Author Description
Fascinating, never-before-published interviews with Broadway's leading men offer behind-the-scenes looks at the careers of some of the most beloved perfomers today.In A Wonderful Guy, a follow up to Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater, theatre journalist Eddie Shapiro sits down for intimate, career-encompassing conversations with nineteen of Broadway's most prolific and fascinating leading men. Full of detailed stories and reflections, his conversations with such luminaries as Joel Grey, Ben Vereen, Norm Lewis, Gavin Creel, Cheyenne Jackson, Jonathan Groff and a host of others dig deep into each actor's career; together, these chapters tell the story of what it means to be a leading man on Broadway over the past fifty years.Alan Cumming described Nothing Like a Dame, as "an encyclopedia of modern musical theatre via a series of tender meetings between a diehard fan and his idols. Because of Eddie Shapiro's utter guilelessness, these women open up and reveal more than they ever have before, and we get to be the third guest at each encounter." A Wonderful Guy brings more fly-on-the-wall opportunities for fans to savour, students to study, and even the unindoctrinated to understand the life of the performing artist.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates the professional experiences and personal trajectories of nineteen prominent Broadway leading men to define the evolution of the male musical theater performer over the last half-century. Author Eddie Shapiro, a seasoned theater journalist, utilizes a series of structured, career-encompassing interviews to document the realities of life on the stage. By focusing on the specific challenges and triumphs of his subjects, Shapiro constructs a comprehensive oral history that highlights the technical and artistic demands of the profession.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Career-spanning interviews with nineteen Broadway leading men including Joel Grey, Ben Vereen, and Jonathan Groff.
- Detailed reflections on the changing landscape of musical theater production since the 1970s.
- First-hand accounts of audition processes, role preparation, and the physical demands of long-running shows.
Scope Limits
- The text does not provide a technical manual for acting or vocal training.
- It does not offer a comprehensive history of every Broadway production mentioned by the subjects.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Critics and theater historians frequently cite this work as a valuable primary source for understanding the modern Broadway ecosystem. Readers often note the conversational yet informative nature of the prose, which balances technical industry insight with personal narrative.
Page Count:
368
Publication Date:
2021-05-03
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190929898
ISBN-13:
9780190929893
Biography
Non-Fiction
Theater
Interviews
Broadway