Thirteen-year-old Nat jumps at the chance to participate in the middle school regional theater competition where the winner gets to perform on Broadway, but when stressful rehearsals negatively impact her friendships, she starts to wonder if it is worth doing theater at all.

"Americans love musicals. Americans invented musicals. Americans perfected musicals. But what, exactly, is a musical? In [this book], Jack Viertel takes them apart, puts them back together, sings their praises, marvels at their unflagging inventiveness, and occasionally despairs over their more embarrassing shortcomings. In the process, he invites us to fall in love all over again by showing us how musicals happen, what makes them work, how they captivate...

This documentary series details the razzle-dazzle history of a unique American art form. Each episode chronicles a different era and features the Broadway shows and songs that defined the period. The series draws on feature films, rare television moments, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in creating the American musical....

Royal wedding: A musical set during Princess Elizabeth's wedding to Philip Mountbatten. A brother-sister dance team go to London and get caught up in romance. Pied Piper of Hamelin: The famous children's fairy tale is retold with warmth and understanding as the mysterious ratcatcher comes to the town of Hamelin and promises to rid the town of its unwelcome guests for a price. Wild guitar: Bud Eagle leaves rural South Dakota on his motor scooter...