Overview

First published in 1984, Gerald Bordman's Oxford Companion to American Theatre is the standard one-volume source on our national theatre. Critics have hailed its ""wealth of authoritative information"" (Back Stage), its ""fascinating picture of the volatile American stage"" (The Guardian), and its ""well-chosen, illuminating facts"" (Newsday). Now thoroughly revised, this distinguished volume once again provides an up-to-date guide to the American stage from its beginnings to the present. Completely updated by theater professor Thomas Hischak, the volume includes playwrights, plays, actors, directors, producers, songwriters, famous playhouses, dramatic movements, and much more. The book covers not only classic works (such as Death of a Salesman) but also many commercially successful plays (such as Getting Gertie's Garter), plus entries on foreign figures that have influenced our dramatic development (from Shakespeare to Beckett and Pinter). New entries include recent plays such as Angels in America and Six Degrees of Separation, performers such as Eric Bogosian and Bill Irwin, playwrights like David Henry Hwang and Wendy Wasserstein, and relevant developments and issues including AIDS in American theatre, theatrical producing by Disney, and the rise in solo performance. Accessible and authoritative, this valuable A-Z reference is ideal not only for students and scholars of theater, but everyone with a passion for the stage.

Full Product Details

9780195169867

Table of Contents

Reviews

With its enviable scope and clarity, and standards as high as any in works from this publisher, this work well earns the series title companion . Reference Reviews

Like a well-crafted revival of a beloved play, this new edition of a favorite reference book retains the flavor of the original production while significantly updating its content.... There is more variety here than on a vaudeville bill: Hair and Hairspray; Urinetown and Uncle Tom's Cabin; and Tony 'n Tina's Wedding and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife are among the plays represented. Articles on individual theater atists often mention a biography or autobiography, a welcome enhancement to a ready-reference source such as this.... The volume is recommended for all public and academic libraries and would be useful in high-school libraries with theater and drama collections. --Booklist If you want to get a really nice gift for someone who likes theater - maybe yourself - you might think about the latest edition of The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Since it came out in 1984, the Oxford Companion has been a standard source of information about theater in this country. One of the things I like best about the Oxford Companion is its readability. Print and page layouts are comfortable. The language is lucid, and it invites browsing. --Syracuse Post Standard In this new edition of the well-known A-to-Z reference work, Hischak extensively updates and revises Bordmans previous works (Oxford, 1984, 1992; o.p.). Besides the necessary additions and deletions of plays and people, this volume provides several articles on relevant topics, such as Performance Art and AIDS and the American Theatre. --School Library Journal

[The] perfect gift book for both the student and the theatre lover.

Author Information

Gerald Bordman is the author of many books, including American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle, Jerome Kern: His Life and Music, and Days to be Happy, Years to be Sad: The Life and Music of Vincent Youmans. Thomas S. Hischak is a playwright, professor of theatre at SUNY Cortland, and author of award-winning books on theater including The American Musical Theatre Song Encyclopedia, Stage It With Music: An Encyclopedic Guide to the American Musical Theatre, and Word Crazy: Broadway Lyricists from Cohan to Sondheim.

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