The Cambridge Companion to the Musical. Edited by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002; pp. xvii + 310 + 18 illus. $65 cloth, $23 paper; Boy Loses Girl: Broadway's Librettists. By Thomas S. Hischak. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2002; pp. x + 277. $39.95 cloth.

Extract

“Those who created this book, and many of its readers, think of the musical as art,” write Everett and Laird in their preface to The Cambridge Companion to the Musical (xv). Indeed, many of us who study or teach musical theatre feel the need to defend it as a viable artistic form worthy of scholarly examination. Both of these books demonstrate the musical's importance in cultural history and amply illustrate the artistry of its production.