Little consideration has been given to the complexity of the director's contribution to musical theatre, so this study offers an important reconsideration of how the role has developed over the last fifty years, with an emphasis on the 1980s and 1990s. Early chapters focus on Harold Prince's work from the 1960s and 1970s, and not surprisingly his presence dominates this study. If this establishes Prince as the originator of ‘different staging vocabularies’ (p. 59) that have led to ‘new dramaturgical and thematic approaches to the material’ (p. 121), it is a fitting tribute to a major contributor whose directorial style contrasted the conventional Broadway approaches of choreographer–directors such as Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse and of musical comedy adherents like George Abbott. Prince's legacy, which ‘drew on British and European theatre traditions’ (p. 59), is shown as Lundskaer-Nielsen goes on to discuss directors from the 1980s and 1990s and as far forward as 2006. Regular case studies introduce critical commentaries on high-profile successes (Miss Saigon, Cabaret) as well as important small-scale productions (Jelly's Last Jam, Floyd Collins) and under-discussed shows (Falsettos, Nine).

Prince's ‘active participation in the development process’ (p. 29) established him as a key collaborator on seminal shows, and Lundskaer-Nielsen discusses lucidly issues of collaborative authorship and of the authoritative original production, a key ideology underpinning the economics of Broadway and the West End. An important chapter discusses revivals of shows such as Carousel (1992), Cabaret (1993) and Oklahoma! (1998) that have been celebrated for their contemporary treatment. To Lundskaer-Nielsen, the musical theatre director's ‘right to reinterpret the show’ (p. 132) is an important development in recognizing musical theatre as drama that can be relevant to new generations into and beyond the twenty-first century.

Lundskaer-Nielsen's book benefits from her wide-ranging insight not only into the repertory of Broadway, the West End and subsidized, non-profit and small-scale theatres, but also into the cultural mindset of British and American audiences. Her residency in both New York and London during the 1990s has enabled her to gain a privileged insight into developments in musical theatre, and her self-defined ‘Anglo-American perspective’ (p. 1) gives a uniquely informed overview of the currency between West End and Broadway markets. It is informed by careful analysis of theatre reviews, always contextualized as cultural products of the times, places and audiences they represent, and the transcripts of several interviews are included, giving access to the thoughts of directors and echoing the only other real book to have conducted this type of survey in the past, Lawrence Thelen's The Show Makers (Routledge, 2002). Throughout, her tone is balanced, perceptive and informed, and the many sanguine comments she makes about British and American theatre, dominant discourses, cultural consumption and creativity within a commercial idiom are refreshing and thought-provoking.