Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Music puzzle

Piece by Piece: How Stephen Sondheim Made Musical Puzzles Come Alive by Erin Frankel

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Picture books. Love them or hate them they are a genre that has expanded my knowledge over the years. I have learned about volcanoes, bats, famous artistic nuns, poems and more. And Piece by Piece: How Stephen Sondheim Made Musical Puzzles Come Alive by Erin Frankel and illustrator Stacy Innerst added to it with a poetic look at Stephen Sondheim and his works. While not a “pure biography” of the composer, the highlights of his work and life are addressed. Things are whimsical and a […]

She wrote the words to the stories

What I Must Tell the World : How: Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice by Jay Leslie

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Not only was Lorraine Hansberry a pioneer for many groups (women, playwrights, writers,  women of color, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community) she was a pioneer for reality. She told it as it was and that is amazingly told in this picture book, What I Must Tell the World : How: Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice. Jay Leslie tells the story of Hansberry from a young girl who would see first hand the prejudices of her time, but also would see the courage, the […]

Not too many “secrets” but enjoyable nonetheless.

The Secret Life of the American Musical by Jack Viertel

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#CBR11Bingo – I love this! Recently I’ve been enjoying a podcast dedicated to musical theatre and reliving my theatre kid days. So this audiobook seemed a good fit for my “I Love This!” category, as I do indeed love Broadway musicals. Jack Viertel has been involved in over 50 Broadway productions in various capacities, but mostly as a dramaturg and consultant on the writing end.  He teaches a course at NYU about the construction of the American musical, and that is what this book is […]

The Hamiltome.

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This is an excellent book that all fans of Hamilton should read. Reading it gave me a fuller experience of the musical, it was fun to see behind the scenes stories, and Lin’s notes were always interesting. I cried while reading it (the same part I cry at while listening), and spent about a week listening to nothing but the soundtrack on a loop. So why no five stars? Like Aaron Burr, I want more. I’m never going to see the musical in person, or […]

Hamilton Makes a Dent in Modern History

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Please spare me your lack of surprise that I’ve finished Hamilton: The Revolution, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter’s book chronicling the gestation of the eponymous musical, before having finished the book said musical was based on, Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton. They are both big thick tomes spanning years (arguable decades), but while Chernow’s prose is delightful and accessible, his book does not consist of rap lyrics, easily digestible footnotes, and beautiful photos. Like Cannonballer ellesfena, I bought the book because I am an obsessive Midwestern […]

Who Tells Your Story

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This is a safe space, right? Because I’m about to get pretty honest and pretty darn nerdy. I am a musical theatre nerd. Super nerd. In general, I try to avoid letting folks know how much of one, because whooey do they snicker. I’ve re-watched the PBS history of Broadway with Julie Andrews more times then I can count, and still manage to learn something new. As also a lover of history, the idea of a new musical hip-hopera about a founding father? Yeah, last […]



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