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Reference Books Books

Women Writing and Directing in the USA: A Stage of Our Own

(3/12/2020)

Features interviews with some of the most successful theatre artists currently working on and off Broadway and beyond. The interviews explore a wide range of themes, including if and how the artists' female perspective influenced their art, the social and cultural significance of their work, and how theatre and women working in theatre can participate in awakening greater social awareness. Interview subjects include Young Jean Lee, Pam MacKinnon, Dominique Morisseau, Rachel Chavkin, and Martyna...

Women Writing and Directing in the USA: A Stage of Our Own

Death By Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts

(3/5/2020)

Kathryn Harkup turns her discerning scientific eye to the Bard and the varied and creative ways his characters die. Investigates what actual events may have inspired Shakespeare, what the accepted scientific knowledge of the time was, and how Elizabethan audiences would have responded to these death scenes. A rollercoaster of Elizabethan carnage, poison, swordplay and bloodshed, with an occasional death by bear-mauling for good measure.

Death By Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts

Playwrights on Television: Conversations with Dramatists

(3/2/2020)

Playwrights on Television features interviews with writers of award-winning stage plays and celebrated television shows reflecting on the successes and challenges of being a playwright in the post-network television era. In these conversations, eighteen dramatists consider their professional paths and creative choices, from training and education to thoughts on craft and technique, and discuss a range of issues relevant to the development of dramatic writing today. Theatergoers and TV aficio...

Playwrights on Television: Conversations with Dramatists

American Theatre Ensembles Volume 2

(2/11/2020)

Second volume in series, covering the years 1996-2018. Overview of ensemble-based creation within the general historical and cultural contexts of the period, followed by a detailed study of the evolution of ensemble-based work. Contributors examine matters such as influence, funding, production and legacies, as well as the forms of collective devising and creation, while presenting close readings of the companies' most prominent works.

Idiots, Heathers, and Squips: The New Golden Age of the Musical Theatre

(2/9/2020)

Covers the first decade and a half of the new millennium, guided by deep dives into eleven of the musicals that represent the astonishing variety and fearlessness of this new Golden Age, including bare, Urinetown, Sweet Smell of Success, Jerry Springer the Opera, Passing Strange, Cry-Baby, Next to Normal, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, American Idiot, Heathers, and Be More Chill.

Idiots, Heathers, and Squips: The New Golden Age of the Musical Theatre

Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy

(1/10/2020)

Staging Sex lays out a comprehensive, practical solution for staging intimacy, nudity, and sexual violence. This book takes theatre practitioners step-by-step through the best practices, tools, and techniques for crafting effective theatrical intimacy. After an overview of the challenges directors face when staging theatrical intimacy, Staging Sex offers practical solutions and exercises, provides a system for establishing and discussing boundaries, and suggests efficient and effective langu...

Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy

Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theatre Across America

(12/23/2019)

The idea of American musical theatre conjures up images of bright lights and big city, but its lifeblood is found in local and amateur productions at schools, community theatres, summer camps, and more. In Beyond Broadway, author Stacy Wolf considers the widespread presence and persistence of musical theatre in U.S. culture, and examines it as a live, pleasurable, participatory experience of creating, watching, and listening. Why does local musical theatre flourish in America? Why do so many Am...

Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theatre Across America

Broadway Musicals: Show by Show

(12/15/2019)

This updated edition of one of the bestselling and comprehensive Broadway reference books, first published in 1985, has been expanded to include many of the most important and memorable productions of American musical theater, including revivals. Arranged chronologically, beginning with musicals from just after the Civil War, each successive edition of the book has added valuable updates about trends in musical theater as well as capsule features on the most significant musicals of the day. The...

From Aphra Behn to Fun Home: A Cultural History of Feminist Theater

(12/15/2019)

Theatre has long been considered a feminine interest for which women consistently purchase the majority of tickets, while the shows they are seeing typically are written and brought to the stage by men. Furthermore, the stories these productions tell are often about men, and the complex leading roles in these shows are written for and performed by male actors. Despite this imbalance, the feminist voice presses to be heard and has done so with more success than ever before.

From Aphra Behn to Fun Home: A Cultural History of Feminist Theater

How Does the Show Go On The Frozen Edition: An Introduction to the Theater (A Disney Theatrical Souvenir Book)

(11/5/2019)

Filled with detailed explanations, captivating illustrations, and entertaining trivia, this clearly written, lively, and uniquely designed book offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of the theater from the box office to backstage, and beyond. Readers enter via the front door, where the people and activities of the "front of house" can be examined. And then it's on to the behind-the-scenes magic of the "back of house" is revealed. Using the successful array of Disney's shows as exam...

How Does the Show Go On The Frozen Edition: An Introduction to the Theater (A Disney Theatrical Souvenir Book)

(11/5/2019)

A Moment on the Clock of the World: A Foundry Theatre Production

(10/8/2019)

A MOMENT ON THE CLOCK OF THE WORLD is an invitation to consider how we make the world, together. It collects the voices of people who respond to this invitation with their living lives and prolific work: artists, social justice practitioners, cultural critics and public intellectuals — Cornel West, Taylor Mac, Alisa Solomon, Robin D.G. Kelley and Laura Flanders among them — whose own inquiries intersected with that of the award-winning Foundry Theatre across its 25-year history.

A Moment on the Clock of the World: A Foundry Theatre Production

The Routledge Companion to the Contemporary Musical (Routledge Music Companions)

(9/6/2019)

The Routledge Companion to the Contemporary Musical is dedicated to the musical?s evolving relationship to American culture in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In the past decade-and-a-half, international scholars from an ever-widening number of disciplines and specializations have been actively contributing to the interdisciplinary field of musical theater studies. Musicals have served not only to mirror the sociopolitical, economic, and cultural tenor of the times, but have helped shap...

The Routledge Companion to the Contemporary Musical (Routledge Music Companions)

Broadway Musicals, Show by Show Ninth Edition

(9/1/2019)

The Theatre of Eugene O’Neill: American Modernism on the World Stage (Critical Companions)

(5/30/2019)

The Theatre of Eugene O'Neill offers a new comprehensive overview of O'Neill's career and plays in the context of the American theatre. Organised thematically, it considers his modernist intervention in the theatre, offers readers detailed analysis of the plays, and assesses the recent resurgence in his reputation and new approaches to staging his work. It includes a study of all his major plays?The Emperor Jones, The Hairy Ape, The Iceman Cometh, Long Day?s Journey Into Night, A Moon for the...

The Theatre of Eugene O’Neill: American Modernism on the World Stage (Critical Comp

The Stage Producer's Business and Legal Guide (Second Edition)

(4/2/2019)

Now updated and expanded, this second edition of The Stage Producer?s Business and Legal Guide is the ultimate survival kit for anyone presenting live entertainment. The information contained in this handbook is essential for those working in Broadway, regional, stock, or university theater; concert halls; opera houses; and more. Attorney, producer, and playwright Charles Grippo provides comprehensive advice on every aspect of the theater business and the law, including: Crowdfunding Your Prod...

The Stage Producer's Business and Legal Guide (Second Edition)

Broadway Investing: How to Make Theater and Yes, Even Make Money

(3/15/2019)

Have you ever thought about investing in a Broadway show? Or wondered how it worked? Ever imagine would what it would like to have been an investor in Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, or even Hamilton? Broadway investing, while without a doubt a high-risk investment, can be a fun, fulfilling and yes, even a profitable experience. That's why I often call investing in Broadway shows, ?The riskiest investment you?ll love to make.? Despite the risks, it is possible to find and invest in shows t...

Broadway Investing: How to Make Theater and Yes, Even Make Money

Introduction to the Art of Stage Management: A Practical Guide to Working in the Theatre and Beyond (Introductions to Theatre)

(3/7/2019)

How do you develop the craft and skills of stage management for today's theatre industry? And how can these same skills be applied in a variety of entertainment settings to help you develop a rewarding and successful career? Drawing on his diverse experience working with companies from across the performing arts spectrum in venues from the Hollywood Bowl to the Barbican Centre in London, Michael Vitale offers a practical resource on the art of stage management for new and established stage m...

Introduction to the Art of Stage Management: A Practical Guide to Working in the Thea

BAM: Next Wave Festival

(9/25/2018)

Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, founded in 1983 by impresario Harvey Lichtenstein, gathered performances in which genres mixed and traditions were upended. Events held in downtown lofts were given larger venues at BAM. Choreographers, directors, artists and musicians now had access to bigger audiences. The first festivals included New York artists Trisha Brown, Philip Glass, Bill T. Jones, Laurie Anderson, Robert Rauschenberg, Lucinda Childs and Robert Wilson. International co...

Ivo van Hove: From Shakespeare to David Bowie (Performance Books)

(7/12/2018)

This book offers a wealth of resources, critical overviews and detailed analysis of Ivo van Hove's internationally acclaimed work as the foremost director of theatre, opera and musicals in our time. Stunning production photos capture the power of van Hove's directorial vision, his innovative use of theatrical spaces, and the arresting stage images that have made his productions so popular among audiences worldwide over the last 30 years. Van Hove's own contribution to the book, which includes a...

Ivo van Hove: From Shakespeare to David Bowie (Performance Books)

Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (The Fourth Wall)

(7/10/2018)

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? shocked audiences and critics alike with its assault on decorum. At base though, the play is simply a love story: an examination of a long-wedded life, filled with the hopes, dreams, disappointments, and pain that accompany the passing of many years together. While the ethos of the play is tragicomic, it is the anachronistic, melodramatic secret object?the nonexistent "son"?that upends the audience’s sense of theatrical normalcy. The mean ...

Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (The Fourth Wall)

Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project's Process of Devising Theater

(4/3/2018)

Moment Work is an impassioned argument for moving beyond the stale conventions of realism and naturalism that modern theater has been stuck in for more than a century. Twenty years ago Moisés Kaufman and the members of his Tectonic Theater Project set out to find an art form that speaks to us today, that uses new forms to express new ideas. Rather than thinking of theater as merely in service to a text, they wanted to find ways to fully exploit all the other elements of the stage in creating a...

Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project's Process of Devising Theater

Fifty Playwrights on their Craft

(1/25/2018)

In a series of interviews with fifty playwrights from the US and UK, this book offers a fascinating study of the voices, thoughts, and opinions of today's most important dramatists. Filled with probing questions, Fifty Playwrights on their Craft explores ideas such as how does playwriting help a global dialogue; where do dramatists find the ideas that become the stories and narratives within their plays; how can the stage inform the writer's creative process; how does crossing boundaries bet...

A Taste of Broadway: Food in Musical Theater (Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy)

(1/16/2018)

Beyond being just fuel for the body, food carries symbolic importance used to define individuals, situations, and places, making it an ideal communication tool. In musical theater, food can be used as a shortcut to tell the audience more about a setting, character, or situation. Because everyone relates to eating, food can also be used to evoke empathy, amusement, or shock from the audience. In some cases, food is central to show’s plot. This book looks at popular musical theater shows to exa...

A Taste of Broadway: Food in Musical Theater (Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food an

Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music (The Fourth Wall)

(1/8/2018)

Often dismissed as kitsch sentimentalism, The Sound of Music (1959) has proven enduringly popular and surprisingly influential, both within the field of musical theatre and the wider world. The Broadway production won five Tony Awards, the London production became the longest-running West End musical, and the movie version became the highest-grossing film of all time. Over sixty years it has become a cultural icon, with wildly shifting significance in different cultures, but the stage musical h...

Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music (The Fourth Wall)

Broadway Rhythem: Imagining the City in Song

(12/28/2017)

Broadway Rhythm is a guide to Manhattan like nothing you've ever read. Author Dominic Symonds calls it a performance cartography, and argues that the city of New York maps its iconicity in the music of the Broadway songbook. A series of walking tours takes the reader through the landscape of Manhattan, clambering over rooftops, riding the subway, and flying over skyscrapers. Symonds argues that Broadway's songs can themselves be used as maps to better understand the city though identifiable pat...

Broadway Rhythem: Imagining the City in Song

Theatre Management: Arts Leadership for the 21st Century 1st ed.

(12/22/2017)

An essential introductory textbook that provides a comprehensive and student-friendly overview of the key processes involved in developing and managing a theatre in the 21st century. It covers a complete range of topics fundamental to successful commercial and not-for-profit theatre management, from developing a mission statement to communicating with stakeholders, from marketing and promotion to fund development platforms, and from governance structures to community engagement. With over two d...

Theatre Management: Arts Leadership for the 21st Century 1st ed.

Dear Evan Hansen: Through the Window

(11/21/2017)

The official behind-the-scenes book of the new hit musical. A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he's always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. Both deeply personal and profoundly contemporary, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is a new American musical about life and the way we live it. The book-produced by Melcher Media, the team behind Hamilton, Wicked, Rent, and many more-tells...

Balancing Acts: Behind the Scenes at London's National Theatre

(11/14/2017)

The list of Nicholas Hytner's accomplishments is long and distinguished: as Artistic Director of London's National Theatre from 2003-2015, he directed and produced a great number of their most popular and memorable plays and musicals, many of which have come to Broadway: Carousel, Richard Bean's One Man, Two Guvnors, David Hare's Stuff Happens among them. He directed both the London and Broadway productions of Miss Saigon, each of which ran for ten years. He directed Alan Bennett's The Madness ...

Balancing Acts: Behind the Scenes at London's National Theatre

My Pride (Broadway's Record-Breaking Lion King): Mastering Life's Daily Performance

(11/7/2017)

Drawing on his own life and career and the rich lore of The Lion King, Alton Fitzgerald White, Broadway's longest running "King," delivers his message of service -- taking responsibility for and deriving happiness from commonplace achievements -- as a philosophy that anyone can get through each day with satisfaction, pride and a sense of accomplishment. If you've ever wondered how an actor can perform the same role hundreds of times without burning out, in White's book you'll meet someone who ...

My Pride (Broadway's Record-Breaking Lion King): Mastering Life's Daily Performance

The New Broadway Fake Book

(11/6/2017)

This amazing new collection features over 600 Broadway songs arranged with melody, lyrics and chords for C instruments. Definitely a must-own resource for any gigging or auditioning musician or actor! Includes: All at Once You Love Her * All I Ask of You * Alone in the Universe * Always Look on the Bright Side of Life * And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going * Another Op'nin', Another Show * Any Dream Will Do * Anything Goes * Aquarius * Be Our Guest * Bess, You Is My Woman * Big Spender * Body and...

Arlen and Harburg's Over the Rainbow (The Oxford Keynotes Series)

(10/27/2017)

In Arlen and Harburg's Over the Rainbow, author Walter Frisch traces the history of this song from its inception during the development of The Wizard of Oz's screenplay, to its various reinterpretations over the course of the twentieth century. Through analysis of the song's music and lyrics, this Oxford Keynotes volume provides a close reading of the piece while examining the evolution of its meaning as it traversed widely varying cultural contexts. From its adoption as a jazz standard by ge...

Arlen and Harburg's Over the Rainbow (The Oxford Keynotes Series)

Passionate Playgoing in Early Modern England

(10/26/2017)

Through detailed case studies of canonical plays by Shakespeare, Jonson, Kyd and Heywood ... what it felt like to be part of performances in English theatre and appreciate the key role theatregoers played in the life of early modern drama ... how theatregoers were altered by drama's affective encounters ... how they were undeniable influences upon those encounters. 246 pages.

Passionate Playgoing in Early Modern England

Rent FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Broadway's Blaze of Glory

(10/24/2017)

After opening in a small Off-Broadway theater, Rent , a modern adaptation of Puccini's La Boheme , quickly became a worldwide phenomenon with a more zealous and devoted fan base than had any musical in history. Rent FAQ includes biographical info on the musical's brilliant creator, Jonathan Larson, who tragically passed away at age 35 the night before the show began preview performances. Other chapters focus on the creative team and original cast; the development of the script and score from ea...

Rent FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Broadway's Blaze of Glory

Must Close Saturday: The Decline and Fall of the British Musical Flop

(10/20/2017)

Chronicle of the commercially unsuccessful British musical of the last half a century, up to 2016. Presents a rolling panorama of the good, the bad and the ugly, reassessing their place in theatrical history. Wright reveals a consistent striving at invention, with subjects including the electric chair, the Holocaust, the Virgin Mary, social inequality and Trade Unionism, sexual problems and murder, as well as biographical treatments of Hollywood stars, French painters, tragic novelists, royalty...

Must Close Saturday: The Decline and Fall of the British Musical Flop

10,000 Nights: Highlights from 50 Years of Theatre-Going

(10/4/2017)

Features essays using each theater experience (one per year, from 1960 to 2010) to provide an insight into the theater and theatre-going at a particular time. 296 pages.

10,000 Nights: Highlights from 50 Years of Theatre-Going

Mixing a Musical: Broadway Theatrical Sound Techniques

(9/30/2017)

When mixing a live show, for the first time or hundredth time, there are countless things running through your mind, foremost- this is live and you have to get it right!Whether you are working on Broadway, in a regional theatre or on the school production, having an understanding of the equipment, set up, and how sound behaves is crucial to the success of your show's performance.In this guide to live sound mixing for theatre, Shannon Slaton shares his expert knowledge and proven, effective tech...

Mixing a Musical: Broadway Theatrical Sound Techniques

William Ivey Long: Costume Designs 2007-2016

(9/26/2017)

A review of the illustrious career of costume designer William Ivey Long and an analysis of his work. Illustrations of his sketches, fabric swatches, and costume designs; discussion of the productions brought to life by his award-winning costumes.

William Ivey Long: Costume Designs 2007-2016

Broadway Baby: Do Re Mi: An illustrated sing-along to The Sound of Music

(9/19/2017)

Introduce the splendor of Broadway music to your children with the Broadway Baby series! Now you can share and enjoy Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music with your children in this gorgeously illustrated book. The first title in the series, Broadway Baby: The Sound of Music, Do Re Meâ?? pairs the famous lyrics with beautiful and sweet illustrations that help bring the classic songs to life. Kids will find it super easy to read -- or sing -- along to this c...

Broadway Baby: Do Re Mi: An illustrated sing-along to The Sound of Music

Twenty-First Century Musicals: From Stage to Screen

(9/7/2017)

Twenty-First Century Musicals stakes a place for the musical in today’s cinematic landscape, taking a look at leading contemporary shows from their stage origins to their big-screen adaptations. Each chapter offers a new perspective on a single musical, challenging populist narratives and exploring underlying narratives and sub-texts in depth. Themes of national identity; race, class and gender; the ‘voice’ and ‘singing live’ on film; authenticity; camp sensibilities; and the celebrat...

Twenty-First Century Musicals: From Stage to Screen

Broadway General Manager: Demystifying the Most Important and Least Understood Role in Show Business

(9/5/2017)

By veteran general manager Peter Bogyo. Glimpse into the world of theatrical general management. Laced with humorous insights and personal anecdotes. Examines actual production and operating budgets for a Broadway show and offers analysis of real contracts. Also: How to get started as a general manager; Negotiating contracts; How the producing entity functions; Programming the box office; The issues related to hiring employees; Binding insurance; Financial overview; Maintaining the run of a sho...

Broadway General Manager: Demystifying the Most Important and Least Understood Role i

You're On!: The Theatre Quiz Book

(9/5/2017)

Are you an avid theatre buff who can name all of Shakespeare’s plays?in chronological order?and reel off the precise number of performances for each of Broadway’s longest-running shows? Or do you see a play or a musical only now and then as a special treat? Either way, You’re On! will tease your brain and tickle your memory. Casual theater-goers and seasoned thespians alike will enjoy the challenge?and maybe learn a few little-known facts about their favorite shows and stars. Do you k...

Rent FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Broadway's Blaze of Glory

(9/1/2017)

Includes biographical info on the Jonathan Larson; other chapters focus on the creative team and original cast, the development of the script and score from early drafts and workshop performances to the final version, the movie version, tours, and more. "Rent Cultural Literacy" is a guide to all the titles, real people, and locations referenced in the show; another chapter provides clues to the characters and tips for anyone thinking about auditioning for the musical, or putting on a production...

Edward Albee: A Critical Introduction

(8/7/2017)

Explores the issues, public and private, that so influenced Albee's vision over five decades. Covers all of Albee's original works. Part I explores Albee's background and the historical contexts of his work; Part II concentrates on twenty-four of his plays; Part III investigates his critical reception. Surveying Albee's relationship with Broadway, and including interviews conducted with Albee himself.

The Best American Short Plays 2015-2016

(8/1/2017)

Now in its seventh decade, the annals of The Best American Short Plays series now boasts hundreds of groundbreaking one-acts and an alumni list the likes of which other anthologies can only dream. From luminaries like Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee to the brightest stars of today, such as Murray Schisgal, James Armstrong, Billy Aronson, Jules Tasca, Neil LaBute, and Daniel Gallant, TBASP established itself as the standard bearer for its genre by presenting materials that offer a forthright...

Sugar, Butter, Flour: The Waitress Pie Book

(5/23/2017)

In the cult classic movie-turned-Broadway production, the eternally optimistic protagonist of Waitress expresses her hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations through the whimsically named pies she bakes each morning. Sugar, Butter, Flour celebrates this art of baking from the heart, with foolproof and flavorful pies for seduction, pies for mending a broken heart, pies for celebrating new beginnings and pies for all the little milestones that come afterwards. Taking its inspiration from the iconic...

Sugar, Butter, Flour: The Waitress Pie Book

How To Produce An Award-Winning Play...The Non-Conventional Way

(5/16/2017)

So you did it! You wrote a stage play! Congratulations! Pat yourself on the back! Now what? How do you transform your script from the page to the stage? What is the standard length and time for a stage play? How will I finance it? Where do I find my cast members? Slow Down! Breathe! Don’t Panic! These are all typical questions that first time playwrights/producers ask when we think about mounting a play. I can truly relate! That’s why I am going to be as transparent as I can. Believe me I k...

How To Produce An Award-Winning Play...The Non-Conventional Way

The Show Musician: The Musicians Essential Guide to Musical Theatre

(5/4/2017)

The Show Musician is the essential guide for all musicians who aspire to work in musical theatre or have an interest in the subject. It gives great insight into the many diverse skills needed to succeed in this competitive industry, in addition to providing information that can help to sustain a long and successful career. Find out what goes on behind the scenes and how you go about preparing for, and getting that first break as a show musician. Topics covered include: How to get work on s...

The Show Musician: The Musicians Essential Guide to Musical Theatre

How to Succeed in the Arts...Or in Anything.

(4/21/2017)

If you've imagined being a Producer or a Writer. . .an Actor or a Director. . .or a real estate investor, hedge fund dude, or even a world champion poker player. . .you can do it, as long as you have the right directions. And I'd like to share those directions with you. . .the directions that took me years to gather, but the directions that are without a doubt responsible for getting me where I am today. . .and more importantly, will be 101% responsible for where I want to be tomorrow. And I kn...

How to Succeed in the Arts...Or in Anything.

The Road to Broadway and Beyond Disney Aladdin: A Whole New World

(3/21/2017)

The Tony-award winning Aladdin is a veritable hit on Broadway and is just beginning national and international performances. In A Whole New World, readers will discover the journey from ancient legend to screen to stage in the words of its creators.

The Road to Broadway and Beyond Disney Aladdin: A Whole New World

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