Words with Music: Creating the Broadway Musical Libretto [Paperback]

Lehman Engel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2006

The dean of Broadway musical directors examines the dynamics of how the book, music and lyrics work together to create such hits as My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, Hair, Pal Joey, West Side Story, Company, South Pacific, Threepenny Opera and Porgy and Bess. Howard Kissel, chief theater critic for the New York Daily News, extends the reach of Engel's subjects by bringing them up to date with commentary on such shows as A Chorus Line, Nine, Sunday in the Park with George, Rent, Working and Falsettos. Kissel offers a thoughtful history on how musical theater has evolved in the three decades since Engel wrote Words with Music (1972) and how Engel's classic work remains vital and illuminating today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 468 pages
• Publisher: Applause Books; Rev Upd edition (January 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557835543
• ISBN-13: 978-1557835543
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #708,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding survey, recommended for any Broadway fan, May 21, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Words with Music: Creating the Broadway Musical Libretto (Paperback)

If WORDS WITH MUSIC: CREATING THE BROADWAY MUSICAL LIBRETTO sounds familiar, that's because it originally appeared in 1972, only to go out of print for years thereafter. Now it's back - and it sports an expanded version and updated commentary by NY Times theatre critic Howard Kissel to return a classic to new life. Engel's background in the Broadway heyday provides important reference material for his survey of major musical works, documenting major scenes, surveying how good musicals are written to stand out from mediocre productions, and revealing which basic theatre elements are employed to best usage for particular types of productions. An outstanding survey, recommended for any Broadway fan.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece Revised and Updated, May 17, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Words with Music: Creating the Broadway Musical Libretto (Paperback)

Written by legendary musical director Lehman Engel in 1972, this book has been long out of print with copies selling for high amounts when you could find one at all. Now Howard Kissel, theater critic for the New York Daily News, has updated the book by applying the same analysis techniques to several modern shows such as 'A Chrous Line,' 'Rent,' 'Phantom,' 'Les Miz,' and 'Wicked.'

To be sure, styles change over time as the modern audiences grew in a more rock oriented environment that Lloyd Webber was able to capture in his list of successful hits. But as the music has evolved, the basic rules of musical theater plot lines and character development have remained almost fixed.

It is the current fashion to lament the passing of the musical, to look back to a supposed 'Golden Age' of the musical that is long past. This book ends with a quotation, 'The era of sterling drama and talented actors is in the past, perhaps never to return.' This came from a guidebook to New York that was published in 1868.

The musical is not dead. And the same rules still apply when Mr. Engle wrote them in 1970. To be sure, most of the musicals put on Broadway are not so very good, but then one comes along ... And it is likely to have followed Mr. Engel's basic rules.

2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Updated and Revised, March 8, 2006

By 

Elisa Grebnrets "Elisa" (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Words with Music: Creating the Broadway Musical Libretto (Paperback)

'The New Yorker' claims that "Everyone interested in the theatre can learn something from this book." Each chapter begins with a fitting quote, and Howard Kissel has updated and revised the original for today's reader.