Broadway Bookshelf — For Actors — Page 16

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For Actors Books

Advice to the Players

(1993)

Robert Lewis was an American actor, director, teacher, author and founder of the influential Actors Studio in New York in 1947. In addition to his accomplishments on Broadway and in Hollywood, Lewis' greatest and longest lasting contribution to American theater may be the role he played as one of the foremost acting and directing teachers of his day. He was an early proponent of the Stanislavski System of acting technique and a founding member of New York's revolutionary Group Theatre in the 1...

The Women of Lockerbie

(2005)

A mother from New Jersey roams the hills of Lockerbie Scotland, looking for her son’s remains which were lost in the crash of Pan Am 103. She meets the Women of Lockerbie, who are fighting the US Government to obtain the clothing of the victims found in the plane’s wreckage. The women, determined to convert an act of hatred into an act of love, want to wash the clothes of the dead and return them to the victim’s families. The Women of Lockerbie is loosely inspired by a true story, althoug...

Acting Is Believing

(2011)

Did you know that "an actor must believe to make his audience believe?" This is the key concept behind ACTING IS BELIEVING. Authors Charles McGaw and Larry D. Clark have influenced thousands of actors, and Kenneth Stilson's update which includes new exercises and updated scripts bring modern relevance to the text. Inside, you'll learn the Stanislavski method and how to perfect using it, along with hundreds of other tips to help you be the flawless actor you are meant to be.

And The Winner Is

(2007)

And The Winner Is was Mitch Albom’s second comedy. It saw its world premiere at the Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, MI, in the summer of 2005 and its west coast premiere at the Laguna Playhouse in the summer of 2006. And the Winner Is tells the comic story of Tyler Johnes, a self-obsessed movie star, who is finally nominated for an Oscar, then dies the night before the awards. Outraged at his bad luck and determined to know if he wins (even though he's dead), he bargains with a heavenly gatek...

Cats: The Book of the Musical

(1983)

A richly illustrated book that re-creates the making of one of Broadway’s biggest hits, based on Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Color photographs and drawings by John Napier.

Boston Marriage

(2003)

One of America's most provocative dramatists conquers new territory with this droll comedy of errors set in a Victorian drawing room. Anna and Claire are two bantering, scheming "women of fashion" who live together on the fringes of society. Anna has just become the mistress of a wealthy man, from whom she has received an enormous emerald. Claire, meanwhile, is infatuated with a young girl and wants to enlist the jealous Anna's help for an assignation. As the two women exchange barbs and ...

The Complete Professional Audition: A Commonsense Guide To Auditioning For Musicals and Plays

(2005)

In the United States, there are 300,000 actors; 100,000 hold union cards. There are 184 college theater programs and 108 performing-arts high schools. There are 578 acting schools and coaches in New York City and Los Angeles alone. The Complete Professional Audition is the one book all of those actors need-because before actors can act, they have to pass the audition! Here's practical, hand-holding advice for choosing material, rehearsing, warming up, staying calm, standing out in a crowd, unde...

The Complete Professional Audition: A Commonsense Guide To Auditioning For Musicals a

Interactive and Improvisational Drama: Varieties of Applied Theatre and Performance

(2007)

Are you a drama student looking for other ways to practice in your field? Perhaps you teach drama students or as a teacher want to enliven your lessons. Are you an actor who wants to diversify your role repertoire? Are you a therapist who uses active approaches to promote your clients’ creative potentials? Maybe you want to be involved in a meaningful form of social action? This is the book for you! Thirty-two innovators share their approaches to interactive and improvisational drama, applie...

Interactive and Improvisational Drama: Varieties of Applied Theatre and Performance

Theater Games for Rehearsal: A Director's Handbook

(2011)

Gives advice on selecting a play, auditioning a cast, and creating a stage space, shows how to conduct acting workshops, and demonstrates rehearsal techniques.

Theater Games for Rehearsal: A Director's Handbook

Creating Your Own Monologue

(2005)

• Clear how-tos for writing unique material, form monologues to onel-person shows • Empowering, enlightening, easy to use In the second edition of this popular guide, actors learn to use their skills to write monologues, performance art pieces, and one-person plays. Updated to include exclusive interviews and tips on marketing, this guide helps actors create their own exciting performance opportunities and follow in the footsteps of Elaine Stritch, Billy Crystal, John Leguizamo, and oth...

Bat Boy: The Musical

(2002)

Based on a story in The Weekly World News, BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL is a musical comedy/horror show about a half boy/half bat creature who is discovered in a cave near Hope Falls, West Virginia. For lack of a better solution, the local sheriff brings Bat Boy to the home of the town veterinarian, Dr. Parker, where he is eventually accepted as a member of the family and taught to act like a "normal" boy by the veterinarian's wife, Meredith, and teenage daughter, Shelley. Bat Boy is happy with his new...

One Act Plays for Acting Students: An Anthology of Short One-Act Plays for One, Two or Three Actors

(1987)

23 short length plays for a cast of one, two, or three. 5 minutes acting time for each character. Performance times vary from 8-15 minutes.

One Act Plays for Acting Students: An Anthology of Short One-Act Plays for One, Two o

Improv Ideas: A Book of Games And Lists

(2006)

This pack contains a book of games and lists and a CD-ROM. Generating ideas from your own improve group is always best, but when you need a source for memory jogs and new inspirations to keep things lively, use this book. It includes more than seventy games and lists along with a CD-ROM so that you may print these lists directly onto labels or pages for student use. Everything is in alphabetical order for quick reference. It's all here - the five Ws and the big H (how). Three appendixes include...

Drama, Skits, & Sketches

(1997)

From The Ideas Library this book contains how-to ideas for youth promotion, publicity, advertising, fundraising, announcements, administration, bulletin boards, flyers, and all kinds of tricks of the trade.

Being an Actor

(1995)

Callow was told by master performer Michael MacLiammoir that he was "a born writer, perhaps, but not a born actor." He went on to become not only a most versatile actor, but with this book becomes an accomplished commentator on the theater. What makes Callow's memoir of the familiar uncertainties of an actor's life pleasurable is this actor's eccentricity. He revels in spinning tales of failed shows, arrogant directors, Oscar Wilde reincarnations such as MacLiammoir, who became Callow's first m...

Childsplay: A Collection of Scenes and Monologues for Children

(2004)

A selection from over fifty sources including published and unpublished plays, blockbuster movie hits, independent films, foreign films, teleplays, poetry, and diaries.

Childsplay: A Collection of Scenes and Monologues for Children

One Less Bitter Actor: The Actor's Survival Guide

(2007)

An invaluable reference for anyone who is a working actor, or wants to be. Learn how to make it in the day-to-day business of acting and stay sane and focused while attempting to merge art and commerce. This book covers everything the author wishes someone had told him about how casting decisions are made, what rejection really means, how to behave on a set, the two factors the business is built on, and much more.

One Less Bitter Actor: The Actor's Survival Guide

Plays From the Contemporary American Theater

(2002)

Includes eight full-length, award-winning plays: * Streamers by David Rabe * Marco Polo Sings a Solo by John Guare * Wings by Arthur Kopit * Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You by Christopher Durang * Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley * The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney * Painting Churches by Tina Howe * Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson Edited and with an introduction by Brooks McNamara.

Plays From the Contemporary American Theater

The Storm

(2011)

One of Ostrovsky’s most poetical works, The Storm is set in Kalinov, a provincial town on the banks of the Upper Volga. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, Katerína is tormented by her widowed mother-in-law, Marfa Kabanova. Katerína seeks solace in an affair with a similarly toermented young lover, and the confession of this affair to her husband leads ultimately to tragedy. The Storm was a great success on its first performance the Maly Theatre, Moscow, in November 1859, and continues to b...

The Director's Eye: A Comprehensive Textbook for Directors and Actors

(2001)

Can a theatre class textbook be both inspirational and informative? Yes! This holistic book on directing and acting does it all. Students will keep it as a lifelong career reference on how to make things work. Written subjectively, it's based on nearly a half-century of teaching and directing. A text that compels involvement in all layers of creating memorable theatre. Thirty-five chapters in seven sections with assignments and convenient section summaries make a complete semester course. This ...

The Director's Eye: A Comprehensive Textbook for Directors and Actors

Stick Fly: A Play

(2008)

Two brothers see their weekend at the family home on Martha's Vineyard as a great opportunity to introduce their girlfriends to their upper class African American parents. Instead, they stumble into a domestic powder keg that exposes secrets of prejudice, hypocrisy and adultery.

Bus Stop: A Three-Act Romance

(1995)

Upon hitting Broadway in 1955 Bus Stop was an immediate commercial & critical success. During a winter storm a busload of weary travelers are forced to shack up at a roadside diner until morning. Inge was renowned for his in-depth character studies, Bus Stop is no exception and offers a warm play about the intersecting lives of eight ordinary people. A L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: Megan Anderson, Terrence Currier, Rachel Miner, Anson Mount, Kyle Prue, Lynnie Raybuck, Jef...

Duck Hunter Shoots Angel

(2007)

Duck Hunter Shoots Angel was Mitch Albom’s first play not based on a book and his first comedy. The story of two bumbling Alabama duck-hunting brothers who think they accidentally shot down an angel debuted in the summer of 2004 at the Purple Rose Theater, in Chelsea, Michigan, a theater started by actor Jeff Daniels. It went on to become that theater’s highest-grossing play. It then moved to downtown Detroit for a good stretch at the City Theatre before moving on to other productions ar...

Acting the Song: Performance Skills for the Musical Theatre

(2008)

Acting the Song offers a contemporary, integrated approach to singing in musicals that results in better-trained, smarter performers who can use song to add drama and dimension to their roles. Directors, teachers of musical theater, and students—including actors, singers, or dancers—will find time-tested advice, exercises and worksheets for all skill levels. This book guides readers through musical theater elements, classroom workshops, and the world of professional auditions and performa...

Acting the Song: Performance Skills for the Musical Theatre

The Comedies

(2008)

Terence was the outstanding comedic playwright of his generation and one of the founding fathers of European comic drama. All six of his plays survive and are collected in this volume. Acknowledged as classics soon after his early death, admired above all for their style but also for their insights into human nature, these plays have been imitated by authors as diverse Molière and P.G. Wodehouse. They deal with the love-life of adolescent boys and with associated tensions in their relations wi...

The Art of the Monologue: Monologues They Haven't Heard Yet

(2007)

The Art of the Monologue" - A collection of original monologues and complete how to sections that help you with casting type, monologue selection and final performance.

The Art of the Monologue: Monologues They Haven't Heard Yet

Eastern Standard

(1998)

Eastern Standard is a play by Richard Greenberg. Set in 1987, it focuses on yuppies, AIDS, the stock market and insider trading scandals, homelessness, and urban malaise.

Moonlight And Magnolias

(2005)

This is an insight into 1930s Hollywood and an epic of laughter. David O. Selznick is determined to rewrite Gone with the Wind. He engages the services of “script doctor” Ben Hecht, who has never read the book, and director Victor Fleming, poached straight from the set of The Wizard of Oz.

The Actor's Encyclopedia of Casting Directors: Conversations with Over 100 Casting Directors on How to Get the Job

(2000)

Karen Kondazian has compiled inside information from talking to the premier casting directors in film, television, and commercials from New York to Los Angeles.

The Actor's Encyclopedia of Casting Directors: Conversations with Over 100 Casting Di

Swashbuckling: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Art of Stage Combat and Theatrical Swordplay - Revised and Updated Editi

(2004)

The ultimate guide to stage fighting technique and basic swordplay, this book covers everything an actor must do to give a dynamic and convincing performance as a stage combatant.

Swashbuckling: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Art of Stage Combat and Theatrical Swordpl

The Santaland Diaries / Season's Greetings: 2 Plays

(1998)

THE STORIES: THE SANTALAND DIARIES is a brilliant evocation of what a slacker's Christmas must feel like. Out of work, our slacker decides to become a Macy's elf during the holiday crunch. At first the job is simply humiliating, but once the thousands of visitors start pouring through Santa's workshop, he becomes battle weary and bitter. Taking consolation in the fact that some of the other elves were television extras on One Life to Live, he grins and bears it, occasionally taking out his frus...

The Santaland Diaries / Season's Greetings: 2 Plays

Master Teachers of Theatre: Observations on Teaching Theatre by Nine American Masters

(1988)

Claribel Baird reviews the interpretation of classical texts for theatrical performance. Howard Bay interrupted his stage design career of more than 150 Broadway productions to help students. Bernard Beckerman asks if there are approaches to the teaching of dramatic literature that particularly suit drama-as-theatre. Robert Benedetti offers suggestions on the teaching of acting. Oscar Brockett treats the problems of the theatre teacher and the processes of learning. Agnes Haaga shows that the ...

Master Teachers of Theatre: Observations on Teaching Theatre by Nine American Masters

Great Scenes and Monologues for Actors

(1998)

Great Scenes and Monologues for Actors, spanning nearly 500 years of drama, from Shakespearean England to Contemporary Broadway, is a useful tool for every student or actor wanting to improve their acting skills. Included are 80 scenes and monologues from playwrights ranging from William Shakespeare to Anton Chekhov to Wendy Wasserstein. This small and affordable book can help improve memory, concentration, and confidence.

Commedia Dell'Arte: An Actor's Handbook

(1994)

An entertaining and highly illuminating account of Commedia's origins as a popular theatrical form, plus a practical and timely step-by-step guide to using commedia techniques in performance.

The Country Girl

(1998)

One of America's great dramatists rocked the worlds of Broadway and Hollywood in this moving drama about a desperately self-destructive alcoholic actor and Georgie, his long-suffering wife. A searing, emotional play of love and redemption.

Cymbeline

(2009)

Surrounded by historical myth and intrigue, Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" weaves an elaborate tale of palatial envy and power. Cymbeline, King of Britain, commands the wedlock of his lovely daughter Imogen to Cloten, the son of the Queen by a former husband. With her passionate eyes set upon the poor yet heroic Posthumus, Imogen refuses. Disgusted at the prospect of his daughter marrying a lower class citizen, Cymbeline banishes Posthumus from Britain. With death and deceit between them, Imogen an...

The Truth

(2003)

While filling his pages with reports of local club meetings and pictures of humorously shaped vegetables, William accidentally discovers dark forces plotting to overthrow the city's ruler.

Luis Valdez Early Works: Actos, Bernabe and Pensamiento Serpentino

(1990)

This collection is actually three books in one: 1) a collection of one-act plays by the famous farmwork theatre, El Teatro Campesino and its director, Luis Valdez, 2) one of the first fully realized, full-length plays by Valdez alone, and 3) an original narrative poem by Luis Valdez.

Luis Valdez Early Works: Actos, Bernabe and Pensamiento Serpentino

Junk

(2000)

Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn't want to be tied down - not to anyone or anything. Gemma wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, somehow, finally you have to come down. Commissioned and produced by Oxford Stage Company, Junk premiered at The Castle, Wellingborough, in January 1998 and went on to tour throughout the UK in 1998 and 1999.

The Collected Works of Paddy Chayefsky: The Television Plays

(2000)

A collection of six television plays by this brilliant writer: "Holiday Song," "PrinterÕs Measure," "The Big Deal," "Marty," "The Mother," and "The Bachelor Party." Includes an introduction and notes for each play by the author himself.

The Collected Works of Paddy Chayefsky: The Television Plays

The Best American Short Plays 2007-2008

(2009)

Applause is proud to continue the series that for over 60 years has been the standard of excellence for one-act plays in America. Our editor Barbara Parisi has selected the following 14 plays: A Roz by Any Other Name and Weird, by B. T. Ryback; Bricklayers Poet, by Joe Maruzzo; Laundry and Lies, by Adam Kraar; Light, by Jeni Mahoney; House of the Holy Moment, by Cary Pepper; The Disruptive, Discursive Delusions of Donald, by Michael Roderick; The Perfect Relationship, by Jill Elaine Hughes; The...

Group Improvisation: The Manual of Ensemble Improv Games

(2007)

Who would have thought that participating in group improvisation could be so enlightening and rewarding! Peter Gwinn has developed The Group Mind at Improv Olympic in Chicago to create a new awareness in the mind and spirit of acting students and professionals. Over forty improvisation games are included for developing group chemistry: creation, bonding, dynamics, energy, focus and more. Techniques are discussed for breaking the ice, agreement, listening and support, teamwork, quick thinking and...

Group Improvisation: The Manual of Ensemble Improv Games

The Contrast

(2003)

The Contrast, written in 1787 by Royall Tyler, is an American play in the tradition of the English Restoration comedies of the seventeenth century; it takes its cue from Sheridan's The School for Scandal, a British comedy of manners that had revived that tradition a decade before. Royall uses the form to satirize Americans who follow British fashions and indulge in 'British vices'. Thus, the play is often concerned with portraying the contrast between Europe and America. The Contrast marks the...

Monologues for Actors of Color: Women

(1999)

This collection features 45 monologues excerpted from contemporary plays and specially geared for actors of color. Robert Uno has carefully selected the monologues so that there is a wide-range of ethnicities included: African American, Native American, Latino and Asian American. Each monologue comes with an iintroduction with notes on the characters and stage directions to set the scene for the actor.

Unmarked: The Politics of Performance

(1993)

InUnmarked, Peggy Phelan examines the relationship between political and representational visibility and invisibility within both mainstream culture and the avant-garde. Her controversial study of the politics of performance uses theories of psychoanalysis, feminism and cultural studies to examine issues in photography, film, theatre, anti-abortion demonstrations and performance art. Unmarked is a boldly speculative analysis of contemporary culture and will be of interest to performance theorist...

Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture

(2008)

Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture addresses what may be the single most important question facing all kinds of performance today. What is the status of live performance in a culture dominated by mass media? Since its first appearance, Philip Auslander's ground-breaking book has helped to reconfigure a new area of study. Looking at specific instances of live performance such as theatre, rock music, sport, and courtroom testimony, Liveness offers penetrating insights into media cult...

King John

(1999)

Satire, comedy and farce all play their part in this exploration and examination of the nature and responsibilities of kingship and the concept of the nation-state.

The Vocal Arts Workbook + DVD: A practical course for developing the expressive range of your voice

(2008)

This practical workbook and DVD helps actors to fully develop expressive voice skills to communicate thoughts and feelings with precision and power. At the heart of the book are practical projects, with examples supplied on the accompanying DVD, which enables you to: -connect your breath with your voice -meet the demands of your performance -use your voice expressively with pitch and range Each chapter consists of an introductory Framework; Explorations; Exercises; Follow Up work; Sugges...

The Vocal Arts Workbook + DVD: A practical course for developing the expressive range

Actor Training the Laban Way: An Integrated Approach to Voice, Speech, and Movement

(2008)

Individual, partner, and group exercises to make any actor more expressive * Crucial acting tips based on the work of distinguished theorist Rudolf Laban * 65 original illustrations of anatomy and warm-up exercises Actors, improve your skills and become more expressive in body and voice by following the teachings of Rudolf Laban, one of the most important movement theorists of the twentieth century. This in-depth, fully illustrated guide offers a groundbreaking approach to understanding phys...

Actor Training the Laban Way: An Integrated Approach to Voice, Speech, and Movement

The Way of Acting: The Theatre Writings of Tadashi Suzuki

(1993)

Widely considered the most influential contemporary theatre director in Japan, Tadashi Suzuki provides a thorough and accessible formulation of his ideas and beliefs, and insights into his training methods — the Suzuki Method of Actor Training (not to be confused with the violin training technique). His method of training actors has been taught in the United States since the early eighties. Some programs which employ this method in their training of actors include the Juilliard School, Col...

The Way of Acting: The Theatre Writings of Tadashi Suzuki

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