Today's Hours
Agnes de Mille by
This book explores the Broadway legacy of choreographer Agnes de Mille, from the 1940s through the 1960s. Six musicals are discussed in depth - Oklahoma!, One Touch of Venus, Bloomer Girl, Carousel, Brigadoon, and Allegro. Oklahoma!, Carousel, and Brigadoon were de Mille's most influential andlucrative Broadway works. The other three shows exemplify aspects of her legacy that have not been fully examined, including the impact of her ideas on some of the composers with whom she worked; her ability to incorporate a previously conceived work into the context of a Broadway show; and hertrailblazing foray into the role of choreographer/director. Each chapter emphasizes de Mille's unique contributions to the original productions.Several themes emerge in looking closely at de Mille's Broadway repertoire. Character development remained at the heart of her theatrical work work. She often took minor characters, represented with minimal or no dialogue, and fleshed out their stories. These stories added a layer of meaning thatresulted in more complex productions. Sometimes, de Mille's stories were different from the stories her collaborators wanted to tell, which caused many conflicts. Because her unique ideas often got woven into the fabric of her musicals, de Mille saw her choreography as an authorship. She felt sheshould be given the same rights as the librettist and the composer. De Mille's work as an activist is an aspect of her legacy that has largely been overlooked. She contributed to revisions in dance copyright law and was a founding member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, atheatrical union that protects the rights of directors and choreographers. Her contention that choreographers are authors who have their own stories to tell offers a new way of understanding the Broadway musical.
Next to Normal (Vocal Selections) by
A piano/vocal songbook featuring nearly every song from the Tony award-winning musical by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey about a family's struggle to hold itself together while confronting the challenges of mental illness. This book contains 26 emotionally-charged songs, including "Superboy and the Invisible Girl," "I Miss the Mountains," and "You Don't Know."
Rent by
(Vocal Selections). 12 vocal selections from this Broadway smash complete with souvenir photos from the production. Songs include: Another Day * I'll Cover You * Out Tonight * Rent * Seasons of Love * What You Own * Your Eyes * and more.
The Hamilton Mixtape by
(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook). In late 2016, Lin-Manuel Miranda released this "mixtape" album of 23 tracks from the score to the mega-hit, Tony Award-winning Broadway sensation Hamilton as performed by several recording artists. This songbook features piano, voice and guitar arrangements for 22 of these songs: Dear Theodosia (Regina Spektor feat. Ben Folds) * Helpless (Ashanti feat. Ja Rule) * History Has Its Eyes on You (John Legend) * It's Quiet Uptown (Kelly Clarkson) * My Shot (The Roots) * Satisfied (Sia feat. Miguel & Queen Latifah) * That Would Be Enough (Alicia Keys) * Wait for It (Usher) * Washingtons by Your Side (Wiz Khalifa) * and more.
Loving Repeating by
Frank Galati's dramatic adaptation of Gertrude Stein's texts begins with Stein at age 60 as she is lecturing at the University of Chicago in 1934. She starts to speak about her writing, specifically her use of repetition, and to connect this idea with her own life experiences. A young Gertrude then appears to guide the audience through her memories of her life as a student, falling in love with Alice B. Toklas, their time together in France and Alice's account of Stein's final day. These vignettes, each culminating in a song (music by Stephen Flaherty), adeptly encapsulate the joy and passion of Stein's life and work, and the depth and complexity of a lesbian romance. Galati sheds new light on Stein's views on language, communication, and ideas by emphasizing how her art evolved from her fascination with the repetition of human behavior-as Stein sings to the audience "Loving repeating is one way of being."
Changed for Good: a Feminist History of the Broadway Musical by
From Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls" to Nina in "In the Heights" and Elphaba in "Wicked," female characters in Broadway musicals have belted and crooned their way into the American psyche. In this lively book, Stacy Wolf illuminates the women of American musical theatre - performers, creators, and characters -- from the start of the cold war to the present day, creating a new, feminist history of the genre. Moving from decade to decade, Wolf first highlights the assumptions that circulated about gender and sexuality at the time. She then looks at the leading musicals to stress the key aspects of the plays as they relate to women, and often finds overlooked moments of empowerment for female audience members. The musicals discussed here are among the most beloved in the canon--"West Side Story," "Cabaret," "A Chorus Line," "Phantom of the Opera," and many others--with special emphasis on the blockbuster "Wicked." Along the way, Wolf demonstrates how the musical since the mid-1940s has actually been dominated by women--women onstage, women in the wings, and women offstage as spectators and fans.
The Screen Combat Handbook by
The Screen Combat Handbookis an essential guide to navigating the unique challenges of putting combat on screen. Explore the process from the early stages of preproduction planning all the way through to editing and sound design, and everything in-between. This book uses practical instruction, examples, interviews, and illustrations to show how to plan, shoot, and assemble safe and effective fight sequences. It includes sections on thoughtful and practical design choices in set, wardrobe, props, and effects, preproduction planning, on-set protocol, fight choreography and coordination, shot planning and technical tricks, acting choices, effective cinematography, and impactful editing and sound design. It provides an invaluable resource for all those involved including directors, fight coordinators, actors and stunt players, and any filmmaker attempting to shoot an exciting action scene safely. Whether working on a no-budget indie production or on a professional set, this is your ultimate guide to screen combat and fight choreography.
A History of Contemporary Stage Combat by
A History of Contemporary Stage Combat chronicles the development of stage combat from the origins of the Society of British Fight Directors in 1969 to the modern day. Featuring interviews with some of the pioneers of this art form, the book analyzes how stage combat developed in response to the needs of the industry and the changing social mores in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the European Continent, Australia, and New Zealand. It also explores the quality of theatrical weaponry, as well as outcropping of stage combat such as intimacy design and theatrical jousting. A History of Contemporary Stage Combat is an excellent resource for actors, directors, stage combatants, theatre historians, and anyone with a love of action on stage and film.
The Theatrical Firearms Handbook by
The Theatrical Firearms Handbook is the essential guide to navigating the many decisions that are involved in the safe and effective use of firearm props for both the stage and screen. This book establishes baseline safety protocol while empowering performers and designers to tell their story of conflict in a way that makes the most of both established convention and current tools of the trade. Within these pages are practical instruction couched in the language of theatre and film, making firearms technology and concepts approachable to dramatic artists without any dumbing-down of the subject material. It contains over 100 illustrations This handbook is equally at home within the worlds of academic training, professional performance, and independent or community theatre and video productions, and is an invaluable resource for fight choreographers, props designers, backstage crew, directors, actors, stage managers, and more, at all levels of experience.
La Luz Que No Se Cumple by
This volume (La luz que no se cumple) brings together two poetry collections (Mascar n de Proa and Muerte de Catulo) by one of Mexico's most talented new voices in poetry, Marco Antonio Murillo. His verse is as brave as uncanny and yet it follows on the most classical traditions of Hispanic American poetry. Along with Luis Luna (Spain) and Matza Maranto (Mexico), Marco Antonio Murillo is bound to become one of the new figures of the emerging avant-garde of poetry originally written in Spanish. Este volumen (La luz que no se cumple) re ne dos colecciones de poemas (Mascar n de Proa y Muerte de Catulo) escritas por uno de las voces po ticas m s talentosas de M xico, Marco Antonio Murillo. Sus versos son tan valientes como misteriosos y, a pesar de ello, siguen las tradiciones m s cl sicas de la poes a hispanoamericana. Junto a Luis Luna (Espa a) y Matza Maranto (M xico), Marco Antonio Murillo est destinado a convertirse en una las nuevas figuras de la vanguardia emergente en la poes a escrita en lengua espa ola.
Mr. Burns and Other Plays by
"One of the most spectacularly original plays in recent memory."—Entertainment Weekly "Fascinating and hilarious . . . With each of its three acts, Mr. Burns grows grander."—Village Voice "When was the last time you met a new play that was so smart it made your head spin? . . . Mr. Burns has arrived to leave you dizzy with the scope and dazzle of its ideas . . . with depths of feeling to match its breadth of imagination."—The New York Times An ode to live theater and the resilience of The Simpsons, Anne Washburn's apocalyptic comedy Mr. Burns—"even better than its hype" (New York Post)—is an imaginative exploration of how the culture of one generation can evolve into the mythology of the next. Following an enthusiastic critical reception from New York critics for its world premiere, Mr. Burns will receive its London premiere in spring 2014. Also included in the collection are The Small, I Have Loved Strangers, and Orestes, all of which, together, develop a theme of destruction, from the personal to the city to civilization and, finally, to the destruction of form. Anne Washburn's plays include The Internationalist, A Devil at Noon, Apparition, The Communist Dracula Pageant, I Have Loved Strangers, The Ladies, The Small, and a transadaptation of Euripides's Orestes. Her awards include a Guggenheim, NYFA Fellowship, Time Warner Fellowship, and a Susan Smith Blackburn finalist. She is a member of 13P, The Civilians, and is a New Georges affiliated artist.
The Javier Plays by
Chicago-based playwright Carlos Murillo'sThe Javier Playsis an inventive and epic trilogy that delves into themes of authenticity, truth, and self-made mythology. This collection includes the playsDiagram of a Paper Airplane,A Thick Description of Harry Smith (Volume 1),andYour Name Will Follow You Home.
Mimesophobia by
They seemed like the perfect couple. Attractive. Well-educated. Affluent. Why did the husband brutally murder his wife and take his own life? Aaron and Henry, two young wannabe screenwriters at a writer's retreat struggle with crippling blocks as they seek to solve the mystery. Shawn, an academic teetering on the edge of insanity grapples with her own possible involvement in the killing, while writing a book about America's obsession with violence. Meanwhile, the murder victim's sister attempts to reconstruct the truth from the ashes of her late sister's diary, becoming a celebrity in the process. What really happened that violent night, and will any of them come close to uncovering the truth? "MIMESOPHOBIA [is] defined as 'the morbid fear of slavish imitation' ... The work is framed as a reality TV show, documentary reenactment, description of a film script and a murder mystery all rolled into a 100-minute show. The result is a theatrical exercise that is an intelligent, funny, satirical look into the American obsession with violence. Our voyeuristic instincts make murder and the cult of celebrity into a fun spectator sport that we can't get enough of. MIMESOPHOBIA unravels as part murder mystery, part reality TV show, with a glimpse into the creation of a film. Playwright Murillo structures much of the work using a film script description complete with camera shot directions. This effectively paints the action in our minds eye as it evokes humor and wit from the camera point of view. The work dodges between Hollywood and Hyde Park Chicago as it tracks one family's tragedy ... The work demands our full attention as it moves briskly between forms to tell the story. Sprinkles of wit, satire and raw humor propel this challenging work ... This provocative play has many levels of meaning that contain cautionary elements about contemporary entertainment." -Tom Williams, Chicago Critic "Funny, provocative, and poignant, MIMESOPHOBIA is a huge success ... and one of the more refreshing plays to land this season." -Scotty Zacher, Chicago Theater Beat
Mlima's Tale by
Mlima is an elephant, struck down by poachers for his magnificent tusks. And so begins a journey, following the trajectory of those tusks from Mlima's homeground in a Kenyan game park, through the ivory trade market and beyond. And all the while, Mlima's ghost follows close behind, marking those complicit in his barbaric death. Continuing in her tradition of crafting thought-provoking, socially conscious dramas, Lynn Nottage's play Mlima's Tale is a powerful and unforgettable drama from an American dramatist whose plays have captivated audiences around the world. It was first staged at The Public Theater, Off-Broadway, in March 2018.
Ruined by
Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama "A powerhouse drama. . . . Lynn Nottage's beautiful, hideous and unpretentiously important play [is] a shattering, intimate journey into faraway news reports."--Linda Winer, Newsday "An intense and gripping new drama . . . the kind of new play we desperately need: well-informed and unafraid of the world's brutalities. Nottage is one of our finest playwrights, a smart, empathetic and daring storyteller who tells a story an audience won't expect."--David Cote, Time Out New York A rain forest bar and brothel in the brutally war-torn Congo is the setting for Lynn Nottage's extraordinary new play. The establishment's shrewd matriarch, Mama Nadi, keeps peace between customers from both sides of the civil war, as government soldiers and rebel forces alike choose from her inventory of women, many already "ruined" by rape and torture when they were pressed into prostitution. Inspired by interviews she conducted in Africa with Congo refugees, Nottage has crafted an engrossing and uncommonly human story with humor and song served alongside its postcolonial and feminist politics in the rich theatrical tradition of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage. Lynn Nottage's plays include Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Fabulation, and Intimate Apparel, winner of the American Theatre Critics' Steinberg New Play Award and the Francesca Primus Prize. Her plays have been widely produced, with Intimate Apparel receiving more productions than any other play in America during the 2005-2006 season.
Describe the Night by
WINNER - Best American Play, Obie Awards 2018In 1920, the Russian writer Isaac Babel wanders the countryside with the Red Cavalry. In 1990, a mysterious KGB agent spies on a woman in Dresden and falls in love. In 2010, an aircraft carrying most of the Polish government crashes in the Russian city of Smolensk.Set in Russia over the course of ninety years, this thrilling and epic new play by Rajiv Joseph traces the stories of seven men and women connected by history, myth and conspiracy theories.
Gruesome Playground Injuries; Animals Out of Paper; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo by
Rajiv Joseph is one of today's most acclaimed young playwrights. The winner of numerous awards, including an NEA award for Best Play and a Whiting Writers Award, he is an up-and-coming artist and one to watch. This volume gathers, for the first time, his three major works to date - 'Gruesome Playground Injuries', 'Animals out of Paper' and 'Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'. Subtle, observant and ambitious, these plays showcase the talent of a rising young star on the contemporary theatre scene.
The Moors by
Two sisters and a dog live out their lives on the bleak English moors, dreaming of love and power. The arrival of a hapless governess and a moor-hen set all three on a strange and dangerous path. The Moors is a dark comedy about love, desperation, and visibility.
Island Possessed by
Just as surely as Haiti is "possessed" by the gods and spirits of vaudun (voodoo), the island "possessed" Katherine Dunham when she first went there in 1936 to study dance and ritual. In this book, Dunham reveals how her anthropological research, her work in dance, and her fascination for the people and cults of Haiti worked their spell, catapulting her into experiences that she was often lucky to survive. Here Dunham tells how the island came to be possessed by the demons of voodoo and other cults imported from various parts of Africa, as well as by the deep class divisions, particularly between blacks and mulattos, and the political hatred still very much in evidence today. Full of the flare and suspense of immersion in a strange and enchanting culture, "Island Possessed" is also a pioneering work in the anthropology of dance and a fascinating document on Haitian politics and voodoo.
Macbeth in Harlem by
2021 PROSE Awards Finalist, Music & the Performing Arts In 1936 Orson Welles directed a celebrated all-black production of Macbeth that was hailed as a breakthrough for African Americans in the theater. For over a century, black performers had fought for the right to perform on the American stage, going all the way back to an 1820s Shakespearean troupe that performed Richard III, Othello, and Macbeth, without relying on white patronage. "Macbeth" in Harlem tells the story of these actors and their fellow black theatrical artists, from the early nineteenth century to the dawn of the civil rights era. For the first time we see how African American performers fought to carve out a space for authentic black voices onstage, at a time when blockbuster plays like Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Octoroon trafficked in cheap stereotypes. Though the Harlem Renaissance brought an influx of talented black writers and directors to the forefront of the American stage, they still struggled to gain recognition from an indifferent critical press. Above all, "Macbeth" in Harlem is a testament to black artistry thriving in the face of adversity. It chronicles how even as the endemic racism in American society and its theatrical establishment forced black performers to abase themselves for white audiences' amusement, African Americans overcame those obstacles to enrich the nation's theater in countless ways.
Race and Performance after Repetition by
The contributors to Race and Performance after Repetition explore how theater and performance studies account for the complex relationship between race and time. Pointing out that repetition has been the primary point of reference for understanding both the complex temporality of theater and the historical persistence of race, they identify and pursue critical alternatives to the conceptualization, organization, measurement, and politics of race in performance. The contributors examine theater, performance art, music, sports, dance, photography, and other forms of performance in topics that range from the movement of boxer Joe Louis to George C. Wolfe's 2016 reimagining of the 1921 all-black musical comedy Shuffle Along to the relationship between dance, mourning, and black adolescence in Flying Lotus's music video "Never Catch Me." Proposing a spectrum of coexisting racial temporalities that are not tethered to repetition, this collection reconsiders central theories in performance studies in order to find new understandings of race. Contributors. Joshua Chambers-Letson, Soyica Diggs Colbert, Nicholas Fesette, Patricia Herrera, Jasmine Elizabeth Johnson, Douglas A. Jones Jr., Mario LaMothe, Daphne P. Lei, Jisha Menon, Tavia Nyong'o, Tina Post, Elizabeth W. Son, Shane Vogel, Catherine M. Young, Katherine Zien
A Strange Loop by
Usher is a Black, queer writer, working a day job he hates while writing his original musical: a piece about a Black, queer writer, working a day job he hates while writing his original musical. Michael R. Jackson's blistering musical follows a young artist at war with a host of demons - not least of which are the punishing thoughts in his own head - in an attempt to understand his own strange loop. A Strange Loop received its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York in the summer of 2019. It went on to win the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Theorizing Black Theatre by
The rich history of African-American theatre has often been overlooked, both in theoretical discourse and in practice. This volume seeks a critical engagement with black theatre artists and theorists of the twentieth century. It reveals a comprehensive view of the Art or Propaganda debate that dominated twentieth century African-American dramatic theory. Among others, this text addresses the writings of Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, Alain Locke, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, Adrienne Kennedy, Sidney Poitier, and August Wilson. Of particular note is the manner in which black theory collides or intersects with canonical theorists, including Aristotle, Keats, Ibsen, Nietzsche, Shaw, and O'Neill.
Women in American Musical Theatre by
Throughout the twentieth century women have made significant contributions to the creation of American musical theatre. Directing, choreographing, writing, arranging, producing and designing musicals in a variety of venues throughout America, women have played a significant role in shaping the development of musical theatre both on and off Broadway and in regional, educational, and community venues. The essays in this book examine the history of women in musical theatre, providing biographical descriptions of the women themselves; analyses and interpretations of their productions; and several accounts of how being a woman affected the artists' careers. Topics include the similarities among the careers of successful but neglected lyricists Rida Johnson Young, Anne Caldwell, and Dorothy Donnelly; the Depression-era productions of Hallie Flanagan and Cheryl Crawford; the transformation of the classic "showgirl" image through the dances and stage movement created by prominent female choreographers; and a survey of numerical data highlighting the discrepancy between the number of men versus the number of women hired to direct professional musical productions in various venues across the United States.
Dialects for the Stage by
Dialect work is one of the actor's most challenging tasks. Need to know a Russian accent? Playing a German countess or a Midwestern farmhand? These and more accents - from Yiddish to French Canadian - are clearly explained in Evangeline Machlin's classic work. Now available in a book-and-CD format, Evangeline Machlin's Dialects for the Stage is based on a method of dialect acquisition she developed during her years working with students at Boston University's Division of Theatre. During her long career, Evangeline Machlin trained such actors as Steve McQueen, Lee Grant, Suzanne Pleshette, Joanne Woodward, and Faye Dunaway.
It's the Way You Say It by
Speak Your Mind Effectively! The best, most direct way to convey your intelligence, expertise, professionalism, and personality to other people is through talking to them. But most people have no idea what they sound like. And even if they do, they don't think they can change it. It's the Way You Say It is a thorough, nuts-and-bolts guide to becoming aware and taking control of how you communicate with others. Dr. Carol Fleming provides detailed advice and scores of exercises for * Understanding how others hear you * Dealing with specific speech problems * Varying your vocal patterns to make your speech more dynamic * Using grammar and vocabulary to increase your clarity and impact * Reinforcing your message with nonverbal cues * Conquering stage fright An entire section of the book focuses on communication issues in the workplace--interviews, presentations, voice mail, and more. Dr. Fleming puts a human face on her advice through vivid before-and-after stories of forty men and women who came to her for help.
West Side Story by
In West Side Story: Cultural Perspectives on an American Musical, Wells presents a major scholarly study of the famous American musical West Side Story, viewing the work from cultural, historical, and musical perspectives. From the "mambo craze" of the 1950s to the work's ongoing permeation of popular culture, Wells looks at the myriad ways in which this canonic musical reflects and refracts American culture. Drawing on primary documentary sources, oral history--including interviews with members of the original creative team such as Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents--and early sketch material, Wells explores the creation and dissemination of West Side Story to diverse audiences. After a short history of West Side Story's creation, each chapter investigates the musical from a different cultural perspective, examining its relationship to the classical canon and Leonard Bernstein's investment in that tradition, juvenile delinquency in the 1950s, feminism and the women of West Side Story, Latin-American and Hispanic influences, and its international reception and distribution. Richly illustrated with images and musical examples and complete with factual appendixes like a chronological timeline, discography, and cast and crew list, this fascinating account is exciting for specialists and non-specialists alike.
Training Actors' Voices by
Contemporary actor training in the US and UK has become increasingly multicultural and multilinguistic. Border-crossing, cross-cultural exchange in contemporary theatre practices, and the rise of the intercultural actor has meant that actor training today has been shaped by multiple modes of training and differing worldviews. How might mainstream Anglo-American voice training for actors address the needs of students who bring multiple worldviews into the training studio? When several vocal training traditions are learned simultaneously, how does this shift the way actors think, talk, and perform? How does this change the way actors understand what a voice is? What it can/should do? How it can/should do it? Using adaptations of a traditional Korean vocal art, p¿ansori, with adaptations of the "natural" or "free" voice approach, Tara McAllister-Viel offers an alternative approach to training actors¿ voices by (re)considering the materials of training: breath, sound, "presence," and text. This work contributes to ongoing discussions about the future of voice pedagogy in theatre, for those practitioners and scholars interested in performance studies, ethnomusicology, voice studies, and intercultural theories and practices.
The Laban Workbook for Actors by
The Laban Workbook is a compendium of unique exercises inspired by the concepts and principles of movement theorist and artist, Rudolf Laban. Written by five internationally recognized movement experts, this textbook is divided into single-authored chapters, each of which includes a short contextual essay followed by a series of insight-bearing exercises. These expert views, honed in the creation of individual approaches to training and coaching actors, provide a versatile range of theory and practice in the creative process of crafting theatre. Readers will learn: Enhanced expressivity of body and voice; Clearer storytelling, both physical and vocal, facilitating the embodiment of playwrights' intentions; Imaginative possibilities for exploring an existing play or for creating devised theatre. Featuring many exercises exploring the application of Laban Movement Studies to text, character, scene work, and devised performances - as well as revealing the creative potential of the body itself - The Laban Workbook is ideal for actors, teachers, directors and choreographers.
