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The Faber Pocket Guide to Musicals
By James Inverne
Faber and Faber £8 99
293 pages
Dateline: 11th October, 2009
The latest book in the reliable Faber Pocket Guides series admirably
covers its subject. The author, James Inverne, is the editor of Gramophone
Magazine but, in addition to classical music, clearly has an abiding
love for and deep knowledge of musical theatre.
The core of this book is his choice of "The Hundred Greatest Musicals"
(slightly misleading as Gilbert and Sullivan gets seven operettas in
a single entry), which should not prove too controversial, although
one suspects that Spring Awakening appeared in London just too
late to edge out some far less worthy entry.
For each musical, listed alphabetically from Annie Get Your Gun
to Wonderful Town, following the basic facts of composer, lyricist
and book writer with date and location of premiere, there are five sections
that together build a comprehensive picture.
The first is an often chatty and frequently entertaining view of the
musical and its history. Next comes a section on trivia, which is generally
trivial but amusing. Most usefully Inverne then provides very decent
synopses of plots, selects numbers to listen out for and finally recommends
the best recording for fans to buy.
A couple of final sections will prove far more controversial as, after
some commentary on musicals that changed the world, went to the opera
or the movies, we are regaled with choices of 10 "favourite"
and 10 "terrible" musicals. It would be interesting to know
which causes greater controversy.
While this book will normally be used by those about to see or having
just seen a musical as a means of bringing themselves up to speed with
core information, it is also well enough written that it can be read
through from cover to cover without any sense of tedium or repetition.
That is a fine achievement.
For the most part, this pocket guide inevitably acts as a reminder
of much loved, or possibly hated, classics although by the end, anyone
apart from a diehard enthusiast who knows every musical selected, will
probably have got a few ideas about shows or film versions that they
would love to see or recordings to buy.
Philip Fisher
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