Words With Music: Creating The Broadway Musical Libretto [Paperback]

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

Lehman Engel(1910-1982) played an integral role in the Broadway theater during its golden years, as the conductor of such works asWonderful Town,Take Me Along,FannyandL'il Abner. In the 1960s he founded the now legendary BMI Musical Workshop where he imparted his passionate ideas about the musical to a younger generation. Among those who graduated from his tutelage are Ed Kleban, the lyricist forA Chorus Lineand Maury Yeston, who wrote the music and lyrics forNine.

Howard Kissel, the chief theater critic for theNew York Daily News, wroteDavid Merrick: The Abominable Showman, and compiled and editedStella Adler's The Art of Acting, both published by Applause.