Jane Wagner's masterpiece--The first play in more than 20 years to become a national bestseller--is now a motion picture!In this satire, a form all too lacking in American theater, Trudy the bag lady, Wagner's central character, tries to explain modern American material society to an alien (i.e., interstellar) committee.

    They and the critics agree that a trip to see any one of this master of comedy's stage triumphs ranks among the most wonderful experiences that the American theater offers. The eight plays in this, the second volume of The Collected PLays of Neil Simon, bear eloquent witness to the unique genius of this master playwright who so magnificently blends the joy of laughter and the love of life.

    So the impresario's diminutive assistant blacks up and goes on as Otello. The tenor awakens, dons his costume, and thence follows a hilarious comedy involving two Otellos, a volatile Italian wife, an outrageous bellhop and a cynical impresario.

    It includes over 130 theater games, plus exercises and instructional strategies. First developed by Spolin, the originator of modern improvisational theater techniques, these games have been tried and tested for over fifty years.

    

    Includes: Mud, The Danube, Sarita, and The Conduct of Life.

    Onions, an editor of the Oxford English Dictionary--clarifies those words in Shakespeare whose senses or connotations may be unfamiliar to the modern reader, paying special attention to dialect forms, idioms, and colloquial phrases. Original in its explanations and illuminating in its definitions, the Glossary brings out the richness and subtley found in Elizabethan English. Incorporating the many advances made in the field since the last (revised) edition was published in 1919, this volumereveals new facts about the meanings of words in Shakespeare, alters previous interpretations, and resolves earlier controversies. In addition, the book takes advantage of two highly accurate, computer based concordances that make every occurrence of each word immediately accessible forinvestigation and comparison. A reference work without peer, the Glossary is an essential source for students, scholars, playgoers and readers of Shakespeare, and those interested in the history of the English language.

    The show is a fund raiser put on by the Little Sisters of Hoboken to raise money to bury sisters accidently poisoned by the convent cook, Sister Julia (Child of God). Up dated with new jokes, additional lyrics, two new arrangements and a brand new song, this zany musi

    Macy and director Gregory Mosher. It is written for any actor who has ever experienced the frustrations of acting classes that lacked clarity and objectivity, and that failed to provide a dependable set of tools. An actor's job, the authors state, is to "find a way to live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play'.' The ways in which an actor can attain that truth form the substance of this eloquent book.

    Brian Bates believes that this is still the case today—that actors and actresses fulfill an important function in our culture as modern-day seers and shamans. He portrays the actor as a creator of visions who transports spectators out of their habitual ways of being and leads them on a journey of self-discovery. Personal magnetism and charisma, intense body awareness, and psychic sensitivity are among the special powers that contribute to the actor's mystique. Citing the observations and experiences of more than thirty famous performers—including Meryl Streep, Marlon Brando, Glenda Jackson, Liv Ullmann, Jack Nicholson, and Shirley MacLaine—the author also draws on extensive research in science, psychology, parapsychology, and Eastern and Western mysticism to explore the significance of the dramatic art. He not only shows how the magical world of stage and screen mirrors our lives, but also reveals how actors and actresses point the way to self-transformation for everyone. For, as he writes, "the way of the actor is not an esoteric discipline divorced from everyday life. It is everyday life, heightened and lived to the full, with an awareness of powers beyond understanding."

    15 selections from the Broadway musical featuring songs written by Tim Rice and the two Bs from Scandinavian supergroup ABBA: Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Includes: Anthem * Chess * Heaven Help My Heart * Merano * One Night in Bangkok * Someone Else's Story * more.

    This Charles Dickens novel was adapted for Broadway by Rupert Holmes in 1986, and went on to win 5 Tony Awards. 12 selections: There You Are * A Man Could Go Quite Mad * Two Kinsmen * Moonfall * The Wages of Sin * Both Sides of the Coin * Perfect Strangers * Never the Luck * Off to the Races * Don't Quit While You're Ahead * The Garden Path to Hell * The Writing on the Wall.

    Brown has produced a thoroughly researched study of the Lunts that powerfully evokes a romantic age of the theatre ... A worthy testament to their art." -New York Times Book Review "Their story is an irresistibly appealing one, and Brown's telling of it will help to speed their return to our common consciousness. As darkness threatens to fall on Broadway, we are more than ever in need of the memory of who they were and what they achieved." -The New Yorker (Brendan Gill) "A must for anyone involved with or interested in theatre and a fascinating, well-written book even for the general reader." -Washington Post Book World "For those fortunates who missed seeing them, this book about the Lunts describes their wonder; for those of us who knew them, saw them, and were magicked, it is a surpassing souvenir, a shining memory." -Garson Kanin "I was dazzled by the book ... It almost amounts to an American theatre history from the turn of the century through the fifties and, of course, provides a badly needed sense of heritage for young artists." -Uta Hagen "I can testify that one's theatre library would not be complete unless it included The Fabulous Lunts. This book is a must for all theatre lovers " -Carol Channing

    Several of the classics of the style are represented in this volume, including: Sphinx and the Strawman by Oskar Kokoschka, Sancta Susanna by August Stramm, From Morn to Midnight by Georg Kaiser, Ithaka by Gottfried Benn, The Son by Walter Hasenclever, The Transfiguration by Ernst Toller, Crucifixion by Lothar Schreyer.

    

    Features his compelling adaptation of Clytemnestra--finding an astonishing parallel between ancient Greek and modern Japanese society, Suzuki melds traditional and avant-garde techinques to shed new light on this primal tale.

    

    An evocative story of three outsiders, richly realized through all of the resources of theatre, including poetry, character, and story. Various locations in and around Ware, Illinois, in the late spring of 1935. (THE TASTE OF SUNRISE by Suzan L. Zeder is the prequel to this play.) CAST: 4 men, 4 women (minimum) who create 10 roles.Set in southern Illinois, during the great Depression, this play is about three outsiders - - a foundling girl known only as Girl; a deaf boy, eloquent in the language of his silence; and an eccentric recluse, Mother Hicks, who is suspected of being a witch. The tale, told with poetry and sign language, chronicles the journeys of these three to find themselves, and each other, in a troubled time. Provocative productions through North America have revealed the power and appeal of this play.

    Whether you’re looking for your first break or want to take your acting career to the next level, Squire Fridell will give you the insider’s edge. Arguably the king of TV commercials, Fridell distills four decades of experience in this comprehensive, humorously written guide that has been indispensable to aspiring TV commercial actors since the first edition hit the shelves in 1980. This fully updated fourth edition gives the lowdown on how online and digital technologies have changed the industry and tells you everything you need to know about:• Getting a terrific headshot• Writing a winning résumé• Finding (and keeping) the perfect agent• Honing the skills that every serious commercial actor should have• Auditioning well and getting the job• Using the best online services for posting your headshot, résumé, and reel You’ll learn how to launch your commercial acting career and–more important–how to sustain it and be successful.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    

    A unique guided tour of the techniques of acting.

    90 black-and-white and color illustrations.

    LITERATURE, CRITICISM, MEMOIRS, LETTERS / SCANDINAVIAN / NORDIC / DRAMA, THEATRE ARTS

    This expanded edition includes an appendix of previously uncollected and newly discovered lyrics.