Research Guides: Musical Theater Research Guide: Background Information

Music Encyclopedias

Oxford Music Online
Great For: authoritative entries across a wide spectrum of genres, musical topics, and people; works lists; bibliographies
Format: Online
TIP: Oxford Music Online includes some articles on musical theater, including entries from The Grove Dictionary of American Music, making it a great resource for finding historical context for your research. See other sources for recent developments and contemporary shows.
Grove Dictionary of American Music (2nd ed.)
Great For: authoritative articles on American art and popular music, with bibliographies and composers' works lists. Some, but not all, of the articles are available in Oxford Music Online.
Format: Print
Call Number: Loeb Music Aldrich Room: ML101.U6 N48 2013
RILM Music Encyclopedias
Great For: current and historical encyclopedias, including books about Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, musical film performers, and popular music.
Format: online; multilingual

Bibliographies

Bibliographies save you time by giving you an annotated list of citations to check. Once you've found a book or article that interests you, search for it in HOLLIS to find our copy.

Oxford Bibliographies Online: Musical
An annotated bibliography with sections for historical, biographical, and critical studies of musical theatre.

Broadway Production Databases

Internet Broadway Database (IBDB)
A database of shows produced on Broadway, including information about production runs, cast and crew, venues, awards and nominations, attendance and grosses.
Playbill Vault (1930-present)
A database of information on Broadway shows, actors, and production crews (1930-present): search by title, person, theatre, or season.
Show Music on Record (1890s-2010)
A discography of songs performed by members of original, revival, and studio casts of American stage, screen, and television shows, as well as foreign shows and musical films produced or shown in the United States. Covers recordings from the 1890s-December, 2010.

Featured Books from Hollis

Below are a few of the print reference books on musical theater found in the library. Search in HOLLIS to find more; try "musicals" or "musical theater" plus keywords like "dictionaries," "encyclopedias," "discographies," etc.