Musical Theatre Choreography: Reflections of My Artistic Process for Staging Musicals

If you are teaching musical theater or choreography, staging musicals, or performing in them at theuniversity or professional level, Linda Sabo's book is a must for your library. She engagingly blends her musings on the art of theatre-centered dance with a detailed exploration of the nuts-and-bolts processes necessary to choreograph/stage/direct a musical. Included are detailed materials and methods that will prove invaluable to designing a course in musical theatre choreography (course descriptions and requirements, a syllabus, assignments, and a rubric for final showings). Student performers will benefit greatly from her exacting take on coursework and exploration of the necessary tradecraft and mechanics. Linda's love of musical theatre comes through her lively text, and all that she learned during her long career training performers to dance a story is presented clearly. In sum, she provides a completely mapped-out route for both teachers and students to achieve a high level of artistic expression on the musical stage. Linda's personal reflections, mixed with detailed descriptions of her tried and true tools and techniques, make for an accessible, practical, and truly inspiring guide for creatives seeking to confidently advance as musical theatre choreographers, educators, or performers.

As I noted above, this is a Masterclass in Choreography. I first met Linda Sabo at the Boston Conservatory. Too many years ago to count. She was a dance student. I was drama. She stood out, married a classmate, and I remembered them fondly. Linda Sabo and I casually reconnected a few years back. Now, to my amazement she has produced this stunning work, a reference guide for students of Choreography of Musical Theater. Using her own life experience as a professional dancer and teacher, she guides the beginnng choreographer through each step towards opening. Aiming for a production that embraces the director’s concept and the composer’s purpose. But it is much more than that. What delights me Linda Sabo has given us a work that is helpful and fascinating to any one interested in an integrated production, the theater, not just a musical. Linda Sabo takes you through the history of Musical Choreography. Her work is well illustrated. I found it useful to use YouTube as a reference while reading. The research and bibliography of this work is outstanding. Congratulations Linda Sabo. Buy this book.

A pioneer in the development of the BFA Degree in Musical Theatre, Linda Sabo has given us a beautifully written guide through the intricate process of staging and choreographing a musical. This is not a “how to” manual, but a thoughtful reflection on the process Linda has developed over years of teaching and choreographing musicals. From research and analysis to collaboration and communication, to telling richly developed stories through movement and dance, Linda details her personal approach to choreography while giving readers encouragement and freedom to develop their own methods for reaching successful artistic outcomes. Teachers, students, and emerging choreographers alike have much to gain from this thoughtfully written book. I imagine it will quickly become a standard text for those teaching and studying musical theatre choreography, and an outstanding resource for emerging professionals. As a former student of Linda’s, I’m thrilled that she has decided to share with the world that which we, her students, were lucky enough to experience first-hand. Kudos!

This book is a well written handbook for anyone serious about choreographing a musical. There is a wealth of experience and examples provided and yet it leaves open for those who are already choreographing room for their own personal creativity. It sets a high barre for books on this topic in the future.

This is an insightful and detailed book outlining the important processes involved in choreographing a musical. Easy to follow with so many excellent moments to reflect and challenge yourself. And the anecdotes are so fun to read. Linda’s voice shines through her helpful coaching.

This book is extremely thorough and detailed, perfect for both new and seasoned choreographers. I personally think it should be used as a textbook for college choreography classes. It’s thoughtfully written and easy to follow. I highly recommend it!

This is a wonderful book for any emerging choreographer, director or performer. It thoroughly lays out the fundamentals and strategies for taking on the enormous job of choreographing classic and modern musicals. Obviously, everyone comes to a project from different training and experience, but this book gives a framework to organize the process that will only help give the choreographer more freedom to imagine and create dance numbers which genuinely support and move the musical's story forward. For years, Linda Sabo has been successfully choreographing musicals and teaching her students using these techniques. It is a gift the she has put her work into a book to pass on to our future musical theater choreographers.