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Broadway Bookshelf

Biographies, show books, musical scores, history, and must-read theatre books.
Biographies Show Books Autobiography For Actors Musical Scores Reference Books History

The Social Significance of Modern Drama (1/1/2000)

Out of print virtually since its completion in 1914, Emma Goldman's pioneer work Social Significance in Modern Drama bridges modern drama and political philosophy, pointing out the road that remains to be travelled toward a theatre of social empowerment. Activist, feminist, philosopher and anarchist, Emma Goldman was a passionate thinker about all things modern when the 20th century was still raw and new. The emergence of her treatise on the theatre after years of obscurity is certain to arouse ...
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The Miser & George Dandin: The Actor's Molière - Volume 1 (12/31/1969)

Harpagon, the most desperate, scheming miser in literature, starves his servants, declines to pay them, cheats his own children if he can save (or make) a few coins, and when his hoard of gold disappears, insanely accuses himself of being the thief. Dandin, in this rousing classic, not previously available in English for sixty years, is a man in a plight that everybody but him will find entertaining.
The Miser & George Dandin: The Actor's Molière - Volume 1 Cover
Soliloquy! The Shakespeare Monologues for Women (12/31/1969)

Your one-stop classical workshop! At last, over 175 of ShakespeareÕs finest and most performable monologues taken from all thirty-seven plays are here in two easy-to-use volumes (Men and Women). Selections travel the entire spectrum of the great dramatistÕs vision, from comedies, wit and romances, to tragedies, pathos and histories. Soliloquy! is an excellent and comprehensive collection of ShakespeareÕs speeches. Not only are the monologues wide-ranging and varied, but they are superbly ann...
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Solo! The Best Monologues of the 80s for Women (12/31/1969)

This collection of 75 solo speeches and performance pieces for actors has been selected from the finest material being written today for theatre in America and England. For the reader who wants to know and for the artist who must know, SOLO! presents dramatic monologues on the cutting edge. All selections include acting notes along with the quick and easy guide to the art of auditioning.
Solo! The Best Monologues of the 80s for Women Cover
Oh, Calcutta! (12/31/1969)

Oh! Calcutta! is an avant-garde theatrical revue, created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in London in 1970. It ran in London for over 3,900 performances, and in New York initially for 1,314. Revivals enjoyed even longer runs, including a Broadway revival that ran for 5,959 performances, making the show the longest-running revue in Broadway history at the time. It is currently the sixth longest...
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The Theatre of Black Americans: A Collection of Critical Essays (12/31/1969)

From the origins of the Negro spiritual and the birth of the Harlem Renaissance to the emergence of a national black theatre movement, The Theatre of Black Americans offers a penetrating look at a black art form that has exploded into an American cultural institution. Among the essays: James Hatch - Some African Influences on the Afro-American Theatre; Shelby Steele - Notes on Ritual in the New Black Theatre; Sister M. Francesca Thompson OSF - The Lafayette Players; Ronald Ross - The Role of Bla...
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Antigone: In a Version by Bertolt Brecht (12/31/1969)

Sophocles, Holderlin, Brecht, Malina - four major figures in the world's theatre - have all left their imprint on this remarkable dramatic text. Friedrich Holderlin translated Sophocles into German, Brecht adapted Holderlin, and now Judith Malina has rendered Brecht's version into a stunning English incarnation. Available for the first time in English.
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Curtain Times - The New York Theater 1965-1987 (12/31/1969)

Curtain Times is a uniquely comprehensive, uniquely detailed and uniquely contemporaneous history of the New York theater in the seasons from 1964-65 up to 1987. This is a collection of more than two decades of annual critical surveys (originally published in the Best Plays series of yearbooks) in a single volume. Each of these surveys is a report and criticism of a whole New York theater season: its hits and misses onstage and off, its esthetic innards. Each is a comprehensive overview which ta...
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Women Heroes: Six Short Plays from the Women's Project (12/31/1969)

The English Channel, the United States Government, Hitler, cancer - these are a few of the obstacles which these extraordinary women hurdle on their way to ticker tape parades, prison cells and anonymous fates. These are not theatrical accolades to daring public feats; the inner frontiers we learn, are the most treacherous to navigate. So these figures are not statues in the park being polished for public view. And not "heroines" in a male melodrama, but heroes in their own right, and in their o...
Women Heroes: Six Short Plays from the Women's Project Cover
The Servant of Two Masters & Other Italian Classics (12/31/1969)

An anthology of four classic Italian plays edited by Eric Bentley. Also includes directorial and technical notes.
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The Misanthrope and Other French Classics (12/31/1969)

The complete play scripts to: The Misanthrope by Moliere, English version by Richard Wilbur; Phaedra by Racine, English version by Robert Lowell; The Cid by Corneille, English version by James Schevill; and FigaroÕs Marriage by Beaumarchais, English version by Jacques Barzun.
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Seeds of Modern Drama (12/31/1969)

Five great forces - Checkhov, Hauptmann, Ibsen, Strindberg and Zola - dramatists whose work define, embrace and transcend the trends and genres of the modern stage, meet here in this extraordinary exhibition of their sustained and sustaining power in todayÕs theatre.
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The Best Short Plays - 1986 (12/31/1969)

"These are sharp, tightly constructed pieces with small casts, as readable as they are actable - just the sort of thing community players and other small ensembles will find practical." - Booklist
The Best Short Plays - 1986 Cover
The Stanislavsky Technique: Russia (12/31/1969)

It is virtually impossible to discuss modern acting or actor training without first mentioning the Russian thoerist and director Konstantin Stanislavsky. Complete in one volume, Mel Gordon explores the actor training systems of Stanislavsky and his two most important disciples, Evgeni Vakhtangov and Michael Chekhov, tracing the major teachings and refinements over the first 50 years of use by actors. Gordon reconstructs the actual exercises taught at the Moscow Art Theatre and various Russian ac...
The Stanislavsky Technique: Russia Cover
The Unseen Hand and Other Plays (12/31/1969)

The complete scripts to six Sam Shepard plays: The Unseen Hand ¥ Forensic and the Navigators ¥ The Holy Ghostly ¥ Back Bog Beast Bait ¥ Shaved Splits ¥ 4-H Club.
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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (12/31/1969)

"Mr. Sondheim fearlessly explores psychic caverns where civilized people are not dying to go ... A naked Sweeney Todd stands revealed as a musical of naked rage, chewing up everyone in its path as it spits out blood and tears." - Frank Rich, The New York Times ¥ "A work of such scope and such daring that it dwarfs every other Broadway musical that even attempts to invite comparison." - Rex Reed, New York Daily News
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Sunday in the Park with George (12/31/1969)

Winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize! "Sunday is itself a modernist creation, perhaps the first truly modernist work of musical theatre that Broadway has produced ... a watershed event that demands nothing less than a retrospective, even revisionist, look at the development of the serious Broadway musical."- Frank Rich, The New York Times Magazine
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A Little Night Music: Libretto (12/31/1969)

"Throwing caution to the winds, I assert that A Little Night Music comes as close as possible to being the perfect romantic comedy musical." -Brendan Gill, The New Yorker "Heady, civilized, sophisticated and enchanting. Good God! An adult musical." -Clive Barnes, The New York Times
A Little Night Music: Libretto Cover
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (12/31/1969)

Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry GelbartIntroduction by Larry Gelbart"This brazenly retro Broadway musical, inspired by Plautus, is as timeless as comedy itself." - Vincent Canby, The New York Times * "The most urbane and literate musical comedy text ever conceived." - John Simon, New York Magazine
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The Great Movie Musical Trivia Book (12/31/1969)

"If you're a fan of the celluloid musical, get ready - you are about to have one terrific time." - Shirley Jones * "It's here. The perfect gift for anyone who likes a good movie musical ... This is complete coverage: from stats through awards, to fun dirt on ten of everyone's favorite movies. It grabs you and you can't quit nibbling." - 4-Front * "Kurtti challenges even the most astute music fan." - Edge. Includes more than 100 photos!
The Great Movie Musical Trivia Book Cover
The Fantasticks: The Complete Illustrated Text Plus the Official Fantasticks Scrapbook and History of the Musical (12/31/1969)

"Richly illustrated, it is ideal for fans of the show, as well as admirers of musical theatre." - Variety * "Anybody who has seen the show (who hasn't?) should read the book" - Entertainment Today * "The perfect present for any Fantasticks fans." - Cleveland Plain Dealer * "A valuable resource. Recommended for all collections." - Choice
The Fantasticks: The Complete Illustrated Text Plus the Official Fantasticks Scrapboo Cover
The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater (12/31/1969)

This revised and expanded edition of Kislan's acclaimed study of America's musical theater includes a new section on "Recent Musical Theater: Issues and Problems." "The ancient union of drama and song, known as musical theater, comes in many forms - vaudeville, burlesque, comic opera, minstrels, etc. The author reviews these and other highlights of American musicals ... with a fascinating background on the elements that contribute to the success of a Showboat." - King Features * "Worth study by ...
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A Chorus Line: The Complete Book of the Musical (12/31/1969)

It is hard to believe that over 25 years have passed since A Chorus Line first electrified a New York audience. The memories of the showÕs birth in 1975, not to mention those of its 15-year-life and poignant death, remain incandescent - and not just because nothing so exciting has happened to the American musical since. For a generation of theater people and theatergoers, A Chorus Line was and is the touchstone that defines the glittering promise, more often realized in lengend than in reality,...
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Four by Sondheim (12/31/1969)

The complete book and lyrics with set and costume designs, production photos, essays, cast lists and credits, awards for major productions, selected discographies, and much more! Includes the shows A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. A richly illustrated Sondheim treasury!
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Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information (12/31/1969)

First published in 1988, Backstage Handbook is one of the most widely used stagecraft textbooks in the United States, with about 10,000 copies sold every year. This handy reference book brings together under one cover an incredible variety of information useful to designers, technicians and students who work behind the scenes in theatre, film and television. Its sturdy leatherette binding will stand up to years of constant use. The third edition updates this popular reference book with new...
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An Actor Prepares (12/31/1969)

Stanislavski's simple exercises fire the imagination, and help readers not only discover their own conception of reality but how to reproduce it as well.
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A Practical Handbook for the Actor (12/31/1969)

6 working actors describe their methods and philosophies of the theater. All have worked with playwright David Mamet at the Goodman Theater in Chicago.
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Living Theater: A History (12/31/1969)

An updated and expanded edition of Wilson and Goldfarb's Living Theater: A History. The authors combine an engaging narrative style with impeccable scholarship to present the history of theater from ancient Greece to Rome to the present day. Rather than resorting to dry, encyclopedic coverage, Wilson and Goldfarb demonstrate the liveliness, vitality, and distinctiveness of theater as it has unfolded through the ages. Along the way the authors emphasize the constantly changing nature of theater a...
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Audition (12/31/1969)

Michael Shurtleff has been casting director for Broadway shows like Chicago and Becket and for films like The Graduate and Jesus Christ Superstar. His legendary course on auditioning has launched hundreds of successful careers. Now in this book he tells the all-important HOW for all aspiring actors, from the beginning student of acting to the proven talent trying out for that chance-in-a-million role!
Audition Cover
Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays (12/31/1969)

This guide to playreading for students and practitioners of both theater and literature complements, rather then contradicts or repeats, traditional methods of literary analysis of scripts. Ball developed his method during his work as Literary Director at the Guthrie Theater, building his guide on the crafts playwrights of every period and style use to make their plays stageworthy. The text is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, expo...
Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays Cover
No Exit and Three Other Plays (12/31/1969)

4 plays about an existential portrayal of Hell, the reworking of the Electra-Orestes story, the conflict of a young intellectual torn between theory and conflict and an arresting attack on American racism.
No Exit and Three Other Plays Cover
Here We Go Again: My Life in Television (12/31/1969)

Her late husband, Allen Ludden, once remarked that White had been one of the pioneers in silent television. That is just barely an exaggeration, because she got her start in Hollywood on Television in 1949 and has not been off the tube for any length of time for the past 46 years. Best known for her roles as Sue Ann on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and as the terminally naive Rose on The Golden Girls, she has had four Betty White Shows, starting in 1950, as well as a show close to her animal-lover's...
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Parcel Arrived Safely: Tied with String (12/31/1969)

This is the long-awaited autobiography of one of Britain's best-loved and most internationally successful actors. By turns funny, charming, and poignant, here is Michael Crawford's vivid account of his war-torn childhood of a loving mother, violent stepfather, and the painfully revealed truth about his absent father. His early memories include being taught to sing by the great composer Benjamin Britten, and later, when he entered show business, his friendships with David Hemmings, John Lennon, ...
Parcel Arrived Safely: Tied with String Cover

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