The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer
By Johnny Mercer, Robert Kimball, Barry Day, Miles Kreuger and Eric Davis
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: October 20, 2009
List price: $65 hardcover; 488 pages

The many moods of master lyricist Johnny Mercer live in the pages of this exhaustive compilation, the seventh volume in Knopf's Complete Lyrics series. It's all here — from the romantically wistful "Moon River" (music by Henry Mancini) and "Skylark" (music by Hoagy Carmichael) to the velvety sensuality of "That Old Black Magic" (music by Harold Arlen) to the wide-eyed optimism of "Accentuate the Positive" (music by Harold Arlen), love-struck naivetι of "Jeepers Creepers (music by Harry Warren) and jazzy elegance of "Satin Doll" (music by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington) — more than 1,200 of his lyrics, many of which have never been published before. Mercer's career spanned more than four decades and though some of that time was devoted to Broadway (with original musicals such as St. Louis Woman, Top Banana and Li'l Abner), his greatest work was done in Hollywood, where he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song 18 times, and won four — for his lyrics to "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe (music by Warren), "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" (music by Carmichael), and "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses" (music for both by Mancini). It's probably a pretty safe bet that at least a couple of generations have fallen in love to the sound of Mercer's music as, indeed, there was music in his words — words that, according to the publisher "have never gone out of fashion . . . and elevated the popular song into art."

Free for All: Joe Papp, the Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told
By Kenneth Turan and Joseph Papp
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: November 3, 2009
List price: 39.955 hardcover; 608 pages, illustrated

The story of two of New York City's most enduring theatrical institutions, the New York Shakespeare Festival and the Public Theater, and founder Joseph Papp, the larger-than-life figure under whose leadership they flourished, is told in this new oral history by Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan. Turan, notes the publisher, interviewed luminaries — "including George C. Scott, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols, Kevin Kline, James Earl Jones, David Rabe, Jerry Stiller, Tommy Lee Jones, and Wallace Shawn" — and Papp himself, to fashion a portrait of the man as a fighter and a visionary. As Colleen Dewhurst says in the book, ". . . no person or organization can intimidate him. They can do whatever they want, but they better not hurt anything he wants and believes in, because he will fight and fight and fight." Papp's fighting spirit was nurtured in his youth, and his stories of growing up in a poor, Jewish home in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn give one insight into his character and drive. "Poverty," he says in one of the interviews in the book, "with good family support doesn't have to be that destroying. In fact, it could make you stronger." The other key element that affected him more than poverty, he says, was "anti-Semitism. I always feel it's just below the surface: scratch in some way and a lot of it will come out. I feel, 'Don't get too comfortable. You're a Jew and your fortunes can change tomorrow.' That makes me fight for things, for any aspect of minority rights, black, Hispanic, and so on. To me, intolerance is a greater threat than poverty." Among Papp's most successful battles was the one fought with NYC's master urban planner Robert Moses to claim the space in Central Park for his Shakespeare in the Park amphitheatre. The book is not without the criticism that a definite personality like Papp elicited, but the ultimate portrait is one of great creativity and achievement.

Lights on Broadway: A Theatrical Tour from A to Z
By Harriet Ziefert; Illustrated by Elliot Kreloff
Published by: Blue Apple Books
Publication Date: November 2009
List price: $19.99 hardcover with CD; 48 pages; illustrated

Everything a four-to-eight-year-old reader ever wanted to know about the theatre comes to life in the pages of a delightful new book that introduces them to the magical world of the stage. With an Introduction by Tony Award winner and president of The Actors Fund Brian Stokes Mitchell, the book features quotes from a number of famous Broadway folk, including Kevin Kline, Nathan Lane, Stephen Sondheim, Whoopi Goldberg and others. As the title suggests, there are entries for each letter of the alphabet — "A" for actor, audience, audition and applause; "S" for stage, scenery, script and set; and so forth — that provide an overview of various elements that go into a production. Adding to the entertainment are vibrant illustrations and a bonus CD, "I Was Here" by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, performed by Brian Stokes Mitchell. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to The Actors Fund. Continued...