The Secret Life of the American Musical

How Broadway Shows Are Built

By: Jack Viertel

Narrated by: David Pittu

Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

For almost a century, Americans have been losing their hearts and losing their minds in an insatiable love affair with the American musical. It often begins in actors and reaches its passionate zenith when it comes time for love, marriage, and children, who will start the cycle all over again. Americans love musicals. Americans invented musicals. Americans perfected musicals. But what, exactly, is a musical?

In The Secret Life of the American Musical, Jack Viertel takes musicals apart, puts them back together, sings their praises, marvels at their unflagging inventiveness, and occasionally despairs over their more embarrassing shortcomings. In the process, he invites us to fall in love all over again by showing us how musicals happen, what makes them work, how they captivate audiences, and how one landmark show leads to the next - by design or by accident, by emulation or by rebellion - from Oklahoma! to Hamilton and onward.

©2016 Jack Viertel (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An enlightening trip for lovers of musicals." ( Kirkus)

An Informative Lecture

An enjoyable informative look at the American Musical, I will use some of the ideas with my own students.

What a delight to read!

If you’ve ever wondered how Broadway hits are made - “The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built” by Jack Vierte is a must read. Producer and Musical Historian Jack Viertel deconstructs some of the theater’s greatest musicals to show what elements made them so successful.

He uses iconic shows such as “Gypsy”, “Guys and Dolls”, “My Fair Lady”, “Hairspray”, “Follies”, “The Book of Mormon”, West Side Story” and “South Pacific” (to name just a few) to explain and explore the patterns underlying much of musical theater.

If you are a musical theatre fan this will be a trip to Disneyland for you. I finished this book in 2 days and I LOVED every single “behind the scenes” minute of it!

Read this book!

So detailed

This book is packed with details about what makes a good musical and talks about specific aspects of many of the most famous musicals. Very valuable for anybody aspiring to write a musical. Also will help you appreciate the musicals you have seen or will see.

I wish my theater degree had included a course taught by him!

Jack Viertel does a masteful job of laying out (replete with examples) the way a Broadway Musical is constructed and how that construction has changed over time. The only possible improvement would have been to include cuts from the actual recordings where he reads the lyrics. NOW I have to go watch ALL these shows again and see them in this new light!

Just finished this book and plan to go back and order some CDs based on the author's recommendations.

I recommend this book to anyone who sees new or revivals of Broadway musicals. I missed many lines of dialog in some shows and I want to hear them again in the next revival. It has added to my thirst to see and listen classics again.

A Treat for Lovers of the Broadway Musical

For lovers of the Broadway musical, this is a great big birthday cake of a book. Jack Viertel, a veteran producer who is also director of City Center's celebrated Encores! series, examines each part of a well-constructed musical from the overture to the finale, each in a separate chapter. He gives detailed examples of how these elements were made to work in the most successful musicals (and how they failed to work in a few unsuccessful ones), showing us how very difficult it is to put together a show that really works.

While his heart is with the great classic shows that he grew up with—he was born in 1949—he is open-minded enough to be able to recognize the merits of more modern successes like Hamilton, even when they break the rules. Even if you've heard some of the stories he tells before (I have), the book is still a hugely enjoyable tour of the Broadway musical as a form.

Brilliant

Such a wonderful pass at the truest of American art forms. Jack takes a stance and delivers. Bravo!

Reminded Me of How Much I Love Musicals

Would you consider the audio edition of The Secret Life of the American Musical to be better than the print version?

The reader comes close to actually performing some of the music, which is something I couldn't do reading the lyrics.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Stephen Sondheim -- always brilliant!

What does David Pittu bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A love of the material that never flags. A wonderful reading.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No -- like a box of chocolates, it should be read slowly, and savored.

Any additional comments?

A sequel would be terrific -- Secrets of the British Musical perhaps...

Musicals make so much more sense

I've loved musicals almost my entire life. and I studied theatre but that was about plays, and how to construct and perform a play. this really is a look at American musicals. you get all the information of a textbook, but the style and performance make sure to keep thing casual. He goes from Oklahoma to Hamilton and shows how even if musicals are different genres, different musical styles, from different decades, and made for different purposes, they still have the same bones. so insightful and entertaining. I now have a list of shows that I can't wait to see after hearing the method to their madness

In love with the American Musical

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! This is one of the most engaging and thoughtful audio books I have ever listened to.

What did you like best about this story?

Viertel is an insider whose love of the American musical is exceeded, perhaps, only by his vibrant insights and encyclopedic knowledge. The book is like a musical itself, with the chapters taking us from the overture to the 11 o'clock number--a perfect synchronization of content and form.

What does David Pittu bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator channels Viertel's love and enthusiasm for the material and he is clearly familiar enough with the numerous song lyrics quoted in each chapter so that his reading maintains the rhythm and integrity of the lyrics. First rate job.

Any additional comments?

If you love the musical theatre, as I do, listen to this book and will come away loving it even more.