I GOT THE SHOW RIGHT HERE: The Amazing True Story of How an Obscure Brooklyn Horn Player Became the Last Great Broadway Showman

From his birth in Brooklyn in 1911, Feuer seemed destined to become a legend in his own time. In this rollicking and rambunctious memoir, Broadway producer Feuer reminisces about his mother's dragging him to bandleaders and trumpeters, touting her son's musical talent. When his father died, Feuer's trumpet playing had to provide for the family; at 15 he was bringing home money from weekend club dates. After he finished Julliard, Feuer made the rounds with big bands, playing venues such as the Roxy and Radio City Music Hall. Following World War II, Feuer and Ernie Martin formed a theatrical partnership and began to produce Broadway musicals. With curmudgeonly affection, Feuer recalls his greatest successes—Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Cabaret—and the stories surrounding them. He vividly re-creates Bob Fosse's temper tantrums, Cole Porter's obsession with finding the right lyric, and Liza Minnelli's staunch defense of her then-lover, Martin Scorsese. (Feuer considers today's Broadway musicals sentimental and not very deep.) Poking fun at himself and his foibles as often as he recalls the shortcomings of others, Feuer offers a tantalizing no-holds barred look at the halcyon days of the Broadway musical and the people who made them come to life on the stage. (Mar.)