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BOOKS*BOOKS*BOOKS*BOOKS*BOOKS*BOOKS*BOOKS*BOOKS*BOOKS

[[image - black & white photograph of a man performing as the Phantom of the Opera]]
[[caption]] Broadway's current Phantom, Howard McGillin [[/caption]]
[[photograph credit]] JOAN MARCUS [[/photograph credit]]

The Phantom of Manhattan by famed thriller writer Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File) is a fanciful continuation of that phenomenal classic, The Phantom of the Opera. Forsyth, a friend of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of the theatrical gold mine, during dinner one night discussed with Webber what might have happened to the Phantom and his beloved Christine after the events in the Paris Opera that have thrilled over 60 million theatregoers worldwide. The conversation led to Forsyth's writing a fantasy about the possibility that the Phantom ended up in Manhattan and that he and Christine meet again. Forsyth's book was immediately snapped up by St. Martin's Press.

In addition to the intriguing story, the book contains an informative author's preface concerning the original The Phantom of the Opera book by Gaston Lereaux, its subsequent movie versions and the changes in the story made by Webber when he created the musical version (St. Martin's Press, hardcover, $19.95).

Food for thought...The Russian Tea Room: A Love Story by Faith Stewart-Gordon is a valentine to the famed Manhattan restaurant written by its former owner (the resplendently restored restaurant, now owned by Warner LeRoy, has just reopened). The author, who started out as an actress in such shows as New Faces of 1952 and Ondine with Audrey Hepburn, has written a warm tribute to this gastronomical landmark that has played host to world-famous celebrities in the arts and politics. It was here that Richard Burton discovered caviar as a potent aphrodisiac, that Leonard Bernstein wrote the opening music bars of his Fancy Free ballet on a tablecloth and that Carol Channing often dined but brought her own mysterious food in sterling silver containers (A Lisa Drew Book, Scribner, $25). 

[[image - "The Russian Tea Room" book cover]]

Kids Eat Broadway is a most unusual book. Written by 13-year-old Sam Freund and his fashion-designer mother Elizabeth Carpenter, it's an invaluable guidebook for parents and kids that contains such information as suitable Broadway and Off-Broadway shows for children, 50 kid-friendly restaurants, tips on buying tickets and proper theatre behavior, cast recordings, a history of the Tony Awards and the American Theatre Wing, a history of PLAYBILL and PLAYBILL ON-LINE, other activities suitable for children in N.Y.C. and a special section with money-saving coupons for shows and restaurants. The book is presented by Camp Broadway and published by Kids Eat Publishing. Andrea McArdle, B'way's original Annie, has written an informative introduction. (Available at Barnes and Noble, F.A.O. Schwarz and other stores; paperback, $12.95).
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[[box]] Though he covers the Broadway beat for PLAYBILL, Harry Haun is a movie lover at heart. His book - The Cinematic Century (due in December from Applause Books, $25.95)- is bursting with anecdotes and behind-the-scenes gossip for every year of this century. It's everything you always wanted to know about the movies - and more.
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64   WWW.PLAYBILL.COM  PURE THEATRE ONLINE

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