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It Happened on Broadway: An Oral History of the Great White Way
As narrated by the individuals who made the history, a lively collection of anecdotes and reminiscences provides a colorful and insightful review of Broadway, from pre-World War II to the present day. 30,000 first printing.
295 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 10, 2023
What a fascinating oral history of some of the highlights of Broadway over the years, with actors such as Len Cariou, Carol Channing, Michael Bell (I hadn't realized he was also in the Fifth Dimension, one of my favorite groups as a teenager), Theodore Bikel, Betty Buckley, Kim Hunter,and Elaine Stritch, choreographers such as Wayne Cilento and Marge Champion, designers such as Tony Walton, and critics Clive Barnes and Douglas Watt, composers Cy Coleman, Jerry Herman, Maury Yeston, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, John Lander and Fred Ebb, to name just a few. Lots of other of my favorite Broadway people including Mary Rodgers, Jerry Zaks, Mary Ellin Barrett (Irving Berlin's daughter), Kitty Carlisle Hart, and producer Manny Azenburg. Obviously the history is shaped by who was interviewed and it's a bit of a downer when some are talking about contemporary theater, but it's a great read. Highly recommended.
August 5, 2024
Written in 1998, this is a series of interviews with people from all facets of Broadway: actors, composers, producers, etc. The book is divided into chapters focusing on things like flops, star power, etc. It is thought-provoking and engaging, and very interesting in regards to assessment and predictions for the future of Broadway. A must read for any aficionado.
September 11, 2015
I’ve often wished I had sat down with my father, gotten him to start talking about his childhood, his war years, his early married life. This is what memories are made of. And this is what strengthens families and gives us framework. Alas, I didn’t do so. Thus my life is infinitely poorer, and his life is virtually lost to future generations. Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer have given us a wonderful book with It Happened on Broadway: An Oral History of the Great White Way. Composed of nothing but transcripts of theater people sitting around talking, this book is invaluable. It is that narrative we want from our fathers, our mothers. It fills us in. We learn about the theater from the horses’ mouths. As a theater buff, a true student of the theater, and, indeed, a child of theater, this is my theater family history. Granted, I never met any of these people, but reading what they have to say is like listening to family members expound on the great and not so great experiences of their lives. Published in 1998, this oral history is important for it preserves memories of so many who are now gone. We hear from legendary composer Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago,) successful producer Cy Feuer (Where’s Charley?, Guys and Dolls,) movie star/dancer Marge Champion (wife of Gower Champion, director of Hello Dolly!,) amazing lyricist Betty Comden (On the Town, Bells Are Ringing,) celebrated actor Charles Durning (Inherit the Wind, That Championship Season,) and many more who are no longer with us. Like those of my father, their memories would be lost (at least to us, the readers) had they not been included in this book. Joining them are others who are still with us like Carol Channing, Linda Lavin, Donna McKechnie, and many others. The Broadway theater discussed here runs the gamut from shows produced in the 1920s to the 1990s, providing a wealth of knowledge and insight into how the theater works. This wonderful book should be on every theater lover’s bookshelf, plus anyone who has only a mild interest in theater will find it fun, not to mention theater scholars who can mine it for their research. It Happened on Broadway is a treasure!
December 1, 2014
Synopsis
A potted history of the golden years on Broadway; told by those who worked the theatre life and lived to tell the tale.
Review
There are very few things in this world that can cause a frisson of excitement to creep up my spine and make my hair stand on end. The most powerful of this small selection is the musical. There is something about them that can reduce me to the eighteen month old girl who turned to her mother whilst watching her very first stage production and said “Mummy, I want to be one of those girls up there.” Sadly, for me, the dream ended at eighteen but my love of theatre never wavered.
With It Happened on Broadway, I got to see that it wasn’t just me who had that same love and passion. As each of these people who were associated with musical theatre on Broadway shared their story I realised that I was living my dream through the telling of their reality. Granted, this wouldn’t have been my first choice but it was magnificent all the same.
What the writers’ have cleverly done is allow the colourful cast charm you with their tales, yet it is the editing that has told the diverse story off Broadway. For some, it would be a hard concept to conceive that a simple musical can help pinpoint a time in social, political and cultural change but the link between theatre and the aforementioned topics is inextricably linked. It is the fresh look at it from this angle that makes It Happened on Broadway such an interesting read.
Whether musicals are an interest of yours or not, this book has enough fascinating tales to keep even the most ardent theatre hater enthralled. For those who love musicals, this is a no-brainer. Buy this book. It is, quite frankly, amazing.
It Happened on Broadway An Oral History of the Great White Way by Myrna Katz Fromer and Harvey Fromer is available now.
A potted history of the golden years on Broadway; told by those who worked the theatre life and lived to tell the tale.
Review
There are very few things in this world that can cause a frisson of excitement to creep up my spine and make my hair stand on end. The most powerful of this small selection is the musical. There is something about them that can reduce me to the eighteen month old girl who turned to her mother whilst watching her very first stage production and said “Mummy, I want to be one of those girls up there.” Sadly, for me, the dream ended at eighteen but my love of theatre never wavered.
With It Happened on Broadway, I got to see that it wasn’t just me who had that same love and passion. As each of these people who were associated with musical theatre on Broadway shared their story I realised that I was living my dream through the telling of their reality. Granted, this wouldn’t have been my first choice but it was magnificent all the same.
What the writers’ have cleverly done is allow the colourful cast charm you with their tales, yet it is the editing that has told the diverse story off Broadway. For some, it would be a hard concept to conceive that a simple musical can help pinpoint a time in social, political and cultural change but the link between theatre and the aforementioned topics is inextricably linked. It is the fresh look at it from this angle that makes It Happened on Broadway such an interesting read.
Whether musicals are an interest of yours or not, this book has enough fascinating tales to keep even the most ardent theatre hater enthralled. For those who love musicals, this is a no-brainer. Buy this book. It is, quite frankly, amazing.
It Happened on Broadway An Oral History of the Great White Way by Myrna Katz Fromer and Harvey Fromer is available now.
December 27, 2014
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.5 of 5
Anyone who has even the most rudimentary interest in the theatre will like this book. Note that this is a paperback re-issue of the book originally published in 1998.
I've longed decided that theatre people, more than any other group of people or profession, live in the past. There are always stories to tell about things gone wrong or things gone extraordinarily right, and because we're often not sure what (or when) the next job is going to be, the jobs we have had are most of what we have to talk about. In many ways, that's precisely what we have here, except that those telling some of these theatre stories are people who have inside scoops on some of the most famous people and most famous shows in the history of Broadway.
Every story in here was new to me and every moment was interesting. Editors Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer have done an excellent job of gathering stories from some of the top names in the business and with only a few small exceptions, none of these stories had an air of superiority but were rather quite down-to-earth (this is not always the case when 'stars' tell stories from their early days).
This is a book every theatre geek should have on his or her shelf.
Looking for a good book? It Happened on Broadway is a delightful reflection on some of the early days of theatre's mecca, often told by those who made it happen.
Anyone who has even the most rudimentary interest in the theatre will like this book. Note that this is a paperback re-issue of the book originally published in 1998.
I've longed decided that theatre people, more than any other group of people or profession, live in the past. There are always stories to tell about things gone wrong or things gone extraordinarily right, and because we're often not sure what (or when) the next job is going to be, the jobs we have had are most of what we have to talk about. In many ways, that's precisely what we have here, except that those telling some of these theatre stories are people who have inside scoops on some of the most famous people and most famous shows in the history of Broadway.
Every story in here was new to me and every moment was interesting. Editors Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer have done an excellent job of gathering stories from some of the top names in the business and with only a few small exceptions, none of these stories had an air of superiority but were rather quite down-to-earth (this is not always the case when 'stars' tell stories from their early days).
This is a book every theatre geek should have on his or her shelf.
Looking for a good book? It Happened on Broadway is a delightful reflection on some of the early days of theatre's mecca, often told by those who made it happen.
November 22, 2014
****Copy from Netgalley in return for an honest review****
As someone who goes to quite a lot of theatre (we're talking 20+ shows a year) and managed seven Broadway shows in five days when I went to New York a few years back, this book jumped out at me when I saw it on Netgalley. It's a really interesting Oral History of Broadway - with stories from some of the best known names of the Golden Age and the people connected with them.
I really enjoyed getting some behind the scenes glimpses of the US theatre mecca - it's well put together each contribution flows nicely into the next, the chapters work and suddenly you've covered a decade or more. I think though that the book presupposes a fair amount of knowledge about some of the shows. There is a glossary of contributors at the start (but on the Kindle edition it's not always as easy to skip back to as it would be in a physical copy) but you need to have a bit of an idea of the shape of Broadway history and some of the characters involved. I suspect that to people connected with the industry more closely that I am, this book may not hold a lot of new information, but it is so fascinating it's probably still worth a look for them too.
As someone who goes to quite a lot of theatre (we're talking 20+ shows a year) and managed seven Broadway shows in five days when I went to New York a few years back, this book jumped out at me when I saw it on Netgalley. It's a really interesting Oral History of Broadway - with stories from some of the best known names of the Golden Age and the people connected with them.
I really enjoyed getting some behind the scenes glimpses of the US theatre mecca - it's well put together each contribution flows nicely into the next, the chapters work and suddenly you've covered a decade or more. I think though that the book presupposes a fair amount of knowledge about some of the shows. There is a glossary of contributors at the start (but on the Kindle edition it's not always as easy to skip back to as it would be in a physical copy) but you need to have a bit of an idea of the shape of Broadway history and some of the characters involved. I suspect that to people connected with the industry more closely that I am, this book may not hold a lot of new information, but it is so fascinating it's probably still worth a look for them too.
October 22, 2014
I loved, loved, loved this book. It had so much information that I didn't know about. I recommend this to anyone that has a love of the Theater.
May 3, 2015
Nice backstage stories but outdated.
August 14, 2015
Interesting book with great anecdotes but the format is a little stilted.
September 1, 2016
Theatre stories. This isn't comprehensive. It couldn't be. But the stories are good ones and they related to several of the productions I've seen. The reading equivalent of snack food.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews