Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: After reading the review from Amazon I had high hopes of this book, but I'm afraid to say it did not live up to my raised expectations. It is the kind of book people will want to at least flip through in a store to see if it's what they're after before buying. There was a certain pretentious tone in sections which I did not appreciate, and mechanics of theatre too often took precedence over character.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Work
Review: As a bi-continental director (London, New York, and Los Angeles), I was delighted to find that Miller doesn't have an American prejudice in his work -- in fact he highly respects the work non-American directors have done on American classics and that's quite refreshing. His books (this one and "Deconstructing Harold Hill") are the best examples I've seen of serious considerations of important, interesting musical theatre, yet with a sense of fun and joy, and with a devilish penchant for denying conventional wisdom when it doesn't make sense. In fact, he makes cases (in both books) for changing the conventional wisdom on a number of American classics. These terrific books are must-reads for both the theatre professional and the rabid fan as well -- both are inestimable treasures.
Rating:
Summary: Long time coming
Review: At last -- a book about musicals where the author doesn't spend half his time trying to impress us and the other half making factual errors. This is one of the few books I've read on this subject that is just good, interesting, solid info. This guy knows his stuff and he makes it all easy to understand. I've been a lover of musicals all my life and still this book taught me a lot.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful resource for directors, actors and theatre lovers
Review: I bought this book expecting that it would tell me how to direct all of these legendary musicals. It was quite the contrary. The author doesn't exactly give you suggestions, but gives you tings that you can look at and delve deeper into. He'll give his opinion of symbolism of characters and subtext of the plot. He gives no ultimatums on how these shows should be directed, but gives valuable insight on how possible ways to direct each show. It's very interesting going so deep into the cores of these shows that I couldn't put the book down the first time I read it. I found the chapters on Assasins and Cabaret especially appealing. Overall, a very very good read.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Sondheim fans
Review: I love Sondheim shows and this book covers 7 Sondheim musicals (if you count West Side Story and Gypsy). I've read every book on Sondheim that's out there, but none of them made me understand the shows better than this one. It covers Assassins, Cabaret, Carousel, Company, Godspell, Gypsy, How to Succeed, Into the Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miz, Man of La Mancha, Merrily We Roll Along, My Fair Lady, Pippin, Sweeney Todd, and West Side Story. Buy this book if you love musicals.
Rating:
Summary: It was very interesting and informative.
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It gave me a lot to think about about some of my favorite musicals. The author shows extreme insight into these musicals and talks about them in a very interesting way. It is a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, insightful, and really entertaining
Review: I totally loved this book! I've been doing musicals for a long time and this book is the greatest thing I've read. And it's really entertaining, too. Scott Miller's writing is so conversational you feel like you're just talking to him. And his analysis of these musicals is the most intelligent I've ever read. I definitely reccommend this to anybody who loves musicals, especially to actors!
Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for serious musical theater lovers
Review: I'm a major fan of Scott Miller's books, and this one is no exception. It is readable, well thought out, and filled with perceptive analysis of 16 classic musicals. His fresh insights frequently open my eyes to key aspects of shows I have known for years. Or at least I thought I knew them! If more directors took Miller's ideas to heart, it would prevent countless run-of-the-mill productions from boring theater goers year after year. I'll admit that Miller's attitude towards Sondheim's works borders on adoration (for example, I don't believe ASSASSINS was nearly as important as he makes it sound), but that is hardly a vice. If you love musical theater, you owe it to yourself to spend some time with this book. If you stage musicals, you owe it to your casts and customers to read anything and everything this man has written on the subject. (I especially recommend his equally fascinating DECONSTRUCTING HAROLD HILL.)
Rating: 
Summary: Delightfully opinionated!
Review: If you want a dry, objective, axiomatic look at musical theatre, you don't want to read Miller. On the other hand, if you want to dust off the old cast albums and listen to them in a new and exiciting way, you'll want to know what he has to say. As someone who no longer has time for books without a point of view, I welcomed this oasis.While I don't agree with everything Miller asserts, he sure has me thinking differently about musical theatre -- and as a professional in the field, I thought I was already more enlightened than the average joe. Sure this book is opinionated -- sometimes to the point of extravagance -- but for every statement I may disagree with, there are ten more that make me slap my forehead in classic why-didn't-I-see-that-before fashion. I for one am tired of the usual "show by show" approaches that list the cold hard facts -- they're certainly useful and often interesting, but what do they really say about the genre? They certainly offer no help in understanding or producing a musical theatre piece. Unlike many critics who sit around and wait for someone else to declare an opinion, Miller boldly states his points of view and defends them admirably. If you have any interest in musical theatre at all, buy this book -- take from it what you like and ignore what you don't -- believe me, there are at least twenty paragraphs that individually are worth the price of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but flawed
Review: Miller's work is very interesting in some of the areas it covers, such as character analyses, but it is spoiled by its overly political conclusions. This book is no doubt the most useful if you agree with its authors opinions.
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