Three books that'll make you fall in love with the theater

My high school experience had two very distinct highlights: marching band and theater club. I loved getting the chance to perform in front of others and the rush of working in collaboration with my classmates. I continued to do community theater throughout my adult life, and have made three different trips to New York City to experience the magic that is Broadway. I'm lucky most touring productions come through where I live and I have the chance to see them - but those shows aren't here long. So I have created a list of books that allow the reader to have the theater spirit, without the need to go see a show.

1. Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

This book is delightfully meta - a retelling of The Tempest taking place as a prison theater group is putting on a production of The Tempest. A lesser author would not have been able to pull it off, but it's long been known Margaret Atwood is a master at her craft. However, in addition to being a retelling of Shakespeare, this book reminded me of what it was like to discover a love of theater. The inmates who become the cast of the play each bring something to the table, and in return give a very sympathetic view of people who are incarcerated - after all they have wants and dreams as well. I like to think in the fictional future of this novel, many of them work within the arts upon their release. After all, after you catch the theater bug, it does not want to let you go.

Hag-Seed is available through Penguin Random House

2. Once More with Feeling by Elissa Sussman

A second-chance romance, with a taste of enemies to lovers, partially set rehearsing for a Broadway show? It's a romcom that was made for theater lovers. From their start at a theater camp to their rise and fall from stardom to their second chance at their careers on Broadway, this book shows how the theater brings people together. And the fact there's a ton of juicy drama on top of it? That gives us the high emotions we know come with the theater, while simultaneously keeping it fictional and away from popping up backstage in our productions.

Once More With Feeling is available through Penguin Random House

3. Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles

Inspired by The Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast - this book is a love letter to those who adore the theater. It shows what it takes to build a production from scratch: from auditions to the final product. In addition, it has an "America's Got Talent" vibe throughout as the different magicians compete. Overall, I love how this book incorporates parts of musicals we love and gives them the darkness and decadence they deserve. This duology is one of my favorites and is a go-to when I want the feeling of what it is like to perform onstage.

Where Dreams Descend is available through Macmillan Publishers