the film, which includes footage colored via three different techniques: two-strip Technicolor, the Handschiegl process, and color tinting. Special Features: audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide; new orchestral score composed, arranged, and conducted by Robert Israel. 72 minutes.
The Producers
(Kino Lorber - new Blu-ray)
1967 film written and directed by Mel Brooks. Cast includes Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Christopher Hewett, Kenneth Mars, Lee Meredith, Renée Taylor, Bill Macey. 4K restoration; new audio commentary by Michael Schlesinger; The Making of The Producers (63:51); playhouse outtake; sketch gallery; Peter Sellers' statement read by Paul Mazursky; radio spot; theatrical trailer; dual-layered BD50 disc. 88 minutes.
Books/Plays RECENTLY MADE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:
Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld's Broadway
(Univ Press of Kentucky - Paperback book/Kindle Edition)
Updated edition of 2000 book by Eve Golden about the most popular musical comedy star during the two decades preceding World War I. The first wife of legendary producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Held was the brains and inspiration behind his Follies. Together, they brought the Paris scene to New York, complete with lavish costumes and sets and a chorus of stunningly beautiful women, dubbed "The Anna Held Girls." She concealed her Jewish background and her daughter from a previous marriage, and suffered through her two husbands' gambling problems and Ziegfeld's conspicuous affairs with showgirls. She entertained troops and delivered medical supplies, and was once briefly captured by the German army. Through access to previously unseen family records and photographs. 244 pages.
OTHER NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Added to April 16:
In Pieces
(Broadway Records - new album)
Highlights from new musical by Joey Contreras. Single track "Singin' the Same Line" has been released on mp3 and at iTunes.
