The Periodic Table of Broadway Musicals: An Illustrated Guide to 118 Essential Shows

by Andrew Gerle, Joseph Zellnik

Imagine the classic periodic table of elements--but instead of Chromium and Rhodium, it's A Chorus Line and Rent!This delightful and informative gift book, based on the bestselling viral poster series--will be a stunning showcase of art and content sure to thrill lovers of showtunes and everything Broadway and beyond. Incliudes a full-size pull-out poster.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Andrew Gerle has played thousands of auditions for Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional productions, and has served as an accompanist and musical director for major Broadway and recording artists over the past 15 years. He is a recipient of the Jonathan Larson Award, three Richard Rodgers Awards, and the Burton Lane Composers Fellowship from the Theatre Hall of Fame. He is the composer of six acclaimed musicals, and his opera The Beach has been chosen by the New York City Opera for a performance with City Opera singers and an 80-piece orchestra in May 2011. A sought-after vocal coach, he has worked at NYUs Tisch Graduate School of Acting and is currently a lecturer at the New York Film Academy and Yale University."

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes stumbling onto a really cool book is a happy accident. That's what happened here. I was wandering around Barnes and Noble and I somehow found myself in the "Performing Arts" section. I noticed this book and picked it up out of curiosity. I'm a big fan of musicals and I have a science background, so I was intrigued by this concept.

This book turned out to be a lot of fun to read. Broken down into various themes across the periodic table such "The Canon," "The Leading Ladies Series," and "The Ensemble Pieces", the authors go into detail about the musical such as its story, the creation, the impact, and fun facts. The book includes musicals I've seen and ones I've only heard about in passing but now want to see. There are also musicals I've never heard of. This book is very comprehensive and informative. I learned a lot and this book has made me a bigger fan of musical theater and helped me put together a list of shows I want to see and/or listen to their cast albums.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I thought this was thorough and informative. There were at least two musicals where I'm confuse on their movie adaptation status. I know for a fact that there were movies for La Cage Aux Folles and 42nd Street that predate their musicals, but I saw no acknowledgement for these movies. Even the A Little Night Music pages acknowledged the one movie that is not really direct correlation to the musical.

[Olivia Tripp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not think I needed this much information on Broadway musicals, but I did. As a theater kid in my freshman year of high school, I am sure this will help me understand inside jokes and references made during rehearsals!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventive. achieves its goal of giving you a crash course on practically every broadway musical you might talk about, past or present. the tie ins to science are a bit forced but I’m a stem major who is also a writing critic so what can you do?

[Chris Monaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossed me from the first and got me listening to and exploring musicals I was not familiar with, yet! This is a TREAT to anyone who loves theatre!

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun and well-informed!