T HOM A S SCH UMA CH E R’ S
HOW DOES
THE SHOW GO ON?
WITH JEFF KURT TI
TH E
THIR D
EDITIO N
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HOW DOES THE SHOW GO ON?
An Introduction to the Theater
by THOMAS SCHUMACHER
Producer of the Tony Award–Winning Broadway Musical The Lion King with JEFF KURTTI
Los Angeles • New York
Copyright © 2019 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Disney Editions, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
For information address Disney Editions, 1200 Grand Central Avenue, Glendale, California 91201.
Design by Alfred Giuliani
Illustrations (pages 7, 16–17, and 124): Scott Tilley
Previous page: Caissie Levy in Frozen
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data on file
ISBN 978-1-368-04937-5
FAC-025393-19221
Printed in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Third Edition, First Printing, November 2019
This edition has been updated to include new Disney on Broadway show material.
Visit disneybooks.com
All Disney Broadway show material © Disney except for Mary Poppins material (© Disney/Cameron Mackintosh Limited) and Tarzan® material (© Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and Disney). All rights reserved.
“Academy Award,” “Oscar,” and the Oscar® statuette are registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“Tony” is a registered trademark of the American Theatre Wing.
Tarzan® owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Used by permission.
This is me in Summer Repertory Theatre’s summer stock production of South Pacific.
Here I am at sixteen years old playing Barnaby Tucker in San Mateo Community Theatre’s production of Hello, Dolly! I can’t do this jump anymore!
This is me playing Charlie Bates in Oliver! The part I really wanted was Dodger.
Dear Reader,
Nothing has ever brought me more joy than the time I have spent working on a play or a musical—or a piece of entertainment of any kind.
When I was a kid, my mom would play albums from old musicals on the family stereo, and the stories would play out in my mind. I’d make up the in-between parts, and the staging, and what it looked like. Years later, when I saw or worked on some of those shows, I was surprised to find out what they were really about.
“Theater” is a big concept. It is magic, it is drama, it is music. It is dance, it is beauty, it is heartbreak. It is a place where nothing is real and yet to me, it has always meant a place where everything is possible. And absolutely real. Real in my heart.
Theater has many purposes: entertainment, enlightenment, education, illumination. First, it is about creating a show for the audience. Of course, to do that you need a story written by a playwright, actors to perform it, a director and choreographer and designers to put it onstage, and—sometimes—composers and lyricists to write the songs.
It is a business, it is a hobby, it is a place to go towork, a place to play with your friends, a place to learn about yourself, and a place to learn about others. Theater can take place at school, in your garage, in a big fancy building, or even outside in the open air.
For me, the theater is a family. I grew up in rehearsal rooms and in dark theaters, sit- ting among empty seats and then anxious audiences, and sometimes backstage with a view of all the magic from behind the scenes. The theater is home for me, and I’d like to invite you in to take a look at what we do. Maybe you’ll want to join the family, too. There’s always room for one more.
It is my hope that within these pages you will find something you didn’t know, some- thing you didn’t know you didn’t know, and something that you’ll want to know more about.
So let’s begin with what seems like a simple question: “How Does the Show Go On?”
O VERTURE
What Should You Know First?
