Present at the creation, leaping in the dark, and going against the grain : 1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly, La bête, & other Broadway adventures /

Theatrical producer Ostrow provides here a brief, chatty, gossipy memoir of his career, from his apprenticeship under Frank Loesser, through his Broadway shows (mostly musicals), to his leadership of a musical theater workshop and his professorship at University of Houston. He concludes with random musings on the future of the musical stage and a proposal for the establishment of "a think-tank for musical theatre creators." Much of the volume is reprinted verbatim from A Producer's Broadway Journey (1999) and two other publications, thus this is essentially not a new work. In his 1999 volume Ostrow gave a casual, year-by-year review of Broadway seasons, 1950-98, emphasizing his own shows. In the present work he includes the portions on his shows, in places adding further anecdotes. A section of eight set designs, in color, from his productions is a welcome feature. The sloppy copyediting would give Lynne Truss (of Eats, Shoots & Leaves fame) a hissy fit. ^BSumming Up: Optional. Comprehensive academic and performing arts collections; public libraries. R. D. Johnson emeritus, SUNY College at Oneonta

Memoirs, like Broadway shows, are hit or miss. Either the memoirist tactfully omits the inconvenient, embarrassing, and, yes, interesting details of the past and bores his readers. Or he provides the world with an honest, if highly subjective, remembrance of things past, as Broadway producer Ostrow does. Even if the world Ostrow recounts, that of the Great American Broadway Musical as practiced by Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe, were not fast fading, Ostrow's reminiscences would be worth reading. He knows of what he writes, having produced many hit 1960s and 1970s musicals, including 1776, The Apple Tree, and Pippin, and his share of bombs. As he says more than once, he was just following the dictum of friend and mentor Frank Loesser: A producer is someone who knows a writer. Ostrow got to know a lot of the top writers in the field, and he produced them. Now he shares his opinions of and insights into their work and that of their contemporaries. Which isn't to say he is a gossipmonger. He would rather dissect a show to reveal what makes it a hit than eviscerate a colleague. That will disappoint some, but true fans of the Broadway musical will find this book more intellectually satisfying and nutritious than many another on their passion. --Jack Helbig Copyright 2006 Booklist