Theater Books on The Point!

Today Mindy Todd, Pamela Wills, and I talked about books having to do with the theater. We suspect many of you were in your gardens, enjoying this glorious morning, so if you missed the show this morning, you can always listen online! It will also be rebroadcast this evening at 7:00 PM on WCAI. So many books, and so little time! You will see in the below lists lots of titles for which we had no time this morning, but are well worth seeking out. There are so many great books about the theater!

Jill’s Picks

Suspended Worlds: Historic Theater Scenery in Northern New England by Christine Hadsel

The Best Plays of 1921 – 1922 and the Year Book of the Drama in America edited by Burns Mantle

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

The Garrick Year by Margaret Drabble (available via the Commonwealth Catalog)

The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

Summer Stock: an American Theatrical Phenomenon by Martha Schmoyer LoMonaco

Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim

Shakespeare in America: an anthology from the revolution to now edited by James Shapiro

Not Enough Time For:

Edward Gorey Plays Cape Cod by Carol Verburg

The Flick by Annie Baker (and there is a great article about The Flick and the pleasure of reading plays aloud on Slate by Dan Kois.)

Joy Ride: show people and their shows by John Lahr

Curtain Up: Agatha Christie a life in the theatre by Julius Green (mentions the Vineyard Gazette & The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse)

Sarah: the life of Sarah Bernhardt by Robert Gottlieb

The American Stage: writing on theater from Washington Irving to Tony Kushner

The Secret Life of the American Musical: how Broadway shows are built by Jack Viertel

Children’s Picture Books

Amandina by Sergio Ruzzier

Rifka Takes a Bow by Betty Rosenberg Perlov with illustrations by Cosei Kawa

The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard by Gregory Rogers

Pamela’s Picks

Razzle Dazzle: the battle for Broadway by Michael Riedel

Alexander Hamilton: American by Richard Brookhiser

Oz: the complete collection by L. Frank Baum

Anything by Gregory Maguire beginning with Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the west

Les Misérables. (the film) And there is a book too, by Victor Hugo!

3 comments on “Theater Books on The Point!


  1. Jill says:

    Thanks so much for clarifying Pam’s comment about Hamilton: the Musical. It is indeed well known that Chernow’s book was Mr. Miranda’s initial inspiration.

  2. Hamilton says:

    Hamilton: The Musical came about from Lin Manuel Miranda reading Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow while on vacation.  It is widely attributed by Mr. Miranda everywhere that this was the book that drove him to write/compose Hamilton.  To highlight the book by Mr. Brookhiser and the statements on The Point by Ms. Wills do not accurately reflect Mr. Miranda’s inspiration.

  3. Pamela C Wills says:

    Thanks for the hairsplitting clarifications and comments! Indeed, Mr Hamilton’s life provided more than enough drama to inspire lots of books—my pick was one of many! Too bad we didn’t discuss this point on the show, Jill, with your librarian’s knowledge of all things book-related! =)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.