Book picks similar to
Parade by Jason Robert Brown
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The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940
John Bishop - 1998
As the composer, lyricist, actors and director prepare their performance, and a blizzard cuts off any possible retreat, bodies start to drop in plain sight, knives spring out of nowhere, masked figures drag their victims behind swiveling bookcases, and accusing fingers point in all directions. However, and with no thanks to the bumbling police inspector who snowshoes in to investigate, the mystery is solved in the nick of time and the "Slasher" unmasked-but not before the audience has been treated to a sidesplitting good time and a generous serving of the author's biting, satiric and refreshingly irreverent wit.
The Carter Girls: (Re-release Part Two)
Desiree M. Granger - 2015
Concludes the end of this series.
Teechers
John Godber - 1989
Using the format of an end-of-term play, the new drama teacher's progress through two terms of recalcitrant classes, synical colleagues and obstructive caretakers is reviewed. Disillutioned, he departs for a safer private school.
This House
James Graham - 2012
We have History as our guide. In tough times, the British do what we have always done. We muddle through.This House is a timely and relevant political comedy, exploring Westminster and the 1974 hung parliament.In the run-up to the General Election pressure mounts as squabbling whips attempt to attract key regional votes. As it becomes clear the results will be closely balanced, the play tracks the formation, perils and consequences of a coalition government, including the compromises, conflicts and power games all in the interest of gaining control of Parliament.With well-paced, witty and waspish dialogue, This House playfully explores the childish digs and chauvinistic attitudes that riddle political life. Award-winning playwright James Graham combines comedy with comment in this portrayal of the strain between the thinking individual, the pressure to toe the part line and the end goal of winning government.
Betty's Summer Vacation - Acting Edition
Christopher Durang - 2000
But Betty's luck turns to delicious lunacy when this sensible Everywoman gets drawn into the chaotic world of some very unsavory housemates - her friend Trudy, who talks too much; the lewd, seminaked Buck, who tries to have sex with everyone; and Keith, a serial killer who hides in his room with a mysterious hatbox. With sand between her toes, walking a thin line between sanity and survival, poor Betty will leave her summer vacation more terrorized than tan.
The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act
Thornton Wilder - 1931
In The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, four kitchen chairs represent an automobile and a family travels seventy miles in twenty minutes. And in Pullman Car Hiawatha, we board an imaginary railroad car and hear the thoughts of passengers, the populace speeding by -- even the planets above.Here are five one-act plays encompassing the full range of Thornton Wilder's theatrical vision: from the experimental to the humorous to the fantastic. As The New York Times has written, "Wilder's plays are now more than ever in rhythm with our changing habit of theatergoing....He relates the moment to eternity, seeks the infinite in the immediate, finds the universal in each grain of wheat."
The Book of Will
Lauren Gunderson - 2017
But without Henry Condell and John Heminges, we would have lost half of Shakespeare’s plays forever! After the death of their friend and mentor, the two actors are determined to compile the First Folio and preserve the words that shaped their lives. They’ll just have to borrow, beg, and band together to get it done. Amidst the noise and color of Elizabethan London, THE BOOK OF WILL finds an unforgettable true story of love, loss, and laughter, and sheds new light on a man you may think you know.“THE BOOK OF WILL…unequivocally announces Gunderson as a playwright with whom to be reckoned. It is, quite frankly, one of the best plays I have ever seen. It will bring tears of both laughter and sorrow to all but the most jaded audience member’s eyes. It is, in a word, a triumph.” —Boulder Weekly (CO). “[Gunderson] has peopled the stage with lively, historically based characters…She paints a vivid portrait of the times in language sometimes formal, sometimes poetic and often…contemporary…She also gives a real feel for theater life and what it means to be an actor; you sense this is a work of both scholarship and love. …[THE BOOK OF WILL] serves as homage to those who sacrificed to make the first folio happen and to Shakespeare’s magnificent words.” —Westword (Denver, CO).
The Irish Don's Black Beauty: Part One: The Irish Mafia (The Savage O'Shea's Book 1)
Rose Marie - 2021
Ridin' with the Realest
K.C. Mills - 2017
For the past five years, she had been in love with the man of her dreams. A man who had given her the world. Because of that love, Charlie had a free ride to college, nice cars, an expensive home, and she owned her own business. In her eyes, life was as good as it could possibly be. She had the love of her life, and success. Now if she could just survive the next four years while he finished a bid for yet another parole violation. As hard as it made life, and as lonely as she was, Charlie loved her man, and was going to get through it. Calvin “Hawk” Cason Hawk was in the streets, but he wasn’t like your typical hustler. Hawk was about his money and loved his woman. So much so that everything he gave Charlie was hers. He never wanted her to feel like the things that he did were because he was buying Charlie’s affection or because he wanted to control her. Charlie owned the title to everything Hawk purchased for her, so with or without him, her life would always be financially stable. Hawk knew that Charlie loved him and not the things that he did, so he had no problem helping to secure her future. The perfect union, right? Sometimes things aren’t always what they seem. Hawk paid his way out of a five-year bid after only doing one year, and was coming home. The problem being, who is he coming home to? His secret life has caught up with him, and it’s time to make a decision. A decision that will possibly rock Charlie to the core. Yazmine Carter Yaz is your typical hood certified chick. She refused to work for anything, but feels like she’s owed everything. That attitude created a love hate relationship between Yaz and Charlie. Yaz claims Charlie as her best friend but secretly hates everything about her. With friends like that, who needs enemies? Yaz doesn’t understand how Charlie is always winning, while she has to struggle for every dime. Even when it comes to Charlie’s relationship with Hawk. Yaz feels like it should have been her. When Yaz finds out that the one person that she really wants has eyes for Charlie instead, Yaz is fed up. She makes some decisions that could cancel years of friendship, and after a one night stand with a man who Yaz doesn’t know but quickly finds out is a powerful ally, Yaz decides that sometimes you have to just go for yours. Will that one decision cost her not only her friendship with Charlie but also her life? Delvin “Fray” Simmons Fray is all about his money. Fray puts nothing before it, which is why he has a reputation of being a savage. It’s nothing for him to take the life of those who are disloyal or try to get in his way. Being the top solider on Hawk’s team, it just made sense that he would be the one to take charge when Hawk got sentenced to a five year bid. Fray was the type to just do what was necessary, and made no apologies for it. For that reason, while Hawk placed him in charge, Fray decided to make sure that when Hawk came home, Fray could walk and still be in charge. Not only did he build Hawk’s business, but he began building his own. Fray understood that money changed everything, and there was no way that he was going to go from running it all to being second in command when Hawk returned. It wasn’t a respect thing, it was simply code of the streets. Things eventually get even more complicated when Hawk asks Fray for a favor that would put him right in the middle of a tug of war between Charlie and Hawk. Not only was Fray preparing to be Hawk’s biggest competitor in the streets, he would now find himself being Hawk’s biggest competitor for Charlie’s heart.
Dogeaters
Jessica Hagedorn - 2002
As Harold Bloom writes, "Hagedorn expresses the conflicts experienced by Asian immigrants caught between cultures . . . she takes aim at racism in the U.S. and develops in her dramas the themes of displacement and the search for belonging."Jessica Hagedorn is a performance artist, poet, novelist and playwright, born and raised in the Philippines. Her novels include Dogeaters (Penguin 1990) which was nominated for a National Book Award and The Gangster of Love (Penguin 1996); a short story collection, Danger and Beauty (City Lights 2002).
Cyrano de Bergerac: in a free adaptation
Martin Crimp - 2019
While Roxane is in love with the beautiful but inarticulate Christian.Cyrano's generous offer to act as go-between sets in motion a poignant and often hilarious love-triangle, in which each character is torn between the lure of physical attraction and the seductive power of words.Martin Crimp's adaptation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac premiered at the Playhouse Theatre, London, in November 2019.
The Works of John Leguizamo: Freak, Spic-o-rama, Mambo Mouth, and Sexaholix
John Leguizamo - 2007
In this new Harper Paperback edition, all four shows are compiled into one phenomenally entertaining volume.Mambo Mouth (1991), Leguizamo's first show, was an off Broadway sensation. Leguizamo's portrayal of seven different Latino characters earned him both Obie and Outer Critics Circle awards. His follow up, Spic–O–Rama (1993), a "dysfunctional family comedy," presents 24–hours in the life of one family. It enjoyed a sold–out run in Chicago before relocating to New York where it won its creator a Drama Desk Award. Freak (1998), Leguizamo's Broadway debut, is his own coming–of–age story. A "demi–semi–quasi–pseudo–autobiography," the show was a critical and commercial success and won an Emmy when it was shown on TV. Sexaholix: A Love Story (2001), based on the sold–out national tour of John Leguizamo Live! was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award as well as a Tony Award.Alternately hilarious and poignant, always candid and searingly intelligent, The Works of John Leguizamo is a must–have for fans of this inimitable performer.
All New People
Zach Braff - 2012
Away from the rest of the world, this perfect escape is interrupted by a motley parade of misfits who show up and change his plans. A hired beauty, a fireman, and an eccentric British real estate agent desperately trying to stay in the country all suddenly find themselves tangled together in a beach house where the mood is anything but sunny.This pithy piece portrays a scenario of attempted suicide with mordant humour, where a basis of social alienation leads to unexpected connections. The richly-drawn characters are quick-witted and narcissistic yet self-aware and the dialogue is fluid and witty."All New People" is centred around a clever concept which works as a catalyst for both angst-fuelled scrutiny and morbid humour.