Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway, Michael Riedel’s follow up to the 2015 book, Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway, takes us to the 1990’s at the height of the British invasion of the Great Bright Way, taking us outside New York, onto Toronto, and back – right at St. James Theater, to be specific.
Being familiar in this era, I found most of the subject already familiar to me, although, I got more of those “oh really” or “oh wow, I didn’t know that” moments, which made it for a really enjoyable reading, as this provided me more knowledge, which I know will come in handy if ever I find myself in a Broadway themed trivia night in some pub or something.
Like its predecessor, Singular Sensation focuses on individuals producing or creating the shows. It gives us an inside look on the process how things went the way they went, leading to the shows success or failure, and in some cases, a producers rise and downfall – a what-not-to-do list while in the industry.
My only complaint about this book is that it could have stretched it more into the 2000’s, though I’m optimistic that we’ll have the 3rd installment that will cover this decade in a few months (if you can see this, Mr. Riedel, please do so).
the real /darryl 