THE BOOK SHELF: Peter Neufeld's "For the Good of the Show," John Fricke's "Judy," Plus Good People and 13

By Steven Suskin
25 Sep 2011

Cover art for "Good People"

In the playscript department come two new items. "Good People" by David Lindsay-Abaire [Theatre Communications Group] is intelligent and provocative, and makes for excellent reading. (I'd wager it's more effective if you happen to have Frances McDormand around to speak Margie's lines to you.) The Manhattan Theatre Club production had a strong subscription run at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre last spring; if scheduling problems had not intruded, I expect it would still be packing them in just now. Ms. McDormand won herself a Tony Award, and Good People won the 2011 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. (I did not vote for it myself, as it happens, but that's another discussion.)

The newest entry to the Applause Libretto Library is "13: The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Broadway Musical" by Jason Robert Brown, Dan Elish and Robert Horn. This teenaged musical had a rough time of it in 2008 on Broadway, where it seemed somewhat out of place, but it has had a happier afterlife on the stock and amateur circuit.

*

Sheet music for Catch Me If You Can

On the sheet music front, Alfred Publications has brought us several new folios, headed by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's Catch Me If You Can. The spring musical, which recently closed after a disappointing run, has plenty to recommend it. The Wizard of Oz: Andrew Lloyd Webber's New Stage Production also has plenty to recommend it, including old favorites like "Over the Rainbow," "If I Only Had a Brain" and more. Along with the songs by the great Harold Arlen and the great Yip Harburg, this new Oz includes seven by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. On a single playthrough, I expect that the Arlen-Harburg songs will outlast the others. An unexpected arrival comes in the form of songs from the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill animated television special Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. Unexpected, yes; I never thought we'd find this score in print. Styne and Merrill were sitting on their heels waiting for their Fanny Brice musical to go into production at the time they wrote this opus. And no, the seven selections in the folio don't sound anything like Funny Girl.

Cover art for "The William Finn Songbook"

I've had the most fun with The William Finn Songbook, which contains "23 songs hand-picked by the composer himself." And what a list! "All Fall Down," "And They're Off," "Anytime (I Am There)," "I'd Rather Be Sailing," "Love Me for What I Am," "That's Enough for Me," "Unlikely Lovers." Plus, as they say, many many more. "I try to write big, bravura (even messy) songs, that are often funny and serious at the same time. . . if it's a choice between a quiet lovely lyric and a raucous, hilarious one, I'll often choose the latter, even when I shouldn't." This from Finn, in his foreword. What more can I say?, to quote the title of another favorite of Finns and mine.

(Steven Suskin is author of the recently released updated and expanded Fourth Edition of "Show Tunes" as well as "The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations," "Second Act Trouble" and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He also pens Playbill.com's On the Record and DVD Shelf columns. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.)

*

Passionate about theatre books? See what the Playbill Store has on its shelves.