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| A subtle hint at the books I will be talking about in this post. SPOILER: THEY ARE ALL FABULOUS! |
...You know those books you buy for the sole purpose of displaying because you like/admire said person/thing/cat/shoe/food/inanimate object/country/musical theatre show (YES!)/period of history etc but you never actually read?
Well, I read them.
I don't really own that many books but it was starting to bother me that the ones I did own, I hadn't actually read ... I mean, I may have flicked through them to look at all the pretty pictures but then let them gather dust (book crime #458). This minor irritation of mine pushed me to start project READ YOUR DAMN BOOKS GIRL!
DISCLAIMER: The photos I have taken of these books are terrible ... I tried *breaks down in a puddle of tears*
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| The books of musical theatre wonder |
DISCLAIMER (part 2): I love musical theatre, if you couldn't tell from the photo above ...
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| Contrary to my dodgy pictures, there are some truly wonderful photos in this book |
Memories by Elaine Paige (here)
I love Elaine Paige.
Her voice is an emotional powerhouse and over the years, she has created some of the most iconic roles in modern musical theatre.
In this book, which is part memoir, but mostly filled with fabulous photos, Elaine Paige takes us back over her whole career which she relays in a funny, interesting and inspiring way. It was a quick read but one that I will be picking up again and again.
A PERFECT gift for a fan or a musical theatre lover in general.
BOOK NO. 2
The Complete Phantom of the Opera by George Perry (here)
I have had this book for so long that it is beginning to fall apart and shamefully, not from over reading. I have looked through it quickly to gaze at the pictures and sketches but that's about it.
Since I heard the soundtrack of Phantom when I was very young, I have been a fan and seen it countless times in the West End but I didn't know much about the history of it.
I read the novel by Gaston Leroux which I didn't actually like very much but in this book I found out all about Gaston's life which I enjoyed and also the Paris Opera house construction all the way through to the countless screen and stage adaptations, leading finally to Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic version.
This book is crammed with pictures and photos (my personal favourites are Maria Bjornson's designs for the musical).
It appears that this book is not sold brand new anymore but for just under three pounds on Amazon, you can have a used copy and still appreciate all the fabulousness of the various aspects of this show!
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| Please do not take my photos as what the pictures in this book are actually like :-/ |
Les Miserables: From Stage to Screen by Martyn Palmer & Benedict Nightingale (here)
Like both books above, I was a massive fan to begin with and only picked up this book occasionally to look at all the pictures ...
I have had this gorgeous thing for well over a year and wish I hadn't left it so long because after finishing it, I came away a little bit more in love with Les Miserables than I already was.
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| An example of the envelopes that are all the way through the book that are AMAZING! |
The pictures are jawdroppingly wonderful and sporadically placed are various envelopes crammed with tokens from the show that include programmes, set designs and posters that I spent way too long looking at.
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| Because I couldn't get enough of this book, here is my arty shot |
It's a fan's dream book (it's got a rating of 4.68 on Goodreads for a reason).
Reading these three books has made me listen to even more musical theatre than I did before and has renewed my love for the genre all over again. ONE DAY MORE!!
I have decided from now on that I MUST read every single book I buy and not use books as some kind of rectangular ornament.
Until next time.
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