Geniuses of the American Musical Theater (Applause) functions as both entertainment and reference, as Herbert Keyser delineates the composers and lyricists who defined the 20th- century American musical. It’s not an encyclopedia so much as a series of essays that run 10 to 15 pages apiece on such people as George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Stephen Sondheim and so forth.

You could certainly quibble about the inclusion of Leonard Bernstein, whose connection to Broadway was glancing, or Fats Waller — ditto. But it’s good to see attention paid to people who are often overlooked, such as Meredith Willson, Harry Warren and Howard Dietz. Besides that, the stills are almost all unfamiliar, which makes the book even more valuable.

A suitable companion is I’m the Greatest Star, also published by Applause, which offers the same format in a survey of the greatest musical comedy stars since 1900. There’s a lot of information I didn’t know — among the people who turned down The Music Man were Danny Kaye, Milton Berle and Art Carney. Kaye could certainly have played Harold Hill, but without the warmth that Robert Preston brought to the role.

Among the people profiled by author Robert Viagas are George M. Cohan, Marilyn Miller, John Raitt, Chita Rivera, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Ethel Waters, Bert Lahr, Alfred Drake, Mary Martin, Donna McKechnie and Tommy Tune.
Put them together and you’ve got a great Christmas gift for Broadway aficionados.

Mike Browning’s Word of the Week…
myrmidon: a hired thug.