Comments on: The Secret Life of the American Musical, Jack Viertel

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 27 May 2016 18:34:00 +0000

I saw this when Kim reviewed it, and your review only makes me want to read it that much more. Must get my hands on it…

By: Katie @ Doing Dewey

Katie @ Doing Dewey — Sat, 21 May 2016 20:49:00 +0000

I’m interested in musicals, but I’m only familiar with a handful that I’ve played songs from and the two or three I’ve seen, so I’m not sure I’d get as much as I could out of this if I was more familiar. I think I’ll be passing on this, but other than the passage you highlighted, it sounds like a really good book.

By: Naomi

Naomi — Fri, 20 May 2016 00:27:00 +0000

This *does* sound interesting. I’ve never thought about it before. It kind of makes me want to go out and watch a bunch and then compare them.

By: Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) — Thu, 19 May 2016 02:09:00 +0000

YAY! I am so glad you liked this one. Sometimes I get super excited about nerd books and then oversell how excellent they are (to the book’s detriment). I had so many songs stuck in my head while reading. Earworms. Also, hear Leslie Odom Jr. He deserves a Tony for being handsome and awesome.

By: Stefanie@SoManyBooks

Stefanie@SoManyBooks — Wed, 18 May 2016 20:23:00 +0000

I enjoy a good musical though I wouldn’t call myself a nerd. Case in point, I don;t know the song Adelaide’s Lament so I escaped from having it stuck in my head! Sounds like a good book though should I ever become interested in the topic.

By: teresareads

teresareads — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:22:00 +0000

In reply to Jenny @ Reading the End. I saw Man of La Mancha recently for the first time, and it was very good. Not in my top five, but it still made me weep. My top five, BTW, is Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Les Mis, Into the Woods, and Guys and Dolls.

By: teresareads

teresareads — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:17:00 +0000

In reply to Jenny @ Reading the End. I haven't seen the movie, so I can't say. I've watched clips, and they didn't do much for me. I was *really* lucky in my introduction to Gypsy. It was a local production that got heaps of praise from long-time fans of the show. It's a shame that so many film adaptations of great shows fall short (insert grumbles about Les Mis and Sweeney Todd).

By: Jenny @ Reading the End

Jenny @ Reading the End — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:05:00 +0000

In reply to Shannon @ River City Reading. Aw, West Side Story. Me too. That is a very, very sad musical. I am feeling sad just thinking about it.

By: Jenny @ Reading the End

Jenny @ Reading the End — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:01:00 +0000

In reply to jen mullen. Same here! Well, I knew about the "I want" song, but that was pretty much it. It's neat to see the underlying structure and sort of recognize that you've been familiar with it all along.

By: Jenny @ Reading the End

Jenny @ Reading the End — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:00:00 +0000

In reply to Jeanne.

I absolutely love Man of la Mancha. I think it’s so underappreciated in conversations about musicals. My family has lately occupied itself with each choosing our top five musicals, and Man of la Mancha is one of the ones that always nearly gets kicked off my list but then it ends up I can’t ditch it.

(Except, now Hamilton exists. So I had to ditch Man of la Mancha after all.)