Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy that the History Books Left Out

Women Writing Musicals is the first-ever book about female musical theatre writers. Join us for this conversation and signing.

About the Book

From the composers who pounded the pavement selling their music in Tin Pan Alley at the turn of the twentieth century; to the lyricists who broke new ground writing shows during the Great Depression; to the book writers who penned protest musicals fighting for social justice during the 1970s; to those who are revitalizing the landscape of American theatre today, Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy That The History Books Left Out is the first-ever book to tell the story of over 300 inspiring women who wrote Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals.

Author Jennifer Ashley Tepper offers here the definitive book on the topic, covering prolific and celebrated Broadway writers like Betty Comden and Jeanine Tesori, women who have written musicals but gained fame elsewhere like Dolly Parton and Sara Bareilles, and dramatists you’ve never heard of— but definitely should have. Among the gems shared here are the stories of Clara Driscoll, who saved the Alamo—and also wrote a Broadway musical; Micki Grant, whose mega-hit musical about the Black experience made her the first woman to write book, music, and lyrics for a Broadway show; María Grever, the first Mexican female composer to achieve international success—who made her Broadway debut at age 56; and the first all-female writing team for a Broadway musical, Annelu Burns, Anna Wynne O’Ryan, Madelyn Sheppard, and Helen S. Woodruff—in 1922! This treasure trove of tales about women who wrote musicals will make you look at theatre in a whole new way.

About the Author

Jennifer Ashley Tepper is an acclaimed theatre historian, author, and producer. She has been the Creative and Programming Director at 54 Below for the past decade. She has curated or produced over 7000 shows in this position. Her leadership at the beloved venue has gained praise from publications including The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, Playbill, Newsday, The New York Post, and more. Tepper's four volumes of The Untold Storiesof Broadway book series have been called an "inspiring Must- Read" by NBC New York and occupied the #1 spot on Amazon.com's Best Sellers List in Broadway & Musicals. Her upcoming book, Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy that the History Books Left Out will be published in November 2024. Women Writing Musicals will be the first-ever book about female musical theatre writers. Tepper is the producer of the musicals Be More Chill, Broadway Bounty Hunter, and Love In Hate Nation, recent projects that are part of a decade-long collaboration with the group known as Joe Iconis & Family. On Broadway, Tepper has also worked on [title of show], The Performers, Godspell, Macbeth, and The Parisian Woman. She is the conceiver and director of The Jonathan Larson Project, historian consultant on the tick, tick... BOOM! movie (directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda for Netflix) and co-creator of the Bistro Award- winning concert series, If It Only Even RunsA Minute. Her work as a theatre historian also encompasses celebrated live talks and events, including at TEDxBroadway, BroadwayCon, The Museum of Broadway, Thespian Festivals, and more. Tepper received a 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award. She was named one of the 10 professionals on Backstage Magazine's "1st Annual Broadway Future Power List", which stated: "Proving herself both a zeitgeist predictor and theatrical historian with her eclectic programming, Tepper is leading the conversation on contemporary musical theatre.”

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