Product Description

In the heart of the great metropolis of New York City, the bright lights of Broadway shine. And down, down, down, beneath a theater known as the Sovereign, there sits a long-forgotten architect's model -- the Sovereign's miniature replica. In this secret space, an adorable troupe of theater mice busily prepare to stage their own show, "Broadway Airs." Among the cast and crew are Emil, the director; Harold, the character actor; Adelaide, the diva; and young Pippin, the intern. Rehearsals are in their usual state of chaos when suddenly the production is threatened by the imminent demolition of the theater and the devastating disappearance of Adelaide. As the clock ticks toward opening night, everyone is worried -- will the little Sovereign survive? How can they pull off the most important night in mouse theater without their star? Somehow, the show must go on!

In this loving spoof of life in the theater, we join a delightful cast, follow a daring adventure, and welcome a brave new hero. This delicious tribute to the Broadway musical is written by two bestselling authors who have firsthand experience of this much-adored world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #846725 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-01
• Released on: 2006-04-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5–Deep beneath the grand but dilapidated Sovereign on New York Citys Broadway, in a perfect miniature of the theater, a group of mice are furiously rehearsing for their own musical, due to open the next night, New Years Eve. However, the tempestuous leading lady, Adelaide, gets caught in a mousetrap, is abandoned outside the city, but with the help of a kindly stranger makes her way back in time for the performance. Alls well that ends well, but readers may not stick it out to the happy finale. So many stock characters are introduced so quickly–only a few of whom are fleshed out even to the smallest degree–that it is impossible to care about the fate of any of them. A long list of the characters at the front and a glossary of theatrical terms in the back add nothing to childrens appreciation of the magic of Broadway musicals.–Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-6. Edwards and her daughter have teamed up to create an affectionate spoof of New York theater life featuring a cast of mice who perform in a tiny theater, located in a forgotten area of an old, once-exquisite theater built for humans. New Year's Eve is approaching and along with it the wrecking ball, leaving the mice just enough time to produce one last musical revue, Broadway Airs. When the show's star, diva Adelaide, disappears into a mouse trap and is transported to Brooklyn, the cast does its best to work around her. In the meantime, Adelaide undertakes an arduous journey back to Times Square--arriving at the theater just in time for her dramatic final number. The mice are clever and appealing without being saccharine, the local color is well done, and the show-biz jokes are sure to keep young theater buffs rolling in the aisles. With chapter titles plucked from program notes and a complete list of theater terms appended, this hilarious tale will appeal to would-be thespians everywhere. Black-and-white illustrations, not seen in galley, will be scattered through the text. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Big of heart and deserving of an enthusiastic round of applause." -- Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

So cute :->
I read this to my cousin the other night as a bedtime story and I may have enjoyed it more than she did.
It's written by Julie Andrews (the one and only) and her daughter. It's not their first book (they have done about 15 books together), but the first that I've read and I loved it. It's about mice at the theatre who are rehearsing for their own musical.
It's part of a collection of stories and both Julie and Emma want to create quality books that nurture kids sense of imagination, and to hopefully have these turn into classics one day.
All the characters in here are named for real characters of musicals (so there is Adelaide from Guys and Dolls etc). The pictures are great and cute. There is even a glossary in here so hopefully kids can learn a little about the theatre and musicals and want to go see some shows.
This is such a cute book for little kids, and based on the work that has gone into this I definately want to check out their other stories because I'm sure that if they are even half as good as this, then they are brilliant.

A Bow to Musical Theater
Julie Andrews Edwards says her idea for the story occured while she was working on a PBS program, Broadway: The American Musical. They were filming in one of the famous Broadway theaters when a mouse came out to observe. The theater people admitted the lower levels of the theater were quite overrun with the critters.

A troupe of mice are putting on a New Year's Eve extravaganza in the basement of of Sovereign Theater. Their little theater is the architect's model of the the original theater. The actors include an older, Shakespeare quoting, character actor named Harold; the ingenue, Wendy; the handsome leading man, Curly and every other stock character from any musical you can think of. The characters' names themselves, all come from American musicals.

The new owners of the Sovereign, plan to tear the theater down and replace it with a television studio. This news shocks the acting company. Disaster strikes again when the diva, Adelaide, is caught in a humane mouse trap up in the costume shop. The group must put aside their distress and and rework the show because "the show must go on."

Adelaide is released near the docks and befriended by a professor of mouse lore named Henry who promises to help her get back to the theater in time for the performance.
The traditions of the musical theater are included: the ingenue who must step-up to take a star turn, the young theater-struck Pippin who just wants a chance to show what he can do, and Adelaide, the grande dame whose star-power cannot be matched. The musical numbers, although not named, obviously come shows like My Fair Lady and Fiddler on the Roof.

The pen and ink illustrations by Walton support the storyline. The scenes of NYC are nicely done with an excellent degree of detail. A pleasant read, the book offers an opportunity for youngsters to learn more about the American musical theater. An extended glossary of theatrical terms is also included. I like a book for kids that uses words like "proscenium."

A teaching guide is available on the book's website.

A Mousy Good Time
It figures that mice would hold theater productions in the basement of a Broadway theater! Okay, maybe this only happens in fiction, but how wonderful if it were true. In this story such a troop exists, complete with the players you'd expect: the character actor, the diva, the handsome lead, and the plethora of behind-the-scenes mice needed to run the show. Offstage drama--the sudden disappearance of Adelaide, the diva--puts the show in peril. Adelaide, thanks to her robust appetite, has been captured in a humane mouse trap. The young son of the theater's new owner hands the trap to a truck driver, who dumps it onto a snow bank in Brooklyn. Despite their grief at her loss, the cast agrees "the show must go on." Hours outside the city, Adelaide is freezing--and facing her first obstacle in her journey back to the theater. She is saved from Scud, a thuggish rat, by Henry, a mousy professor who specializes in mouse lore. Henry (with other mice and unknowing humans) helps Adelaide to regain the stage in time for her big number. The cast and audience go wild, as they assumed they'd never see her again. A second story line involves Pippin, the junior assistant mouse, who helps to save the decayed theater from a wrecking ball. This tale bops along, never sagging. It is bolstered by Walton's delightful black-and-white illustrations, and a back glossary of theatrical terms.