Customer Reviews

A Producer's Broadway Journey

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This book is not very enlightening. Most of it is filled with familar lyrics. I thought it was going to be a Broadway Producer's Journey. No such luck. It is filled with traditional Broadway folklore. This book is filled with stories everyone has heard many times over. A major disappointment.

As an owner of this book and an actual student of Ostrow at the University of Houston, I have a particular insite to this piece. We covered the material in class and somehow the energy, excitement, and passion we got as students is missing in the printing. Ostrow is one of the great "thinkers and doers" of the theatrical world. Unfortunately, the book doesn't do justice to the passion Ostrow has for the art form. What this should have been was two books--a formal critical analysis of the genre and its history with a separate biography of his involvement and life story. Those are two books I would buy, read, re-read, and cherish. Is this one worthwhile? Yes. Better yet--beg, borrow, or steal to get to Houston to take his classes. Anyone serious about the future of theatre should be begging to be here.

One of the lucky ones.

From Library Journal: With an insider's perspective and understanding, Ostrow provides capsule insights into over 50 Broadway musicals from 1950 to 1998. The majority of the book focuses on the first two decades, with only four pages devoted to the 1990s. Ostrow's Broadway production credits include Pippin and 1776; he is now a professor of theater at the University of Houston. He uses a folksy, intimate writing style in this brief, selective history of American musical theater on Broadway, lamenting the lack of new original American musicals, the over-reliance on revivals of former hits, and the steep costs of mounting a musical. This is a compact but comprehensive overview of the major musicals of the later 20th century. The sparseness of the coverage and the lack of an index, though, make it a book to be read for pleasure, not research. Buy for demand or specialized collections.--J. Sara Paulk, Coastal Plain Regional Lib., Tifton, GA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

There are memoirs of the theater like Moss Hart's and Josh Logan's, and then there are, more typically, self-congratulatory and workman-like memoirs, like this one. All you need to know about his book is that Stuart Ostrow is responsible for the career of Stephen Schwartz, and deathless cultural artifacts such as "Pippin." The ideas about what makes a musical succeed or fail, and about the reasons for the decline of the musical, are all retreads, lacking in insight or interest. Also, to get an idea of the ponderous vanity of the writing, check out the author's photo: Rodin's Thinker, coming to grips with The Tough Questions About Theater in the New Millenium. If that doesn't ward you off, be advised that he uses the word "eleeomosynary," and if that doesn't do it, don't say I didn't warn you. If you've got money to spare, read Moss Hart or Josh Logan--books with life, drama, humor.

I was very disappointed in this book. This so-called "producer's journey" included many anecdotes about shows with which the author was not even involved! Misspellings of peoples names and incorrect facts abound. He barely covered 1776, a seminal show that he should have many stories about. Read Ethan Mordden if you want provocative insight on Broadway musicals.

I'm taking Theater 1331 with Mr. O he is awesome, a person you can learn a lot from, so far from what I have read in the book is similar to his lectures but he always have something new to say!!!

This book was filled with wonderful personal stories that make you feel as if you are right along with Ostrow in his journey. A great read for theater lovers and students of the art. This is a man whose career has earned him the nick name of the gentleman producer. He has dared to create work in this commercial forum that others would not otherwise have chanced. I highly recommend it.