New Book on Acting, Featuring Lane & More, Available 6/30

The American Theatre Wing's Acting: Working in the Theatre (Continuum International Publishing Group/The K.S. Giniger Company Inc.; $14.95; paperback), a collection of advice and anecdotes from a chorus line of the stage's biggest stars, will be available in bookstores on June 30, 2006. The original content is drawn from more than 30 years of the American Theatre Wing's acclaimed "Working in the Theatre" seminars, and is the first in a series of four books drawn from the rich conversations fostered by ATW. The book features a foreword by three-time Tony Award-nominee Kate Burton; the book series is edited by Robert Emmet Long.

Chapters in the book include First Inspirations, Training, Technique and Preparation, Auditioning, Playwright and Director, Staying Fresh, Role Models, Theatre vs. Film and Television, and Audiences.  

"Readers will find a variety of reflections – from poignant to practical -- within Acting: Working in the Theatre, as Nathan Lane (The Odd Couple) describes his first impressions of a costly acting class, Patrick Stewart (The Caretaker) details an embarrassing misunderstanding with an audience member, Matthew Broderick (The Producers) shares auditioning insight from his father, Heather Headley (Aida) explains her philosophy on rejection, and Tyne Daly (Rabbit Hole) opens up on owning a character, to highlight only a fraction.  All told, the thoughts and insights of more than 100 artists are included in the book," state press notes.

Now in their fourth decade, the American Theatre Wing's "Working in the Theatre" panels have brought together theatre's best-known performers, producers, playwrights, directors, choreographers, composers, agents and others for peer-to-peer, in-depth conversations about theatre. Begun simply as public forums, the seminars have been broadcast in New York City since 1979 on CUNY TV, the country's largest university-based television station, as well as on select cable systems around the country. Since 2003, the seminars have been available to theatre students and fans internationally as free, on-demand streaming video from ATW's website, www.americantheatrewing.org.  135 seminars are currently available in this unprecedented archive of theatrical conversation.  Current leadership support for the American Theatre Wing Seminars is provided by the Annenberg Foundation and the Dorothy Strelsin Foundation.

Kate Burton, who both wrote the foreword and is featured in the book, was a 2006 Tony nominee for The Constant Wife. In 2002, she was nominated for two Tony Awards:  Best Actress (Play) for portraying the title character in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, and as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for a revival of The Elephant Man. This made her one of only three actors, with Amanda Plummer and Dana Ivey, to be Tony®-nominated for two acting awards in the same year.  Her many other stage credits include Jake's Woman, Present Laughter, Measure for Measure, Give Me Your Answer Do!, Company, The Water's Edge and Some Americans Abroad, as well as 17 summers at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has a recurring role on the television series "Grey's Anatomy."

Editor Robert Emmet Long is the author of Broadway, the Golden Years, profiles of the great American choreographer-directors, as well as a book on the films of Merchant Ivory. Long is currently writing a book about Truman Capote, American Enfant Terrible, to be published by Continuum Publishing in the spring

The American Theatre Wing is best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards®, which it presents annually with the League of American Theatres and Producers.  The Wing's other activities, dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre, include "Downstage Center," its weekly radio interview program heard on XM Satellite Radio's Channel 28, On Broadway; "Guides to Careers in the Theatre," a video series developed for schools and libraries; a grants and scholarship program to New York City schools and not-for-profit theatre companies, which has awarded more than $2.5 million since its inception; the Theatre Intern Group, a career development program for young professionals; and SpringboardNYC, a two-week college-to-career boot camp for young performers moving to NYC.  Sondra Gilman is Chairman of the Board of the American Theatre Wing; Doug Leeds is Board President and Howard Sherman is Executive Director.

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