About the Author

Laurence Maslon is an arts professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts' Graduate Acting Program. He hosts the weekly radio program, "Broadway to Main Street" (winner of the 2019 ASCAP Foundation/Deems Taylor Award for Radio Broadcast) and has written many books on popular culture, including The Sound of Music Companion, and Broadway to Main Street: How Show Tunes Enchanted America. For the Library of America, he has edited Kaufman & Co. (George S. Kaufman's plays) and the two-volume collection of American Musicals (1927-1969). With Michael Kantor, he was co-writer of the multi-part PBS series Make 'Em Laugh and Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, as well as their companion volumes. He often sings show tunes, even without being asked. Michael Kantor is a writer, director, and producer who created the PBS series Broadway: The American Musical, which won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Series. Other work includes the Emmy-nominated Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America and the Peabody Award-winning program for the Great Performances series, Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy. Beginning in 2014, Kantor has been Executive Producer of the acclaimed American Masters series on PBS, where he oversees films such as Raul Julia: The World's a Stage, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, and Sammy Davis Jr. I've Gotta Be Me. He has served as a nominator for the Tony Awards, and currently lives two blocks from Broadway.