Sold, Viewed, Playful, New: The Musical

Welcome to Sold, Viewed, Playful, New, where we spotlight popular/fascinating/favorite items in four distinct categories. Sold, for used books. Viewed, for DVDs or Blu-rays. Playful, for board, card, or video games. And New, for new books. Check out our selections—we're sure you'll find something to intrigue you!

This month, with Broadway opening back up we are focusing our sights on works inspired by the stage.

Sold

Broadway is opening back up again, so here are some (used and new) titles about popular shows of yesterday and yesteryear:

• Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-The-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical
• Hamilton: The Revolution
• The Story of Miss Saigon
• The Lion King: Pride Rock on Broadway
• Cats: The Book of the Musical
• On the Line: The Creation of A Chorus Line
• Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof
• All That Jazz: The Life and Times of the Musical Chicago
• In the Heights: Finding Home

Let's have some fun with the flops, too:

• Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops
• Song of Spider-Man: The Inside Story of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History

Viewed

We have theatrical DVDs and Blu-rays to keep you entertained! Let's start with award-winning director and choreographer Bob Fosse.

Bob Fosse: It's Showtime! This documentary has a pretty compelling description: "From the seedy strip clubs of Chicago to the bright lights of Hollywood, award-winning director, choreographer, and cinematographer Bob Fosse boozed, pill-popped and bed-hopped his way through life..." Sounds fun to me!

The mini-series Fosse/Verdon gives an interesting perspective of the working relationship between Bob Fosse and dancer/choreographer Gwen Verdon.

Stephen Sondheim had many movies made of his musicals. Check these out:

• Sweeney Todd
• Into the Woods
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (based on the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus)
• Gypsy
• West Side Story

Here are some other notable musicals made into movies (or just plain musical movies):

• The Producers
• Cabaret
• Chicago
• All That Jazz
• Les Misérables
• Mamma Mia
• Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
• Nine
• Aladdin
• Beauty and the Beast
• Jersey Boys
• Grease
• Mary Poppins
• The Phantom of the Opera

Playful

If we're talking music and dance, then look no further than Just Dance 2021! This is a video game franchise that's been around for more than a decade. Featuring popular tracks from the hottest artists, get your groove on, turn a foot, or just get moving with this established favorite!

New

And now for new books. Speaking of Stephen Sondheim, here's a biography that's worth a gander.

Sondheim wrote the lyrics to West Side Story, and here are a few titles about that musical you might find interesting:

• The Making of West Side Story
• The novelization of West Side Story

Here's a reminiscence of helping create Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George.

• Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George

Learn about luminaries of musical and dance theatre (both New and Used titles):

• All His Jazz: The Life and Death of Bob Fosse
• Unmasked: A Memoir by Andrew Lloyd Webber
• As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin
• Leonard Bernstein
• Carol Channing: Just Lucky I Guess, A Memoir of Sorts
• Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy by Misty Copeland
• George Balanchine: The Ballet Maker
• Alvin Ailey: A Life in Dance
• Footnotes: A Memoir by Tommy Tune
• Kurt Weill's America
• Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance
• Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution
• Gilbert and Sullivan's London
• The Art of Mark Ryden's Whipped Cream: For the American Ballet Theatre

Read more by Terry Fleming