A Year with the Producers - Softcover

Denman, Jeffry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0878301542 ISBN 13: 9780878301546

Publisher: Routledge, 2002

Synopsis

A behind-the-scenes story with more than a touch of theatrical magic about it, A Year with The Producers is a book for actors and theater fans everywhere.

About this title

About the Author:

Buffalo-born Jeffry Denman, currently in The Producers, has also appeared in the Broadway revival of How to Succeed, the Johnny Mercer musical Dream, as Munkustrap in Cats, and on PBS's Great Performances My Favorite Broadway. He has also choreographed Naked Boys Singing! and is developing his own show, Dancing in the Dark, for New York.

From Publishers Weekly:

In the summer of 2000, Denman, an actor in New York for eight years, set his heart on appearing in Brooks's much-hyped musical, ignoring New York Post gossip writer Michael Riedel's acerbic comment that it "[h]as all the makings of a floperoo." Here, Denman offers a candid one-year diary of his experiences as singer, dancer and understudy in the production. His style is breezy and refreshingly honest, charting each step from audition to opening night. Winning over director Susan Stroman was the first challenge, and Denman describes achieving the prayed-for callback through intense mental focus that convinces director, composer and author that you're exactly what they've been looking for. The first day of rehearsal establishes a caste system, during which principals frequently ignore those who don't have speaking lines. Dramatizing the confining nature of a Broadway commitment, he asks Stroman for one day off to do an important career-enhancing performance and is flatly denied permission. Tensions mount after a main actor loses his voice and a pre-Broadway Chicago run reveals serious problems. Denman vividly recounts the terror of opening night in New York, and readers share his later triumph when he goes on for star Matthew Broderick and scores a hit. Affectionate biographies of Broderick, Stroman, Nathan Lane, librettist Tom Meehan and Mel Brooks round out the book. Denman's emotional narrative maintains suspense and sufficiently informs, making this a textbook for anyone seeking a theatrical career and yearning "[t]o change, alter, enhance, deepen, and magnify the hearts of people who sit there watching." B&w photos. Even those lacking showbiz aspirations will enjoy this book; it has a strong inspirational angle.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0878301542
• ISBN 13: 9780878301546
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192