Movie & TV Musicals Books

FUNNY LADY: The Sparkling Story of a Show Business Legend (Movie novelization)
by Leonore Fleischer. Based on the screenplay by Jay Presson Allen & Arnold Schulman. Condition: Good only, 1975 Bantam paperback, first printing. Pale spine crease with pprominent hinge crease. Back cover is clipped and the Steisand photo obscured due to rubbings from something being stuck to it and then removed. Interior is clean and tight with a great color movie stills section. Content: This book is based on the movie - the follow-up to Funny Girl. 1930s in New York. The famous singer Fanny Brice has divorced her first husband Nicky Arnstein. During the depression she has trouble finding work as an artist but meets Billy Rose, a newcomer who writes lyrics and owns his own nightclub. The 1975 movie was directed by Herbert Ross and starred Streisand, James Caan, Roddy McDowell, Ben Vereen, and Omar Sharif. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 2.50 + $ 2.94 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Original Play)
by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Intro by Gelbart. B&W photos and drawings. Condition: NEW 991 Applause Trade Paperback, first printing. Very pale shelf wear diagonal crease bottom front cover corner. Great B&W photos of the original Broadway cast, the revival cast, and the movie cast. Color photo of Walton's original Broadway set. Content: Reviewer: ""Forum" is one of those rare musical comedies...one of those we hardly ever stuble across. "Forum" is actually funny. And I don't just mean "haha" funny. I mean roll in the aisles and laugh until it hurts funny. The jokes just never stop coming-even during the musical numbers! Here, one can see the springboard for three Tony award winning broadway productions: the script. This is the foundation of "Forum's" comic genius, with a combination of low-brow vaudeville and high-brow wordplay. Comedy in this show hits you at every level in every direction! The best part is that several songs cut from the show are included in an appendix. There is also a great introduction that explains that long and rough journey "Forum" took before it became a huge hit." Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 8.50 + $ 3.09 media shipping. International shipping available on arrangement.

GREASE )Movie novelization)
by Ron De Christoford. Based on the screenplay by Bonte Woodard. Based on original musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Movie still cover. B&W movie stills section. Condition: Gently pre-read, IF at all, 1978 Pocket original paperback, special Book Club Edition. Light edgewear with hinge crease. Light tanning to page edges. Content: Everyone knows the story of Grease and who was in the movie - so I won't carry on. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 5.50 + $ 2.94 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICAL: A Picture Quiz Book
by Stanley Appelbaum. 215 B&W movie stills from Culver Pictures, Inc. Condition: UNREAD 1974 Dover large soft cover, no printing given. Light edgewear. Content: Although this is framed as a "quiz book," it is really an opportunity to show some of the great B&W movie stills from early Hollywood's grand-scale musicals, i.e., Busy Berkeley numbers. Neat! Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 4.50 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

KISMET; A Musical Arabian Night (The Play)
by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis. Based on the play by Edward Knoblock. Music & Lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forest. B&W theatre stills. Condition: Gently pre-read 1954 Random House hardcovre (no DJ0, no printing given. The boards show tanning to the edges but not to the interior pages. The title page (see the photo) was loose but doesn't appear to have ever been firmly in place as no other pages are loose. Content: Like a tale spun by Schehrazade, Kismet follows the remarkable and repeated changes of fortune that engulf a poor poet. It all happens in one incredible day when Kismet (Fate) takes a hand. The musical starred Alfred Drake, Doretta Morrow, Richard Kiley, and Florence Lessing. There was a 1944 movie of the same title but paled in comparison to the 1955 movie musical directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring the late Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, Dolores Gray, Monty Woolley, Sebastian Cabot, Jack Elam (really?), and Jay C. Flippen, Wonderful! Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 5.59 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
by Gaston Leroux. Condition: UNREAD 1995 Barnes & Noble hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), 5th printing. Content: This is Leroux's famous gothic novel of intrigue and romance beneath the Paris Opera House. It tells, of course, of the beautiful opera singer Christine and the choice she must make between the disfigured Phantom, who taught her her craft, and the Viscount she has long loved. There have been dozens of movie incarnations of the Phantom, including a silent version with the great Lon Chaney, but the most recent is the movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster stage musical. The 2005 movie was directed by Joel Schumacher and starred Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, and Minnie Driver. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.29 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION (DVD)
directed by Robert Altman. Condition: Purchased new from Blockbuster and viewed once. Condition: excellent. Content: The movie is a celebrity version of Garrison Keillor's radio show. It adds a slight story of the radio show ending as a new owner (Tommy Lee Jones) has bought the Fitzgerald theater that the show broadcasts from and is going to tear it down. Another fantasy element is thrown in as an angel (Virginia Madsen) stalks the theater to take one of the performers. Keillor plays the lead character coincidentally called GK. Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep play the singing Johnson Sisters with Lindsay Lohan as a suicide-obsessed daughter of Streep. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are hilarious as the slightly off-color singing cowboy duo Dusty & Lefty. Kevin Kline is a security guard who tells the story. Maya Rudolph also appears as a pregnant stage coordinator. Contains some mild sexually-oriented jokes. DVD Features:Available Subtitles: SpanishAvailable. Commentary by director Robert Altman and actor Kevin Kline. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.29 + $ 3.09 first class shipping.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Pop-Up Book)
text by Rogers & Hammerstein and Lindsay & Crouse. Adapted by Bert Fink. Lovely color illustratins by Dan Andreasen. Paper engineering by Bruce Foster. Condition: NEW (shrink-wrapped) 2009 Little Simon hardcover (pictorial boards - no DJ issued), no printing given. Shrink-wrapped. Remainder. Content: The beloved tale of Maria and the von Trapp family comes to life in this spectacular pop-up format! From the peaceful abbey to the breathtaking Austrian Alps, this masterpiece is sure to enchant young and old readers alike. The stunning keepsake also includes mini-pops on each page featuring classic song lyrics from The Sound of Music, making this the perfect addition to any family's library. [1 copy available]
$ 11.50 + $ 3.39 media shipping.

STAYING ALIVE (Movie Novelization)
by Leonore Fleischer. Screenplay by Sylvester Stallone & Normal Wexler. B&W movie stills section. Travolta cover. Condition: UNREAD 1983 Pocket paperback, first printing. Light tanning to page edges. Content: Tony Manero tries to make it as a professional dancer on Broadway in this sequel to Saturday Night Fever. Stallone makes a cameo appearance. This 1983 movie was directed by Stallone and starred John Travolta, Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes, and Steve Inwood. Dance numbers are great, IMHO. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 12.29 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT III [DVD]
by Warner Brothers. Movie stills both covers. Condition: First Class Shipping / NEW (shrink-wrapped, security tape) 2004 Warner Brothers DVD release of the 1994 movie. Content: Some of the most impressive numbers from the golden era of MGM musicals are contained in this video, the third of the That's Entertainment films. Have no fear that the studio was scraping the bottom of the barrel when assembling these clips after having produced two earlier films using the same formula. In fact, it can be argued that this particular compilation would be attractive to a general audience of today, as it contains a wealth of material that hasn't been widely seen. And almost none of it would be produced today, as these complicated dance scenes would simply be too expensive to film in the modern era. An example is a lavish production number featuring the great dancer Eleanor Powell seen in split screen, so the viewer watching the video can see not only what the movie audience saw, but what the soundstage looked like as a small army of stagehands performed artful illusions by removing gigantic portions of the stage as Powell danced across it. Interesting outtakes featuring Judy Garland and Lena Horne are also featured, and former MGM musical stars who introduce the production numbers (and provide background on the filming) include Gene Kelly and Esther Williams. The title doesn't lie: it's all entertaining. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 5.19 + $ 3.09 first class shipping.

VELVET GOLDMINE (Screenplay)
by Todd Haynes. Foreword by Michael Stipe. B&W and color movie stills illustrate. . Condition UNREAD, but not perfect, 1998 Farber & Farber (UK) Trade Paperback, first printing. Edgewear with tag-removal mark top front cover. Interior perfect. Content: Reviewer Jack Fairy: "1971: Glamrock explodes all over the world and challanges the seriousness within the flowerpower generation by means of glitter and brutal music. Brian Slade, a young rockstar, inspires numerous teenage boys and girls to paint their nails and explore their own sexuality. In the end Slade destroys himself. Unable to escape the role he created for himself, he plots his own murder. When his fans discovers that the murder is a fake, his star falls and he is forgotten about. 1984: Arthur, a journalist working for a New York newspaper, gets assigned the story about the fake murder of Brian Slade. When Arthur was young and grew up in Manchester, he was more than a fan of Slade. Reluctantly he accepts the assignment and starts to investigate what happened his old glamrock hero." The 1998 movie was directed by Haynes and starred Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Christian Bale, Toni Collette, Eddie Izzard, and Emily Woof. While probably not exclusively a musical, I had problems deciding where to put this book - so here it is. There is also an interview of Todd Haynes by Oren Moverman. [1 copy available]
$ 11.79 + $ 3.19 media shipping. [Email for shipping charges on international orders.]

WEST SIDE STORY (Movie & Broadway musical novelization) by Irving Shulman. George Chakiris and Sharks front cover movie still. Condition UNREAD, but not perfect, 1971 Pocket paperback, 21st printing. Moderate tanning to page edges. Tiny, tiny edgewear. Content: Romeo and Juliet in the New York gang world. Book by Arthur Laurents. Music by Leonard Bernstein. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Never seen it? Where 'ya been? Americana at its best. [1 copy available]
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YOUR SOUND OF MUSIC KEEPSAKE (Including "The Sound of Christmas") text by Dale Shumanski. Beautiful color photos with B&W movie stills. Condition Gently pre-read c. 1986 MM-Verlag Gesellschaft. Rubbings along hinges with light edge wear. Content: This is a tourist book from Austria with text and photos of the sites of the city and those locations used in the making of The Sound of Music. It also covers a program called "The Sound of Christmas" which starred Julie Andrew and John Denver. A lovely book! [1 copy available]
$ 3.79 + $ 3.19 media shipping.