Let's Put on a Musical: How to Choose the Right Show for Your Theater

by Peter Filichia

Book Overview

This guide offers guidance in selecting a musical suited to the production capacities, budget, and tastes of a particular acting company, amateur or professional. Over 200 shows are profiled, with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823088189
• ISBN13: 9780823088188
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Back Stage Books
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Very Helpful

I find this book to be a very useful source of information for our Community Theatre group. We recently tried to cast a show and AGAIN came up short in the singing men department. I hope to use this going forward to make more informed choices about potential musicals for our group.

Excellent if a Little Out of Date

This book is ideal for the community theater artistic director or school teacher who is looking for a musical to put on. The title implies to me that here you will find instructions on how to stage the performance. Instead it's about selecting the play you might want to put on. And it's description of some plays you might want to consider is very good. It gives you the story of what's happening, but far more information of a specialized nature that you need to know. For instance, how many performers, what kind of sets, costumes, props, special effects, etc. A very important detail given about the plays is where to go get rights. This can save you a lot of time. I have only three complaints about the book. First it needs updating, there are a lot of new plays you might consider. Second, it needs a section on smaller plays. My stage needs plays with 6-8 people, few of the ones listed here are that small. Third, the book needs to be about three times as long, I'd like to see all the plays that are available in a format done like this.

A priceless resource for directors and producers of theater!

I got a job teaching high school drama despite having zero experience doing it. Worse, the only musicals I knew and had seen were "Cats" and "Phantom of the Opera." So, when the band and choir directors starting throwing ideas for shows at me I was at a total loss. How would I know, without reading, listening to, and/or seeing every show they mentioned if it was a good idea or not?Then, I found this book. Now, when the choir director tells me she wants to do "Lil Abner" I can reply that it seems dated. Or, if she wants to do "Flower Drum Song," I can tell her that we don't have enough Asians in our pool of talent. I can counter to her that "Into The Woods" is recommended for high schoolers, despite her objections to the contrary. I can recommend that we perform "Little Shop of Horrors" because it is a periennial money-maker and kids love it!The book is divided into sections like "Shows for a big budget" or "Musicals that rely heavily on costumes". There's "Musicals that feature choreography" and "Musicals with Little Choreography." It's helpful to find the shows grouped together like this.Then, it breaks down the show, giving a synopsis, assests, liabilities (often the most important information!!!), cast needed, etc. If you're passingly familiar with a show, this is all you would need. If you don't know the show at all, this is enough to warrant further investigation or to rule it out entirely.I love this book. I would be lost without it. The only bad thing about it is that it doesn't have every single last musical ever created in it! But, it must contain more than two or three hundred shows listed, so that should be enough to get you by. I highly recommend this book.

FANTASTIC overviews of most of today's musicals

Filichia is certainly a maestro when it comes to knowledge of the musical theatre. His book is both a fun, educational read for anyone with a zest for Broadway and Beyond, but it also serves its true purpose: It can help you choose a musical better than any "how to" guide on the market. Although it is missing a few licensers (WHere's Guilbert and Sullivan) and it hasn't quite caught up to ALL the revivals, it's still an excellent guide to helping your community, school, pr professional theatre find the best possible show.

Do we really need another production of Fiddler on the Roof?

Peter Filichia,the former columnist for the now defunct Theater Weekly,knows musical theater. In his informally written,enthusiastic book,How to Put on a Musical,he offers sage advice for schools that have the ability,determination,and fortune to produce a musical but don't have the unlimited budget of the Schuberts. He casts a roving eye over the 100+ years of musical theater and divides up the riches into categories of the tried and true musicals (Carousel,Annie Get Your Gun), recent moneymakers (Annie,Godspell),musicals with a predominately male cast (The Boys of Syracuse),musicals that demand significant vocal talent (Candide),musicals tha require proficient dancers ( A Chorus Line),and so on. Filichia also offers brief synopsises of the musicals,which is particularly helpful with the lesser-known shows. He also informs you of the necessary props,costumes,characters,famous songs from the shows (if any),and inventive publicity activities that can be done to promote the show (some are ingenous,while others are strange or dull). Perhaps the most important thing that Filichia offers are the pros/cons of each musical-this is especially crucial for the schools that need to censor their dramatic presentations. If the storyline is suggestive or if the libretto contains foul language,you are duly notified. In less serious,yet just as important circumstances,Filichia points out unusual props (like an iron lung for City of Angels),difficult dialects (such as the local dialects for Oklahoma!),and if the musical is too familiar with audiences (such as Fiddler on the Roof). America's grammer school,high school,and college drama departments need all the help they can get. With Filichia's understanding,chatty book,the directors of the aforesaid departments receive a helping hand. For curious,interested devotees of musical theater (such as myself),this is a book suitable for browsing and discovering unknown gems of the musical stage