Search Help and Tips

Show Title (keyword search)

• Enter any word(s) from the show title
• Enter words in either upper or lower case

Examples:

To retrieve the show title, The Best of Burlesque, enter either:

best burlesque

burlesque best

To retrieve all titles with the word Best in them, enter:

best

A search for hair will retrieve the following:

Hair

Hairspray

Personal or Group Name (keyword search)

• Enter any part of a personal name by typing last name, first name or both (in any order)
• Also, it is possible to enter only a portion of the last name or first name
• Enter a group name by typing any word(s) from that name
• Enter words in either upper or lower case

Examples:

To retrieve productions for Duke Ellington, enter either:

ellington duke

duke ellington

To retrieve productions for Duke Ellington, Mercer Ellington and Ray Ellington, enter either:

ellington

ellingt

To retrieve productions for The Beach Boys, enter either:

beach boys

boys beach

* Note - Searches for names of composers and lyricists usually will retrieve only the original production of a show for which they wrote material and additional productions in which they may have performed material from the show.

To see a list of all productions for any show retrieved through this search, select the name of the production listed in the "Show" column to display full information on a specific production. On the subsequent screen, select the title of the show, and a screen will appear listing all productions of that show for which recordings were made.

Date of First Production (number search)

• For years only, enter the year (four-digit number).
• For specific dates, enter the year (four-digit number), followed by the month (two-digit number) and the day (two-digit number)
• Partial dates may be entered, but they must start with the year.

Examples:

To retrieve shows whose first production occurred on March 15, 1956, enter:

19560315

To retrieve shows whose first production occurred during March 1956, enter

195603

To retrieve shows whose first production occurred during 1956, enter:

1956

To retrieve shows whose first production occurred in the 1950s, enter:

195

To retrieve shows whose first production occurred in the 20th century, enter:

19

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SEARCH
This category allows searching of shows by their opening date. How a show's opening date is defined depends on the type of show it is. For shows that were produced on Broadway, the opening date is the date of the Broadway opening rather than the date of any prior production, be it off-Broadway, tryout, or preview date. For shows that did not open on Broadway, the date of the first production anywhere is provided. Unproduced musicals are listed by the year of their first recording; radio and television shows by the date of their first broadcast; and films, demonstration records, and record productions by the year of their release. Note that with the exception of unproduced shows, the opening date does not correspond to the date of the first or subsequent recordings of a show.

Song Title (keyword search)

• Enter any word(s) from the song title in any order
• Enter words in either upper or lower case

Examples:

To retrieve the song, On the Street Where You Live, enter either:

street where live

street where you live

street live

street

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SEARCH
The results from a Song Title search do not provide complete listings for all songs from cast recordings. This index has been designed primarily to provide information on later recordings that either include excerpted selections from original cast recordings or other versions of songs recorded by cast members who appeared in original and later productions. Thus a search for the song "Send in the Clowns" -- first performed in the 1973 musical A Little Night Music -- will locate compilations that include the rendition by Glynis Johns from the original cast album; a performance by Johns recorded at a 1996 benefit; and a version of the song performed in a 1998 concert by Judi Dench, who starred in the 1995 London production of the show. A search for the song "The Sun Won't Set," also from A Little Night Music, will retrieve no listings. That song has not been excerpted in later compilations and has not been recorded subsequently by cast members of the original or later productions.