Song Lyrics and Memoirs for All Seasons By CHARLES ISHERWOOD

December 12, 2008
Song Lyrics and Memoirs for All Seasons By CHARLES ISHERWOOD

The holiday season can be a bit of a bummer for die-hard theater lovers. They have already seen all of the important fall openings — all they care to, anyway — and they tend to turn up their noses at the festive fare aimed at extracting maximum dollars from tourists with children. To help divert your friends during this anxious time, these new books and DVDs — and one actual show guaranteed not to send sophisticated theatergoers into sugar shock — are recommended.

'THE COMPLETE LYRICS OF OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II' Edited by Amy Asch. (Alfred A. Knopf, $65.) Anyone with a glancing interest in theater will be familiar with a few immortal phrases from "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' " or "Some Enchanted Evening." But this hefty, handsome volume reveals anew the breadth, range and sheer fecundity of a central figure — maybe the central figure — in the evolution of the American musical theater. Hammerstein wrote revue songs, operettas, musical comedies and of course the musical plays, with Richard Rodgers, that changed the face of Broadway forever and are so crucial to the musical canon. The book contains 850 lyrics, a quarter previously unpublished, with deeply researched notes and commentary by Ms. Asch that add color and context, although the limpid poetry of Hammerstein's best lyrics needs little of either to shine.

'CHRISTINE PEDI'S HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS FOLLY' (at the Laurie Beechman Theater, various dates in December; tickets, $55). Christine Pedi, the brilliant impressionist who was an invaluable member of the "Forbidden Broadway" ensemble for many years, rides to the rescue of theatergoers who would rather commit seppuku than watch another "Christmas Carol." Her seasonal offering is a funny, festive little shebang that shows off her musical dexterity and precise ability to mimic the big-belters of Broadway and beyond. Liza Minnelli singing "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is priceless, but the pièce de résistance is Ms. Pedi's "Twelve Divas of Christmas," in which she sings each verse in the voice of a different actress, from Elaine Stritch to Patti LuPone to Carol Channing. (Click here for a video of Ms. Pedi in performance.)

'IN SPITE OF MYSELF: A MEMOIR,' by Christopher Plummer (Alfred. A. Knopf, $29.95.) A staggering parade of theater-world luminaries struts, swaggers and, yes, occasionally staggers through this compulsively readable memoir by this Canadian-born actor. Mr. Plummer seems to have worked with just about everyone imaginable— Ruth Chatterton and Katherine Cornell, Jason Robards and Laurence Olivier, Julie Harris and Judith Anderson, Tyrone Guthrie and Edward Everett Horton (!) — and he has a tasty anecdote about onstage, backstage or drinking-hole doings about every single one of them.

'SLINGS AND ARROWS: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION' (Acorn Video DVD, $59.99.) Devoted theater fans are not necessarily familiar with the nether reaches of the cable dial, so it's possible that they never discovered this indisputably brilliant Canadian television series, which was seen on the Sundance Channel and is loosely based on the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Each of the three six-part series depicts the backstage turmoil of a particular season, with special emphasis on productions of "Hamlet," "Macbeth" and "King Lear." The writing is as smart and funny as anything on television in recent years ("30 Rock" included) and the acting may just be better. (Related Article)

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