There is no business like show business!

From Showboat to Hamilton, American musical theater has long held the imagination and enjoyment of the nations’ theater goers. It creates an emotional reaction as there are favorites we cherish, the all-time bests, those that are the most reviled, the over-rated and the unforgettable. This second edition of The Ultimate Broadway Musical List Book considers the history of the Broadway Musical from the unique perspective of the list-the bests and worst of various eras, the groundbreaking, and the forgotten gems. Steven M. Friedman explores the musicals of the last 100 years, taking apart the favorites and flops alike in numerous creative ways. These lists and their explanations offer facts and background that stimulate laughs and discussion, provoke passionate reaction, and provide tons of fun for the Broadway Musical enthusiast. Enjoy a new twist on the subject, as this collection explores Broadway musicals and their history and provides intriguing background for music theater aficionados of all levels.

Whether you're coming to Broadway fresh faced or are an old hand, you'll enjoy these 150+ profiles of the great musicals to hit the stage--including Hamilton!

Established less than 200 years ago, Chicago has seen a lot of living in that short span of time. Burned to the ground early on, it’s been frozen and just recently flooded. Tucked away in the Midwest, it still rivals both coasts with its food, entertainment, and cultural venues. Chicago’s Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of Murderous Mobsters, Midway Monsters, and Windy City Oddities takes you on a tour of that toddlin’ town with dozens of top-ten lists containing memorable minutiae and delightful details. Laura L. Enright will blow you away with this collection of amusing and amazing facts about the Windy City. One would be hard-pressed to decide what Chicago is most famous for. Is it disasters, such as the Great Chicago Fire? Or perhaps gangsters are its calling card, with Al Capone at the head? Maybe it’s the politics, with “Hizzoner, da Mayor” and stories of votes coming from the dead. Or do sports come to mind first, like the Cubs’ dismal failures—some say due to a decades-old curse—and the glory days of da Bulls and da Bears? Whatever it is that makes Chicago, it’s in Chicago’s Most Wanted™. The famous and the infamous, festivals and food, blues and jazz, and so much more are all included in this collection of fascinating and often humorous trivia tidbits. Frank Sinatra rhapsodized that Chicago “won’t let you down,” and neither will Laura L. Enright’s Chicago’s Most Wanted™!

Have you ever been so touched by a story that it changed your life? One Year on Broadway is the unlikely true story of two musical theater fans whose lives were forever changed by seeing a touring production of Once on This Island in 1992. What they saw that night was a version of their own story played out on the stage and it gave them the courage to fight for their own forbidden love. Twenty-five years later, by some strange twist of fate, they were led back to the Island where they ignored conventional wisdom, took a leap of faith, and became co-producers of the Tony Award winning Broadway Revival of Once on This Island. This is their love letter to the musical that gave them more than they ever could have imagined

Irish is more than a nationality—it’s a state of being. What other cultural background allows you to demand a kiss, celebrate the wearing of a color, toast the wee folk, and take pride in one’s readiness to fight? What other land is celebrated by parades and parties and allows even the non-blessed to declare themselves countrymen for one day? From sports to poetry, and from rock ‘n’ roll to Wilde and Shaw, Ireland’s Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of Celtic Pride, Fantastic Folklore, and Oddities of the Emerald Isle gives you loads of delightful tidbits and trivia from the homeland of saints, sinners, and the greatest beverage ever brewed, Guinness. Brian M. Thomsen provides an irreverent but fact-filled look at Ireland and the Irish, leaving no stone—Blarney or otherwise—unturned in bringing her gifts to you. With a bushel full of top-ten lists on all things Irish, Thomsen takes you on a journey through the greenest of lands and provides tales and anecdotes on everything from Irish pubs, Irish castles, leprechauns and banshees, heroes and kings, and the influence of the Irish on culture. Whatever their nationality, everyone has a wee bit of the Irish in them. Ireland’s Most Wanted™ is a true pot of gold!