A Must See!: Brilliant Broadway Artwork [Paperback]

Steven Suskin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2004

Curtain up! A Must See! proudly presents a visual feast of Broadway ballyhoo. For this compendium of graphic design excellence, theatre historian Steven Suskin combed through rare archives to bring us more than fifty years of plays and 175 compelling pieces of Broadway art. Dazzling shows and their glittering stars spill off the pages in artwork from top illustrators of the day, such as Al Hirshfeld, William Steig, Peter Arno, Alberto Vargas, and even Norman Rockwell. Covering every genre, A Must See! includes great hits (Oklahoma!, A Streetcar Named Desire), ignominious flops (Kelly, Carrie), and assorted delights in between. Throughout, Suskin peppers the text with insider information and juicy asides. Much of this material hasn't been seen since the shows closed eons ago, making A Must See! a bonanza of a browsebook -- shining with well-loved classics and surprising oddities from the beloved world of Broadway.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When is a coffee-table book more than a coffee-table book? When it is as beautiful and intelligent as Suskin's collection of more than 200 posters documenting 60-plus years of Broadway history. The research that went into assembling the book is impressive all by itself, for here are dozens of rare posters, hawking obscure (Coquette, Come of Age) and famous (My Fair Lady, Pal Joey) shows alike. As fascinating are the pages Suskin devotes to illustrating the changes producers made in posters for such shows as Fiddler on the Roof, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Golden Boy in attempts to attract larger audiences. Each of the book's six sections focuses on a different facet of Broadway: the hit shows, the bombs, the comedies, the stars, and so forth. A general essay introduces each gallery of posters, and a short, sweet caption accompanies each poster. A rich source of information not easily obtained elsewhere, the book will valuably augment any theater collection. Jack Helbig
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Steven Suskin is a longtime theatrical manager and producer. He has written extensively about theatre and music and lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811842177
• ISBN-13: 978-0811842174
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,725,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great historical fun, February 11, 2006

By 

DeeJ - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Must See!: Brilliant Broadway Artwork (Paperback)

Expectations are everything for this book. So, be prepared: Do not expect a sumptious coffee table book of gorgeous prints. This book assembles a diverse collection of Playbills and "heralds"(advertising for new or then current plays stuck in the programs), finding common themes in the diversity. It is more a collection of historically interesting artwork with sidebar comments on marketing and production notes. I wouldn't say that the artwork rises to the level of "brilliance", but many of them are very clever and ,again, from an historical perspective,very entertaining.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book , fun to see history through the posters, April 29, 2005

By 

Charles Evans (san francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Must See!: Brilliant Broadway Artwork (Paperback)

Nice visuals, good research, very well done. I dont what the other reviewer's expecations were but I was most satisfied and wanted to offer another perspective.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not much to see!, January 26, 2005

By 

ludido "ludido" (ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Must See!: Brilliant Broadway Artwork (Paperback)

This book illustrations have a certain spartan appeal,like charles atlas ads in back of comic books.The lackluster design of about 80% of this artwork is really sad although it does add another piece to bway history for which the normally fabulous Chronicle books should be commended.The captions are also uninspired and sparse ,there is just no joy in this presentation,a missed chance to do something really worth having.I would buy it but will wait til it is remaindered,sorry!