You are here

Musicals

Last Updated: 31-Oct-2013

This guide is an introduction to research on Musicals or Musical Theater and may be used for PWR2: All That Jazz: The Rhetoric of American Musical Theater (Instructor Wendy Goldberg).

Subject Librarians

Mimi Tashiro
Music Bibliographer
Music Library
(650) 725-1144
Ray Heigemeir, Music Library
Ray Heigemeir
Public Services Librarian for Music
Music Library
(650) 384-9985

Subjects

Music
Musical theater

Search and Browse

Search in SearchWorks using combinations of title words, names of composers or librettists.

 Use the format filters, e.g. Music-Score (printed music), Sound Recordings, or Videos.

  • "Vocal Scores" contain all songs of a show, with piano accompaniment.
  • "Vocal Scores. Selections" contain only some of the songs, with piano accompaniment.

 Adding "libretto" to your search finds the text only of a show.

 

 Browse in the stacks:

M 1500 Orchestral Scores shelved by composer
M 1503 Vocal Scores shelved by composer
M 1508 Selections shelved by composer
ML 48-50 Librettos
ML 410 Composer Biographies
ML 420 Singer Biographies
ML 1711, ML 2054 Musicals (history and criticism)
ML 2075, PN 1995.9.M86 Film Musicals (history and criticism)
MT 956 Acting for Singers

General Sources

 

 

Oxford music online [electronic resource].
[Oxford, England] : Oxford University Press
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
Includes 4 resources including The New Grove Dictionary. The Grove entry on Musicals provides a scholarly overview of the form by decade, naming all influential shows and personnel. Includes commentary on trends, source material, film adaptations, and the influence of technology.
The Oxford companion to the American musical : theatre, film, and television / Thomas Hischak.
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2008.
Music Library » Reference » ML102 .M88 H593 2008
Offers information on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers,etc. Includes lists of recommended recordings and further reading, a chronology of all the musicals described and a complete index of Tony Award and Academy Award winners.
The encyclopedia of the musical theatre / Kurt Gänzl.
2nd ed. New York : Schirmer Books, c2001.
Green Library » Information Center » ML102 .M88 G3 2001 V.1
International in scope, includes the most successful, prolific and heard writers and composers in the countries surveyed, and the most successful, interesting, and widely-traveled shows.
Encyclopaedia of the musical film / Stanley Green.
New York : Oxford University Press, 1981.
Green Library » Stacks » PN1995.9 .M86 G7
Provides succinct information on the screen’s most prominent individuals, productions, and songs. Emphasis is on Hollywood productions.
Encyclopedia of the musical theatre : an updated reference guide to over 2000 performers, writers, directors, productions, and songs of the musical stage, both in New York and London / Stanley Green.
New York : Da Capo Press, [1980], c1976.
Music Library » Reference » ML102 .M88 G79 1980
Contains information on the most prominent people, productions, and songs of the musical theatre in New York including off-Broadway, and London. Covers late 19th century to the 1970s. Includes Awards and Prizes, a bibliography and discography.
The musical : a research and information guide / William A. Everett.
2nd ed. New York : Routledge, 2011.
Music Library » Reference » ML128 .M78 E84 2011
Compiles selected citations of significant books, and journal/ newspaper articles on all aspects of musicals, including individual shows and persons.
Broadway musicals, 1943-2004 / John Stewart ; foreword by Hal Prince.
Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2006.
Music Library » Reference » ML102 .M88 S74 2006
Factual information for Broadway shows in meticulous detail. Lists all personnel, including understudies, replacements, revival casts, etc., and information on inception, out-of-town tryouts and post-Broadway tours, revivals, and films. Appendix includes brief entries on pre-1943 (i.e., before Oklahoma) and off-Broadway shows of significance. Indexed by song title and personnel.

Chronologies

A chronology of American musical theater / Richard C. Norton.
New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.
Music Library » Reference » ML1711.8 .N3 N67 2002 V.1
Lists productions chronologically by season from 1750 through 2000-01. Includes essential information about a work, lists musical numbers, and cast. Contains a show index. Songs and people are indexed separately.
Broadway musicals : show by show / by Stanley Green.
7th ed. / Milwaukee, Wis. : Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2011.
Music Library » Reference » ML1711 .G735 2011
Arranged chronologically, serves as a history, guide, fact book and photograph album of the most memorable productions presented both on and off Broadway from 1866-2007.
American musical theatre : a chronicle / Gerald Bordman, Richard Norton.
4th ed. Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.
Green Library » Information Center » ML1711 .B67 2011
Year-to-year account of the musical theatre from its origins-2010, with indexes of shows, songs, and people.

Histories

The musical : a concise history / Kurt Gänzl.
Boston : Northeastern University Press, c1997.
Music Library » Stacks » ML1700 .G322 1997
International in scope, “pulls together all the main strands which go to make up the history of … ‘the musical.’”
Musical! : a grand tour--the rise, glory, and fall of an American institution / Denny Martin Flinn.
New York : Schirmer Books ; London : Prentice Hall International, c1997.
Music Library » Stacks » ML1711 .F57 1997
Provides an overview of the ideas that help shape the American musical and traces its history via landmark productions.
Broadway : the American musical / Laurence Maslon ; based on the documentary film by Michael Kantor.
1st ed. New York : Bulfinch Press, c2004.
Music Library » Stacks » ML1711.8 .N3 M37 2004F
Wonderfully illustrated.
Enchanted evenings : the Broadway musical from Show boat to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber / Geoffrey Block.
2nd ed. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.
Music Library » Stacks » ML1711.8 .N3 B56 2009
Highlights 14 musicals which “pose intriguing critical, analytical, aesthetic, and political issues as well as … engage the enthusiasm of the selector” A companion website provides plot summaries, a discography and filmography, and other related material.
The Cambridge companion to the musical / edited by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird.
2nd ed. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Music Library » Stacks » ML2054 .C35 2008
Includes essays by prominent scholars which are intended to illuminate particular areas of the genre. See catalog citation for list of contents.
Off-Broadway musicals since 1919 : from Greenwich Village follies to the toxic avenger / Thomas S. Hischak.
Lanham : Scarecrow Press, 2011.
Music Library » Stacks » ML1711.8 .N3 H57 2011
Takes a critical look at 381 Off-Broadway musicals. Arranged by decade. Discusses all major works.
Musical theatre [electronic resource] : a history / John Kenrick.
Pbk. ed. New York : Continuum, 2010.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
Traces the way musical theatre's golden ages have taken it from place to place. Examines the artistic, business and social forces that helped forge new ideas and trends. Book is also available in paper edition.
Showtime : a history of the Broadway musical theater / Larry Stempel.
1st ed. New York : W.W. Norton & Co., c2010.
Music Library » Stacks » ML1711.8 .N3 S73 2010
Showtime tells the story of the kind of show we now call the Broadway musical as it changes historically in form, style, content, context, purpose and meaning.
Changed for good : a feminist history of the Broadway musical / Stacy Wolf.
Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2011.
Music Library » Stacks » ML2054 .W64 2011
Examines women in the Broadway musical and demonstrates their centrality. Asks "How have Broadway musicals contributed to a feminist performance history?"

Biographical Information

Show tunes : the songs, shows, and careers of Broadway's major composers / Steven Suskin ; with a foreword by Michael Feinstein.
Rev. and expanded 4th ed. Oxford [U.K.] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.
Music Library » Reference » ML128 .M78 S86 2010
Entries for 40 composers from the early years to the 1970s and beyond; lists all published and recorded songs related to a given show. Indexed by song title, show title, and personnel.
The world of musical comedy : the story of the American musical stage as told through the careers of its foremost composers and lyricists / Stanley Green ; photo. by Martha Swope.
4th ed., rev. and enl. San Diego, Calif. : A.S. Barnes.
Music Library » Stacks » ML1711 .G798 1980
Details the careers of selected composers and lyricists beginning in the 19th century with Victor Herbert and ending in the 1970s.
Hollywood songsters : singers who act and actors who sing : a biographical dictionary / James Robert Parish and Michael R. Pitts.
2nd ed. New York : Routledge, 2003.
Music Library » Reference » ML400 .P233 2003 V.1
Covers performers successful as both singers and film stars in American-made movies. Articles survey the singers’ careers and includes filmographies, list of plays and radio and t.v. series they participated in, and a discography.

Songs

American song : the complete musical theatre companion / Ken Bloom.
2nd ed., 1877-1995. New York : Schirmer Books ; London : Prentice Hall International, c1996.
Music Library » Reference » ML128 .M78 B6 1996 V.1
Contains data on over 4800 American musicals including personnel and songs, with extensive indexes, and a chronological list of titles. All Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway productions from 1877-1995 are included, as well as other shows.
The American musical theatre song encyclopedia / Thomas S. Hischak ; foreword by Gerald Bordman.
Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1995.
Music Library » Reference » ML102.M88 H67 A5 1995
Strives to provide details of individual songs—what kind of song it is, what it is about, its purpose in the show, who originally sang it, its history, and why it may be unique. Includes an alphabetical list of musicals with their songs, and a bibliography.
The American musical film song encyclopedia / Thomas S. Hischak.
Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1999.
Green Library » Information Center » ML102 .M68 H57 1999
Includes only songs written for, and originally heard in movie musicals. Entries explain the place of the song in the film and who sang it, and any history about the song. Includes lists of movie songs from other sources, Oscar-nominated film musicals, and film musicals. Also includes a bibliography.
The new Broadway song companion : an annotated guide to musical theatre literature by voice type and song style / David P. DeVenney.
Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2009.
Music Library » Reference » ML128 .M78 D48 2009
Designed primarily for “the singing actor”. Lists songs with their vocal ranges; indexes solos, duets, trios and other ensembles.

Web Resources

Musicals 101
"The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film," created by John Kenrick
Internet Broadway Database
IBDB archive is the official database for Broadway theatre information. IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today.
Internet Off-Broadway Database (Lortel Archives)
The Lortel Archives,(Internet Off-Broadway Database) provides a catalogue of shows produced Off-Broadway.
Broadway.com
Information on current shows; includes video clips, interviews, cast lists, theater locations.
Official London Theatre
Information on current shows; includes video clips, interviews, cast lists, theater locations.
Internet Movie Data Base
Bluegobo
Contains promo videos and other clips.
StageAgent
Provides character descriptions, story lines, audition information and more.
Musical Heaven
Information for shows including licensing agency.
Brief Guide to Internet Resources in Theater and Peformance Studies
Compiled by Ken McCoy, Professor of Communication Studies Theatre Arts at Stetson University.