Did you know that the Pulitzer Prize for Drama has been awarded to just ten musicals since the award’s inception in 1917? 

Deep diving into the development of each show, this accessible study unpacks the creation, production, and reception of each musical.  Each chapter traces a different Prize-winning show from its inception to its opening night. It introduces the reader to each musical’s key creators and company members and places them in the larger context of Broadway history.

Published in Methuen Drama’s Essential Musicals series, this book is perfect for students of Musical Theatre, drawing together different resources to dig into the backstories of Broadway’s biggest hits and mining the historical
record for nuggets of information that illuminate our understanding and enhance our enjoyment of musical theatre’s unique brand of magic.

Jukebox Musicals explores a style of show that’s dominated Broadway for the better part of two decades. Through a chronological look at the development of long-running hits, like Mamma Mia! and Jersey Boys, this book traces the Jukebox Musical from when it was an exception on Broadway to when it became the rule. Examining the origins and reception for ten of these shows, this volume offers an exploration of one of the most divisive sub-genres of the musical form.

Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, and . . . Dorothy Fields. These are the giants of the golden age of musical theater. Although she may not be as well known as her male counterparts, Dorothy Fields was America’s most brilliant and successful female lyricist, who for five decades kept up with the greats.

As one of the only women among the boys’ club of popular song, Fields was welcomed by her fellow male artists, who considered her as both an equal and a beloved colleague. Working with thirteen different composers, Fields wrote the lyrics and/or librettos for unforgettable masterpieces, such as Annie Get Your Gun, Redhead, and Sweet Charity. Her more than four hundred songs include the standards “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” “Pick Yourself Up,” and “The Way You Look Tonight,” among other classic tunes.