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Letters from Backstage

Author : Michael Kostroff

Publisher : Simon and Schuster

Page : 273 pages

File Size : 15,21 MB

Release : 2012-01-31

Category : Performing Arts

ISBN : 1581159579

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Book Description

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a real working actor? Wonder no more! Michael Kostroff is here to reveal, in hilarious detail, just what it’s like to travel with the road companies of The Producers and Les Miserables. His firsthand account of the exciting, funny, and sometimes bizarre highlights of his journey includes working at a temp job when his agent calls to say, “You got the part!”; singing on a revolving stage while lugging a dead body; seeing ghosts in haunted theaters; and much more. Along the way, anecdotes about nailing an audition, keeping a performance fresh, and getting along with fellow cast members give useful tips for working actors. Anyone who wants to know what a life in the theater is really like needs this intimate and unforgettable narrative.



Letters from an Actor

Author : William Redfield

Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield

Page : 244 pages

File Size : 10,86 MB

Release : 2024-03-05

Category : Performing Arts

ISBN : 1493084615

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Book Description

The legendary 1964 Broadway run of Hamlet directed by John Gielgud is one of the most famous productions of Shakespeare’s most important play. Audacious for its time in concept and execution, it placed the actors in everyday clothes within an unassuming “rehearsal” set, with the Ghost of Hamlet’s father projected as a shadow against the rear wall and voiced by the director himself. It was also a runaway critical and financial success, breaking the then-record for most performances of a Broadway show. This was in no small part due to the starring role played by Richard Burton, whose romance with Elizabeth Taylor was the object of widespread fascination. Present throughout, and ever attentive to the backstage drama and towering egos on display, was the actor William Redfield, who played Guildenstern. During the three months of the play’s preparation, from rehearsals through out-of-town tryouts to the gala opening night on Broadway, Redfield wrote a series of letters describing the daily happenings and his impressions of them. In 1967, they were in 1967 collected into Letters from an Actor, a brilliant and unusual book that has since become a classic behind-the-scenes account that remains an indispensable contribution to theatrical history and lore. This new edition at last brings Redfield’s classic back into print, as The Motive and the Cue—the Sam Mendes-directed play about the Gielgud production that is based in part on the book—continues its successful run in London’s West End.



Letters from Backstage

Author : Michael Kostroff

Publisher : Allworth

Page : 224 pages

File Size : 24,73 MB

Release : 2005-11-01

Category : Performing Arts

ISBN : 9781581154412

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Book Description

• Part backstage tour, part travelogue, part social commentary, all funny and insightful • Adventures in more than 20 US cities, large and small • Anecdotes about celebrities, including Mel Brooks, Susan Stroman, Jason Alexander, and Martin Short Ever wonder what it’s like to be a real working actor? Wonder no more! Michael Kostroff is here to reveal, in hilarious detail, just what it’s like to travel with the road companies of The Producers and Les Miserables. His firsthand account of the exciting, funny, and sometimes bizarre highlights of his journey includes working at a temp job when his agent calls to say, “You got the part!”; singing on a revolving stage while lugging a dead body; seeing ghosts in haunted theaters; and much more. Along the way, anecdotes about nailing an audition, keeping a performance fresh, and getting along with fellow cast members give useful tips for working actors. Anyone who wants to know what a life in the theater is really like needs this intimate and unforgettable narrative. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.



The Stage Actor's Handbook

Author : Michael Kostroff

Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield

Page : 165 pages

File Size : 48,93 MB

Release : 2022-07-13

Category : Performing Arts

ISBN : 1538160447

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Book Description

An invaluable guide to the traditions and best practices of the professional stage actor, from first rehearsal to final curtain. Professional stage actors are expected to have ready knowledge of a multitude of unwritten yet well-established protocols. Traditionally, this knowledge was passed along from one generation of stage actors to the next via word of mouth, or were learned by having one’s missteps corrected—until now. In The Stage Actor’s Handbook, these protocols have finally been assembled into one volume, allowing theatre artists to know in advance what is expected of them. A definitive guide for professionals and aspiring professionals alike, this book details best practices on everything from rehearsal demeanor to backstage etiquette. It also shares the theatre’s unique vernacular and revered superstitions, as well as field-tested guidelines on touring, interactions with the public, and more. Written by established theatre pros Michael Kostroff (The Producers, Les Misérables)and Julie Garnyé (Cats, Come From Away), The Stage Actor’s Handbook features bits of wisdom contributed by legendary stage actors, including Bebe Neuwirth, John Lithgow, Chita Rivera, Alfred Molina, Billy Porter, Betty Buckley, Harvey Fierstein, Sam Waterston, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, and Sir Patrick Stewart.



Audition Psych 101

Author : Michael Kostroff

Publisher : Gatekeeper Press

Page : 175 pages

File Size : 11,49 MB

Release : 2019-05-15

Category : Performing Arts

ISBN : 1642376116

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Book Description

Based on the popular workshop of the same name, Audition Psych 101 takes a detailed, unvarnished look at the mental gremlins that can make auditioning stressful. With frankness, humor, and a pro-actor sensibility, professional working actor Michael Kostroff (The Wire, The Deuce, Luke Cage, The Blacklist, Law & Order: SVU, etc.) explodes commonly accepted mythologies and offers a fresh, more logical, and more effective approach to the whole process. Speaking directly to other professional actors, Kostroff pulls each step into slow motion, shining a light into the dark corners in search of those little snags that can screw us up. "It has completely changed the way I view auditions." — Chad Manuel, Chicago "Want to learn why we constantly get in our own way before we even set foot in the room? Michael has made a detailed, brilliant study of the most common traps, and how to avoid them." — Peter Van Norden, Los Angeles "Michael’s expertise, sense of humor, and just old-fashioned good sense does the impossible: It actually makes the actor comfortable with the audition process." — J. R. Orlando, San Jose "I’m a psychotherapist who specializes in working with creative artists. Among many other issues, we always talk about their audition anxiety. In Audition Psych 101, Michael Kostroff has validated everything I believe about the audition process. Let him save you a lot of disappointment and frustration." — Lee D. Kassan, psychotherapist/psychoanalyst "It brought the joy and fun back into the audition process, which ultimately has allowed for more callbacks and many more bookings." — Mick Guire, New York City "I can’t wait for my next audition. (Holy mackerel, did I just write that?)" — Deborah Linehan, New York City



Backstage at the Revolution

Author : Victoria Johnson

Publisher : University of Chicago Press

Page : 307 pages

File Size : 33,86 MB

Release : 2008

Category : Music

ISBN : 0226401952

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Book Description

On July 14, 1789, a crowd of angry French citizens en route to the Bastille broke into the Paris Opera and helped themselves to any sturdy weapon they could find. Yet despite its long association with the royal court, its special privileges, and the splendor of its performances, the Opera itself was spared, even protected, by Revolutionary officials. Victoria Johnson’s Backstage at the Revolution tells the story of how this legendary opera house, despite being a lightning rod for charges of tyranny and waste, weathered the most dramatic political upheaval in European history. Sifting through royal edicts, private letters, and Revolutionary records of all kinds, Johnson uncovers the roots of the Opera’s survival in its identity as a uniquely privileged icon of French culture—an identity established by the conditions of its founding one hundred years earlier under Louis XIV. Johnson’s rich cultural history moves between both epochs, taking readers backstage to see how a motley crew of singers, dancers, royal ministers, poet entrepreneurs, shady managers, and the king of France all played a part in the creation and preservation of one of the world’s most fabled cultural institutions.



The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein II

Author : Mark Eden Horowitz

Publisher : Oxford University Press

Page : 1089 pages

File Size : 19,85 MB

Release : 2022-04-18

Category : Music

ISBN : 0197538207

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Book Description

A collection of the letters from and to American musical theater's greatest innovator that provides an entertaining look behind the scenes of Broadway Oscar Hammerstein II virtually invented the modern American musical, first with Show Boat and then in his celebrated collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers on Broadway classics like Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The King and I that continue to fascinate audiences today. A brilliant lyricist and playwright, Hammerstein innovated the American musical with his sophisticated storytelling that single-handedly elevated musical theater to a serious art form. But there were many more sides to Hammerstein: He was also a canny businessman, a successful producer, a mentor to Stephen Sondheim, and a social activist. This rich collection edited by Mark Eden Horowitz features hundreds of previously unpublished letters that show off all facets of Hammerstein's many engagements and his personality. Hammerstein's correspondence with major Broadway figures like Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern, and Josh Logan tells the history of twentieth-century American show business while his exchanges with politicians and activists shed light on social issues of the period. What unites these letters across their vast range of themes is Hammerstein's compelling voice that reveals a man who was sharp, opinionated, and funny but also cared deeply about addressing the social ills that his musicals explored beyond the stage.



Ebony

Author :

Publisher :

Page : 136 pages

File Size : 25,79 MB

Release : 1987-01

Category :

ISBN :

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Book Description

EBONY is the flagship magazine of Johnson Publishing. Founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, it still maintains the highest global circulation of any African American-focused magazine.



Backstage Pass

Author : Paul Stanley

Publisher : HarperCollins

Page : 182 pages

File Size : 27,8 MB

Release : 2019-04-30

Category : Biography & Autobiography

ISBN : 006282029X

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Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The New York Times bestselling author and front man and rhythm guitarist of KISS grants fans an all-access backstage pass to his personal life and shows them how to pursue a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle of their own, offering hard-won advice from a music legend. In this follow-up to his popular bestseller Face the Music, the Starchild takes us behind the scenes, revealing what he’s learned from a lifetime as the driving force of KISS, and how he brings his unique sensibility not only to his music career but to every area of his life—from business to parenting to health and happiness. Backstage Pass takes you beyond the makeup as Paul shares fascinating details about his life—his fitness routine, philosophy, business principles, how he maintains his inspiration, passion, and joy after nearly 50 years of mega success including selling out tours, 100 million albums sold and an art career that has amassed over 10 million dollars in sales. Divulging more true stories of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s relationships, hardships, and pivotal moments, it also contains intimate four-color, never-before-seen photos from Paul’s personal collection, and offers surprising lessons on the discipline and hard work that have made him one of the healthiest and most successful rock ‘n’ roll icons in history. This is the book for fans who love living large, but also want to take control and move ahead in everyday life. Paul shows you how you can rock ‘n’ roll all night and party every day—without missing a beat.



Backstage Pass to the Bible - New Testament

Author : Jonathan Brant

Publisher : Harper Collins

Page : 116 pages

File Size : 50,10 MB

Release : 2002-09

Category : Religion

ISBN : 0310249244

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Book Description

Passionate love Killing and revenge Tragedy, tyrants, tears Praise, prophecy, peace! Here's your All-Access Pass to backstage buzz, inside info, and a feeling like you're watching the show from the wings instead of way back in the balcony! But...the world's best-selling book is also the world's least understood book. What's the problem anyway? Y'see, the New Testament doesn't present us with much, does it? Only extremes from the Creator of the Universe caring so much about individual sinners that He became human for a time to identify with all our junky baggage... to unbelievable acts of sacrifice and servanthood...to assurances about eternity (ours!) If you think you got it all about the Savior from Jesus Christ Superstar; or that you met the coolest superheroes in comic books; or understood discipleship from checkin' out that painting of the Last Supper---and if checkin' out the New Testament itself still intimidates you---check out Backstage Pass to the Bible---New Testament! Here's an insider's view, thanks to: summaries of the general details of the essentials checklists of the details easy-to-do exercises fun-to-read cartoons way-cool explanations of what Jesus wanted you to know! One of the little secrets about the Apostolic Age, is despite persecution, a large percentage of the world became Christian in that general time. Backstage Pass to the Bible---New Testament will help you catch the fire that ignited the world when it understood Jesus! This little book is the All-Access Pass to the coolest concert you've ever enjoyed: you'll go everywhere, see everyone, know the scoop, be close to the stars! Backstage Pass to the Bible---New Testament will revolutionize your understanding of God! Hey---can knowing how He works in our lives, and wants to work in our lives, ever be bad? You don't have to snake in the stage door...here's a backstage pass, just for you. Rock on!