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Broadway Bookshelf

Biographies, show books, musical scores, history, and must-read theatre books.
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Biographies Show Books Autobiography For Actors Musical Scores Reference Books History
Scenes for Young Actors (12/31/1969)

A One-Of-A-Kind Acting Aid With Young Talent In Mind In drama classes and at auditions, young actors have continually had to resort to performing roles written for much older men and women -- roles that are often difficult for them to identify with or to fully understand. But this innovative scenebook gives younger performers the opportunity to portray characters their own age. From the classics to the finest in contemporary drama -- from Shakespeare, Shaw, and Chekov to Miller, Will... 		Scenes for Young Actors Cover
Later Plays Of Eugene O'Neill (12/31/1969)

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (16 October 1888 – 27 November 1953) was an American playwright, and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish playwright August Strindberg. His plays were among the first to include speeches in American vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society, where they... 		Later Plays Of Eugene O'Neill Cover
The Way of the World (12/31/1969)

One of the greatest of all Restoration comedies, this knowing comedy of manners depicts the scheming of a nest of shallow, deceitful aristocrats to prevent two lovers from marrying. The play abounds with felicitous phrasing, delicious verbal battles of the sexes and a depth of feeling and sensitivity that elevate it far above other plays in the genre. This inexpensive edition, complete and unabridged, makes it widely available to today’s readers. Note. New footnotes. "Commendatory Verses" by ... 		The Way of the World Cover
Godspell: Vocal Selections (12/31/1969)

13 vocal selections from the perennial favorite, including the songs: All Good Gifts * By My Side * Day by Day * Learn Your Lessons Well * O Bless the Lord, My Soul * Prepare Ye (The Way of the Lord) * and more. 		Godspell: Vocal Selections Cover
Becket (12/31/1969)

Portrays the conflict of loyalties between church and state as they influenced the lives of two powerful men in English history. 		Becket Cover
The Sanford Meisner Approach Workbook II : Emotional Freedom (12/31/1969)

Shortly before his death, Sanford Meisner arranged for Larry Silverberg to create a written legacy of his teaching techniques. This book is the second of four books in the Sanford Meisner series. <P>In this extraordinary new book, Silverberg demystifies the emotional demands of acting and leads the actor through a process aimed at tapping into and deepening his own emotional instrument. Not only will actors gain insight into the whole realm of the emotions, they will see very clearly the traps ... 		The Sanford Meisner Approach Workbook II : Emotional Freedom Cover
The Modern Monologue: Women (12/31/1969)

The Modern Monologue in two volumes, one for men and one for women, is an exciting selection of speeches drawn from the landmark plays of the 20th century. The great playwrights of the British, American and European theatre-- and the plays most constantly performed on stage throughout the world--are represented in this unique collection. Monologues of all types--both serious and comic, realistic and absurdist--provide a dynamic challenge for all actors: the student, the amateur and the profess... 		The Modern Monologue: Women Cover
The Harold Arlen Songbook (P/V/G Composer Collection) (12/31/1969)

A "must-own" collection of 76 songs of Harold Arlen. Includes his major works and some previously unpublished titles. Highlights include: Come Rain or Come Shine * Get Happy * Let's Fall in Love * The Man That Got Away * Over the Rainbow * Stormy Weather * and more! 		The Harold Arlen Songbook (P/V/G Composer Collection) Cover
1776: A Musical Play (12/31/1969)

1776 The musical was produced on Broadway in 1969, running for 1,217 performances, and was made into a film of the same name in 1972. The show was nominated for five Tony Awards and won three, including Best Musical. 		1776: A Musical Play Cover
24 Favorite One Act Plays (12/31/1969)

Two dozen classic dramas by some of the finest and most famous playwrights of the last hundred years--Anton Chekhov, Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, and A.A. Milne. 		24 Favorite One Act Plays Cover
Structuring Drama Work: A Handbook of Available Forms in Theatre and Drama (12/31/1969)

A practical handbook for drama teachers and youth theatre workers. It offers a whole range of theatrical "conventions" to help initiate, focus and develop dramatic activity - whether in a workshop situation, or as part of an active exploration of texts, or within a full-scale performance. 		Structuring Drama Work: A Handbook of Available Forms in Theatre and Drama Cover
Guys and Dolls: Vocal Selections (12/31/1969)

12 vocal selections from the Broadway staple, including: Adelaide's Lament * A Bushel and a Peck * Fugue for Tinhorns * Guys and Dolls * I've Never Been in Love Before * If I Were a Bell * Luck Be a Lady * Sit down You're Rockin' the Boat * and more. 		Guys and Dolls: Vocal Selections Cover
The Physicists (12/31/1969)

The world’s greatest physicist, Johann Wilhelm Möbius, is in a madhouse, haunted by recurring visions of King Solomon. He is kept company by two other equally deluded scientists: one who thinks he is Einstein, another who believes he is Newton. It soon becomes evident, however, that these three are not as harmlessly lunatic as they appear. Are they, in fact, really mad? Or are they playing some murderous game, with the world as the stake? For Möbius has uncovered the mystery of the universe... 		The Physicists Cover
Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops (12/31/1969)

While ample material on hit Broadway musicals is readily available, detailed critical information on musical flops has been difficult to come by. Mandelbaum's ( "A Chorus Line" and the Musicals of Michael Bennett , LJ 6/15/89) informative and entertaining survey of almost 200 musical flops from 1950 to 1990 fills the void admirably. Framed by the 1988 megaflop Carrie , which theater buffs still speak of in hushed tones, the shows are presented thematically rather than chronologically, thus bett... 		Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops Cover
Jesus Christ Superstar: A Rock Opera (Vocal Selections) (12/31/1969)

Highly acclaimed show by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Songs include: HEAVEN ON THEIR MINDS . EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT . HOSANNA . PILATE'S DREAM . I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LOVE HIM . THE LAST SUPPER ;. I ONLY WANT TO SAY (GETHSEMANE) . KING HEROD'S SONG . SUPERSTAR 		Jesus Christ Superstar: A Rock Opera (Vocal Selections) Cover
Improvisation Starters (12/31/1969)

Includes 900 situations for improvisation which use character conflict, contrasts, obstacles in solo improvisation, physical positions for one or two actors, props, the environment, and lines of dialogue. 		Improvisation Starters Cover
Jekyll and Hyde The Musical - Vocal Selections (12/31/1969)

Ten songs from the Wildhorn/Bricusse Broadway smash, arranged for big-note: In His Eyes * It's a Dangerous Game * Lost in the Darkness * A New Life * No One Knows Who I Am * Once Upon a Dream * Someone Like You * Sympathy, Tenderness * Take Me as I Am * This Is the Moment. 		Jekyll and Hyde The Musical - Vocal Selections Cover
Molly Sweeney. (12/31/1969)

Molly Sweeney, by the great Irish playwright Brian Friel, tells the story of married couple Molly and Frank, who live in a remote Irish village. Molly has been blind since birth, but now a surgeon Mr. Rice believes he may be able to restore her sight. In a series of interwoven monologues, Molly Sweeney takes us into the minds of three people with very different expectations of what will happen when Molly regains her vision. 		Molly Sweeney. Cover
The Real Inspector Hound and Other Plays (12/31/1969)

Culled from nearly 20 years of the playwright's career, a showcase for Tom Stoppard's dazzling range and virtuosic talent, The Real Inspector Hound and Other Plays is essential reading for fans of modern drama. The plays in this collection reveal Stoppard's sense of fun, his sense of theater, his sense of the absurd, and his gifts for parody and satire. They include The Real Inspector Hound, After Margritte, Dirty Linen, New-Found-Land, Dogg's Hamlet, and Cahoot's Macbeth. 		The Real Inspector Hound and Other Plays Cover
The Ultimate Broadway Fake Book (12/31/1969)

Over 720 songs from over 240 Broadway shows! Recently revised to include hits from Martin Guerre, Rent, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Sunset Boulevard, Victor/Victoria, and more! This is the definitive collection of Broadway music, featuring: * Song title index * Show title index * Composer and lyricist index * Synopses of each show. Song highlights include: Ain't Misbehavin' * All I Ask of You * Another Op'nin' Another Show * As Long As He Needs Me * At The Ballet * Bali Ha'i * Beauty and the Beast * Bew... 		The Ultimate Broadway Fake Book Cover
Irreverent Acting (12/31/1969)

IRREVERENT ACTING is a CRAFT HANDBOOK offering a practical, applicable approach to acting, with very specific techniques used to create the emotional life of the character. The craftual process of "Obligation/Choice/Choice approach" is fully explained in terms of the actor's responsibilities to a piece of material whether it be a monologue, scene, play or film. This book contains 22 of Eric's 27 "choice approaches" and score of other techniques which make it possible for the actor to fulfill al... 		Irreverent Acting Cover
Freeing Shakespeare's Voice: The Actor's Guide to Talking the Text (12/31/1969)

A practical approach to breaking through the barriers of restraint and incomprehension when faced with Shakespeare. Pre-eminent voice teacher, actor and director Kristin Linklater goes beyond the techniques in her classic text, Freeing the Natural Voice, to a passionate exploration of the words of Shakespeare. Beginning with exercises designed to break long-held habits and allow the development of a visceral, Elizabethan relationship to language, she analyses Shakespeare's strategies for ... 		Freeing Shakespeare's Voice: The Actor's Guide to Talking the Text Cover
A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to The Plots, The Singers, The Composers, The Recordings (12/31/1969)

The author, a former deputy chairman of the Royal Opera House, may well become the Anna Russell of print with this irreverent guide to plots, singers, composers, and recordings of more than 80 operas. Forman's criteria for selection is that of recorded popularity--the opera must have had three or more versions listed in the Gramophone CD catalog of December 1992. Operas are alphabetically arranged from the backstage tragedy Adriana Lecouvreur to the psychiatric tragedy, Wozzeck. All are descri... 		A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to The Plots, The Singers, The Composers, T Cover
Prometheus Bound and Other Plays: Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, The Persian (12/31/1969)

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) brought a new grandeur and epic sweep to the drama of classical Athens, raising it to the status of high art. In "Prometheus Bound", the defiant Titan Prometheus is brutally punished by Zeus for daring to improve the state of wretchedness and servitude in which mankind is kept. "The Suppliants" tells the story of the fifty daughters of Danaus who must flee to escape enforced marriages, while "Seven Against Thebes" shows the inexorable downfall of the last members of the c... 		Prometheus Bound and Other Plays: Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against The Cover
A Woman of No Importance (12/31/1969)

A Woman of No Importance is a play by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. The play premièred on 19 April 1893 at London's Haymarket Theatre. It is a testimony of Wilde's wit and his brand of dark comedy. It looks in particular at English upper class society and has been reproduced on stages in Europe and North America since his death in 1900. A film based on this play is in production and is due to be released in 2011. 		A Woman of No Importance Cover
The Definitive Broadway Collection (12/31/1969)

This is simply the best and most comprehensive collection of Broadway music ever collected! 142 of the greatest show tunes compiled into one volume - this is one book that every Broadway lover must have! Songs include: Don't Cry for Me Argentina * Edelweiss * Hello, Dolly! * I Could Have Danced All Night * I Dreamed a Dream * I Know Him So Well * Lullabye of Broadway * Mack the Knife * People * Send in the Clowns * Somewhere * Summertime * Sunrise, Sunset * Tomorrow * What Kind of Fool Am I? * ... 		The Definitive Broadway Collection Cover
Assasins (12/31/1969)

Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted (successfully or otherwise) to assassinate Presidents of the United States. The music varies to reflect the popular music of the eras depicted. The musical first opened Off-Broadway in 1990, and the 2004 Broadway production won five Tony Awards. 		Assasins Cover
The Wild Duck (12/31/1969)

The only play in which Ibsen denies the validity of revolt, The Wild Duck suggests that under certain conditions, domestic falsehoods are entirely necessary to survival. Plays for Performance Series. 		The Wild Duck Cover
What's It All About (12/31/1969)

He was born Maurice Joseph Micklewehite in London's impoverished East End. And yet Michael Caine emerged as one of the world's most versatile, enduring, and beloved actors of our time. With the easy charm of a natural raconteur, Caine takes us onto the sets and into the homes of Hollywood's most talented celebrities. Candid, vibrant, and warm, here is a captivating self-portrait of a man who is at once sublimely ordinary and freshingly unique, one of the greatest actors in film today. 		What's It All About Cover
The Big Book of Broadway (12/31/1969)

This 2003 revised edition includes 70 songs from classic musicals to recent blockbusters like The Producers, Aida and Hairspray. Includes: All I Ask of You * Bring Him Home * Camelot * Elaborate Lives * Everything's Coming up Roses * If I Loved You * The Impossible Dream (The Quest) * A Lot of Livin' to Do * One * Some Enchanted Evening * Tell Me on a Sunday * Thoroughly Modern Millie * Till There Was You * What I Did for Love * and more. 		The Big Book of Broadway Cover
The Actor's scenebook: Scenes and monologues from contemporary plays (12/31/1969)

Schulman and Mekler provide 78 new, fully playable scenes with story notes, including more monologues for men and women from today's best new plays. A diverse selection of scenes and characters to challenge the full range of readers' talents as actors. 		The Actor's scenebook: Scenes and monologues from contemporary plays Cover
The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actors Workbook (12/31/1969)

Founding member of the famed Group Theater and friend, colleague, and later rival to Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner spent his life teaching a variation of the Stanislavsky-based Method acting that brought Strasberg so much fame. In this clearly written introduction to Meisner's techniques, Silverberg, himself a graduate of Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater, outlines a 15-week program of exercises designed by Meisner to help actors approach each performance with the playful spon... 		The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actors Workbook Cover
On Method Acting (12/31/1969)

Practiced by such actors of stature as Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Julie Harris, Dustin Hoffman, and Ellen Burstyn (not to mention the late James Dean) the Method offers a practical application of the renowned Stanislavsky technique. On Method Acting demystifies the "mysteries" of Method acting -- breaking down the various steps into clear and simple terms, including chapters on: Sense Memory -- the most vital component of Method acting Improvisation -- without it, the most integral p... 		On Method Acting Cover
Drafting for the Theatre (12/31/1969)

This process-oriented text—supplemented by 280 illustrations—is structured to provide students with a proper and practical approach to the development of drafting and related skills for the theatre. Dennis Dorn and Mark Shanda emphasize the standard drafting and designing practices of the theatre industry through a series of projects and exercises that help the student in the development of research skills. The early sessions focus on the basics of lettering, tool introduction, geometric... 		Drafting for the Theatre Cover
The Playboy of the Western World and Riders to the Sea (12/31/1969)

Two beautifully crafted dramas set among the folk of the Aran Islands and western Irish coastlands. The Playboy of the Western World deals with its young hero’s progress, in the eyes of others, from timid weakling to paragon of bravery. Riders to the Sea is a dark elegy to the fragile existence of those who live at the mercy of the sea. Reprinted from authoritative editions, complete with Synge’s preface to The Playboy of the Western World. New introductory Note. 		The Playboy of the Western World and Riders to the Sea Cover
Travesties (12/31/1969)

Travesties was born out of Stoppard's noting that in 1917 three of the twentieth century's most crucial revolutionaries -- James Joyce, the Dadaist founder Tristan Tzara, and Lenin -- were all living in Zurich. Also living in Zurich at this time was a British consula official called Henry Carr, a man acquainted with Joyce through the theater and later through a lawsuit concerning a pair of trousers. Taking Carr as his core, Stoppard spins this historical coincidence into a masterful and riotous... 		Travesties Cover
The Right to Speak: Working with the Voice (12/31/1969)

In The Right to Speak, renowned voice teacher Patsy Rodenburg teaches you how to meet any speaking challenge with total self-assurance. Rodenburg has trained thousands of actors, singers, media personalities, lawyers, politicians, business people, teachers and students in the art of using their voice fully and expressively without fear. She has taught them how to breathe, how to support their breath, how to stretch their voice to meet any vocal effort and how to have total confidence in whatever... 		The Right to Speak: Working with the Voice Cover
The Heidi Chronicles (12/31/1969)

The graduating seniors of a Seven Sisters college, trying to decide whether to pattern themselves after Katharine Hepburn or Emily Dickinson. Two young women besieged by the demands of mothers, lovers, and careers--not to mention a highly persistent telephone answering machine--as they struggle to have it all. A brilliant feminist art historian trying to keep her bearings and her sense of humor on the elevator ride from the radical sixties to the heartless eighties. 		The Heidi Chronicles Cover
Voice and the Actor (12/31/1969)

"Speaking is part of a whole: an expression of inner life." Cicely Berry has based her work on the conviction that while all is present in nature our natural instincts have been crippled from birth by many processes—by the conditioning, in fact, of a warped society. So an actor needs precise exercise and clear understanding to liberate his hidden possibilities and to learn the hard task of being true to the ‘instinct of the moment’. As her book points out with remarkable persuasiveness ‘... 		Voice and the Actor Cover
From Page to Stage: How Theatre Designers Make Connections Between Scripts and Images (12/31/1969)

What steps are involved in making the jump from a script's text to an engaging imaginative stage? From Page to Stage explores the relationships between text analysis, imagination, and creation. 		From Page to Stage: How Theatre Designers Make Connections Between Scripts and Images Cover
The Stagecraft Handbook (12/31/1969)

This manual covers every aspect of scenery c onstruction, with information on shop organisation, tools, s afety, scaled drawings and materials as well as construction techniques. A wealth of illustrations help show how to make quick, inexpensive scenery. ' 		The Stagecraft Handbook Cover
Elia Kazan: A Life (12/31/1969)

According to PW , "flashes of sudden insight or eloquence keep the reader turning the pages of Kazan's garrulous autobiography." His expansive memoir makes no apologies for his decision to name names during the McCarthy era, and includes cutting portraits of Lillian Hellman and Arthur Miller, as well as glimpses of Odets, Cagney, Bankhead, Monroe, Brando, Goldwyn and dozens more. Photos. (Source: Publishers Weekly) 		Elia Kazan: A Life Cover
Costume Designer's Handbook: A Complete Guide for Amateur and Professional Costume Designers (12/31/1969)

Newly revised and updated, The Costume Designer's Handbook is now more comprehensive than ever and is the backbone of any costume designer's library since its original publication in 1983. 		Costume Designer's Handbook: A Complete Guide for Amateur and Professional Costume De Cover
Towards a Poor Theatre (12/31/1969)

"One of the century's most impressive theatrical manifestos" - Irving Wardle Jerzy Grotowski created the Theatre Laboratory in Opole, South-West Poland, in 1959. His work since then, with a small permanent company, became one of the most potent sources of information for modern actors and directors. This is a record of the ideas that motivated the work of the Theatre Laboratory, and of the company's methods and discoveries.In his Preface Peter Brook writes: "Grotowski is unique. Why? Because no ... 		Towards a Poor Theatre Cover
Ginger: My Story (12/31/1969)

Winning a dance contest in Texas launched the 14-year-old Virginia Katherine McMath on her acting career and eventful personal life, episodes, emotions and dialogue from which she recreates here in exhaustive detail. Now 79, this devout Christian Scientist recalls her early vaudeville days in a determinedly upbeat tone, as well as her stage and film hits, including the 10 musicals-- Top Hat , Swing Time , etc.--in which she and Fred Astaire co-starred. Also discussed is Rogers's Oscar-winning Ki... 		Ginger: My Story Cover
On Directing (12/31/1969)

This guide to directing takes the reader from the initial choice of play right through every aspect of its production to performances and beyond. It contains the author's directing notes for ten of his best-known productions and anecdotes about working with famous playwrights and actors. 		On Directing Cover
Creating Unforgettable Characters (12/31/1969)

In this book, Linda Seger shows how to create strong, multidimensional characters in fiction, covering everything from research to character block. Interviews with today's top writers complete this essential volume. 		Creating Unforgettable Characters Cover
No Acting Please (12/31/1969)

No Acting Please-Beyond the Method a Revolutionary Approach to Acting and Living. Foreword by Jack Nicholson 		No Acting Please Cover
Free to Act: An Integrated Approach to Acting (12/31/1969)

Free to Act presents a holistic approach to actor training that integrates physical and psychological technique. Its integrated approach emphasizes the idea that the body informs the mind and that emotion is rooted in physical action. Providing a carefully developed system of training, Free to Act guides the student-actor through the complex process by which an actor is formed. 		Free to Act: An Integrated Approach to Acting Cover
The Best Broadway Songs Ever (12/31/1969)

We've made this book even better with the addition of songs from some of Broadway's latest blockbusters such as Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Les Miserables, and more - over 70 songs in all! Highlights include: All I Ask of You * As Long As He Needs Me * Bess, You Is My Woman * Bewitched * Camelot * Climb Ev'ry Mountain * Comedy Tonight * Don't Cry for Me Argentina * Everything's Coming Up Roses * Getting to Know You * I Could Have Danced All Night * I Dreamed a Dream *... 		The Best Broadway Songs Ever Cover

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