The Complete Book of 2000s Broadway Musicals

by Dan Dietz

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, Broadway was notable for old-fashioned, feel-good shows (Hairspray, Jersey Boys), a number of family-friendly musicals (Little Women, Mary Poppins), plenty of revivals (Follies, Oklahoma!, Wonderful Town), a couple of off-the-wall hits (Avenue Q, Urinetown), several gargantuan flops (Dance of the Vampires, Lestat), and a few serious productions that garnered critical acclaim (The Light in the Piazza, Next to Normal). Unlike earlier decades which were dominated by specific composers, by a new form of musical theatre, or by numerous British imports, the decade is perhaps most notable for the rise of shows which poked fun at the musical comedy form, such as The Producers and Spamalot.

In The Complete Book of 2000s Broadway Musicals, Dan Dietz examines in detail every musical that opened on Broadway from 2000 through the end of 2009. This book discusses the era’s major successes, notorious failures, and musicals that closed during their pre-Broadway tryouts. In addition to including every hit and flop that debuted during the decade, this book highlights revivals and personal-appearance revues with such performers as Patti LuPone, Chita Rivera, and Martin Short.

Each entry contains the following
Besides separate entries for each production, the book offers numerous appendixes, including a discography, filmography, and published scripts, as well as lists of black-themed shows and Jewish-themed productions.

This comprehensive book contains a wealth of information and provides a comprehensive view of each show. The Complete Book of 2000s Broadway Musicals will be of use to scholars, historians, and casual fans of one of the greatest decades in musical theatre history.

1120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 6, 2017

Reviews

[Liam Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost every musical is based on something - books, plays, historical events and a surprising number of comic books.  But the turn of the century saw the continuing explosion of new music being composed to accompany adaptations of popular movies, including: The Full Monty, The Producers, Hairspray, Spamalot, The Color Purple, Legally Blonde, Young Frankenstein, Shrek, Tarzan, and Billy Eliot. There also continue to be family-friendly spectaculars that appealed to the tourist trade:  Seussical, Wicked, Jersey Boys, In the Heights, and Mamma Mia.  Despite that, the 2000s was also a decade with shows that you might not want to bring your kids, either because the subjects were more interesting to grown-ups (The Light in the Piazza, Next To Normal) or straight-up not for kids (Urinetown, Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Spring Awakening). Jukebox musicals are also a continuing trend with Jersey Boys and Mamma Mia being joined by Movin' Out and Rock of Ages in having long runs.  Most other jukebox musicals weren't very successful but Broadway producers keep going back to that well.

Revivals continue to outnumber new productions, much to the annoyance of Dan Dietz.  Reading through these books decade by decade, I'm beginning to recognize the descriptions he recycles from earlier revivals and the original productions.  No shame, I'm sure it saves time in creating these valuable reference resources.  He also remains grumpy about "political correctness."  At least there's only one more decade left in this series.