Thomas Hischak’s musical theatre history book looks at the ‘Best of Broadway’ from 1891 to 2023 through the songs that were the most outstanding within each season.
Whether these are songs that endure from musicals lost to time or classic tunes from shows firmly in the revival circuit, Hischak’s perspective on the names, audiences, and trends of the time is fresh and exciting.
You can read in a chronological way, or dip in at any point as every chapter has a similar structure about the season as a whole, the song in question and any interesting nuggets about it, plus a round-up of other significant songs from the same time.
Song of the Season follows trends and highlights fashions while spending as much time on the less familiar composers as those who remain household names.
Recorded versions and performers are spotlighted, and stage hits and misses of the time discussed. You might find yourself, as I did, seeking out versions of each song as you go along or reading up on the shadowy figures who composed or introduced them.
This is written in a very accessible style so should appeal to those who simply like the songs as well as music and period historians, and musical theatre fans. You may find the paperback at £24.99 the best option to purchase.
If statistics are your thing, you will find details of performance runs, off-Broadway appearances, or lyric revisions. You won’t find sheet music or lyrics in this book, but enough information to track them down, plus a bibliography and indexes of song titles and titles/names.
Intriguingly, Hischak has clearly researched each song in depth to locate them in the most obscure of films, which opens another line of enquiry and enjoyment.
Song of the Season is a text-heavy book and a mine of information. For musicians, a focus on phrases and notes and timing will be instructive, and the discussion of performers throughout gives us a new perspective on how they interpret a song.
This is a book to add to your musical theatre education, which will take you along a path of discovery.
Song of the Season is published by Bloomsbury and available in a variety of formats now.