
Offstage Observations
Inside Tales of the Not-So-Legitimate Theatre
Steven Suskin(Author)
Applause Theatre Book Publishers
Published on 1. April 2022
Book
Hardback
424 pages
978-1-4930-6463-2 (ISBN)
Description
Broadway, once upon a time. A place where people buy tickets at the box office, with cash; where patrons dress for theatre, with no sneakers, no water bottles, and no backpacks; and the only text messages are the ones put there by the playwright. A place where iconic legends of stage and screen can be found in plain view, smiling politely or egotistically preening. Where three dollars will get you a balcony seat at the biggest hit-or the lowliest flop-in town. And a place where an innocent teenager from the suburbs can buy a ticket, slip through the stage door, and wander o'er the threshold into the magical world backstage.
Steven Suskin introduces Broadway, once upon a time, in Offstage Observations: Tales of the Not-So-Legitimate Theatre. The drama critic and noted chronicler of Broadway takes the reader through a decade's worth of adventures, working his way from a menial pencil sharpener for producer David Merrick toward a career as a full-fledged manager, producer, and drama critic. The book follows the author's progress from the wintry night after his sixteenth birthday, when he unexpectedly finds himself alone on the empty stage of a Broadway theatre, peering out at the silent, empty auditorium lit only by a solitary ghost light to the matinee eight summers later when he finds himself accidentally and uncomfortably acting in a Broadway musical, bombarded by roars of laughter from a houseful of playgoers.
A keen observer of the impertinent with an ear for amusing anecdotes, whimsical curiosities, and exaggerated tales of life upon the wicked stage, Suskin draws a portrait of a not-so-long-ago theatre world that has all but vanished.
Steven Suskin introduces Broadway, once upon a time, in Offstage Observations: Tales of the Not-So-Legitimate Theatre. The drama critic and noted chronicler of Broadway takes the reader through a decade's worth of adventures, working his way from a menial pencil sharpener for producer David Merrick toward a career as a full-fledged manager, producer, and drama critic. The book follows the author's progress from the wintry night after his sixteenth birthday, when he unexpectedly finds himself alone on the empty stage of a Broadway theatre, peering out at the silent, empty auditorium lit only by a solitary ghost light to the matinee eight summers later when he finds himself accidentally and uncomfortably acting in a Broadway musical, bombarded by roars of laughter from a houseful of playgoers.
A keen observer of the impertinent with an ear for amusing anecdotes, whimsical curiosities, and exaggerated tales of life upon the wicked stage, Suskin draws a portrait of a not-so-long-ago theatre world that has all but vanished.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Hal Leonard Corporation
Illustrations
40 b/w photos
Dimensions
Height: 164 mm
Width: 237 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
810 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4930-6463-2 (9781493064632)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2022
1st Edition
Applause Theatre Book Publishers
€26.99
Available for download

E-Book
04/2022
Applause
€26.99
Available for download
Persons
Steven Suskin has led a well-rounded life in the Broadway theatre on both sides of the footlights. His fifteen books include The Sound of Broadway Music, Second Act Trouble, Opening Night on Broadway, and coffee-table books for The Book of Mormon and The Great Comet. He produced Forever Plaid and William Finn's Falsettoland. He has written more than one thousand columns, reviews, and liner notes for Playbill, Variety, and The Huffington Post and currently as critic and founding editor of New York Stage Review. But before becoming a writer, Suskin spent many years learning, watching, and collecting intriguing offstage observations.