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Broadway Bookshelf

Biographies, show books, musical scores, history, and must-read theatre books.
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Theatre World 1994-1995, Vol. 51 (1/1/2000)

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 1994-1995, Vol. 51 Cover
Theatre World 1993-1994, Vol. 50 (1/1/2000)

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 1993-1994, Vol. 50 Cover
The Social Significance of Modern Drama (1/1/2000)

Out of print virtually since its completion in 1914, Emma Goldman's pioneer work Social Significance in Modern Drama bridges modern drama and political philosophy, pointing out the road that remains to be travelled toward a theatre of social empowerment. Activist, feminist, philosopher and anarchist, Emma Goldman was a passionate thinker about all things modern when the 20th century was still raw and new. The emergence of her treatise on the theatre after years of obscurity is certain to arouse ... 		The Social Significance of Modern Drama Cover
Polaroid Stories (1/1/1999)

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... 		Polaroid Stories Cover
Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays (1997)

Ever wonder what it would have been like if wild and crazy Steve Martin had written an episode of "The Twilight Zone"? Well, wonder no more. The zany actor/comedian made playwright rookie of the year with this, the script of his first comedy, set in a bar in 1904 Paris. Two of the regulars, twentysomethings Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein, argue about the art of physics and the physics of art as they try to impress and bed a pretty girl. And then the space/time/culture continuum ruptures, and... 		Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays Cover
Harold Prince and the American Musical Theater (1989)

This book follows the career of the producer/director of such shows as "Pyjama Game", "Damn Yankees", "Fiddler of the Roof" and "West Side Story" and who has collaborated in many productions of Stephen Sondheim's works. 		Harold Prince and the American Musical Theater Cover
Plays and Stories: Arthur Schnitzler (1982)

Arthur Schnitzler, Viennese playwright, novelist, short story writer, and physician, was a sophisticated writer much in vogue in his time. He chose themes of an erotic, romantic, or social nature, expressed with clarity, irony, and subtle wit. Reigen, a series of ten dialogues linking people of various social classes through their physical desire for one another, has been filmed many times as La Ronde. As a Jew, Schnitzler was sensitive to the problems of anti-Semitism, which he explored in the... 		Plays and Stories: Arthur Schnitzler Cover
Babbitt (1996)

First published in 1922, Babbitt is an authentic modern American classic, a biting satire of middle-American values that retains much of its poignancy today. George F. Babbitt, Lewis's outwardly successful but inwardly unhappy real estate salesman, still seems real. His story makes engrossing reading and is ideal for audio listening. With Babbitt himself at the center of every scene, it is impossible for listeners plagued by frequent interruptions to lose track of the story line. Narrator Wolfr... 		Babbitt Cover
Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America (1998)

Schulman, a lesbian activist and 1997 winner of the Stonewall Award, joined ACT UP in 1987. Shortly thereafter, she completed her fourth novel, People in Trouble (NAL Dutton, 1991), which featured a group of East Village artists struggling with homelessness and AIDS and was based on her personal experiences. After attending a performance of Rent in February 1996 and writing a review of it, Schulman realized that the storyline of this mega-hit was, in fact, taken directly from her novel. Stagestr... 		Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America Cover
The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Krapp's Last Tape v. 1 (1993)

Samuel Beckett directed "Krapp's Last Tape" on four separate occasions, and this volume offers a facsimile of his 1969 Schiller-Theater notebook. The notebook contains what is probably some of the most explicit analysis by Beckett of his own work ever revealed. The revised text incorporates many of the changes Beckett made in the 1969 Schiller production, as well as subsequent changes in later productions. Professor Knowlson worked closely with Beckett over these revisions - and deviations from... 		The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Krapp's Last Tape v. 1 Cover
The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot v. 3 (1994)

Following "Endgame" and "Krapp's Last Tape", this book looks at Beckett's notebook for "Waiting for Godot". The volume is in part a facsimile of the notebook kept by Beckett for Berlin's Schiller-Theater production in 1975. It contains a full set of directional notes and discloses, section-by-section, a total system that works by repitition and analogy, musical rhythm and echo, establishing subtle patterns of sound, movement and gestures. 		The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot v. 3 Cover
Shorter Plays, Volume 4: The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett (1999)

Shorter Plays follows Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and Krapp's Last Tape in this highly praised series of Beckett's notebooks, which show for the first time the extensive revisions made by Beckett during revivals of his plays. From the mid-1960s, Samuel Beckett himself directed all his major plays in Berlin, Paris or London. For most of these productions he meticulously prepared notebooks for his personal use. The Theatrical Notebooks of Beckett that are reproduced in facsimile here offer a rem... 		Shorter Plays, Volume 4: The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett Cover
No Author Better Served: The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett and Alan Schneider (2000)

The great playwright exchanges letters with his favorite American stage director. In 1955 Alan Schneider was invited to direct the American production of Beckett's Waiting for Godot. He went to London to meet the playwright beforehand, and a warm, productive relationship soon developed, ending only with Schneider's accidental death in 1984. (He was fatally struck by a car while walking to a mailbox, intending to post a letter to Beckett.) Their correspondence279 letters from Beckett, 209 from Sc... 		No Author Better Served: The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett and Alan Schneider Cover
States of Shock (1998)

The evening begins with a bang. The deceptive calm of a family restaurant, filled with two disgruntled customers and an inept waitress, is disrupted by offstage sounds of war and destruction. The real disruption begins with the entrance of the Colonel, a middle-aged brute of a man wearing the medals and uniform of a commander, who wheels on Stubbs, a mute paraplegic veteran who served with the Colonel's son. According to the Colonel, they have come "to toast the death of my son and have a nice d... 		States of Shock Cover
Four Two Act Plays (2000)

Contains: La Turisha, The Tooth of Crime, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, and Operation Sidewinder. 		Four Two Act Plays Cover
Chicago And Other Plays (1981)

Includes: Chicago, Icarus's Mother, Red Cross, Fourteen Hundred Thousand, Melodrama Play. 		Chicago And Other Plays Cover
Hawk Moon: Short Stories, Poems, and Monologues (2001)

In this collection of more than fifty monologues, short stories and poems—Shepard's first—one of America's most acclaimed writers and actors reflects on growing up in America, rock and roll, the sex of fishes, and other topics. Shepard displays his virtuosic sense of the rhythms of the American landscape. 		Hawk Moon: Short Stories, Poems, and Monologues Cover
Motel Chronicles (2001)

Motel Chronicles reveals the fast-moving and sometimes surprising world of the man behind the plays that have made Sam Shepard a live legend in the theater. Shepard chronicles his own life birth in Illinois, childhood memories of Guam, Pasadena and rural Southern California, adventures as ranch hand, waiter, rock musician, dramatist, and film actor. Scenes from this book form the basis of his play Superstitions, and of the film (directed by Wim Wenders) Paris, Texas, winner of the Golden Palm Aw... 		Motel Chronicles Cover
Fortune, My Foe and Eros at Breakfast (1993)

Robertson Davies has been called the most important Canadian playwright of the postwar period. These two plays from the 1940s prove that great writing and important themes never go out of style. 		Fortune, My Foe and Eros at Breakfast Cover
Happy Alchemy: On the Pleasures of Music and the Theatre (1999)

Last year, Davies's widow, Brenda, and their daughter, Jennifer Surridge, worked to compile The Merry Heart, a collection of Davies's speeches and writings on reading, writing and books. Davies had consented to the plans for that book in the last months of his life. This, however, seems to be purely a production of his estate and is, truth to tell, uneven. There are some wonderful pieces: His speech on "The Noble Greeks" wanders convincingly from Greek religion and culture to Jim Jones and Davi... 		Happy Alchemy: On the Pleasures of Music and the Theatre Cover
All the King's Men (2000)

Robert Penn Warren's 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the King's Men is one of the undisputed classics of American literature. Fifty years after the novel's publication, Warren's characters still stand as powerful representations of the moral dilemmas faced by individuals in positions of power. All the King's Men had its genesis in Warren's stage play Proud Flesh, unpublished in his lifetime. He also wrote a subsequent unpublished play titled Willie Stark: His Rise and Fall and a later dram... 		All the King's Men Cover
The Old Glory: Endecott and the Red Cross; My Kinsman, Major Molineux; and Benito Cereno (2000)

Winner of Five Obies, now back in print after fifteen years, a stage adaptation of classic stories by Hawthorne and Melville In the three plays in The Old Glory--Endecott and the Red Cross; My Kinsman, Major Molineux; and Benito Cereno--the most powerful figure in postwar American poetry confronts the most haunting American fiction writers of the nineteenth century. The result is a mythical, nightmare history of three centuries in America. In Endecott and the Red Cross, Hawthorne's Puritan go... 		The Old Glory: Endecott and the Red Cross; My Kinsman, Major Molineux; and Benito Cer Cover
On Racine (1992)

On Racine is a brilliant, personal view of theatre in which Barthes discusses all the major tragedies of Racine as well as the range of critical views of his work. 		On Racine Cover
Persecución (1986)

Cinco piezas de teatro se unen aqui bajo un mismo tema: la persecucion. Cruel, experimental, desenfadado, ironico y poetico, este libro ademas de ser una obra de arte, es tambien una vision profunda de la eterna dualidad que parece caracterizar al ser humano: su condicion tanto sublime como terrible que lo hace victima o victimario perseguido o perseguidor. Pero la obra ademas de ser una satira del actual regimen cubano, trasciende el mismo a traves de una liberacion que, como en el principio d... 		Persecución Cover
Theaetetus (1987)

Set immediately prior to the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BC, Theaetetus shows the great philosopher considering the nature of knowledge itself, in a debate with the geometrician Theodorus and his young follower Theaetetus. Their dialogue covers many questions, such as: is knowledge purely subjective, composed of the ever-changing flow of impressions we receive from the outside world? Is it better thought of as true belief'? Or is it, as many modern philosophers argue, justified true b... 		Theaetetus Cover
Winning Monologs for Young Actors: 65 Honest-To-Life Characterizations to Delight Young Actors and Audiences of All Ages (1986)

A collection of sixty-five monologues providing young performers with a variety of audition pieces reflecting situations both serious and comic. 		Winning Monologs for Young Actors: 65 Honest-To-Life Characterizations to Delight You Cover
Every Seventeen Minutes the Crowd Goes Crazy! (2000)

A family of exuberant and startled kids are left to fend for themselves by their mother and father-who have taken off to pursue forever a life of betting at trotter racetracks and playing blackjack in Native American casinos! An expandable chorus punctuates with hilarious and stinging sound bites this highly theatrical and poignant legend of parental abdication. 		Every Seventeen Minutes the Crowd Goes Crazy! Cover
Backstage Forms (1995)

Over 100 examples of backstage paperwork ready for photocopying--forms like hanging schedules, costume fitting sheets, lighting circuit schedules, prop preset lists, sound cues, to name only a few. 		Backstage Forms Cover
The Phoenix: Noel Coward Diaries (2000)

Coward's diaries from 1941 to 1969 offer an intimate look at the last 30 years of the life of the popular, sophisticated British playwright and author. While some of the entries are of the "Stayed out until 4 at Mrs. B___'s party" variety, more of them give insight into Coward's well-connected life. Coward knew or met hundreds of people working in the theater, the movies, and the government, and encounters with Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe, King George IV, Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother... 		The Phoenix: Noel Coward Diaries Cover
Autobiography: Consisting of Present Indicative, Future Indefinite and The Uncompleted Past Conditional (1986)

This reissue contains all three instalments of Coward's biography. "Present Indicative", published in 1937, deals with Noel's childhood and early life up to "Cavalcade" in 1931; "Future Indefinite", published in 1954, deals with the War years; also included is the opening to a planned third volume. 		Autobiography: Consisting of Present Indicative, Future Indefinite and The Uncomplete Cover
The Overcoat (1991)

The Overcoat which is generally acknowledged as the finest of Gogol's memorable Saint Petersburg stories, is a tale of the absurd and misplaced obsessions. 		The Overcoat Cover
Diary of a Madman and Other Stories (1983)

Illuminates the Russian writer's thoughts on madness, bureaucracy, and illusion in these five tales. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. 		Diary of a Madman and Other Stories Cover
La Mandragola (1981)

A superior treatment of Machiavelli's minor masterpiece! Flaumenhaft's beautifully crafted, literal translation aims to capture the original intent of the playwright. Machiavelli himself distinguished carefully between translations and revisions; thus, Flaumenhaft finds a faithful translation essential to conveying Machiavelli's thought and to allowing direct access to the work. The Prologue explores the relationship between Machiavelli's stage comedies--part of the Comedia Erudita of the Italia... 		La Mandragola Cover
Broadway Bound (1988)

Based on the original play by Neil Simon, the story traces the attempts of Eugene and Stan Jerome's attempts to break into show business as comedy writers in the 1950s. 		Broadway Bound Cover
Neil Simon Monologues: Speeches from the Works of America's Foremost Playwright (1996)

This is the first authorized collection of monologues from Mr. Simon's plays and the most significant contribution to the drama genre in the past twenty-five years. As a scene-study book it is invaluable to actors at all levels. This definitive publication contains speeches for men and women from "Come Blow Your Horn" through "Jake's Women." Each play is comprehensively synopsized, and an in-depth exposition establishing setting and intent precedes each speech. With an introduction by Jack Lemm... 		Neil Simon Monologues: Speeches from the Works of America's Foremost Playwright Cover
The Bungler (2000)

Poet Richard Wilbur’s translations of Molière’s plays are loved, renowned, and performed throughout the world. This volume is part of Theater Communications Group’s new series (with cover designs by Chip Kidd) to complete trade publication of these vital works of French neoclassical comedy. The Bungler is Molière’s first recognizably great play, and the first to be written in verse. The charming farce is set in Sicily and born of the great Italian tradition of the commedia dell’arte:... 		The Bungler Cover
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (1999)

In three short months, Oscar Wilde, the most celebrated playwright and wit of Victorian England, was toppled from the apex of British society into humiliation and ruin. Drawing from trial documents, newspaper accounts, and writings of the key players, Moises Kaufman ignites an incendiary mix of sex and censorship, with a cast of characters ranging from George Bernard Shaw to Queen Victoria herself. 		Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde Cover
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2000)

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and tropes with which he would later deal in more detail; for example, it is the first of his plays in which a heroine dresses as a boy. The play also deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and th... 		The Two Gentlemen of Verona Cover
Teaching Drama to Young Children (1987)

Teaching Drama to Young Children has been written for teachers of children aged five to eight who would like to teach drama, but are not sure how to begin. 		Teaching Drama to Young Children Cover
Mary McCarthy's Theatre Chronicles (2000)

This volume brings together Miss McCarthy's lively controversial essays on the theatre from the 1930's up to the present day. The intelligence and vitality of the author's analysis brings past productions of Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Chekhov, Wild, Odets, Saroyan, Wilder back to the reader with immediacy and freshness. Written in her trenchant prose, Miss McCarthy's articles on the drama are amusing, sharp, original and penetrating. 		Mary McCarthy's Theatre Chronicles Cover
Readers Theatre: What It is and How to Stage It (1995)

A complete guide to Reader's Theatre--what it is and how to stage it--including four award-winning scripts by Charles LaBorde, Jo Davidsmeyer, Caroline E. Wood, and Robert Hawkins. (Performing Arts) 		Readers Theatre: What It is and How to Stage It Cover
Così è (se vi pare) (1980)

osì è (se vi pare) (English: Right you are (if you think so)) is an Italian drama by Luigi Pirandello. It premiered 18 June 1917 in Milan. 		Così è (se vi pare) Cover
Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore (1993)

Six Characters in Search of an Author (Italian: Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) is a play by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello. The play is a satirical tragicomedy. It was first performed in 1921 at the Teatro Valle in Rome, to a very mixed reception, with shouts from the audience of "Manicomio!" ("Madhouse!"). Subsequently the play enjoyed a much better reception. This improved reception was helped in 1925 when, with the third edition of the play, Pirandello provided a foreword clarifying... 		Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore Cover
The Bedford Introduction to Drama (1997)

With an abundance of plays, commentaries, and useful editorial features, the best-selling Bedford Introduction to Drama is the most comprehensive introductory drama resource available, giving students a diverse overview of dramatic literature and instructors a text with enough breadth and flexibility to complement a variety of approaches. 		The Bedford Introduction to Drama Cover
Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the African-American in the Performing Arts (1990)

Black Magic Langston Hughes's last book, presents the vast, sweeping story of African-American entertainers--the artists and the musicians, the singers and the dancers, the obscure and the illustrious--from the tragic beginnings in slavery to he triumphant artistic achievements of the late 1960s. Long considered the most comprehensive history of African-Americans in the performing arts, this milestone in black history features hundreds of rare and beautiful illustrations. Covering both the obst... 		Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the African-American in the Performing Arts Cover
Lanford Wilson: Collected Works, Vol. 3: The Talley Trilogy (1999)

The fourth volume of Smith and Kraus' publication of the complete works of playwright Lanford Wilson. The plays in this volume include Fifth of July, Talley's Folly (the winner of the 1980 Pulitzer Prize) and Talley and Son. This collection will include introductory notes by the playwright, original cast and production information. From the New York Times: One of the rewards of the plays in the unfolding Talley Cycle is our knowledge of the interrelated, reflected worlds. When a character opens... 		Lanford Wilson: Collected Works, Vol. 3: The Talley Trilogy Cover
Scriptwork: A Director's Approach to New Play Development (1995)

Despite the popular myth that plays arrive at the theater fully formed and ready for production, the truth is that for centuries, most scripts have been developed through a collaborative process in rehearsal and in concert with other theater artists. David Kahn and Donna Breed provide the first codified approach to this time-honored method of play development, with a flexible methodology that takes into account differing environments and various stages of formation. Directors can use this un... 		Scriptwork: A Director's Approach to New Play Development Cover
Book of Days (2001)

Acclaimed by Frank Rich as "a writer who illuminates the deepest dramas of American life with poetry and compassion," Lanford Wilson is one of the most esteemed contemporary American playwrights of our time. Nowhere is this more evident than in his latest play, Book of Days, which has won the Best Play Award from the American Theater Critics Association. Book of Days is set in a small town dominated by a cheese plant, a fundamentalist church, and a community theater. When the owner of the chees... 		Book of Days Cover
Learning Through Drama: Report of the Schools Council Drama, Teaching Project (1977)

A guide to teaching drama. It stresses the place of drama in the school curriculum and makes detailed recommendations both on the organization and on the content of drama teaching. 		Learning Through Drama: Report of the Schools Council Drama, Teaching Project Cover
Inwardness and Theater in the English Renaissance (1995)

Katharine Eisaman Maus explores Renaissance writers' uneasy preoccupation with the inwardness and invisibility of truth. The perceived discrepancy between a person's outward appearance and inward disposition, she argues, deeply influenced the ways English Renaissance dramatists and poets conceived of the theater, imagined dramatic characters, and reflected upon their own creativity. 		Inwardness and Theater in the English Renaissance Cover

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