A Must See!: Brilliant Broadway Artwork - Softcover

Suskin, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0811842177 ISBN 13: 9780811842174

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2004

Synopsis

Curtain up! A Must See! proudly presents a visual feast of Broadway ballyhoo. For this compendium of graphic design excellence, theatre historian Steven Suskin combed through rare archives to bring us more than fifty years of plays and 175 compelling pieces of Broadway art. Dazzling shows and their glittering stars spill off the pages in artwork from top illustrators of the day, such as Al Hirshfeld, William Steig, Peter Arno, Alberto Vargas, and even Norman Rockwell. Covering every genre, A Must See! includes great hits (Oklahoma!, A Streetcar Named Desire), ignominious flops (Kelly, Carrie), and assorted delights in between. Throughout, Suskin peppers the text with insider information and juicy asides. Much of this material hasn't been seen since the shows closed eons ago, making A Must See! a bonanza of a browsebook -- shining with well-loved classics and surprising oddities from the beloved world of Broadway.

About this title

About the Author:

Steven Suskin is a longtime theatrical manager and producer. He has written extensively about theatre and music and lives in New York City.

From Booklist:

When is a coffee-table book more than a coffee-table book? When it is as beautiful and intelligent as Suskin's collection of more than 200 posters documenting 60-plus years of Broadway history. The research that went into assembling the book is impressive all by itself, for here are dozens of rare posters, hawking obscure (Coquette, Come of Age) and famous (My Fair Lady, Pal Joey) shows alike. As fascinating are the pages Suskin devotes to illustrating the changes producers made in posters for such shows as Fiddler on the Roof, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Golden Boy in attempts to attract larger audiences. Each of the book's six sections focuses on a different facet of Broadway: the hit shows, the bombs, the comedies, the stars, and so forth. A general essay introduces each gallery of posters, and a short, sweet caption accompanies each poster. A rich source of information not easily obtained elsewhere, the book will valuably augment any theater collection. Jack Helbig
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0811842177
• ISBN 13: 9780811842174
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144