... When ten pounds a week was too money Stage Struck, by Chris Wortman (published by the author at 36 Princes Avenue, London N3 2DB, £3.75) Because neither commercial nor academic publishers see a great deal of point in publishing books about popu lar entertainment history, those who have something to say are driven to publishing such books themselves. This is the case with Chris Wortman, now in ...

... Putting On a Play, by Michael Legat (Robert Hale, £8.50) The author, a well-known publisher with over 40 years experience of amateur theatre, presents a guide for amateurs, from actually forming the group, through choosing the play, casting and rehearsals to the mechanics of production and organisation of the box office. American Dramatists 1918-1945, by Bernard F. Dukorc (Macmillan, £13 ...

... of three plays as Georg Buchner, who died at the age of 23. in 1837. But Julian Hilton, of the University of East Anglia, this country's leading authority on the German playwright, shows us why, dissecting Damon's Death, Leonce and Lena (which he himself translated for the Gate at Notting Hill in 1980) and Woyzeck in a way which demonstrates Buchner's very real importance to the theatre. ...

... writers (with the plays as a great bonus) Strindberg still stalks the world of imagination like a ghost never to be laid. Evert Sprinchom deals with the 60 plays, and some other writing, in order to illustrate the continuity of Strindberg's progress as an artist. This is an important consideration, for sometimes it is thought that Strindberg as it were plunged from play to play in a kind of ...

... book on the American musical, nothing less than all the details that are available on every American musical show, including some-cabaret and most ice shows, which has been presented in the States since the turn of the century. The grand total is 3 283 and Volume 2. the index, lists 42,000 songs from these musicals, and 58,000 references to those who had something to do with them, either as ...

... fund of knowledge from, it's from books like this, compiled by Joel Whitburn, an American whose hobby became his profession, nothing less than a classification of all the Top 40 hits as listed in Billboard, the bible of the record industry, since 1955, under both artists and song titles. It's the American Top 40, of course, and as such does not correspond with our own, which probably makes it ...

... of Verdi Julian Budden has established himself and has been widely recognised as one of the leading authorities on that composer--a reputation further confirmed by his appointment to the editorial board of the critical edition of Verdi's complete works undertaken by Ricordi and the University of Chicago Press. The present smaller, yet substantial volume replaces, in the excellent Mas ter ...

... this nature to the category of pop trivia, but they are in fact the bare bones of pop history, to be pored over in years to come by chroniclers of the times in which we live. This is the third edition of a compen dium which is based on the Music Week (previously Record Mirror) listings, and tells at a glance what were the best selling records of every week from 1955 to 1985. It is therefore ...

... How Warner Bros groomed the now forgotten television stars Warner Bros. Television, by Lynn Woolley, Robert W. Malsbary and Robert G. Strange, Jr. (McFarland Co., Jefferson, North Carolina; Bailey Bros. Swinfen, Folkestone, £25.95) Only Americans could produce a book like this--an episode-by-episode listing of all the 13 series of TV films which Warner Brothers made in the fifties and sixties, ...

... is a stimulating and detailed record of the remarkable advertising success story that most of us have lived through durine the past 30 years The book is in two parts; first a history of the main events in each of these 30 years, by Brian Henry himself, and,second, essays by a number of authoritative contributors on specific aspects of the drama. The first section displays Brian's ...

... Musical heroes SIDNEY VAUNCEZ reviews books for music lovers and makes a plea for a biography of Robert Stolz to be published in England The Barbed Wire Waltz, a biography of Robert Stolz by Aram Bakshian Jr. (Copyright Robert Stolz Pub. Co. PTY Ltd, Melbourne, Australia.) Unlocking Your Voice by Esther Salaman. (Gollancz. £9.95). THE Stolz book, was yet unpublished Here, is a moving tribute ...

... Fascinating Rhythm Reginald Dixnn I Rnrlinpton RITR 018) When the cinema and theatre organ ruled the airwaves, Reginald Dixon, from the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool, was the undoubted king, possibly because he had his own touch on this most artificial of instruments. Another reason was that while many of his contemporaries started out as church organists and gave what amounted to short recitals ...