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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
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
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
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
Building A Character (12/31/1969)

This is the second volume of Stanislaviski's enduring trilogy on the art of acting. The "System" which he describes is a means both of mastering the craft of acting and of stimulating the actor's individual creativeness and imagination. It has become the central force determining almost every performance we see on stage or screen, and still remains today the only comprehensive theory of acting we possess. In Building a Character Stanislavski discusses with mastery and insight the actor's physic... 		Building A Character Cover
The Actor's Book of Contemporary Stage Monologues (12/31/1969)

This is the only book that offers a comprehensive collection of contemporary stage monologues for a complete range of roles. An invaluable tool for actors looking for new audition material or for anyone interested in theater. 		The Actor's Book of Contemporary Stage Monologues Cover
J.B: A Play in Verse (12/31/1969)

Based on the story of Job, this drama in verse tells the story of a twentieth-century American banker and millionaire whom God commands be stripped of his family and wealth, but who refuses to turn his back on God. J.B. won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1959 and the Tony Award for best play. More important, the play sparked a national conversation about the nature of God. 		J.B: A Play in Verse Cover
On the Technique of Acting (12/31/1969)

In the four decades since its first publication, Michael Chekhov's To the Actor has become a standard text for students of the theater. But To the Actor is a shortened, heavily modified version of the great director/actor/teacher's original manuscript, and On the Technique of Acting is the first and only book ever to incorporate the complete text of that brilliant manuscript. Scholars and teachers of Chekhov's technique have hailed On the Technique of Acting as the clearest, most accurate presen... 		On the Technique of Acting Cover
The Beggar's Opera (12/31/1969)

Written in 1728, John Gay’s opera caricatures society, marriage and Italian operatic style in this comic satire which is considered revolutionary because it took on poverty and corruption as its subject as told by the thieves, prostitutes and villains of the slums and prisons of 18th century London. The lyrics were set to famous songs the day making it hugely popular with audiences and a radical departure from traditional opera. Bertolt Brech and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera is based on... 		The Beggar's Opera Cover
Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present (12/31/1969)

Performance is in some sense a combination of theater, dance, mime, concept art, music, and-today-even video; it can be simply defined as live art by artists. Goldberg discusses its origins in tribal rituals and passion plays and its twentieth-century revival by the Futurists. Surrealists, Dadaists, and Bauhaus artists. 		Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present Cover
The Stage Management Handbook (12/31/1969)

Offers advice, for both professional and amateur stage managers, on putting on a show, discussing its three phases, and includes information on the organizational structure of theaters and how to manage human behavior. 		The Stage Management Handbook Cover
Les Miserables: Vocal / Piano Selections (12/31/1969)

This terrific songbook features 14 vocal selections from the beloved Broadway musical: At the End of the Day * Bring Him Home * Castle on a Cloud * Do You Hear the People Sing? * Drink with Me (To Days Gone By) * Empty Chairs at Empty Tables * A Heart Full of Love * I Dreamed a Dream * In My Life * A Little Fall of Rain * Master of the House * On My Own * Stars * Who Am I?. Also includes beautiful full-color photos from the production. 		Les Miserables: Vocal / Piano Selections Cover
Me: Stories of My Life (12/31/1969)

Admired and beloved by movie audiences for over sixty years, four-time Academy Award-winner Katharine Hepburn is an American classic. Now Miss Hepburn breaks her long-kept silence about her private life in this absorbing and provocative memoir. 		Me: Stories of My Life Cover
Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher's Handbook (12/31/1969)

Based on the best-selling book by Viola Spolin, this new CD-ROM of Theater Games for the Classroom offers the most comprehensive theater instruction for all types of students, from small children to young adults. It includes over 130 theater games and exercises, instructional strategies, video examples, a lesson planning section, alignment to other curricular areas, and alignment to California Theatre Arts standards. First developed by Spolin, the originator of modern improvisational theater tec... 		Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher's Handbook Cover
The Sound of Music: Vocal Selections (12/31/1969)

11 songs: Climb Ev'ry Mountain * Do-Re-Mi * Edelweiss * I Have Confidence * The Lonely Goatherd * Maria * My Favorite Things * Sixteen Going on Seventeen * So Long, Farewell * Something Good * The Sound of Music. 		The Sound of Music: Vocal Selections Cover
Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing (12/31/1969)

By the founder of the famous American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.) in San Francisco - a candid account of his working method as a director. A Sense of Direction represents a life's work in directing. William Ball engages his audience in a wide-ranging discussion of the director's process, from first read-through to opening night. An informative, insightful, and often astonishingly clear look at the the process of making theatre. 		Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing Cover
Bang The Drum Slowly (12/31/1969)

Sure, Harris's most acclaimed novel, the second of his Henry Wiggen books, centers around a pair of ballplayers for the fictionally fabled New York Mammoths--the novel's narrator, pitcher Wiggen, and Bruce Pearson, his tag-along catcher and best friend. And sure, on one level, it's the conventional tale of a disparate dugout population cohering over the course of a season and marching ineluctably toward the World Series. But convention, like a 55-foot curveball, ends there and then scoots off i... 		Bang The Drum Slowly Cover
Scene Design and Stage Lighting (12/31/1969)

Stressing recent innovations in stage lighting, the authors reveal the techniques and skills involved in designing sets for theatrical productions. 		Scene Design and Stage Lighting Cover
The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook (12/31/1969)

Demonstrates how to work with molds, castings, and vacuum forming equipment, stresses safety precautions, and discusses materials from paper-mache to breakaway glass. 		The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook Cover
Designing with Light: An Introduction to Stage Lighting (12/31/1969)

This comprehensive survey of the practical and aesthetic aspects of basic stage lighting design treats its subject as an art closely integrated with that of the director, actor, and playwright, and as a craft that provides practical solutions for the manipulation of stage space. An eight-page color section provides a discussion of the practical applications of color theory as well as an analysis of the color choices for the lighting design of an actual production. Numerous illustrations of techn... 		Designing with Light: An Introduction to Stage Lighting Cover
The Pot of Gold and Other Plays (12/31/1969)

One of the supreme comic writers of the Roman world, Plautus (c.254–184 BC), skilfully adapted classic Greek comic models to the manners and customs of his day. This collection features a varied selection of his finest plays, from the light-hearted comedy Pseudolus, in which the lovesick Calidorus and his slave try to liberate his lover from her pimp, to the more subversive The Prisoners, which raises serious questions about the role of slavery. Also included are The Brothers Menaechmus, which... 		The Pot of Gold and Other Plays Cover
Stage Makeup (12/31/1969)

Key Benefit: A classic in the field, this book helps makeup artists and actors learn the proper technique when applying stage makeup. Key Topics: This easy, step-by-step guide is comprised of 20 comprehensive chapters covering all aspects of stage makeup application. Topics include: basic techniques as well as new methods and materials for all types of stage makeup; updated information on hairstyles and fashions. Revered as the stage makeup bible, this book includes listings of makeup colors fro... 		Stage Makeup Cover
The Stanislavski System: The Professional Training of an Actor (12/31/1969)

This clearly written guide to the Stanislavski method has long been a favorite among students and teachers of acting. Now, in light of books and articles recently published in the Soviet Union, Sonia Moore has made revisions that include a new section on the subtext of a role. She provides detailed explanations of all the methods that actors in training have found indispensable for more than twenty years. Designed to create better actors, this guide will put individuals in touch with themselves... 		The Stanislavski System: The Professional Training of an Actor Cover
A Challenge for the Actor (12/31/1969)

This volume completes Hagen's earlier classic, Respect for Acting (Macmillan, 1973). The beliefs, professionalism, and standards of training and performance that make Respect required reading for all actors are explored in this acting textbook that represents a lifetime of performance and teaching. Unlike the more academic texts, Hagen's study reflects exercises, insights, and techniques that have been taught and practiced in acting studios and on stages for many years. Readers should not be pu... 		A Challenge for the Actor Cover
An Unsocial Socialist (12/31/1969)

An Unsocial Socialist was published in 1887, having been written in 1883. The tale begins with a humorous description of student antics at a girl's school then changes focus to a seemingly uncouth laborer who, it soon develops, is really a wealthy gentleman in hiding from his overly affectionate wife. He needs the freedom gained by matrimonial truancy to promote the socialistic cause, to which he is an active convert. Once the subject of socialism emerges, it dominates the story, allowing only ... 		An Unsocial Socialist Cover
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre (12/31/1969)

Impro ought to be required reading not only for theatre people generally but also for teachers, educators, and students of all kinds and persuasions. Readers of this book are not going to agree with everything in it; but if they are not challenged by it, if they do not ultimately succumb to its wisdom and whimsicality, they are in a very sad state indeed . . . .Johnstone seeks to liberate the imagination, to cultivate in the adult the creative power of the child . . . .Deserves to be widely read... 		Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre Cover
Zoot Suit and Other Plays (12/31/1969)

This collection contains three of playwright and screenwriter Luis Valdez's most important and recognized plays: Zoot Suit, Bandido! and I Don't Have to Show You No Stinking Badges. The anthology also includes an introduction by noted theater critic Dr. Jorge Huerta of the University of California-San Diego. Luis Valdez, the most recognized and celebrated Hispanic playwright of our times, is the director of the famous farm-worker theater, El Teatro Campesino. 		Zoot Suit and Other Plays Cover
Sanford Meisner on Acting (12/31/1969)

Meisner, a member of the Theater Guild and the Group Theater, has devoted most of 50 years to teaching acting and is one of the great unsung resources in American theater. This book is not an acting text, but a journal of a 15-month course taken by 16 adult actors. We follow them as they progress from early exercises through preparation to detailed scene work. Meisner emphasizes emotional truth and acting as the reality of doing. His students find the course difficult, but most improve markedly.... 		Sanford Meisner on Acting Cover
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (12/31/1969)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The action of Stoppard's play takes place mainly "in the wings" of Shakespeare's, with brief appearances of major characters from Hamlet who enact fragments of the original's scenes. Between these episodes the two ... 		Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Cover
Environmental Theater (12/31/1969)

Here are the exercises which began as radical departures from standard actor training etiquette and which stand now as classic means through which the performer discovers his or her true power of transformation. Available for the first time in fifteen years, this new expanded edition offers a new generation of theater artists the gospel according to Richard Schechner, the guru whose principles and influence have influenced a quarter century of theater. 		Environmental Theater Cover
David Merrick - The Abominable Showman (12/31/1969)

The chief theater critic for the New York Daily News has written a frank portrait of Broadway's most famous producer, a man as renowned for his outrageous behavior and sharp business practices as for the string of hits that began in 1954 with Fanny , continued through the '60s and '70s with Gypsy , Hello, Dolly! and prestigious British imports like Marat/Sade and climaxed in 1980 with the lavish stage version of 42nd Street , which ran for nine years. As documented in his source notes, Kissel ha... 		David Merrick - The Abominable Showman Cover
An Actor Prepares (12/31/1969)

Stanislavski's simple exercises fire the imagination, and help readers not only discover their own conception of reality but how to reproduce it as well. 		An Actor Prepares Cover
A Practical Handbook for the Actor (12/31/1969)

6 working actors describe their methods and philosophies of the theater. All have worked with playwright David Mamet at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. 		A Practical Handbook for the Actor Cover
Audition (12/31/1969)

Michael Shurtleff has been casting director for Broadway shows like Chicago and Becket and for films like The Graduate and Jesus Christ Superstar. His legendary course on auditioning has launched hundreds of successful careers. Now in this book he tells the all-important HOW for all aspiring actors, from the beginning student of acting to the proven talent trying out for that chance-in-a-million role! 		Audition Cover
Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays (12/31/1969)

This guide to playreading for students and practitioners of both theater and literature complements, rather then contradicts or repeats, traditional methods of literary analysis of scripts. Ball developed his method during his work as Literary Director at the Guthrie Theater, building his guide on the crafts playwrights of every period and style use to make their plays stageworthy. The text is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, expo... 		Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays Cover
No Exit and Three Other Plays (12/31/1969)

4 plays about an existential portrayal of Hell, the reworking of the Electra-Orestes story, the conflict of a young intellectual torn between theory and conflict and an arresting attack on American racism. 		No Exit and Three Other Plays Cover

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