Music & Performing Arts: Exhibits and Displays: Dames at Sea

"Original cast recording" featuring David Christmas and Bernadette Peters, with orchestra; Richard J. Leonard, conductor.
Program notes by David Roggensack on container.

Cagney stars as Chester Kent, a diligent musical comedy director who is continually warding off snoopers hired by his competitors to steal his ideas. When his latest show is cancelled in favor of a talking picture, he turns to staging musical prologues to play before the features in moviehouses.

Set during the depression, this is the granddaddy of backstage musicals in which the understudy finally gets a chance to shine.

All the songs from the song and dance fable of Broadway.

Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler play two young hopefuls struggling to make it on Broadway. Even falling in love has its hardships, as Powell's high-brow Eastern family is determined to break them (and the show) up. More complications set in when his brother falls for Keeler's wise-cracking roommate.

Our deluxe vocal selections book features a stunning 8-page section of full-color photos from the Broadway production, and voice line with piano accompaniment arrangements of 19 fantastic songs.

13 great songs from the Kander & Ebb musical comedy/backstage murder mystery.

Written by one of American theater's most avid and knowledgeable proponents, "No Legs, No Jokes, No Chance" traces the American musical from its rich and varied beginnings in European opera, American minstrel shows, and vaudeville through its many permutations to its current state

Musical theatre roles require the ability to adapt to a panoply of characters and vocal styles. By breaking down these styles and exploring the output of the great composers, Songwriters of the American Musical Theatre offers singers and performers an essential guide to the modern musical.

Fearlessly Different: An Autistic Actor's Journey to Broadway's Biggest Stage is Mickey Rowe's story of growing up autistic and pushing beyond the restrictions of a special education classroom to shine on the stage.

Scratch an actor introduces the reader to a theatrical family of larger than life characters called the Milmans. Ned Sherrin has a way with wit honed by years of presenting the radio show Loose Ends that is reflected in the Milman's banter.

Paul Gurney is a struggling civilian clerk working the desk at a major New York homicide precinct who runs a department newsletter, The Homicider, that covers the goings-on at the precinct, dispenses advice, and disseminates interoffice gossip. But Gurney is newly divorced and dissatisfied, and abruptly decides to retire from the force, not knowing exactly what he'll do next. When he meets a shady Broadway impresario who wants to create a stage musical from his newsletter, he soon finds himself plunging headlong into the world of actors, agents, singers, songwriters, hacks, hams, and con artists.

A successful theater director in New York, Leigh Majors has worked hard to become more than just the daughter of the famous Bridie Hart. But Leigh's orderly world is turned upside down when she receives a very special birthday gift from her husband: a Broadway-ready play entitled Women in Hats . . . and her overbearing mother demands to play the starring role.

Dance Me a Song traces the history of famous Hollywood collaborations as the palimpsest of dance, film, and musical techniques were developed over time.

In this lively, nuanced, and provocative reassessment of the mgm musical, Steven Cohan argues that the seeming incongruity between the camp value and popular appreciation of these musicals is not as contradictory as it seems. He demonstrates that the films' extravagance and queerness were deliberate elements and keys to their popular success.