Gemignani: Life and Lessons from Broadway and Beyond

by Margaret Hall

Paul Gemignani is one of the titans of the modern musical theater industry. Serving as musical director for more than forty Broadway productions since 1971, his collaborations with Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Hal Prince, Michael Bennett, and Alan Menken have led to countless accolades for his collaborators, but due to the near invisible position of the musical director in the Broadway industry, Gemignani's story is often overlooked. GEMIGNANI seeks to not only bring the reader into the orchestra pit to learn Gemignani's story, but also to educate the reader about the crucial role a music director plays in bringing some of the most iconic musicals in Broadway history to life.

Born into a second-generation Italian American family during the aftershocks of the Great Depression, Gemignani worked his way up from playing percussion in USO bands to conducting before Leonard Bernstein, all before becoming a pivotal player in the team that brought some of the most successful musicals of the late twentieth century to the stage. Sweeney Todd, Evita, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods would be quite different without his key contributions, and many of the sonic markers we now associate with the postmodern musical theater can be traced to Gemignani's careful curiosity to expand the bounds of what was possible.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

420 pages, Hardcover

Published May 15, 2022

About the author

Margaret Hall is one of the foremost theatre historians of her generation. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts and is currently pursuing her Masters in Musical Theatre History from New York University, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, the first degree of its kind to be granted worldwide. Margaret teaches musical theatre history to students across the globe, and is a columnist for numerous theatre focused publications.

She may be reached at www.margaret-hall.com, and on social media @itsmargarethall

Reviews

[cossette · Rating 5 out of 5]

my frankie wrote this + i'm so incredibly proud of her + so honored to be among the first to read it 🤍

if you like theatre, in any capacity, this book is one you cannot miss. gemignani: life and lessons from broadway and beyond was so easy to read, and i genuinely loved learning about paul gemignani's life + his work. it's given me a deeper appreciation for musical theatre + the shows i love.

[Josh Sharpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margaret Hall has fashioned a book that is a musical theatre lover’s delight. Equally informative and engaging, Gemignani raises the curtain and lets you meet a man whose contributions have proven integral to the sound of Broadway.

With her intelligent yet accessible writing, Hall invites us in and allows us to see Gemignani’s integrity and dedication to his craft. Though first and foremost a memoir, it transforms into something more. It is, ultimately, a love letter to artists and collaborators everywhere.

With an emphasis on pursuing your dreams and never giving up, Gemignani is nothing short of a piece of inspiration that will leave you feeling encouraged and thankful that there are people in the world like Paul Gemignani.

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull and overly-broad history of modern musical theater with music director Gemignani just the sidelight of this book. He certainly was part of some of the biggest shows in Broadway history, but there is so little detail about his specific contributions that I was confused what he even had to do with many of them beyond being called on at the last minute to conduct the orchestra.

The author is very straight-laced and positive in her approach to most of the shows mentioned in the book, lacking objectivity and turning it into a very long-winded fluff piece honoring great musical creators. Gemignani gets grossly overshadowed and the book turns into something that has very little to do with him.

It needs a good edit, cutting at least a fourth of the verbose pages, and in the end I didn't feel like I knew the conductor much better than when I started. There certainly is little about his life and even fewer "lessons" as suggested by the subtitle.

[Margaret Hall]

Hello all!
Thank you so much for your interest in Gemignani. All events related to this release will be announced via my website, www.margaret-hall.com, and you can direct any questions you may have for both Paul and myself through that contact form.
All my best,
Margaret Hall

[Robert LoBiondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there were better fact checking in this (Zorba does NOT kill himself at the end of the musical!)

[Martha Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Gemignani is a person that musical theater could not exist without, yet few people know of the huge role the musical director plays. Long associated with Stephen Sondheim, Gemingnani's career has spanned 50 years across stage, film and symphony halls around the world. This book captures the life of a musical director and conductor, and is truly enlightening as to all that is entailed in the production of a stage musical. Gemingnani grew up in the SF Bay area, and after college was a jazz percussionist in 1960's North Beach. A twist of fate got him a gig conducting a touring production, and within a few years was Sondheims' go to person for all things musical. This bio is richly researched, with details about the backstage dramas and romances, the politicking (and powerplay) amongst the the theater world producers, prop and set mishaps, and how shows came to be...and in some cases didn't, and the strange reasons why. It really captures the heart of the theater community, and any theater nerd, whether a professional, performer in community theater or just frequent theater patron will enjoy this book immensely. The author points out that a Tony Award for musical direction no longer exists, though after reading this, one can wonder why. Gemingnani was awarded a lifetime achievement Tony in 2001, graciously thanking the musicians he had directed over the years. While the book is over 400 pages, the last 200 or so are artist recollections, a chronological list of Gemingani's shows, casts, and other musical gigs, and pictures. A very enjoyable read for Broadway musical lovers everywhere!

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe I am about half-way through this very good biography of theatre music director Paul Gemignani. His - and his biographer's - points of view are intriguing because they cover some items already covered by Mr. Prince and Mr. Sondheim in interviews but offer up Mr. Gemignani's opinions and points of view of the shows that he worked on with them. This would cover the tour of "Follies" which began, and ended, in Los Angeles. That would include some of the challenges found in the booking of that musical in a new, unproven theatre.

Later: Upon completion of the book I found that the second half of the book was in need of editing in order to make the two sections of the book a symmetrical totality. I do not know whether the first half was written some years ago by the subject of the book, and the second half much later on or it was written by Mr. Gemignani's co-writer (my guess), but that, to me, is how it reads. I would have liked to have seen and read the second half in a reworked form.

Recommended. The material covered in Mr. Gemignani's biography is one of a kind, not necessarily covered elsewhere. Unfortunately I will have to drop my rating due to the flaws found in the second half of the book.

[Angie Gazdziak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this a 3.5, rounded down. I really liked the story of Paul's career, and as a theatre nerd, this filled a void in my heart that I didn't know existed. Most of my issues with the book (the reason it's not 4 stars) are mainly structural. There were some weird editorial mistakes earlier in the book--things that should've been caught by an editor. The book is structured a bit strangely, and the last 10 chapters or so felt weirdly out of place.

[Emma Carlsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artfully written - interesting stories where they exist, short notes when that’s all that’s needed. Not overly wordy or sentimental, perfect tone for a memoir about a living person

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I think of Paul Gemignani, I think of Stephen Sondheim and his collaborations with him. I had no idea how many legendary, and in some cases infamous, productions that he was involved in beyond the Sondheim canon. This insightful book gives a rare look into a role that is often given little attention by theater fans, the musical director - and not just any musical director, but possibly the most influential and revered one ever to grace a Broadway orchestra pit (or box). Through Margaret Hall's guiding hand we learn everything about Paul from his family's history, to the luck that landed him in an orchestra pit in the first place, to the inner workings of how a show goes from the page to the stage, and insights into working with legends of Broadway. The stories are heartwarming, fascinating and at times poignant. If you are a theater aficionado, you need to add this book to your collection. Brava to Ms. Hall on her first book. I'm looking forward to other looks into theater legacies and lore from her in the future.