Musical Theater

Explore key works on musical theater across arts and culture -- dance, drama, film, music, and literature -- with titles selected by RCL editors. Resources for College Libraries (RCL) features core titles for academic libraries, curated by Choice/ACRL subject specialists. In this list, RCL Librarians recommend a small selection of the 90,000+ titles available at rclweb.net.

Updated July 1, 2025
RCL Librarians
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
American musical theatre : a chronicle
Bordman, Gerald Martin.
Paper Book
Hailed as "absolutely the best reference book on its subject" by Newsweek, American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle covers more than 250 years of musical theatre in the United States, from a 1735 South Carolina production of Flora, or Hob in the Well to The Addams Family in 2010. Authors Gerald Bordman...
The movie musical!
Basinger, Jeanine
Paper Book
Irresistible and authoritative, The Movie Musical! is an in-depth look at the singing, dancing, happy-making world of Hollywood musicals, beautifully illustrated in color and black-and-white--an essential text for anyone who's ever laughed, cried, or sung along at the movies.
Music fundamentals for musical theatre
Riley, Christine (Music director)
Paper Book
Musical theatre students and performers are frequently asked to learn musical material in a short space of time; sight-read pieces in auditions; collaborate with accompanists; and communicate musically with peers, directors, music directors and choreographers. Many of these students and...
Musical theatre : a history
Kenrick, John
Paper Book
Musical Theatre: A History is a new revised edition of a proven core text for college and secondary school students - and an insightful and accessible celebration of twenty-five centuries of great theatrical entertainment. As an educator with extensive experience in...
Showtime : a history of the Broadway musical theater
Stempel, Larry.
Paper Book
A definitive, accessible, and comprehensive history of the Broadway musical. Here for the first time is the whole history of the musical, on Broadway and off. Stempel combines original research-including a wealthy of primary sources and archival holdings--with deft and insightful...
American Musicals: the Complete Books and Lyrics of Sixteen Broadway Classics: A Library of America Boxed Set
Maslon, Laurence
Paper Book
Including Oklahoma!, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, and 11 other great shows, this landmark collection is your ticket to the Golden Age of the Broadway musical: The Broadway musical is one of America''s great indigenous popular...
Strategies for success in musical theatre a guide for music directors in school, college, and community theatre
Marshall, Herbert D.
Paper Book
In Strategies for Success in Musical Theatre, veteran musical director and teacher Herbert Marshall provides an essential how-to guide for teachers or community members who find themselves in charge of music directing a show. Stepping off the podium, Marshall offers practical and often humorous real...
The Great White Way : race and the Broadway musical
Hoffman, Warren
Paper Book
Broadway musicals are one of America's most beloved art forms and play to millions of people each year. But what do these shows, which are often thought to be just frothy entertainment, really have to say about our country and who we are as a nation? Now in a new...
Something for the Boys: Musical Theater and Gay Culture
Clum, John M.
Paper Book
An entertaining history of musical comedy that examines the obsession of many gay men with musical theatre. Presents a guided tour through the history of musical comedy in the UK and USA, along the way shining a spotlight on the allure of the diva,; the lives of Noel Coward, Cole Porter and Lorenz...
America's musical stage : two hundred years of musical theatre
Mates, Julian
Paper Book
Mates shows the musical stage in all its guises--from burlesque to musical comedy to grand opera--from its beginnings in pre-Revolutionary America to the present day. He deals sensitively with the recurrent aesthetic question of popular versus highbrow art and also looks at critical reactions to...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.