Winkler explains what went right and what went wrong with each production as part of the larger story of Tune's superstar sensibility, triumphing in a period when it felt as if British musicals owned New York. The spectacular research outlines the history of the Broadway musical over a half century. Among studies of how entertainment can be made entertaining, it's a model of reporting.
Kevin Winkler enjoyed a career of more than twenty years as a curator, archivist, and library administrator at the New York Public Library, prior to which he was a professional dancer. His book, Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical (OUP, 2018), won the Theatre Library Association's George Freedley Memorial Award, Special Jury Prize, was a finalist for the Marfield Prize, and was cited as an ALA/ACRL CHOICE Outstanding
Academic Title. He is an on-screen commentator in the acclaimed documentary, Merely Marvelous: The Dancing Genius of Gwen Verdon.