Theatre and Drama 425: Advance of the American Musical
About Research in Advance of the American Musical
You are embarking on an intense study of a uniquely American theatrical form. Musical theater comprises many art and technical forms:
music, drama, stagecraft, costuming, etc.
Material on musical theater can be drawn from many fields like history, music, gender studies and
literature, just to name a few. In addition to consulting catalogs and
indexes, be sure to look at bibliographies supplied at the end of relevant
articles, chapters, and books, and to search library catalogs for book-length
bibliographies.
It's important to think carefully about any information you find in any format, and to evaluate resources for their accuracy, applicability, and so forth. Evaluation of web resources is especially important. You may want to consult this guide to Evaluating Internet Resources, and this guide to hints on evaluation of books and articles. You can often learn a lot about a page (and a site) by parsing the URL. As always, if you have any questions be sure to ask a Reference Librarian.
Remember that there are two acceptable English spellings, theatre and theater. When doing a Subject search in LUCIA, always use theater. In other searches such as keyword or title, or when using other sources or databases, both spellings may apply. You may truncate your search in LUCIA by using a ? (theat?). The Library of Congress subject heading for musicals is musicals.
Title of the musical
If you are looking for the libretto or a book about the musical, try the Guided Search page. Here you will be able to limit your search to Books. But be careful; some "books" that contain librettos are actually serials. This Guided Search may eliminate some hits. If you are unsuccessful, go back to the main search page and try again. It's a good idea to try an All Fields search if you are unsuccessful with a Title search, since a lot of librettos will be found in antholgies (a collection of several librettos or plays.)
Index to Plays in Periodicals. Dean H. Keller.
Ref. Z5781 .K43 1979
Some theater periodicals (e.g., Theatre Arts) contain full texts of plays and musical librettos. This handy
index helps you find them. Published in 1979, so no librettos more recent than that will be included.
Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900-1994.
The Readers' Guide is located in the Reference area's index section, shelved
alphabetically by title. It will point you to reviews and articles about shows in newspapers and magazines. Look for citations
in Theatre Arts. Here you will sometimes find complete plays.
When you select a title, the call number will give you a clue to its format:
Scores:
- [q.] M1503 tells you this is a piano vocal score, probably including all the dance numbers and incidental music
- [q.] M1508 tells you this is a vocal selections volume. Only a few musical numbers will be included, most likely songs and few if any dance numbers or incidental music
- [q.] M1507 tells you this is an anthology which contains selections from this musical
Recordings:
- M1508.8 indicates the recording of at least the primary musical numbers. In a lot of cases
it will also include all dance numbers. Rarely, if ever, will it include the dialogue
- M1507 is an anthology containing selections from various musicals
- M1500 this number indicates that the entire show is included on the recording. One example is Rent
- M1527 is a motion picture sound track recording, as opposed to a Broadway cast recording
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Synopses are often found in scores and the linear notes of sound recordings. Also see
American Musical Theatre Index
The Book of 1000 Plays. Compiled and edited by Steve Fletcher and Norman Jopling with contributions from David Hallam ... [et al.].
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Index to Opera, Operetta, and Musical Comedy Synopses in Collections and Periodicals. Jeanette Marie Drone.
Masterplots II. 12 vols.
R & H Theatricals
Samuel French
StageAgent.com
Both primary and secondary sources are great for production history and reviews. Begin with the year the musical was initially produced.
American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle, 2nd ed. Gerald Bordman.
The Best Plays of...
These volumes are an invaluable resource. Also, known as Burns Mantle, these books contain abridged versions of plays
(including librettos for musicals), listings of plays produced on, off, and off off Broadway with the Broadway plays
including the number of performances, production credits, cast lists, dates of opening and closing, and a listing of
the shows’ numbers: dances, sketches, musical scenes, etc. They are also richly illustrated with reproductions of
photographs from the original productions and Hirschfeld sketches. Please note: "Abridged" means the entire play
is not included, just a shorter version.
A Chronology of American Musical Theater
The Collector’s Guide to the American Musical Theatre
National newspapers such as the New York Times are excellent sources for reviews, as are the popular
periodicals listed in Poole's Index to Periodical Literature and Readers' Guide to Periodical
Literature. Also, be sure to search the library's online catalog for the author's or composer's name
(last name first) as a Subject begins with... search; you will find criticism and interpretation of the author's works. A Guide to Critical Reviews. James M. Salem.
Art Abstracts, available via
EbscoHost Web
Internet Broadway Database
Lexis/Nexis Academic: Guided News Search
Newspapers from ProQuest
New York Theatre Critics Reviews. Microfilm, 1940-1957
New York Times. 1851-current.
R & H Theatricals
Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900-1994.
Theatre : Stage to Screen to Television. William Torbert Leonard.
Times (London, England). 1941-current.
No information on the author of this site. Maddening flashing ads mar this otherwise useful site. The synopses seem fine,
but be sure to verify other facts elsewhere, such as opening dates and biographical information.
Ref. PN6112.5 .F54 1989
Ancient Greece to modern (up to 1989.) Organized by title of play. Plots summaries, date of premieres. Includes index to authors.
A performance licensing organization. Lists synopsis and number of cast members for each musical and also has sound clips for some.
Ref. ML128.O4 D76
Not the actual synopses, but an index to synopses in various sources.
Ref. PN44 .M33 1976
Arranged by play title. Plot summaries and critical essay reviews.
Who would know synopses of R & H shows better than the Rodger and Hammerstein Organization?
A play publisher. This site has sparce production information but usually has very brief synopses.
Don't go all gaga over this site and run off to join a theater troupe. Find a show and get good information about casting
in addition to synopses.
Ref. ML1711 .B67 1992 vol.
Essays on the American musical theater arranged chrnologically by season. Not much production information,
but rich in influences and history.
located on the 3rd floor, PN6112 .B45
Each volume represents a year in the American theater from 1894-2004.
Ref. [q.] ML1711.8.N3 N67 2002 vol. 1-3
Ref. ML156.4.O46 H85 1984 vol. 1-2
Ref. Z5782 .S34 vol. 3-4
Ref. Z5782 .S342 vol. 2-3
Ref. Z5782 .S342 1984 vol.1-2
Ref. Z5782 .S34 v.4 Suppl. 1963-80
Belive it or not, you can specifically search: Document Type: "Musical comedy reviews" in Art Abstracts. Or triple your fun
and search Art Abstracts, Music Index and RILM all at the same time via EbscoHost.
Up-to-date searchable database of production information: opening and closing dates of original productions
and revivals, casts, crew, songs in each production (good for comparing different versions.) A wealth of information.
Various dates; the Christian Science Monitor and the New York
Times have indexing back to 1980, with full text added at later dates.
Other papers are added dating mostly from the mid 1990's.
Indexing and some full text for international English-language, national, and regional newspapers.
New York Theatre Critics Reviews. Bound, 1970-1994
National Theatre Critics Reviews. Bound, 1995-1996
The library owns scattered issues of these publications, in print and on
microfilm. Publication ceased in 1996.
Microform Area
Periodicals Level A
The New York Times
is on microfilm for 1851-2003.
New York Times and New York Times Index--Reference Indexes Area
The library also provides access to the New York Times (1851-2002)
on the web.
If you want to know the history of Rodgers and Hammerstein productions, go right to the source. Be careful of the funky
search mechanism: The Sound of Music can only be found by including the initial article the.
The Readers' Guide is located in the Reference area's index section, shelved
alphabetically by title. It will point you to reviews and articles about shows in newspapers and magazines.
More Theatre : Stage to Screen to Television. Alvin H. Marill.
Theatre--Ref. PN2189 .L44
More Theatre--Ref. PN2189 .L44 1993
The leading British paper. The Times itself is held
on microfilm.
Times--Microforms
Times index--Reference Indexes
The World Wide Web is another good source of reviews, especially for smaller companies whose productions might not be reviewed in the larger newspapers. See the information below on Web Resources and the library's page on Searching the Internet for more help.
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What would it take to mount this show? Do you need singing actors or acting singers? Will you have enough men? Is there an arrangement available for 2 pianos rather than full orchestra? Vocal scores will often list the instrumentation.
In LUCIA, try a Subject begins with... using the search terms musicals production and direction. You'll get some hits on specific musicals and also books on general production that may mention specific musicals. Look in the index or table of contents.
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
A performance licensing organization. Lists synopsis and number of cast members for
each musical they license and also has sound clips for some.
The Guide to the Musical Theatre
A commercial site with an author from the northwest. His credentials are unknown, but the production information
seems to be legit. Also includes instrumentation.
Musicals 101
An overwhelming site crammed with information. The author
seems to have the right cred. I find this particular bit of advice especially endearing:
Your "Secret" Goldmine
Whenever you are doing any kind of research, get friendly with your local librarians. That's right, walk up to one and ask for their help -- they don't bite. You may be amazed at what resources these underrated (and invariably underpaid) professionals can lead you to or access via inter-library loan. They are trained to know about resources we mere mortals have no awareness of.
Music Theatre International Shows
A performance licensing agency. Spectacular site listing shows plus information the authors, casting, plot & synopsis, instrumentation,
song list, history/awards, and other info for each show they license.
R & H Theatricals
If you're doing Rodgers and Hammerstein, look no further. Be careful of the funky
search mechanism: The Sound of Music can only be found by including the initial article the.
StageAgent.com (maintained by students and alumni of Stanford University)
This searchable site includes show synopses and casting requirements for musicals and operas.
Current production listings, audition and callback announcements are searchable by U.S. state or region.
Also includes bulletin boards and classified ads. A very, very commercial site, but it has good production
information.
Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc.
The big-daddy of performance licensing agencies. Includes quick reviews, awards, brief history, synopsis and available
orchestration for all shows they license.
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Composer, Librettist Biographies:
There is an abundance of scholarly biographical sources in the library. Begin here before going to questionable Web sources. It's also a good idea to consult several sources to get the full biographical picture.
American Songwriters: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary. David Ewen.
Ref. ML390 .E825 1987
A fine source by one of the most respected musical theater writers.
Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Nicolas Slonimsky, editor emeritus ; Laura Kuhn,
Baker’s series advisory editor.
Ref. [q.] ML105 ; .B16 2001, vol. 1-6
Already known as one of the primiere biographical sources for classical music figures, this
latest set also pays hommage to popular composers and librettists.
The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Edited by H. Wiley Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie.
Ref. [q.] ML101.U6 N48 1986, vol. 1-4
Most likely a rehashing of the information in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, but may be worth a look.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,2nd ed. Edited by Stanley Sadie; executive editor, John Tyrrell.
Ref. ML100 .N48 2001, vol. 1-29
No longer the bastion of dead European males, this 2001 edition has become more inclusive. Also in an
online version.
Popular American Composers from Revolutionary Times to the Present:
A Biographical and Critical Guide. David Ewen.
Ref. ML390 .E845
Ref. ML390 .E845 Suppl.
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Chronology of World History : A Calendar of Principal Events from 3000 BC to AD 1973. G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville.
Ref. D11 .F75 1975
The Crown Guide to the World's Great Plays, from Ancient Greece to Modern Times.
Joseph T. Shipley.
Ref. PN6112.5 .S45 1984
Organized by author. Gives historical background and critiques. Some entries have synopses and
descriptions of productions.
An Encyclopedia of World History : Ancient, Medieval and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. William L. Langer, compiler and ed.
Ref. D21 .L27 1980
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama. 5 vols.
Ref. PN1625 .M3 1984
Entries for authors, styles, countries. "Extensive information about the surrounding context of performance."
Criticisms listed in bibliographies. MANY illustrations.
The People's Chronology : a Year-by-Year Record of Human Events from Prehistory to the Present. James Trager.
Ref. D11 .T83 1994
The Timetables of History : A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events. Bernard Grun.
Ref. D11 .G78 1991
Who Was When? : A Dictionary of Contemporaries. Miriam Allen de Ford and Joan S. Jackson.
Ref. CT103 .D4 1976
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Your research may require a look at periodicals articles. Use indexes to find citations, abstracts and sometimes full-text of periodical articles or full-text of books or other documents. These are all available from the pull-down menu on the Library Research page.
Art Abstracts
Leading publications in the world of the arts.
EBSCOhost.
Follow the link for EBSCOhost Web. Searches a single database or multiple databases. Contains broad and
specialized coverage of academic and general periodicals. Use the Go or
Back button on your browser after exiting EBSCOhost to leave the system.
Expanded Academic ASAP.
Broad coverage of academic periodicals from 1980 to the present. Includes full text of some articles.
Historical Abstracts.
Citations, abstracts and some full text from hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of history.
Historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada.)
MLA International Bibliography. 1963-
The leading source for the field of literary studies. Wide ranging index to just about anything of a scholarly nature related to literature and language.
Music Index Online,1976-2006.
Avaiable from the pull-down menu on the Library Research page.
Citations and some full-text links to articles in both scholarly and popular international music periodicals.
The paper Music Index,1949-1997, is located in the Reference area's index section, shelved
alphabetically by title.
RILM
Available from the pull-down menu on the Library Research page. International index to scholarly music periodicals and other music sources (dissertations, chapters in book, etc.)
Citations and abstracts.
Once you have a citation for an article on your topic, look in LUCIA for the title of the journal to see if the library owns it. You should also search BESS, an automated search of the library's fulltext databases, for electronic copies of articles.
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Definitions of terms and abbreviations:
Ref. = Reference collection, first floor
RRef.= Ready reference, shelves behind the reference desk
Periodicals = Current issues; Level A
Periodical Back Files = Level A
GovDoc = U.S. Government Documents, second floor
Reference Indexes = Alphabetically arranged at the end of the reference collection
Microform Area = Reading room east of the reference desk, near microform drawers
q. = Oversized books: interfiled in reference and scores; at end of classes in other collections
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