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THE SEASON A Candid Look At Broadway (Limelight) Paperback – September 1, 1984

by William Goldman (Author)

4.3 118 ratings

Playwright/novelist/screenwriter Goldman analyzes Broadway from the perspective of the audiences, playwrights, critics, producers and actors. “Very nearly perfect... It is a loose-limbed, gossipy, insider, savvy, nuts-and-bolts report on the annual search for the winning numbers that is now big-time American commercial theatre.” –Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

Print length

448 pages
Language

English
Publisher

LIMELIGHT EDITIONS
Publication date

September 1, 1984
Dimensions

6.03 x 1.01 x 8.97 inches
ISBN-10

0879100230
ISBN-13

978-0879100230
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William Goldman
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William Goldman
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ LIMELIGHT EDITIONS (September 1, 1984)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0879100230
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0879100230
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.56 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.03 x 1.01 x 8.97 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #551,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #198 in Broadway & Musicals (Books)
- #206 in Performing Arts History & Criticism
- #495 in Vocal & Singing

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4.3 118 ratings

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William Goldman

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William Goldman (b. 1931) is an Academy Award–winning author of screenplays, plays, memoirs, and novels. His first novel, The Temple of Gold (1957), was followed by the script for the Broadway army comedy Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961). He went on to write the screenplays for many acclaimed films, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the President’s Men (1976), for which he won two Academy Awards. He adapted his own novels for the hit movies Marathon Man (1976) and The Princess Bride (1987).

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Michael Goldcraft

Early Goldman non-fiction -Insightful, informative

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2023

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William Goldman (photo above) wrote a very good review of Broadway during the 1967-68 season with historical comparisons to contemporary (late sixties) situations. A basic introduction to Broadway dynamics, late 1960s shows with predictions for the future of Broadway .

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Timothy Hallinan

Marvelous and Fun to Read But Inescapably Dated

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2015

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Been on a Broadway jag, and this is a fascinating, if dated, look at a single, more or less unremarkable year on the Great White Way. Some of Goldman's opinions are different than mine -- he's not much on self-consciously arty shows but I think he lumps into that category several shows that were worthwhile and then some. (He does, at least, love Stoppard's :"Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" and he skewers Harold Pinter hilariously.) Of real interest to me were his analyses of the Broadway audience and several chapters on the economics of the industry, which probably hold true in principle even today although you can multiple the money by a factor of about 50. I was brought to this book by Michael Reindell' much more contemporary RAZZLE DAZZLE, which is an essential book for anyone who's interested in Broadway as a business and/or as an art form.

6 people found this helpful

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GW

The Definitive Book for Theater Lovers

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2019

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William Goldman, dean of American screenwriters, wrote this book about the 1967-68 Broadway season. No other book has taken such a deep dive into the structure of Broadway theater, including the finances, actors, directors, producers, playwrights, and the theaters themselves. Drawing on his experience as a novelist and playwright, he also commissioned what was then cutting-edge market research about what makes shows successes or failures. Goldman's uncompromising honesty and deep understanding of drama (he had a bachelor's degree from Oberlin and a master's from Columbia) make this book and invaluable treat for theater lovers.

3 people found this helpful

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Robert S. Robbins

Broadway Laid Bare

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2012

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This is a fascinated book on the backstage world of Broadway but I suspect it is a little out-of-date. The Times Square revitalization has changed Broadway a lot and most theater goers obtain tickets online. However, as an aspiring playwright, reading this book did get me to thinking that I ought to know more about how plays get produced and how theaters are run. I have no idea why some people are running festivals and producing plays without a permanent facility. Regional theater and Off Broadway must have completely different sources of funding and artist cultures.

William Goldman does not describe how musicals go on tour around the country and the world. That whole system must have developed later but it is probably a big factor in how shows continue to make money long after they close on Broadway.

4 people found this helpful

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Max Frost

How peculiar

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2015

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I'm really torn on this. On one hand Goldman's book offers some terrific and unusual pieces about Broadway that make for fascinating reading: Jean Arthur's disastrous comeback in the The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake, a brutal and deserved take down of Clive Barnes, and pretty much the only contemporaneous coverage you'll ever read (apart from original reviews) of such such forgotten shows as Spofford, The Ninety-Day Mistress with Dyan Cannon, Vincent Price in Darling of the Day, Golden Rainbow, Gore Vidal's Weekend, and Scuba Duba. Another highlight is one of the best appraisals of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg I've ever read. On the other hand, and it's been mentioned in other reviews here, is a weird thread that runs through the book--and that's Goldman's view of homosexuality. I know, it was written at a different time and all that but Goldman, if not obsessed, seems at least insanely preoccupied with "the problem." It's written as though no homosexual would ever read it, that it's a matter of "them" vs "us"--"us" presumably being the heterosexuals who simply don't know what to make of this gay infiltration of the macho world of Broadway.

Otherwise The Season has too many wonderfully crabby, hot-headed, compassionate and unique perspectives on New York Theater. It can't be dismissed by a long shot. I'm just saying that it's the only book about Broadway you'll ever read in which you'll see this in the index: "Homosexuals, estimate of number in U.S., pp 237"

24 people found this helpful

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R. Patrick Baugh

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2015

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A brilliant book about Broadway, I only wish that a similar book was done each year about the previous "season" (like Presidential campaign books). Of course, no one currently working would speak openly, knowing that they'd be quoted, but... I had to subtract one star, however, for the rampant homophobia, especially the entire chapter entitled "Homosexuals", which is one of the nastiest pieces of writing I've ever read.

12 people found this helpful

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T. Simmons

Remembering yesterday

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2014

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William Goldman is always a good read. The Season is particularly fun because it provides a time capsule (1968) for a time of transition and social change, which is reflected in the writing as well as showing up in the subject matter. Anyone would enjoy this book. If you were around and sentient in 1968, you'll enjoy it even more. If you're a fan of Broadway productions, too, you'll be in hog heaven.

2 people found this helpful

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Larry Gevirtz

Top Book About Broadway

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2013

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This is a fabulous volume exploring the goings-on that characterize a single typical Broadway season, written in a most entertaining manner by William Goldman (of "Butch Cassidy" fame). Mr. Goldman truly takes the reader backstage through interviews with performers, producers, and other Broadway insiders to provide as vivid a picture of life on the wicked stage as can be imagined. A must for those enamored of the theater.

One person found this helpful

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DOPPLEGANGER

A BOOK FOR THE DEDICATED

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2011

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Yes, this is a well written book about the Broadway Theatrical scene at a fairly precise point of time. The period in question is the 1967-68 season - the season of Spofford, Tennessee William's "The Seven Descents of Myrtle", Arthur Miller's "The Pricew", Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party", and over 50 others.

The author undertook meticulous preparations by not only watching the actual Broadway performance but rehearsals, previews, openings both in town and out. He talked to people - critics, playwrights, producers, actors, even an honest ticket broker which all goes towards giving the reader a much more rounded knowledge of the mechanics of the Broadway Theatre.

William Goldman is generous with his critical outpourings, which are passionate and heartfelt, and, of course, Broadway being a 'home' to a wide collection of egocentric, bizarre, outlandish, selfish people, does provide a fertile source of gossip, scandal and scuttlebutt.

I must say this book covered Broadway in a much greater depth and detail than I was looking for and consequently I struggled a little to get through it but would be the first to acknowledge that for a serious follower or student of the Broadway scene in all it's component parts, that "The Season" would be fascinating and indispensable.

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THE SEASON A Candid Look At Broadway (Limelight) Paperback – September 1, 1984

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