I love reading books about behind the scenes of movies, plays, really anything to do with the arts so I was excited to read this and get right into the book. This book kept the magic of the stage and enjoyed getting to explore the West End through this book. Stewart Arnott has a strong writing style and I enjoyed getting to hear this anecdotes and stories in this book. It was everything that I was hoping for and glad I read this.

interesting, effective and unique memoir about the west end and life in theater there. would definitely recommend. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I've always been interested in the backstage workings of the theatre, and I also really enjoy name-dropping, gossipy memoirs, so this seemed like a really great book to pick up. Unfortunately, I found it rather lacklustre - Stewart Arnott doesn't seem to have the knack of telling stories humorously, so even the meant-to-be-funny anecdotes here felt like they missed the mark for me. The flow of the book is prosaic - first I worked here, then I worked here - with not a lot of personal arc in it beyond professional achievement. It's certainly a very interesting set of events, but I wished the whole time I was reading that it felt more like being told a story and less like reading a CV. There are also some baffling tonal shifts that undercut the jovial "work hard and achieve your dreams" goal - an acquaintance confesses a murder, which Arnott relates to us in some detail, and then simply shrugs as if to say 'that was sad, hey?' and then moves onto something else. Throughout there is a lot of technical explanation of stage management lingo, which tended to the dry. Overall, it's simply not a book with much spark in the writing, which leads me to think that it would certainly be of interest to those looking for detailed information about the history of musicals in the West End, but perhaps not those looking for a fun narrative memoir.

This book is interesting and insightful for those who want to be more informed about what is happening back stage, and off stage, and the title is a great fit.
I enjoyed the insights, and the many topics covered about the stage.
I wish this were differently laid out, and had a more engaging design.
I enjoyed the plain writing, however, it could also do with more literary touches to attract more readers because I believe many people, those reluctant to go to the theatre or have lost interest in stage plays and events, could gain insights from this book.
3.5 stars

4.5 stars

Anyone who knows me knows books, musical theatre and ice hockey are my three favourite things in life, so when I was given the opportunity to ARC read Stewart’s memoir of his life behind the scenes in some of the UK’s most famous theatres and working on some of my favourite musicals, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Starting right at the beginning of Stewart’s introduction to theatre as a teenager in an amateur opera production with his mother and working all the way up to his current role as stage manager on Phantom, this was an utterly wonderful look into the technical side of theatre and I feel like I learned so much along the journey through Stewart’s career. I’ve always been amazed and in awe of what happens behind the scenes, but hearing it from the horse’s mouth made me appreciate these incredible people even more!

This book reads almost like chatting with a friend, and is perfect for any theatre lover and definitely for people considering a career behind the scenes in the West End and beyond.

A huge thank you to Stewart and the wonderful folks over at Troubador for the opportunity to read this one early.