Two Frenchmen, an idea, and a blank piece of paper. That's how it started. Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg are the creators of the multi-award-winning and much-loved musicals Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Martin Guerre and now an exciting new work The Pirate Queen. Les Miserables alone has been seen by over 53 million people. Boublil and Schonberg are musical dramatists with a mastery of the sung-through form that allows them to tackle serious subjects with an epic dimension. Their musicals are hugely entertaining but also demand a high level of emotional engagement from the audience. The Musical World of Boublil and Schonberg is the first book to offer a comprehensive look behind the closed doors of these intensely private musical theatre giants. Boublil and Schonberg take center stage and talk openly about their methods and the creative processes involved in writing the book, the music, and the lyrics. Additional interviews from collaborators such as their co-writers Herbert Kretzmer, Richard Maltby, Stephen Clark, and John Dempsey their directors Trevor Nunn, John Caird, Nicholas Hytner, Conall Morrison, and Frank Galati the choreographer of The Pirate Queen, Mark Dendy and their long-time producer Cameron Mackintosh gives the reader a full view into their successful process. Full-color production photographs tell the story of each musical.

Margaret Vermette (West Sussex, England) has written biographies, a four-act play, a short story for children and articles and reviews for Musical Stages, Stagestar, and South East Dance. She gained a first in Literary Studies, an M.A. in Victorian literature, a Ph.D on George Eliot and a Diploma in Dramatic Writing., She has worked for many years as the Director of Studies at a language school in Sussex. It was while working on her Ph.D at King's College in London that she developed a passion for musical theatre and in particular the musicals of Boublil and Schönberg.