MSCI

"It Happened On Broadway" is told by those who have spent the past 50 years in the trenches, the actors, designers, press agents, choreographers, directors, and even their offspring. With vintage photos, drawings, posters and Playbills the Frommer's provide us with a look at theatre history from a time when $1.50 would buy you a movie and six or eight vaudeville acts to the impact of the AIDS crisis on the theatre community to the vast corporate culture now responsible for many of today's Broadway shows. An invaluable and engrossing book for anyone interested in an insiders perspective on the business of the Great White Way.

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Boy, was I wrong!

From the minute I opened it in the bookstore to a random page, I was thrilled. Gung-ho pictures, poignant comments from the four and their closest friends and co-workers(like George Martin). Reading John Lennon's autobiography was a particularly moving moment, seeing the disillusioned Beatle's take on his own hard life. The whole book is not to be read start to finish, in my opinion. Open it to a page and start. I guarentee that you won't put it down until they prise your fingers from the book.

Don't Pass this one By. Get Back online and BUY THIS BOOK!

What "Anthology" does do is offer first-person viewpoints from the four men who sat in the eye of the storm called "Beatlemania" and present their often very different memories of the same events.

The book's release comes more than 30 years since the group's breakup. During that time, each band member embarked on varyingly successful solo careers, and also endured an unfathomable tragedy -- the 1980 shooting death of Lennon by a deranged fan. Despite the distance that time has provided from their days as the best band on the world, the living members say they will always be Beatles.

"It was a one-way love affair," says Harrison. "People gave us their love and their hysteria, but the Beatles lost their mental health."

Ringo Starr's thoughts are more poignant. It's "impossible to turn the page and say, I'm no longer a Beatle," he says. "To this day, and for everyone, that's all I am."

At the same time, there are moments of plain sweetness to be seen. The pictures are wonderful. Including the note Jonathan wrote his father when he quit his job, and the shots from the stage. The picture of Collins and Angel is enough to make the book completely worth it.

Wonderful for anyone who likes to see how behind-the-scenes really was as the group was getting ready for the performance.

In the contents of this book, there are interviews with Jonathan Larson's friends and family, and also the original Broadway cast. Also, in this incredible book, lies the RENT libretto, along with pictures to go along with each song.

I learned so much from this book, and so would anyone who wanted to learn about RENT. This is a must for all RentHeads!!

I highly recommend this book (in fact I think that young girls everywhere should read it, if only to discover how damaging false self image can be). I look forward to reading the sequel "For The Record", which picks up where "If Only" leaves off.