Biographies, show books, musical scores, history, and must-read theatre books.
In Fifty Words, a Brooklyn brownstone becomes a marital battleground for Adam and Jan; What the Night Is For dramatizes Adam's infidelity at a hotel with former lover Melinda; and in Side Effects, Melinda and her husband Hugh come to terms with their broken relationship. Michael Weller has written over forty dramatic works, including the plays Moonchildren, Fishing, Loose Ends, and Beast, and the screenplays for Hair and Ragtime.
“The first two generations of Asian American drama articulated experiences and issues of race and identity. In this anthology, a new generation of Asian American playwrights explores the myriad ways in which Asians live in America.”—Editor Chay Yew This first major anthology of contemporary Asian American drama in almost two decades collects the following: Julia Cho’s Durango; Sunil Kuruvilla’s Rice Boy; Han Ong’s Swoony Planet; Sung Rno’s Wave; Diana Son’s Boy; Alice Tuan’s...
Applause is proud to continue the series that for over 70 years has been the standard of excellence for one-act plays in America. As previous series editor Ramon Delgado wrote in his introduction to The Best American Short Plays of 1989, the choice of entries for each edition has been based on the same goal: "to include a balance among three categories of playwrights: 1) established playwrights who continue to practice the art and craft of the short play, 2) emerging playwrights whose record of ...
His last known work and the only one to be written primarily in verse, The Woman in the Moon is among Lyly’s most entertaining plays. Turning upon the construction of the female character, it has been read as highly misogynistic, and as a sixteenth-century feminist manifesto. The biblical version of the creation of woman is overturned in the first scene when the play’s supreme deity, Nature, presents her ultimate creation, Pandora (memorably played in 1928 by Katharine Hepburn), to a group o...
Sir Thomas Stukeley, the notorious English courtier, pirate, adventurer and soldier, died at the Battle of Alcazar in Morocco in 1578, while serving in the army of King Sebastian of Portugal. This volume comprises the first modern-spelling, annotated edition of two plays in which he is a major character: George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar (c.1588), and the anonymous Famous History of the Life and Death of Captain Thomas Stukeley (c.1596). In his extensive introduction and commentary, Charles E...
This unique book contains the never before published script of the first ever one-woman show, written by Fanny Kelly. The script was performed in Britain in the 1830s and 40s, based on Kelly's own experiences and offers a picture of the exuberant and often bizarre Georgian entertainment world. The performance text is introduced, edited and explained by Gilli Bush-Bailey, who focuses 21st-century revisionist scholarship on Kelly's story. It is an innovative contribution to the modern debate on bi...
In this trio of plays, Culture Clash rewrites California’s past in the performance troupe’s own irreverent comic style, interweaving pop culture with their home state’s local history. In Chavez Ravine, called “a hell-raising home run” by Variety, they cover the land grab that uprooted an entire community and built Dodger Stadium. In Water & Power, the topic is the assimilation of Latinos and their rise to political influence. And in Zorro in Hell, Culture Clash re-imagines early Califo...
For performers, auditions are a fact of life. Almost everyone, regardless of age or experience, is nervous about auditioning but believe it or not, that nervousness can be a positive thing, giving your performance a passion and focus that perhaps might not be there otherwise. Yes, that’s right, a feeling of having butterflies in your tummy, that fear of forgetting your lines and not only embarrassing yourself but being rejected is absolutely normal and is not a sign that you’re going to be t...
It's easy to get stuck while trying to pursue your dream of becoming an actor. It's quite a ride, but certainly one you don't want to get stuck on. Pursuing a career in Hollywood through the years has led actress and author Abbie Cobb to some great decisions and opportunities, but not without making a few mistakes along the way. Stuck on a Ferris Wheel is a must-have guide for any actor starting out a career in LA. In her first book, Cobb offers play-by-play instructions for being a working ...
Some basics that need to be said aloud at the outset of each new community theatre production, but which often are not. A primer that makes it a little easier to wind up with a show that may say "community theatre" on the playbill, but one in which professional standards shine through.
The underlying theme of this three act drama is “We can’t help who we love.” The play centers on Ricky and Miranda who, as children, develop a strong bond. Through tragedy and the harsh tribulations of coming of age, this bond blossoms into fully blown feelings of love. Unfortunately Ricky and Miranda are second cousins. Torn between his ethics and his feelings for Miranda, Ricky endeavors to uncover the truth regarding the nature of their kinship and the morality of their feelings. La...
This study seeks to reunite American drama with more of the mainstream of American literature using contemporary literary theories of feminism, Derrida, Lacan, as well as the nature of language. It also focuses on the theatrical ways that plays work through performance and staging. This reveals how contemporary playwrights see themselves not as authors, but as parts of a team of designers, actors, and directors. Stage directions are largely omitted, but knowledge of original productions--both as...
The companion book to Al Stevens's popular "Ventriloquism: Art, Craft, Profession," this book contains a comprehensive collection of scripts that Al wrote over the years for his ventriloquist act and that he has performed in night clubs, private parties, and corporate shows. Many of Al's most popular routines are here including Doodley Squat, Viagra for Dummies, Uncle Sweeter's Ol' Woman, Dexter at School, Aunt Sally the Librarian, Uncle Sweeter Goes to the Doctor, and Juan Comes to the USA. The...
19 Monologues from a 27-Year-Old Breast Cancer Survivor compiled by Leena Luther.
When Your Angel Arrives is a play about the immigrant experience particularly in the Western world. Plotted around a black African immigrant who is under pressure from his visiting mother to cast off his Caucasian wife, the play deals with the challenges faced by immigrants and equally touches on cross-cultural marriage and black on black betrayal.
Sample from Cinderella Pantomine Script: Cinderella is ironing and singing with mice. Cinderella At last I have nearly finished all this work. Maybe I'll be able to sneak out and have a walk (Stretching) I haven't had a break since 5 this morning and I'd love some fresh air. Mother (off stage) There's so much to do, where is that girl? Exit mice, frightened. Cinderella Oh dear here comes my stepmother and her gorgeous daughters Hyacinth and Rose. So much for a break, it'll be more chore...
Over 240 pages of practical advice, casting, and auditioning tips for working actors who want to book more work. Also for actors who are making the big move to NYC, or LA, to pursue their dream as an actor, as well as for people who are thinking about breaking into acting. At the end of the day, earning a living as an actor boils down to one thing: winning the job. I give you info about increasing your odds, and putting yourself in the best possible position to get hired. I earned a living...
Yemi D. Ogunyemi whose literary name is Yemi D. Prince, is a luminous fellow, always fascinated by words, letters and books. He is a literary philosopher, a neologist and pinster who believes that plays are sacrifices that speak volumes to reality. He is invariably emerging (often with surprises) from the holy land of Ile-Ife, teh fountainhead of the keepers of traditions. THREE PLAYS is his 46th book he has thus far authored. Currently, he is a humanities professor at Foundation University and...
Combining personal power with Jack Donner's acting technique.
"They believe in personal immortality as far as any mortal can believe in an unimaginable horror. They have a cohort of Slate Writers and Writing Mediums in whose hands a pencil of any sort will, apparently of its own volition, write communications, undreamt-of by the medium, that must, they claim, be supernatural. It is objected to these that they have neither novelty, profundity, literary value nor artistic charm, being well within the capacity of very ordinary mortals, and are therefor...
Civilisation has fallen. In the rubble, we at the Y Corporation have developed the ultimate solution to save society: the Y Show. We encourage all good citizens to sign up for the show. You will be housed within a wonderful Haze Treatment Facility and undergo unique psychological treatment, which will clear away the illness of individuality. This reprogramming will be broadcast to the eyes and ears of citizens in our New World, populated with previous contestants and patients. This is a reality ...
Seduction In order to better portray the international problem of runaway, abducted and enslaved children, "Seduction", exploits the classic struggle between good and evil by tearing back the curtain to unveil what lurks behind the beautiful and seemingly serene middle class suburb of Springfield U.S.A. Mary, (a rebellious guitar playing teenager), has decided to run away from the dysfunctional and abusive home her desperate Mother created. The call of freedom, fame and fortune has enticed her t...
A wide selection of original children monologues that work great for both auditions and acting classes. Simple situations kids can relate to and have fun with! The monologues are conveniently organized by age range, gender and dramatic or comedic. - 9 monologues for kids 4 - 6 years old. - 12 monologues for kids 7 - 10 years old:. - 12 monologues for kids 11 - 13 years old. Every monologue in this book is under a minute and a half, which is what kids need for auditions or competi...
Voice and speech training has long been a part of the fabric of actor training and the training of those whose task it has been to persuade through the voice: primarily actors, politicians, lawyers, and other public speakers. Voice and Speech Training in the New Millennium is a collection of interviews with 24 of today's leading voice and speech teachers, each of whom has contributed to the advancement of the field and made today's training a cutting edge component of actor training. Included ar...
A collection of short plays, all comedies, perfect for school productions as well as community and regional theatre.
Mark Ravenhill is the first book to provide a detailed analysis of the work of arguably the most important dramatist to have emerged from the British theatre over the past twenty years. Shopping and F***ing (1996), with its unrelenting representation of dysfunctional youth, dark humour and graphic sex and violence, was seen by many to uniquely capture the social and political fallout of a decade, and Ravenhill fast attained a status as the ‘rude boy’ of British theatre. However, the numer...
The winner of seven Tonys, seven Grammys, an Oscar, and a Pulitzer Prize, Stephen Sondheim has become synonymous with the best in musical theatre. Now, in Finishing the Hat, he has not only collected his lyrics for the first time, he's giving readers a rare, personal look into his extraordinary shows and life. Along with the lyrics for all of his productions from 1954 to 1981 - including West Side Story, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, and Sweeney Todd, which have starred some of the mo...
Applause Theatre and Cinema Books is pleased to make this venerable continuing series complete by publishing Theatre World Volume 63. Theatre World remains the authoritative pictorial and statistical record of the season on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and for regional theatre companies. Volume 63 features Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's Tony Award-winning Best Musical Spring Awakening, which also earned a Theatre World Award for actor Jonathan Groff. Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Uto...
Rock of Ages tells the tale of a rock star who meets his dream girl at a Los Angeles club performance in the '80s. This Tony Award -nominated Broadway musical features the hits of bands including Journey, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, and others. Our songbook includes 30 piano/vocal selections: Any Way You Want It * Can't Fight This Feeling * Come On Feel the Noize * Every Rose Has Its Thorn * Heaven * Here I Go Again * Hit Me with Your Best Shot * I Hate Myself for ...
The most complete annual record of American theatre. Celebrating its 62 year, Theatre World remains the authoritative and pictorial record of the season on Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway, and for regional companies. Volume 62 features the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Jersey Boys, which also earned a Theatre World Award and Tony Award for its star, John Lloyd Young, while British imports Richard Griffiths and The History Boys gave lessons on how to earn rave reviews as well. Sex ...
From every “beautiful mornin’” to “some enchanted evening,” the songs of Oscar Hammerstein II are part of our daily lives, his words part of our national fabric. Born into a theatrical dynasty headed by his grandfather and namesake, Oscar Hammerstein II breathed new life into the moribund art form of operetta by writing lyrics and libretti for such classics as Rose-Marie (music by Rudolf Friml), The Desert Song (Sigmund Romberg), The New Moon (Romberg) and Song of the Flame (George ...
Celebrating its 64th year, Theatre World remains the definitive annual record of the American theatre season - the most complete record of the Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and regional theatre season. Volume 64 features Harvey Fierstein's A Catered Affair, starring Faith Prince, and Tracy Lett's moving August: Osage County, the latter part of a strong season for original dramas on Broadway. It was a season also rife with stellar revivals, including Sunday in the Park with George; So...
Presents rare information on traveling circus, minstrel, opera, and Toby shows. This collection of essays explores an understudied but pervasive aspect of American theatre: theatre on the road, from minstrel shows and Toby shows to contemporary African American theatre, 19th-century circus rail travel, and small-town opera houses. The challenges in gathering and compiling data on these ephemeral productions, from such far-flung sources as railroad schedules and weather reports, minutes f...
New York Then/New York Now—a collection of essays, memoirs, interviews, commentary, and plays—contemplates New York City’s history and future as a center for groundbreaking theatrical forms and ideas. Featuring the work of theater artists, producers, and critics, this special issue of Theater is concerned with the ideas and practicalities of making theater in and for New York within specific historical, political, and economic contexts. The first section, “New York Then,” reflects on ...
Gathered together in one volume for the first time: all of the incomparable song lyrics of Irving Berlin, whose career and work are the most important and all-encompassing in the history of American popular music. Berlin came from a poor immigrant family and began his career as a singing waiter, but by the time he was nineteen he was publishing his songs and quickly found fame with "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1911. In the extraordinary six decades that followed, Berlin wrote one popular hit...
Edward Albee, perhaps best known for his acclaimed and infamous 1960s drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is one of America's greatest living playwrights. Now in his seventies, he is still writing challenging, award-winning dramas. The essays in this collection provide a comprehensive, multi-faceted survey of Albee's career. Written in an engaging and accessible way, this book should appeal equally to students, scholars, and general readers.
The sold out off-Broadway smash has moved to Broadway! The rise of Golda Meir from impoverished Russian schoolgirl to Prime Minister of Israel is one of the most amazing stories of the 20th century. Now her life has been transformed into a one-woman play of overwhelming power and triumph by William Gibson, author of The Miracle Worker. Golda's Balcony earned actress Tovah Feldshuh a 2003 Drama Desk award."Enlightening ... Now, hearing from someone who was there at the birth of the country, who ...
Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Don't Put your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs Worthington and over 250 more lyrics from Coward's musical masterpieces. Noel Coward is one of the greatest lyricists of the twentieth century. Songs such as A Room with a View, The Stately Homes of England, Mad Dogs and Englishmen and Mrs Worthington are known, sung and loved the world over. This edition gathers together over 250 of Coward's lyrics, arranged in chronological order and grouped by show. In addition, these masterp...
Theatre World, the statistical and pictorial record of the Broadway and off-Broadway season, touring companies, and professional regional companies throughout the United States, has become a classic in its field. The book is complete with cast listings, replacement producers, directors, authors, composers, opening and closing dates, song titles, and much, much more. There are special sections with biographical data, obituary information, listings of annual Shakespeare festivals and major drama a...
Theatre World, the statistical and pictorial record of the Broadway and off-Broadway season, touring companies, and professional regional companies throughout the United States, has become a classic in its field. The book is complete with cast listings, replacement producers, directors, authors, composers, opening and closing dates, song titles, and much, much more. There are special sections with biographical data, obituary information, listings of annual Shakespeare festivals and major drama a...
Naomi Iizuka’s 1997 play, Polaroid Stories, consciously uses stories, characters and themes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses to tell the stories of street kids living on the edge in a desolate, urban landscape. Because these characters are named after Orpheus and Eurydice, and Echo and Narcissus, or based on stories of Dionysus, and Ariadne and Theseus, and because scenes are entitled “The Story of Semele” or “Theseus in the Labyrinth,” Iizuka creates a world that has two dimensions: the g...
This expanded edition includes an appendix of previously uncollected and newly discovered lyrics.
The second half of the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Angels in America, follows the characters introduced in Millennium Approaches into the 1990s as they continue to struggle with the ravages of AIDS. Original.
The second half of the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Angels in America, follows the characters introduced in Millennium Approaches into the 1990s as they continue to struggle with the ravages of AIDS. Original.
The most anticipated new American play of the decade, this brilliant work is an emotional, poetic, political epic in two parts: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika. Spanning the years of the Reagan administration, it weaves the lives of fictional and historical characters into a feverish web of social, political, and sexual revelations.
My Big Fat Broadway Debut! the ebook miniseries chronicles the remarkable journey of Steven Cutts, who went from being a kid with a dream to being a pro on the Broadway stage. The book is packed with stories, wisecracks, pitfalls, and sage advice from a true industry insider. From one volume to the next, readers get an inside scoop on what it really takes to make it on the big stage! VOLUME 1 is all about the big dreams of being on Broadway and the big lessons that follow.
Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama From the Obie Award-winning author of Quills comes this acclaimed one-man show, which explores the astonishing true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. A transvestite and celebrated antiques dealer who successfully navigated the two most oppressive regimes of the past century-the Nazis and the Communists--while openly gay and defiantly in drag, von Mahlsdorf was both hailed as a cultural hero and accused of colluding with the Stasi. In an attempt to d...
Radio Golf is August Wilson’s final play. Set in 1990 Pittsburgh, it is the conclusion of his Century Cycle—Wilson’s ten-play chronicle of the African American experience throughout the twentieth century—and is the last play he completed before his death. With Radio Golf Wilson’s lifework comes full circle as Aunt Ester’s onetime home at 1839 Wylie Avenue (the setting of the cycle’s first play) is slated for demolition to make way for a slick new real estate venture aimed to boost ...
King Hedley II is the 8th work in playwright August Wilson's 10-play cycle chronicling the history of the African-American experience in each decade of the 20th century. It's set in 1985 and tells the story of an ex-con in post-Reagan Pittsburgh trying to rebuild his life. Many critics have hailed the work as a haunting and challenging tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.
When Herald Loomis arrives at a black Pittsburgh boardinghouse after seven years' impressed labor on Joe Turner's chain gang, he is a free man-in body. But the scars of his enslavement and a sense of inescapable alienation oppress his spirit still, and the seemingly hospitable rooming house seethes with tension and distrust in the presence of this tormented stranger. Loomis is looking for the wife he left behind, believing that she can help him reclaim his old identity. But through his encount...
