A scene by scene, song by song, breakdown of the structure of the classic Broadway musical. Fascinating but, in my opinion, flawed.

I spent most of my time while I was reading this book wondering why I wasn't enjoying it more. I love Broadway musicals -- my Mom didn't do nursery rhymes or Dr Seuss, she did Broadway Original Cast albums, and by the time I was 7 years old, I could sing most of the songs from her favorites off by heart. And would, with little or no encouragement.

And Viertel is knowledgeable and passionate about his topic -- like me, he was clearly raised on musicals (Peter Pan with Mary Martin at aged 6), and he's been involved in many productions as dramaturge and producer. Viertel structures his material in a way that allows him to dissect each play he considers -- focusing on a few acknowledged greats from the classic era (such as Oklahoma!, Carousel, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls), and a few modern twists on the musical format (The Producers, The Book of Mormon, Sweeney Todd, Hamilton, Hairspray, among others). Each song is analyzed for its place in setting the scene, creating character, moving the plot along, or just contributing to a rollicking good time. Almost everything that Viertel says made me want to watch the classics again, and at least try the plays I haven't had the pleasure of seeing.

Perhaps it's because, in spite of Viertel's confidence in his analysis, I can't help feeling that, like the bamboozled investors in The Producers, we are being sold a pup. That Viertel is trying to persuade us that when the magic works, it's obvious why -- but when you do the exact same things, in the exact same order and your show flops, well .. that's obvious too. As a way of understanding individual musicals better, this is great -- In the end, I'm just not convinced of its usefulness as a "key to all mythologies."

It was only on page 207 that, I think, I understood a little better why I didn't feel that this book was as good, or as helpful as it might have been. On page 2087, regarding the Broadway musical version of The Producers, Viertel says ...

It was clear that the book for the musical was a very substantial improvement on the original film in a number of respects ...

No. Just no.

More than just seriously wrong-headed, I think this statement demonstrates a problem with Viertel's analysis -- that he doesn't recognize that that all "hits" are not created equal. and that sometimes a mediocre production can survive and achieve "hit" status because it's in the right place at the right time. He comes very close to admitting this when he mentions (reluctantly) Wicked which, he admits, ignores all of his structural bullet points, and yet is a big hit.

What I liked about this book is that it gave me a way of thinking about the "beats" in musicals that I know and love, and understanding why the songs are where they are, and what they accomplish. And it will give me a way of understanding future musicals that I see (I hope ...) little better. But the magic that sometimes happens, that creates a Hamilton from the most unlikely combination of imagination and talent is, as Philip Henslowe says in Shakespeare in Love, a mystery ... ( )

- Really liked the chapter structure that follows a show's structure
- Very easy to read
- My to watch/to listen list got huge! :P
- Being a newbie to musicals, I had to stop a lot and go look for a specific song/scene mentioned so I could understand the author's points better. I wish there were a documentary version of this book :)

( )

I picked this up on a whim, but it was a fun read for anyone who loves musicals and particularly the classic American musicals. I was vaguely aware of a lot of similar structural tricks, but the author makes it much more explicit. It was entertaining to think about what Book of Mormon has in common with The King and I, which was obvious once it was pointed out but wasn't something I'd contemplated before. The tone of the book is light and informative and it's very readable. ( )

LOVE LOVE LOVE! How much fun for any fan of the Broadway musical! ( )

I listened to this and want to own it for the Best Album list at the end! Learned some things, well done review of the American Musical. ( )