In musical theatre, what does "book by" mean? In musical theatre, what does "book by" mean? For example, the Bonnie and Clyde 2012 musical has a book by Ivan Menchell. > Bonnie & Clyde is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black and a **book by** Ivan Menchell. > Quote from Wikipedia) I've tried Googling it and came up with nothing. I often see this a lot for other plays and musicals too. What book?

It refers to the script, as in Wiktionary definition 6 or Merriam-Webster definition 6:

> The script of a musical or opera.

Looking at the Wikipedia page for the Bonnie and Clyde musical):

> Bonnie & Clyde is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black and a book by Ivan Menchell.

So Ivan Menchell wrote the script to the Bonnie and Clyde musical, but not the music or lyrics.