Before the Parade Passes By
On August 25, 1980 as the curtain fell on the first night of the original production of "42nd Street," producer David Merrick stepped to the footlights and stunned the audience with the news that the show's director-choreographer, the famed Gower Champion, had died that afternoon. Since his death a quarter century ago, the story of Gower Champion's life has remained largely untold and with it, an essential part of the history of the American musical.
At last in Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical (St. Martin's Press; ISBN 0-312-33776-0; November 15, 2005; Hardcover; $29.95), John Anthony Gilvey skillfully presents an in-depth portrayal of Gower using extensive interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, including first wife Marge Champion, as well as many renowned figures of the stage such as Carol Channing, Jerry Orbach, and Debbie Reynolds to construct an artful narrative of one man's life and his own "art."