In this second volume of a two-volume collector’s edition, The Library of America presents eight enduring masterpieces showcasing the genre’s glorious mid-century flowering and and its response to the turbulent 1960s. Based on new research, the complete libretto of each musical is presented in its Broadway opening night version, making these beloved cultural treasures available as never before. The texts are supplemented with additional song lyrics, biographical sketches of the musicals’ creators, original cast lists, detailed accounts of each show’s sources and production history, textual and explanatory notes, and full-color portfolios of illustrations featuring posters and photographs from each musical’s original Broadway run.

This volume fathers eight enduring works from the genre’s Golden Age: Guys and Dolls (1950) by Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling, and Abe Burrows brings Damon Runyon’s gamblers and chorus girls to vivid life; The Pajama Game (1954) by George Abbott, Richard Bissell, Richard Adler, and Jerry Ross offers a lighthearted take on the relations between capital and labor; My Fair Lady (1956), Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s glittering adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, a box-office sensation that elevated the tone of the American musical; Gypsy (1959) by Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne, and Stephen Sondheim embraces the relentless ambitions of the ultimate stage mother to frame a poignant look at the vanishing traditions of vaudeville; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) by Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart, and Stephen Sondheim, a joyously farcical romp set in ancient Rome; the heartbreaking Fiddler on the Roof (1964) by Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock, and Sheldon Harnick, based on Sholem Aleichem’s haunting tales of life and changing times in a Russian shtetl; Cabaret (1966) by Joe Masteroff, John Kander, and Fred Ebb, which views a political crisis through the prism of a Weimar nightclub; and the playfully irreverent 1776 (1969) by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards, a brilliantly drawn character study of the Founding Fathers on the eve of Independence.

Laurence Maslon, editor, is an arts professor in the Graduate Acting Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He has written several books about musical theater and popular culture, including The South Pacific Companion, and co-wrote (with Michael Kantor) the companion volume to the Emmy-winning documentary Broadway: The American Musical. He is also the host of the weekly radio program Broadway to Main Street.

This Library of America series edition is printed on acid-free paper and features Smyth-sewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker.

Project support for this volume was provided by Mark Krueger Charitable Trust, the Susan & Elihu Rose Foundation, Roger Berlind, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, the Cole Porter Musical & Literary Trusts, and Mary Rodgers Guettel.

American Musicals 1950-1969: The Complete Books & Lyrics of Eight Broadway Classics is kept in print by a gift from John Logan to the Guardians of American Letters Fund.