B'nai B'rith Magazine
...The current set of volumes encompasses everything from 'Alladin' to "Ziegfeld." An appendix of up-to-date additions from the last series makes this series especially valuable.
Classic Images
...an amazing work of love...one should devote pages to praise for their compiler Alvin H. Marill, who has contributed much that is worthwhile to the documentation of film and television history. Highly recommended.
Show Music
...valuable source of information.
Wilson Library Bulletin
... carries on where Leonard left off, adding information about television and screen productions of plays that debuted in major theaters in the United States and Britain. Marill's plot synopses...are more expansive and sprightlier than Leonard's...this reprise at least equals the original.
From The Critics
This title supplements William Leonard's "Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television" (Scarecrow, 1981). It chronicles approximately 150 novels, stories, and plays that have been produced for stage, screen, and television. Representative works include "Aladdin", "The Phantom of the Opera", "Huckleberry Finn", "The Secret Garden", "Nicholas Nickleby", and "A Raisin in the Sun". A large portion of volume 2 updates entries in the 1981 edition; one will find Steve Martin's 1987 film "Roxanne" and Gerard Depardieu's 1990 "Cyrano de Bergerac", important stage productions of "The Glass Menagerie" from the last 10 years, and BBC television's 1988 "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" among the many additions. Fairy tales, some Greek classics, and works of Shakespeare and Gilbert and Sullivan are not included Each entry begins with a synopsis of the original literary work, followed by a summary of commentary from English and American critics. Full citations to critical sources are not provided in "More Theatre", but names of the periodical and critic usually appear. The details provided by this collection of criticism for different media are not easily found in any other single source. Major productions are then listed in chronological order within each media format (stage, screen, television); many date from the nineteenth century, with a closing date of 1992. Entries include opening or release date, theater name and location (many are off-Broadway or regional productions), full production credits, cast listings, and musical numbers. For example, nine pages summarize the history and performances of versions of "The Beggar's Opera" by John Gay (1727), followed by credits for more than 70 stage performances, beginning with a 1728 performance in London and ending with Brecht and Weill's "Threepenny Opera" at the 1992 Williamstown (Mass.) Theatre Festival. Five screen performances and three television versions round out the entry Oddly, "More Theatre" contains neither an index nor a table of contents title list. Cumulative author and title indexes covering the 1981 and 1993 editions would have been logical additions. "Enser's Filmed Books and Plays" ["RBB" N 1 93] cross-references film and television versions of literary works; it doesn't provide synopses or criticism, though it contains a greater number of entries. Libraries with strong theater and film collections will want to consider "More Theatre".
Booknews
Chronicles literary works and original stage productions that have been mounted theatrically and also have been done as motion pictures and on TV. Nearly 150 titles not chronicled in the initial volumes compiled by the late William Torbert through 1980 (published under the title Theatre, 1981) are included in this one, with cast and credit information on significant stage versions through the years and on motion pictures and television productions that have been made from them. The second part updates titles previously chronicled, along with earlier overlooked or lately uncovered film or TV versions, and prominent regional or touring stage presentations or those which have interesting lead or minor players. It also corrects and amends information in the base volumes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
