Theater Books For Actors

New version of this annual book includes newly commissioned interviews conducted by Polly Bennett and Joan Iyiola (co-founders of The Mono Box) with theatre industry professionals including Cherrelle Skeete, Hazel Holder, Ned Bennett and Tom Ross Williams; a new foreword by Polly Bennett; updated listings covering training and working in theatre, film, radio, TV and comedy, it contains invaluable resources such as a casting calendar and articles on a range of topics from your social media profi...

Thirty new ten-minute plays. This volume is ideal for theatre enthusiasts looking for new and compelling short pieces from some of the finest playwrights of our time.

Collection of monologues from plays by members of Honor Roll!, an advocacy group of women over forty.

What resources are out there for playwrights to “stay in shape” with their writing? Is there anything out there to help these theatermakers focus, practice, and tell stories? 100 Playwriting Challenges features a collection of exercises and prompts designed to jumpstart imagination and kick that daunting blank page to the curb. From challenges on character to scene-starters to revisions, this book will provide the tools and resources playwrights need to kick-start their next creative adventure.

Approximately 100 women’s monologues for actors to use for auditions and in class, all from recently produced plays ... by both well-known playwrights such as Don Nigro, Saviana Stanescu, and Len Jenkin and future stars such as Lia Romeo, Steven Hayet, Lori Fischer, Will Arbery, and Carey Crim. 184 pages.

Approximately 100 men's monologues for actors to use for auditions and in class, all from recently produced plays ... by both well-known playwrights such as Don Nigro, Theresa Rebeck, Rob Ackerman, Len Jenkin, Stephen Belber, and Tim Blake Nelson, and future stars such as David MacGregor, Reina Hardy, Chris Daftsios, Frank Basloe, and Will Arbery. 184 pages.

"Stan Grozniak, the once-rising star of 1990s gay cinema, shares how he almost self-sabotaged a prestigious directing gig after casting his rediscovered teenage summer stock crush. While still haunted by the death of Rick Dacker, the sexy star of his cult favorite action trilogy, Stan attempts a romance with actor Lance Holtzer, his 'Tulsa' from a small town Ohio production of the musical Gypsy."

Few actors have had a career as dynamic as that Kathleen Turner's; success has followed her from the television screen to major blockbusters, from indie films to the theater stage. Over her 40-year career, Turner has developed an instinctual knowledge of what it takes to be a successful actor, and, in her conversations with esteemed film professor Dustin Morrow, she shares these lessons with the world. With her iconic wit on full display, Turner dazzles listeners with her shrewd insights on ...

The definitive guide to making a career in theater?to Broadway and beyond Tiffany Haas knows how to make it on Broadway. After 72 rejections in a row?72 auditions and 72 rejections?she finally landed a role in Broadway?s long-running smash hit Wicked and later became ?Glinda the Good.? Now she wants to share her advice for starting and nurturing a career in the theater. Waiting in the Wings is the essential guide for anyone who wants to have a theatrical career, whether they?re complete newb...

"Since the nineteen-sixties and seventies, New York's experimental-theatre scene has toned down its wild-man character, but Lee Breuer is the grand old man of the movement."?The New Yorker Since he first arrived on the New York art/theatre/performance scene in 1970, Lee Breuer has been at the forefront of the American theatrical avant-garde, creating challenging works both independently and with Mabou Mines, the company he co-founded with JoAnne Akalaitis, Philip Glass, Ruth Maleczech and Da...

In The Ultimate Musical Theatre College Audition Guide, author, acting teacher, and musical theatre program director Amy Rogers offers an honest, no-nonsense guide to the musical theatre audition. Written for high school students and their parents, teachers, and mentors, the book demystifies what can be an overwhelming process with step-by-step explanations of audition checkpoints to answer every student's question, "where do I begin?" Chapters explore degree types, summer programs and intensi...

“A workhorse of a book! Beautifully conceived and executed. Clues to Acting Shakespeare is a no-brainer purchase for acting collections in all libraries.” ?Library Journal Clues to Acting Shakespeare has become a popular guide for actors, directors, teachers and Shakespeare enthusiasts, selling over 15,000 copies of previous editions. This third edition retains the second edition’s unique solutions to challenges that face directors and actors at advanced levels and is expanded to include an ...

From the creator and star of Hamilton, with beautiful illustrations by Jonny Sun, comes a book of affirmations to inspire readers at the beginning and end of each day. Good morning. Do NOT get stuck in the comments section of life today. Make, do, create the things. Let others tussle it out. Vamos! Before he inspired the world with Hamilton and was catapulted to international fame, Lin-Manuel Miranda was inspiring his Twitter followers with words of encouragement at the beginning and end ...

The second volume in this series brings together some of the best new writing from contemporary American playwrights. Each play is introduced by critically acclaimed writers themselves. The volume includes: THE EDGE OF OUR BODIES by Adam Rapp, Introduced by AM Homes THE COWARD by Nick Jones, Introduced by Marsha Norman THE BOOK OF GRACE by Suzan-Lori Parks, Introduced by Oskar Eustis WHAT ONCE WE FELT by Ann Marie Healy, Introduced by Paula Vogel

Few actors have had a career as dynamic as that Kathleen Turner's; success has followed her from the television screen to major blockbusters, from indie films to the theater stage. Over her forty-year career, Turner has developed an instinctual knowledge of what it takes to be a successful actor, and, in her conversations with esteemed film professor Dustin Morrow, she shares these lessons with the world. With her iconic wit on full display, Turner dazzles readers with her shrewd insights on...

A friendly and practical guide to the stage, The Essentials of Theater will prepare actors and crew for their next show. Perfect for college students in theater programs, as well as community theater troupes, this book covers all the bases?from a brief history on theater over the centuries and basic terminology to tips on interpreting scripts, developing characters, and utilizing props. Lisa Mulcahy’s helpful explanations and examples take readers on a backstage tour, introducing the tasks and ...

The spotlight shines on Broadway! This special book by Cory Jensen celebrates eight show-stopping Broadway Sensations with superb acting ability, fabulous style and powerhouse vocal talent! Whether a demure secretary longing for recognition or a witch defying gravity and demanding justice, these paper dolls represent women who are pop culture icons. With a combined total 35 Tony nominations and 15 wins, this book features Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters, Hea...

From whimsical comedies to nail-biting chillers, Julia Cho is one of the most versatile playwrights in the contemporary theatre scene. For the past fifteen years, her stunning plays have been performed all over the country. Contained in this new anthology is a captivating sampling of her widely-lauded work featuring The Language Archive and including Aubergine, Office Hour, The Piano Teacher, and Durango.

Armed with medicines, feeding tubes, and various medical accoutrement, Mary Jane is a single mother and a one-woman army when it comes to the care of her chronically ill son. A moving new play about the stalwart endurance of a devoted mother, Mary Jane by acclaimed playwright Amy Herzog demonstrates the prevailing strength of human will when fueled by unconditional love.

Known for her distinctive lyrical dialogue and powerful sociopolitical themes, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks is one of the most innovative and ambitious playwrights in the contemporary theatre world. In reaction to the extraordinary events of the first 100 days of the presidency of Donald J. Trump, one of America’s most distinguished artists has created a unique and highly personal response to one of the most tumultuous times in our history. For each day, Parks created a pl...

The Actor Uncovered is certainly not a set of rigid rules advocating one "method" or one singular "truth." Departing from the common guidebook format, Michael Howard uses a unique approach to teaching acting, reflecting on his own history and sharing his own experiences as an actor, director, and teacher. How he writes about the process and craft of acting is at once intensely personal and relatable by others. Readers are invited to participate as though present in this master teacher's clas...

40th anniversary edition with a new introduction by Mike Leigh. Forty years on from its first performance at the Hampstead Theatre and original screening on BBC1 soon after, Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party - telling of two marriages spectacularly unravelling at an awkward neighbourhood drinks party - remains a pinnacle of British theatre. Here is the original script, complete with a new introduction by Mike Leigh describing the play's unlikely genesis, how it came to be made and where he believes ...

The script for the stage production of Khaled Hosseini's first and internationally bestselling novel, The Kite Runner, as adapted by playwright Matthew Spangler. The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. Now adapted for the stage, the story is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the po...

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss, and by fate. As they endure the ever-escalating dangers around them--in their home, as well as in the streets of Kabul--they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense,...

Eight monologues for male and female performers cover major events – such as the Wolfenden Report of 1957, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the debate over the age of consent – through deeply affecting and personal rites-of-passage stories. Commissioned to mark the anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act and broadcast on BBC Four and BBC America. They were also staged at The Old Vic in London. The Man on the Platform by Mark Gatiss, The Perfect Gentleman by Jackie Clune, Safest Spot in Town by Keit...

BASH, a collection of three darkly brilliant one-act plays, forms a trio of unforgettable personal accounts. In MEDEA REDUX, a woman tells of her complex and ultimately tragic relationship with her junior high school English teacher; in IPHIGENIA IN OREM, a Utah businessman confides in a stranger in a Las Vegas hotel room, confessing a most chilling crime; and in A GAGGLE OF SAINTS, a young Mormon couple separately recounts the violent events of an anniversary weekend in New York City. All thre...

In this textbook for performers, the position of a Swing-an Understudy for the Ensemble-on Broadway is examined from every angle, showing just how vital Swings are to the success of any musical theatre production. Authors J. Austin Eyer and Lyndy Franklin Smith draw on their own experiences as performers, and gather first-hand stories from other Swings about the glories and hardships of their industry. The book features interviews with over 100 Broadway pros-Swing veterans, Stage Managers, Cas...

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Really? Words can break spirits, destroy confidence. They can also build hope and incite great acts of heroism. Playwrights know this, and so do theater audiences. Otherwise, why go? Words matter and carry clout every bit as dangerous as a hammer or crowbar. This, too, playwrights know. The monologues in this volume are full of such blows, striking at our imaginations and our memories, generating responses such as joyful laught...

Matthew Shaffer’s more than twenty years as a performer, choreographer, director, Broadway collaborator, writer, and producer has allowed him opportunities to work with celebrities like Megan Mullally, Ben Stiller, and the elite competition team of Dance Moms. So You Want to Be a Dancer is the ultimate book for anyone who has to fight the urge to sashay down grocery store aisles or school hallways. Shaffer discusses everything from how to break into the industry to practical advice—from how to ...

Acting in Musical Theatre: A Comprehensive Course offers a complete guide to mastering this highly specialized area of acting. Packed with practical tips, useful exercises and advice from professionals, this book offers step-by-step instruction for an integrated performance, looking at: the fundamentals of acting how to analyze the script and score for clues to developing your character how to make a song come to life staging a performance acting in different styles and genres of...

The ideal accompaniment to any study of musical theatre, this lively textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the history, theory and practice of this popular theatre form. Bringing critical theory and musical theatre together, Millie Taylor and Dominic Symonds explore the musical stage from a broad range of theoretical perspectives, including narrative theory, orientalism, gender theory and globalization. Focusing on opera as well as musical theatre, Studying Musical Theatre considers ...

An impassioned and invaluable guide for actors and students of musical theatre. In Acting Through Song, ? Paul Harvard takes the techniques of modern actor training – including the theories of Stanislavsky, Brecht, Meisner and Laban, amongst others – and applies them to the fundamental component of musical theatre: singing. With dozens of exercises to put these theories into practice, and numerous examples from a broad range of musicals, the result is a comprehensive and rigorous acting c...

Evita, Inevitably sheds new light on the history and culture of Argentina by examining the performances and reception of the country’s most iconic female figures, in particular, Eva Perón, who rose from poverty to become a powerful international figure. The book links the Evita legend to a broader pattern of female iconicity from the mid-nineteenth century onward, reading Evita against the performances of other female icons: Camila O’Gorman, executed by firing squad over her affair with a Jesui...

In some ways, the successor of vaudeville and an extension of the opera and operetta, the stage musical has evolved into a worldwide juggernaut. Musicals are staged not only across the globe but are offered in a variety of settings, from the high school stage and major theater to the big screen. The stage musical has become a staple for the professional singer and the object of close study by students of singing. In So You Want to Sing Music Theater: A Guide for Professionals, singer and schola...

Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to be a Tony-Award winning Broadway Producer? Ken Davenport, one of Broadway and Off-Broadway's youngest Producers (Mothers and Sons, The Bridges of Madison County, Kinky Boots, Macbeth, Godspell, Chinglish, Oleanna, You're Welcome America, Speed-the-Plow, Blithe Spirit, 13, Altar Boyz, The Awesome 80s Prom, My First Time, and Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage), and one of Crain's "40 Under Forty," shares the secrets of his success in ...

HEY! THIS IS THE NEWLY UPDATED VERSION FOR 2014!This guide is your reference for getting started in commercials,Tv,film,voiceovers and modeling.Includes:how to find an agent,tips for becoming a good actor,information on training,photographers for headshots,how to do a resume,how to become an extra and much more!

Finally, a book about acting on the musical stage! Ask any director who stages musicals at any level, and you will hear the same: acting is the musical theater gold standard, the skill hardest to find in the audition room. Acting facility almost always separates leading player from ensemble, and, frequently, employed from unemployed. In film or on the dramatic stage, great acting stands in the spotlight. It has its own dressing room. It’s paid top dollar and walks the red carpet. Yet in the mus...

Many have a dream of performing on Broadway and a vision to make this dream a reality. As Broadway Moms, we have experienced this with our own children and have gained knowledge in the Broadway arena that we want to share with others.

Why do some actors make it and others don't? Ken Womble sets out to find the answer to this question, one that has fascinated and tormented him for years, in his new book, INSIDE ACT: How Ten Actors Made it and How You Can Too. INSIDE ACT: How Ten Actors Made it and How You Can Too identifies what sets successful actors apart. For Womble it's about the inner choices, the inside acts of working actors acts that have propelled them to thriving careers in one of the most competitive professi...

Fear grips many American actors and directors faced with the opportunity to perform Shakespeare live. Their tongues twist at the first trauma: To Brit or not to Brit, that is the question. Whether tis nobler to stick to the kings English, or opt out and go all US. The thought of using verse for hours makes them dizzy. Iambic pentameter: Its not to fight, but to welcome. Its the God-given inherent beat of spoken Englishoops, American. And they go into a psychogenic trauma just considering the is...

A decade-long collaboration between three-time Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg and Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner, Lincoln is a revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President’s tumultuous final months in office. Having just won re-election in a country divided, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of...

Zachery Kleinmann lives in the elite world of New Canaan, Connecticut and has left his accounting job four years earlier to be a modern stay-at-home father. But as his son is starting pre-school, his wife is passionately involved in her own career, and Zach is knocking on forty years old, he begins to wonder how he will find his own serenity and define himself moving forward. Enter Ginger Charman, an older, eccentric, free living actress who has dedicated her life to bringing joy to childre...

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the publication of the newest play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet: The Anarchist. Just having completed its world premiere on Broadway under the direction of the playwright and starring Patti LuPone and Debra Winger, Mr. Mamet’s work is also currently represented on Broadway with the revival of his award-winning Glengarry Glen Ross starring Al Pacino and Bobby Cannavale. “Mamet remains the American theatre’s most ur...

Taking its inspiration from historical fact, Collaborators explores the intense, paradoxical, and ultimately deadly friendship between the dissident writer Mikhail Bulgakov and Josef Stalin, centering around a play which Bulgakov was forced to write to commemorate Stalin's sixtieth birthday. Stalin has been in power for 16 years and his purges are at their zenith. Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita is lying unpublished in a desk drawer, and his latest play Molière has been banned following ...

Melding a poetic dreamscape with a stream-of-consciousness narrative, Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue takes us on an unforgettable journey across time and generations. Lyrically tracing the legacy of war on a single Puerto Rican family, this Pulitzer Prize finalist is the first installment in Quiara Alegria Hudes' The Elliot Trilogy. Quiara Alegría Hudes wrote the book for the Broadway musical In the Heights, which received the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical, a Tony nomination for Best Book of a...

The five Chamber Plays of August Strindberg, written in 1907 and newly translated by Paul Walsh, including "Storm," "Burned House," "The Ghost Sonata,: "The Pelican," and "Black Glove." Strindberg began writing his chamber plays early in 1907 for a group of young actors embarking on a new endeavor: to open a small theater in the center of Stockholm dedicated to the Strindberg plays. The theater would be called Intima Teatern (The Intimate Theater), and it would explore the possibilities of a new...

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the U.S. release of The Oberon Anthology of Contemporary American Plays: Volume One edited by Mark Subias, published by Oberon Books (London). This new volume brings together plays from four of the best young artists on the contemporary American playwriting scene. Volume One is introduced by Andr Bishop, Artistic Director of the Lincoln Center Theater, and each play is introduced by well-known and critically acclaimed writers. The f...

Quiara Alegría Hudes is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Water by the Spoonful, the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights and the Pulitzer Prize finalist Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue. Her other works include Barrio Grrrl!, a children’s musical; 26 Miles; Yemaya’s Belly and The Happiest Song Plays Last, the third piece in her acclaimed trilogy.

Geared toward hopeful musical theater, show choir, a cappella, and glee club singers, as well as all shower singers that want to improve their skills, this enthusiastic and practical guide can help anyone’s inner superstardom make a public appearance. Full of straightforward, well-organized advice for every step of the process, this book will help you train your vocal cords, pick the right audition material, and become comfortable with the spotlight. Interactive quizzes, helpful sidebars, and wo...

“Ready? Set? Act!” is for the working actor who desires to move to the next level in film, TV and theater and who wants to set reachable goals that will sustain his or her career for many years to come. It is for the actor who has been discouraged by his progress so far and wants to know what to do to get ahead! It is for every actor who needs to combine the business aspects of having a career with the creative drive that made him choose to be an actor, in the first place. Joan Sittenfield i...