A Year with the Producers

Rating:
Summary: A must have for anyone with Broadway dreams!
Review: I finished this book on the very day I bought it! I simply could not put it down. As an actor aspiring to one day be on Broadway, I found Denman's personal reflections on his own Broadway journey very moving, especially the entries which describe his 2001 Tony Awards night and the weekend when he goes on for Matthew Broderick in the Producers. Both sections actually made me cry. I gave this book to my parents since it describes so well the things that an actor in musical theatre can go through in any given year. This book is wonderfully wiity, emotional, and inspiring!

Rating:
Summary: A must have for anyone with Broadway dreams!
Review: I finished this book on the very day I bought it! I simply could not put it down. As an actor aspiring to one day be on Broadway, I found Denman's personal reflections on his own Broadway journey very moving, especially the entries which describe his 2001 Tony Awards night and the weekend when he goes on for Matthew Broderick in the Producers. Both sections actually made me cry. I gave this book to my parents since it describes so well the things that an actor in musical theatre can go through in any given year. This book is wonderfully wiity, emotional, and inspiring!

Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Read
Review: If Jeffrey Denmans Broadway career goes into a tailspin (which I highly doubt) he could definetely get a job as an author. This book to say the least is impossible to put down. I read it in one sitting. Not only is it a brilliant look into the minds of Denman, Mel Brooks, Susan Stroman, and others, but it is a indispensable look at professional theatre and the toils and work that go into 3 hours of an amazing theatrical experience.

Rating:
Summary: Broadway here comes Jeffry Denman
Review: Last October I was fortunate enough to see "The Producers" on Broadway. First of all I must say it lives up to its hype. It's brash, bright, tuneful and FUNNY. Nathan Lane was out at that performance but Brad Oscar (the current Max) and Matthew Broderick were in fantastic form.
This all brings me to this wonderful book. Jeffry Denman, a member of the ensemble, received a call in August 2000 from his agent who scored an audition for him. At the time he was in "Cats" which was winding down its 18 year run in a few weeks. On September 10, 2000 he began this wonderful journal. It takes the reader to the closing of "Cats" and on to the auditions and callbacks for "The Producers".
Denman is an excellent writer and makes his year long odyssey a joy to read about. He tells of winning director Susan Stroman and Mel Brooks over, the first rehearsals, the small parts in the musical he is assigned. He is ten assigned to cover (understudy) Matthew Broderick. The book ends one year later after his performing the part of Leo Bloom for 4 performances when Broderick was out.
Anyone who has ever done theatre or who wants to know what goes on behind the scenes will find this book fascinating. Denman writes with complete candor and often times affection for his fellow actors and crew members. His parents also figure prominently in his affection.
The reader will find out how the show gets on its legs, what it is like to be out of town in Chicago prior to Broadway, recording the cast album and the grand opening night.
He also lets the reader into his own personal life and lets us know what it is like being an actor and the demands it places on him.
It reads quickly and it is very difficult to put down. Jeffry Denman said he would like to write another book. Lets hope so.

Rating:
Summary: Broadway here comes Jeffry Denman
Review: Last October I was fortunate enough to see "The Producers" on Broadway. First of all I must say it lives up to its hype. It's brash, bright, tuneful and FUNNY. Nathan Lane was out at that performance but Brad Oscar (the current Max) and Matthew Broderick were in fantastic form.
This all brings me to this wonderful book. Jeffry Denman, a member of the ensemble, received a call in August 2000 from his agent who scored an audition for him. At the time he was in "Cats" which was winding down its 18 year run in a few weeks. On September 10, 2000 he began this wonderful journal. It takes the reader to the closing of "Cats" and on to the auditions and callbacks for "The Producers".
Denman is an excellent writer and makes his year long odyssey a joy to read about. He tells of winning director Susan Stroman and Mel Brooks over, the first rehearsals, the small parts in the musical he is assigned. He is ten assigned to cover (understudy) Matthew Broderick. The book ends one year later after his performing the part of Leo Bloom for 4 performances when Broderick was out.
Anyone who has ever done theatre or who wants to know what goes on behind the scenes will find this book fascinating. Denman writes with complete candor and often times affection for his fellow actors and crew members. His parents also figure prominently in his affection.
The reader will find out how the show gets on its legs, what it is like to be out of town in Chicago prior to Broadway, recording the cast album and the grand opening night.
He also lets the reader into his own personal life and lets us know what it is like being an actor and the demands it places on him.
It reads quickly and it is very difficult to put down. Jeffry Denman said he would like to write another book. Lets hope so.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!!!
Review: Ok, so I'm on vacation in New York a few weeks back and I actually scored some tickets to see The Producers. We were REALLY high up but I did not care. Truly, this show is "the best new musical of the decade." After the show I began a quest for a nearby Starbucks--which, by the way, close at 1100p in Manhattan, something that still baffles me--so I stop in the Barnes and Noble near Lincoln Center to get a book for the plane ride home. I find this wonderful little book and begin reading when I get back to my hotel. I stayed up til 200a reading this book then fell asleep from just being tired, then I finished it the next morning. So much for reading it on the plane... this is SUCH a great book! BUY IT! :)

Rating:
Summary: Great book!!!
Review: Ok, so I'm on vacation in New York a few weeks back and I actually scored some tickets to see The Producers. We were REALLY high up but I did not care. Truly, this show is "the best new musical of the decade." After the show I began a quest for a nearby Starbucks--which, by the way, close at 1100p in Manhattan, something that still baffles me--so I stop in the Barnes and Noble near Lincoln Center to get a book for the plane ride home. I find this wonderful little book and begin reading when I get back to my hotel. I stayed up til 200a reading this book then fell asleep from just being tired, then I finished it the next morning. So much for reading it on the plane... this is SUCH a great book! BUY IT! :)

Rating:
Summary: You feel like you are there every step of the way
Review: Reading this book takes you backstage from the beginning to the building, block by block, of the best musical since "Phantom". You learn all about the hard work, stress, happiness, and disapointments that go into the making of a megahit. Nothing I have read gives you the real insiders view of what it takes to put together a piece of art that will give so many people pleasure for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: All about him, not the show
Review: This book is a great example of why editors are so important. It seems this author didn't have one. The journal should have been the starting point of a book, not the end product. Instead of giving us the excruciating details interesting to no one but Mom and Dad(he started singing "Waiting for the Girls Upstairs" when his girlfriend was running late, whoopee), I expected some real insights into how Broadway-level theatre is created. OK, we get that it runs at a breakneck pace and that all the chorus kids think they could get the dance steps faster and better than the real stars. We get that this author hates it when stars get star treatment and the chorus is left out in the cold. (He did seem to enjoy the star dressing room when he got it for a couple of days, though, didn't he?) I can't believe we got so few stories about Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks... I mean, come on, Jeffrey, your long-winded description of your last performance of Cats is not what someone buying "a year with the Producers" wants to know about. Bottom line: this book is like your co-worker's vacation pictures from Niagara Falls. A complete bore.

Rating:
Summary: a fun look at life backstage
Review: this is a great book for anyone interested in any aspect of the theatre. It is an intimate look at the process, how actors live and work.