Customer Reviews

From Assassins to West Side Story: The Director's Guide to Musical Theatre

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a bi-continental director (London, New York, and Los Angeles), I was delighted to find that Miller doesn't have an American prejudice in his work -- in fact he highly respects the work non-American directors have done on American classics and that's quite refreshing. His books (this one and "Deconstructing Harold Hill") are the best examples I've seen of serious considerations of important, interesting musical theatre, yet with a sense of fun and joy, and with a devilish penchant for denying conventional wisdom when it doesn't make sense. In fact, he makes cases (in both books) for changing the conventional wisdom on a number of American classics. These terrific books are must-reads for both the theatre professional and the rabid fan as well -- both are inestimable treasures.

Scott Miller has shown that he not only truly understands the complexities of musical theater, but he knows how to put his ideas into terms that the rest of us schmucks can use. His book has become my "bible" when I direct. I look to the book to give me new angles for characterization, as well as staging. Miller really seems to cherish the richness of Stephen Sondheim's work and is able to translate his understanding into concrete suggestions for staging Sondheim's work. This is a must read for anyone who ever attempts to direct any kind of musical.

I love Sondheim shows and this book covers 7 Sondheim musicals (if you count West Side Story and Gypsy). I've read every book on Sondheim that's out there, but none of them made me understand the shows better than this one. It covers Assassins, Cabaret, Carousel, Company, Godspell, Gypsy, How to Succeed, Into the Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miz, Man of La Mancha, Merrily We Roll Along, My Fair Lady, Pippin, Sweeney Todd, and West Side Story. Buy this book if you love musicals.

Scott Miller's book is an informative and entertaining read. For anyone with an interest in musical theatre that goes any deeper than mere acknowledgement Miller's book is a must. For those acting in these shows, those directing these shows, or those who are ATTENDING these shows - your experience can be greatly enhanced by reading this book.

Much more than an extended set of liner notes Scott Miller does a wonderful job of laying out the structure and meaning of some 16 Broadway plays. Each of the essays can be read independently of each other. Miller covers the role of music brilliantly (the final essay on West Side Story is a tour de force in this regard) showing hiliting the use of styles and repeated themes contribute to the build of drama. He supplies alternate interpretations that have been used with different productions and offers helpful hints as to staging and casting.

Assassins... is heavily but not exclusively loaded with Sondheim's work and for me it was a mix of plays that I've seen and not seen. "Into the Woods" (seen) is a difficult play to understand on first reading or viewing and Miller clarifies the relationships and motivations of each of the players and now I'd like to see it again. Merrily We Roll Along (not seen) plays its scenes in a reverse time order so lines like: "Mary is my deepest, closet friend in all the world. We go a long way back. (But never forward.) " have a delicious sense of foreshadowing - or is it preshadowing. In the essay on Pippin (seen) we learn new ways to break the fourth wall and an appreciation of the role of Katherine and a sense of different visions of director Bob Fosse and Roger Hirson who wrote the book.

The only weak spot I found was the essay on Carousel (seen) with I found prefunctory. The dissection (sic) of Sweeney Todd (not seen) cut to the heart of its portrayal of moral inversion, yet Miller shows how one can make an unlikeable character likeable (J. Pierpont Finch in How to Succeed in Business (seen)- use "the Smile" frugally) or John Wilkes Booth in Assassins (not seen)..

Its a good book and Miller has several others along the same line. Recommended for anyone interested in musical theatre and if your school or local libray doesn't have a collection of Miller's books you should should urge your librarian to purchase a set.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It gave me a lot to think about about some of my favorite musicals. The author shows extreme insight into these musicals and talks about them in a very interesting way. It is a wonderful book.

After reading the review from Amazon I had high hopes of this book, but I'm afraid to say it did not live up to my raised expectations. It is the kind of book people will want to at least flip through in a store to see if it's what they're after before buying. There was a certain pretentious tone in sections which I did not appreciate, and mechanics of theatre too often took precedence over character.

At last -- a book about musicals where the author doesn't spend half his time trying to impress us and the other half making factual errors. This is one of the few books I've read on this subject that is just good, interesting, solid info. This guy knows his stuff and he makes it all easy to understand. I've been a lover of musicals all my life and still this book taught me a lot.

This book told me more about my favorite musicals than any other book I've ever read. I've been directing musicals for 35 years (professionally for 20), but this book got me thinking about things I'd never even considered before. Do I agree with all Miller's opinions? Not all of them. But he doesn't ask us to agree with him -- he knows art is subjective. Not only will this book be valuable to community theatrers and high school teachers, but I reccommend this book to every professional director in the country. You won't believe how great this book is.

I'm a major fan of Scott Miller's books, and this one is no exception. It is readable, well thought out, and filled with perceptive analysis of 16 classic musicals. His fresh insights frequently open my eyes to key aspects of shows I have known for years. Or at least I thought I knew them! If more directors took Miller's ideas to heart, it would prevent countless run-of-the-mill productions from boring theater goers year after year. I'll admit that Miller's attitude towards Sondheim's works borders on adoration (for example, I don't believe ASSASSINS was nearly as important as he makes it sound), but that is hardly a vice. If you love musical theater, you owe it to yourself to spend some time with this book. If you stage musicals, you owe it to your casts and customers to read anything and everything this man has written on the subject. (I especially recommend his equally fascinating DECONSTRUCTING HAROLD HILL.)