Broadway Bookshelf — Reference Books — Page 4

The Business of Broadway: An Insider’s Guide to Working, Producing, and Investing in the World’s Greatest Theatre Community

(7/7/2015)

New York’s Broadway theatre scene has long been viewed as the “top of the heap” in the world theatre community. Taking lessons from the very best, this innovative guide delves into the business side of the renowned industry to explain just how its system functions. For anyone interested in pursuing a career on Broadway, or who wants to grow a theatre in any other part of the world, The Business of Broadway offers an in-depth analysis of the infrastructure at the core of successful theatre...

Production Stage Management for Broadway: From Ideas to Opening Night & Beyond

(2/15/2015)

Getting a new show up and running? Planning a revival? Taking over a long-running show? Going on the road? On Broadway, off Broadway, in regional repertory, or on tour, the only book you need as your professional companion is Peter Lawrence s comprehensive and definitive Production Stage Management for Broadway: From Idea to Opening Night and Beyond. With this book, Tony Award-winning Peter Lawrence has turned his decades of experience on Broadway into a thoroughly modern approach to the art a...

Theatre Symposium, Vol. 22: Broadway and Beyond: Commercial Theatre Considered

(11/30/2014)

That theatre is a business remains a truth often ignored by theatre insiders and consumers of the performing arts alike. The essays in Theatre Symposium, Volume 22 explore theatre as a commercial enterprise both historically and as a continuing part of the creation, production, and presentation of contemporary live performance. The eleven contributors to this fascinating collection illuminate many aspects of commercial theatre and how best to examine it. George Pate analyzes the high-stakes...

50 Tips on How to Get Your Show off the Ground: The Producer's Perspective

(10/5/2014)

How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare

(7/1/2014)

A foolproof, enormously fun method of teaching your children the classic works of William Shakespeare To know some Shakespeare provides a head start in life. His plays are among the great bedrocks of Western civilization and contain the finest writing of the past 450 years. Many of the best novels, plays, poems, and films in the English language produced since Shakespeare’s death in 1616—from Pride and Prejudice to The Godfather—are heavily influenced by Shakespeare’s stories, chara...

A Dictionary for the Modern Singer

(4/28/2014)

Titles in the Dictionaries for the Modern Musician series offer both the novice and the advanced artist key information designed to convey the field of study and performance for a major instrument or instrument class, as well as the workings of musicians in areas from conducting to composing. Unlike other encyclopedic works, contributions to this series focus primarily on the knowledge required by the contemporary musical student or performer. Each dictionary covers topics from instrument parts...

Encyclopedia Of The History Of Broadway-Hollywood Swing And Pop Music Vol 2.

(4/25/2014)

Up till 1900 America had no music of its very own or its very own culture. With the arrival of millions of Jews coming from Russia, and they created a musical marriage with Afro Americans and Italian Americans and would create American music and culture in less than 10 years. Broadway composers and lyricists like the brothers George and Ira Gershwin. Jerome Kern and Rodgers and Hart created a uniquely American theatrical style that used American vernacular speech and music. Musicals featured po...

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HISTORY OF BROADWAY - HOLLYWOOD-SWING -POP MUSIC VOL. 1

(4/18/2014)

This extremely comprehensive history of my book provides information on many aspects of musical theater: from the history of stage and film musicals to reviews and essays on current and past productions; from profiles of New York City venues that have housed musicals to an encouraging guide. The history of Tin Pan Alley to the Brill building of America's greatest pop music ever written from the 20's to the 50's. The history of the Big Band Swing Era and of the Afro Cuban Big Bands. Also find se...

The World of Musicals [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Stage, Screen, and Song

(4/17/2014)

Written with high school students in mind, The World of Musicals: An Encyclopedia of Stage, Screen, and Song encompasses not only Broadway and film musicals, but also made-for-television musicals, a genre that has been largely ignored. The two volumes cover significant musicals in easily accessible entries that offer both useful information and fun facts. Each entry lists the work's writers, composers, directors, choreographers, and cast, and includes a song list, a synopsis, and descriptions o...

The Broadway Anthology - Primary Source Edition

(3/26/2014)

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of ...

Encyclopedia Of The History Of Broadway-Hollywood-Swing And Pop Singers And Vocal Musical Arrangers

(3/6/2014)

The world of showbiz, including Jazz, Pop, Rock N" Roll, Hollywood and Broadway is unmerciful. How easy it is to forget the music, entertainment giants and pioneers of yesteryears! Time erases the glory, the memory, and accomplishments of past stars and legends, most cherished musical treasures, lost or forgotten for lack of scholarly research or because of changes in musical taste and preference of a generation that lost interest in the music of the golden years of Broadway, Hollywood, Swing a...

Directing in Musical Theatre: An Essential Guide

(2/14/2014)

This comprehensive guide, from the author of Acting in Musical Theatre, will equip aspiring directors with all of the skills that they will need in order to guide a production from beginning to end. From the very first conception and collaborations with crew and cast, through rehearsals and technical production all the way to the final performance, Joe Deer covers the full range. Deer’s accessible and compellingly practical approach uses proven, repeatable methods for addressing all aspect...

The Song of Spider Man: The Inside Story of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History

(11/5/2013)

The Director’s Voice, Volume 2

(11/20/2012)

This second volume presents a cross-section of the most diverse and dynamic stage directors defining today’s American theater, in conversation with director/producer Jason Loewith. A follow-up to the immensely popular first volume, which has sold over eighteen thousand copies, much has changed in the twenty years since The Director’s Voice debuted. “The nonprofit model has been turned on its head,” Loewith notes. “Institution-building is out for these directors; creating a distinctive...

Show Boat: Performing Race in an American Musical

(11/2/2012)

Show Boat draws on exhaustive archival research to tell the story of how Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, and a host of directors, choreographers, producers, and performers--among them Paul Robeson--made and remade the most important musical in Broadway history.

Hard Times: The Adult Musical in 1970s New York City

(10/29/2012)

Hard Times tells the story of the adult musical in 1970s New York City. Featuring strong sexual content, frequent nudity, and simulated sexual activity, adult musicals were cheap to produce, and even the ones that got the most scathing reviews usually made money. Author Elizabeth Wollman illustrates how they both drew from and reflected aspects of American culture at a particularly tumultuous time.

So You Want To Be In Musicals?

(9/27/2012)

West End and Broadway theatre legend Ruthie Henshall has given a 25th anniversary present to fans and future musical theatre stars with the release of her new book 'So You Want To Be In Musicals?' The book, co-written with music director Daniel Bowling contains personal anecdotes and professional advice about the world of musical theatre with Henshall revealing what it really takes to build a long and successful career on the stage. Henshall, the triple threat star of hit musicals includ...

Performance of the Century: 100 Years of Actors' Equity Association and the Rise of Professional American Theater

(9/1/2012)

Actors' Equity Association, the union representing stage actors and stage managers, turns 100 years old in 2013. Shaped by the inequities visited on performers in the 19th century, the union has shaped the landscape of the professional American theater. Founded in 1913, it became a force to be reckoned with in an historic 1919 strike the most entertaining and dramatic one (naturally) the nation had ever seen. Since then, Equity has gone beyond securing the safety, health, and rights of stage ac...

Embodied Acting

(8/13/2012)

Embodied Acting is a crucial, pragmatic intervention in the study of how neuroscience can be applied to theatre studies. Examining the nature of the acting process from the perspective of cognitive science, author Rick Kemp re-examines familiar questions of how an actor develops a character, and what is actually involved - physically, mentally - in training, rehearsing and performing. The result is an elegant blend of theory, practice and cutting-edge science, making a compelling case for disca...

Middleton and Rowley

(5/30/2012)

Can the inadvertent clashes between collaborators produce more powerful effects than their concordances? For Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, the playwriting team best known for their tragedy The Changeling, disagreements and friction proved quite beneficial for their work. This first full-length study of Middleton and Rowley uses their plays to propose a new model for the study of collaborative authorship in early modern English drama. David Nicol highlights the diverse forms of collabo...

Movement Training for Actors

(5/15/2012)

"This book has strong appeal to movement teachers and students in a variety of theater departments" James Bundy, Dean, Yale School of Drama, US The RADA Guide to Movement for Actors illustrates a broad spectrum of approaches and encourages the development of multiple skills. This must-have resource for actors consists of a practical masterclass on movement from the Head of Movement at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, complete with video examples on a DVD. The book provides a complete curricul...

The Théâtre des Variétés in 1852

(5/8/2012)

This book gives a picture of a year's activities at the Theatre des Varietes. It includes an account of the financial side of the Theatre and impressions of the principal actors and actresses, as well as a month-by-month overview of what was actually performed.

The Rehearsal

(4/15/2012)

Pigeon Theatre—comprised of Anna Fenemore, Gillian Knox, and Amanda Griffkin—specializes in experimental works that incorporate non-traditional spaces, unconventional social arrangements, and shared intimacies between performer and audience. A trilogy of site-specific performance texts, The Rehearsal raises questions about theinterplay in contemporary theater between the process of rehearsal and the theatrical metaphors that shape our everyday dealings with trauma, including death. Accompan...

Performance Studies

(4/12/2012)

This Integrated Media Edition of the pioneering textbook is accompanied by an all-new companion website curated by a dedicated media editor, with the following resources for instructors and students: Interactive glossary Multiple choice questions Powerpoint Slides. Videos Website links for further study

The Horse's Mouth: How Handspring and the National Theatre Made War Horse

(4/10/2012)

Generously illustrated with the work of award-winning photographer Simon Annand, this book takes you behind the scenes, describing how Tom Morris, director at the National Theatre, interacted with the Handspring Puppet Company in developing ideas for the staging of the piece. It also gives a clear account of how the puppets were designed and constructed.

The Theatre, Drama and Performance Companion

(4/10/2012)

Offering essential guidance to studentsthroughout their undergraduate studies, this companionexplores the development of a discipline that is still in flux, offers practical advice about how to study it and where this study might lead, and provides auseful reference source on key practitioners, debates, performances and terms.

Theatre World Volume 67: 2010-2011

(4/1/2012)

Now in its 67th year, Theatre World is the most comprehensive record of the theatrical season-Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway, including listings for over 60 regional companies. Detailing more than 2,000 productions, each entry includes photos, a complete cast listing, producers, directors, authors, composers, opening and closing dates, song titles, and plot synopses. Theatre World also features the year's obituaries, a listing of all nominees and winners of the major theatrical awa...

An Introduction to Theatre Design

(4/1/2012)

This introduction to theatre design explains the theories, strategies, and tools of practical design work for the undergraduate student. Through its numerous illustrated case studies and analysis of key terms, students will build an understanding of the design process and be able to:

The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville

(4/1/2012)

The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville provides a unique record of what was once America's preeminent form of popular entertainment from the late 1800s through the early 1930s. It includes entries not only on the entertainers themselves, but also on those who worked behind the scenes, the theatres, genres, and historical terms. Entries on individual vaudevillians include biographical information, samplings of routines and, often, commentary by the performers. Many former vaudevillians were interviewed ...

Dressing Marilyn

(4/1/2012)

William Travilla is one of the best costume designers of all time and Marilyn Monroe his most famous client. Dressing Marilyn: How a Hollywood Icon Was Styled by William Travilla focuses on the striking dresses that Travilla designed for Marilyn, from his early work on the thriller Don't Bother to Knock and the gorgeous pink dress in which Marilyn sang "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" to the legendary white dress from The Seven Year Itch, which arguably contributed to the collapse of Marilyn...

Othello and Interpretive Traditions

(3/15/2012)

During the past twenty years or so, Othello has become the Shakespearean tragedy that speaks most powerfully to our contemporary concerns. Focusing on race and gender (and on class, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality), the play talks about what audiences want to talk about. Yet at the same time, as refracted through Iago, it forces us to hear what we do not want to hear; like the characters in the play, we become trapped in our own prejudicial malice and guilt.

A Purple Summer: Notes of the Lyrics of Spring Awakening

(3/6/2012)

In February 1999, Steven Sater conceived the radical notion of creating a rock musical from Frank Wedekind's notorious Symbolist drama, Fruhlings Erwachen, and he enlisted his friend and writing partner Duncan Sheik in the enterprise. That night, Sater came home and began writing the first lyric of Spring Awakening: "Mama Who Bore Me" - a lyric which still stands, verbatim, just as he first wrote it. Ten years later, in the wake of the enormous international success of this groundbreaking, mult...

The Scarlet Libretto

(3/1/2012)

Words for Lori Laitman’s opera, The Scarlet Letter Based on the story by Nathaniel Hawthorne Award-winning poet and librettist David Mason, author of Ludlow and other books, has given new life in verse to Hawthorne’s classic novel. By distilling the book’s narrative line and adding a charged lyricism of his own, Mason has created another magnificent work in his ongoing poetic portrait of America. In old Boston, a young woman, Hester Prynne, has been charged with adultery and forc...

The Actor as Storyteller

(3/1/2012)

The Actor as Storyteller is intended for serious beginning actors. It opens with an overview, explaining the differences between theater and its hybrid mediums, the part an actor plays in each of those mediums. It moves on to the acting craft itself, with a special emphasis on analysis and choice-making, introducing the concept of the actor as storyteller, then presents the specific tools an actor works with. Next, it details the process an actor can use to prepare for scene work and rehearsals,...

Stage Directing

(2/15/2012)

With Stage Directing: A Director's Itinerary, the student of theatrical directing now has a step-by-step guide to directing a production, from choosing a play to opening night. Unlike other directing textbooks, this practical guidebook provides instruction on how to organize the work of the director through the practical challenges of the directorial process (e.g., organizing a budget spreadsheet, writing casting notices, setting up an audition space, etc.). In Stage Directing, the process of d...

The Avant-Garde

(2/15/2012)

In The Avant-Garde, Mike Sell rejects the common idea that the avant-garde is only about art and insists that it is much more than a European phenomenon. In doing so, he redefines the historical, geographical, ideological, disciplinary, and theoretical boundaries of avant-garde studies and raises a number of difficult questions about the avant-garde— How have avant-gardes been shaped by racism and contributed to racist power and imperialism? How have the claims made by avant-garde political a...

The Performing Arts in Medieval Islam

(1/31/2012)

Artful Stories

(1/20/2012)

Artful Stories tells the story of four arts practitioners from Trinidad and Tobago—a lighting designer, a dancer, a jazz musician and a choreographer—who have made a name for themselves internationally. The work also centers on their role as educators in their fields. Their unique and individual journeys exemplify the classic role artists have (always) played as teachers. Artful Stories is a timely and profound work that captures the teacher-student dynamic. It fills a void in terms of reco...

Reality Television and Class

(1/17/2012)

How does class get 'cast' and made performative? What modes are there for people to wrestle-back their forms of representation? And how should we understand this intense manipulation of feeling? This bookexamines why class politics matter against much political and academic rhetoric which refract inequality through other means.

American and British Theatrical Biographies

(1/16/2012)

In 1979, Scarecrow Press published J. P. Wearing’s American and British Theatrical Biography: A Directory, which enabled users to quickly locate biographical information about figures—both major and minor—who are or were connected with British and American theatre. In American and British Theatrical Biographies: An Index, Wearing has revised and extensively expanded the previous work. This edition draws upon more than 130 sources and 500 volumes that have been surveyed and indexed...

British South Asian Theatres

(1/15/2012)

British South Asian theater has been one of the most significant features of diasporic artistic activity throughout the world in the last thirty years, yet its remarkable achievements have been largely ignored by mainstream media and scholars. With British South Asian Theatres, Graham Ley and Sarah Dadswell aim to reverse such neglect. Drawing on unpublished archives and an extensive series of interviews on the history of British theater, these essays document the presence of South Asians on th...

David Hare (Writers and their Work)

(12/31/2011)

A short, clear, critical study of David Hare's work for theatre, film and television, concentrating on questions of staging, performance and narrative and dramatic form.

New Playwriting Strategies: Language and Media in the 21st Century

(12/30/2011)

New Playwriting Strategies has become a canonical text in the study and teaching of playwriting, offering a fresh and dynamic insight into the subject. This thoroughly revised and expanded second edition explores and highlights the wide spread of new techniques that form contemporary theatre writing, as well as their influence on other dramatic forms. Paul Castagno builds on the innovative plays of Len Jenkin, Mac Wellman, and the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin to investigate groundbreaking new ...

Performing Greek Comedy

(12/28/2011)

Alan Hughes presents a new complete account of production methods in Greek comedy. The book summarises contemporary research and disputes, on such topics as acting techniques, theatre buildings, masks and costumes, music and the chorus. Evidence is re-interpreted and traditional doctrine overthrown. Comedy is presented as the pan-Hellenic, visual art of theatre, not as Athenian literature. Recent discoveries in visual evidence are used to stimulate significant historical revisions. The author ha...

Maria Irene Fornes

(12/27/2011)

Maria Irene Fornes provides an enlightening introduction to a pivotal figure in both Hispanic-American and experimental theater. From her theatrical origins in 1960s Cuba to her precedent plays for the US stage, this book presents an important guide of work to this politically-charged playwright.

Drama at the Heart of the Secondary School: Projects to Promote Authentic Learning

(12/27/2011)

Drama at the Heart of the Secondary School provides a rationale for the curricular centrality of drama together with rich and detailed examples of cross-phase thematic projects which are drama-led, but which promote learning across a wide range of curriculum areas, from the humanities and other arts, to English and literacy, science and PSHE. Each unit explores relevant and stimulating themes and topics that will engage the students, promote empathy, pose questions, and produce creative respo...

Religion, Theatre, and Performance: Acts of Faith

(12/21/2011)

This book examines the intersection of religion and theatrical performance in modernity/postmodernity. Religion, no longer sequestered in the "private sphere," has become an explicitly public force. It stimulates and complicates public actions; it is a crucial component of performance. The writings here suggest that performance studies and religious studies can inform one another, leading to innovative and deepened understandings within and between the disciplines. Religion must receive its ...

The Theatres of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia: Performance Traditions of the Maghreb

(12/20/2011)

Modern international studies of world theatre and drama have begun to acknowledge the Arab world only after the contributions of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Within the Arab world, the contributions of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco to modern drama and to post-colonial expression remain especially neglected, a problem that this book addresses.

Performance Affects: Applied Theatre and the End of Effect

(12/20/2011)

Performance Affects, now in paperback and with a new preface, explores performance projects in disaster and war zones to argue that joy, beauty and celebration should be the inspiration for the politics of community-based or participatory performance practice. Applied Theatre has traditionally concentrated on effects - impacts, themes communicated or 'truths' revealed. Performance Affects challenges this orientation by suggesting that an affective realm needs to be the focus for a renewed aesthe...

The Limits of Performance in the French Romantic Theatre

(12/20/2011)

This volume analyzes major French plays of the 1830s, focusing on their theatricality, and on the ways in which they expose the workings of the theatre rather than conceal them. Through an examination of performance within these plays, the study posits that the stage is a privileged site of demonstration, a literal "proving ground" that lends a physical reality to abstract values announced in the text and shared or questioned by the audience. Negotiating between the literary study of drama and p...