Quarantine has been weird for all of us, right? I feel like I’ve revisited and tried so many hobbies this year to fill my extra time. I’ve gotten into learning more about theatre history and the theatre world beyond just loving the stories on stage during the shut down. While it’s shut down, I might as well catch up.
Funny enough, this actually started with a TikTok (another hobby I have seemed to pick up during quarantine). My very niche taste in musical theatre marketing led me to finding Jenna (@jennaonstage), who previously has worked in marketing on Broadway. She recommended some books for people interested in reading more about the industry. Based on her recommendation, I picked up a couple, including The Secret Life of the American Musical by Jack Viertel.
Since theatre is shut down for the time being, I wanted to share some of the books I’ve been reading to learn more about the industry, since I am not a performer. I don’t want to call this a “review” but I do want to discuss books that relate to the industry and pass on the knowledge of the book to someone else, like it was in a way recommended to me.
I will preface this by saying that because I work in PR and am more interested in the marketing side of performing arts, I don’t have a lot of technical background in theatre. Part of the reason I wanted to pick this book up was to get a better understanding of how shows are written. As a marketer you have to understand the product you’re selling, so what better way than to understand how you make a show appeal to an audience?
The Secret Life of the American Musical by Jack Viertel
Essentially this book breaks down the structure of a musical by dissecting the average musical number by number. The book itself is written in the structure of a musical from start to finish, using a number for each chapter. Each chapter of the book breaks down the type of numbers in a musical and their placement in the show, and the reasoning for putting this number in this place in the show. Viertel gives specific examples throughout of numbers from familiar shows for readers to understand his points throughout.
Now this book might be a bit elementary for someone who has a background in theatre, but as someone who does not, but does have background in storytelling, this book was compelling to me. I found it fund as each number was broken down to think about some of my own favorite musicals and realize they are structured that way intentionally.
For example, many people are very familiar with the “I want” song, which is the number we hear referred to in this way pretty commonly that illustrates what the protagonist’s goal, or want, is in the show. It wasn’t until reading through this book that I realized there is a lot more strategy to placing numbers in musical. For example, when do you introduce the romantic pairing in a show? How do you keep the audience engaged after a softer slower number? All of this I had never really considered in this way before, and this made me realize there is a method to the madness, even if it doesn’t seem to be.
Viertel also uses classic and modern examples and sets of lyrics to help illustrate his points throughout the book.
He cleanly explains what the number is, why it is placed where it is in the musical, and then gives examples of numbers from various musicals that illustrate the type of song. It’s a very easy and enjoyable read. I also liked the comparisons of numbers because it sort of shows how theatre is cyclacle and how two shows we don’t even think of as similar can have more in common than we think.
Final Thoughts
I picked up this book as I’ve been getting deeper into audience engagement and marketing in theatre and the arts. I figured it would help me understand the “product” of a Broadway show and how storytelling engages an audience, and I got exactly that out of it. I would definitely recommend if you’re considering arts marketing, or jumping into the administrative side of Broadway or any other arts field.
Overall a very simple read and I was really impressed by how much was packed into this book.
I currently have a small theatre reading list, but let me know if you have any suggestions in the comments!
The Broadway Edit 