Little Musicals for Little Theatres - Book Review
Publisher: Limelight Editions
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 0879103213
My advice: A must have for producers of shows in small theatres!
Okay, so you’ve got a smaller theatre with a limited budget and you want to do something to help raise your revenues at the box office. Signups or club membership are currently closed. Please check back later.
Wait, you’re also looking for a smaller-scale, lower budget musical to help with that? Once memberships reopen, you will also have the option to buy a club jacket.
Seriously, that’s the one common denominator for all small theatres throughout the country. They are all looking for the perfect show to help them make a lot of money without having to spend a lot of money in the process. Mr. Flinn has written a great book that will help some theatres widen their search for “new” musicals to produce. And, it’s the best under $20, tax-deductible purchase you will make.
After a brief prologue, Mr. Flinn doesn’t waste any time getting into the list of shows, which he divides into three categories: Book Musicals, Themed Revues and Composer/Lyricist Revues. Each listing for a show contains all of the surface information that you will need to help you narrow your search for the perfect show for your company:
- Author, Composer and Lyricist information
- Background info for the show
- Setting
- Brief summary of the plot
- Original Production information (including the original director and cast)
- Musical Numbers (broken down by Act)
- Licensing information
Then, Mr. Flinn provides his editorial comments about the show in the form of a short discussion of the difficulties and advantages of producing this show. The book is as elegant as it is efficient.
After the list of the shows, there is a contact list of the Licensing companies and Writer’s Guilds to allow you to get in touch with the creators of the show.
This book should be on the shelf of any Artistic Director of any small theatre company (or educational theatre) in the country. It’s a great resource to help make season selections a little bit easier.