Broadway [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Theater and American Culture

This is the most comprehensive and insightful reference available on Broadway theater as an American cultural phenomenon and an illuminator of American life.

Broadway: An Encyclopedia of Theater and American Culture is the first major reference work to explore just how much the “Great White Way” illuminates our national character. In two volumes spanning the era from the mid-19th century to the present, it offers nearly 200 entries on a variety of topics, including spotlights on 30 landmark productions—from Shuffle Along to Oklahoma! to Oh Calcutta! to The Producers—that not only changed American theater but American culture as well.

In addition, Broadway offers thirty extended thematic essays gauging the powerful impact of theater on American life, with entries on race relations, women in society, sexuality, film, media, technology, tourism, and off-Broadway and noncommercial theater. There are also 110 profile entries on key persons and institutions—from the famous to the infamous to the all but forgotten—whose unique careers and contributions impacted Broadway and its place in the American landscape.

• Comprises nearly 200 entries of landmark productions, important theater artists, and topics that highlight Broadway’s powerful impact on American culture
• Brings together the work of 65 contributors, including leading academic writers and researchers in theater and popular culture as well as working theater professionals
• Presents a timeline of major events, including openings of selected landmark productions and birthdates of selected critical figures
• Showcases 80-90 photographs of key figures and scenes from landmark productions
• Provides a survey of both print and online resources, including general references, specific studies, and selected biographies
• Offers a glossary of selected production and business terms
• Includes an index of names, productions, and themes