I see that the excellent The Dresser was already mentioned. I highly recommend this film.
I’ve heard of it but never seen it. Will definitely check it out.
Some of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels have a significant theatrical element, although they’re set in a fantasy world so it’s not exactly the theater as we know it. Wyrd Sisters is to some extent a Shakespeare parody (imagine Macbeth from the perspective of the witches) and also involves a theater troupe and a Hamlet-esque attempt to “catch the conscience of the king” through a play. If you’ve never read a Discworld book then this isn’t a bad one to start with, as it’s early in the series and is the first time most of the characters appear.
A later book featuring the same three witches, Lords and Ladies, draws some inspiration from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and has a “rude mechanicals” subplot, but the theater isn’t a major part of the story. The next book featuring the witches, Maskerade, takes on The Phantom of the Opera and much of it does take place backstage at the opera. There’s also a mystery element, with the main characters trying to figure out who the murderous Phantom is.
Dickens’s “Nicholas Nickleby” has a substantial portion with the hero acting in a theatrical troupe.
I’ve seen it twice on stage-- amateur productions-- and both times during the third act it was one of those laughing so hard I’m either gonna have a heart attack or pee. Or both.
For the movie to have worked, it needed to be filmed with a camera sitting in the audience of a stage production. That’s the only way it works.
I’d advise you to skip the movie.
I can’t remember which Discworld books I’ve read… I’m pretty sure I’ve read Wyrd Sisters, but I (apparently) don’t remember anything about it. Might be a fun re-read anyway!
If you want to hit a classic, there’s Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie.
She’s Back on Broadway with the luscious Virginia Mayo. :o
Never heard of this (or indeed of Virginia Mayo)!
There’s Foolscap a novel about playwrights. IIRC Michael Malone also has another book about summer stock.
Salad dressing heir who later founded a medical clinic.
Bullets Over Broadway by Woody Allen (starring John Cusack in the typical Allen role) is a great comedy about Broadway shenanigans. (It was also probably Woody’s last great movies before his mid-90s slump and his renaissance in the mid-2000s.)
Agreed on all points!
+1
My, my, how quickly they forget… 
Among many other roles, she also played Dana Andrews’ floozy wife in The Best Years of Our Lives … but I’ll wager you never heard of them either.
No, I’m not a nonogenarian. I just make it a point to learn as much as I can about old movies while I’m alive so I’ll know a whole lot about them when I’m dead.
There’s Brannagh’s In The Bleak Midwinter. and Pacino’s Looking for Richard
The Libertine with Johnny Depp & Samantha Morton is largely set around Restoration theatre.
It is. Luckily, the ‘correct lines’ are more or less said twice in Acts I and II. And if you get a little confused in Act III, as long as you don’t fuck up anyone’s cue, it tends to add to the falling-apartedness.
Hamlet has a play in it.
There’s a comedic film called Hamlet 2.
And I liked Mrs Henderson Presents.
And there’s a Wikipedia list of films about theater.
Films about theater seem to be quite abundant, and successful. Novels less so, though I guess that shouldn’t be too surprising.
I’d love to watch a ‘workplace comedy’ TV show set in a, say, Off-Broadway play.