The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide PDF Download

Author: David Spencer
Publisher: Heinemann Drama
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Award-winning musical dramatist and teacher David Spencer provides a guide-to-the-game that helps you negotiate aspects of the musical theatre business and more.

Author: A. Cohen
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137048107
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
This guide to the modern musical covers the entire process of creating a show, from finding and working out the initial idea, through to the ways in which writers can market a finished show and get it produced. For the interested theatregoer and writers, it is written in a lively and user-friendly style and illustrated with numerous examples.

Author: Lehman Engel
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1557835543
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
The dean of Broadway musical directors examines the dynamics of how the book, music and lyrics work together to create such hits as My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, Hair, Pal Joey, West Side Story, Company, South Pacific, Threepenny Opera and Porgy and Bess. Howard Kissel, chief theater critic for the New York Daily News, extends the reach of Engel's subjects by bringing them up to date with commentary on such shows as A Chorus Line, Nine, Sunday in the Park with George, Rent, Working and Falsettos. Kissel offers a thoughtful history on how musical theater has evolved in the three decades since Engel wrote Words with Music (1972) and how Engel's classic work remains vital and illuminating today.

Author: Steve Cuden
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781481223027
Category : Broadway (New York, N.Y.)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The popularity of musicals has reached an all-time high leading to the development of numerous original shows. In this comprehensive new guide, Beating Broadway: How to Create Stories for Musicals That Get Standing Ovations, written by veteran storyteller and successful creator of musicals Steve Cuden, readers learn how the plots and stories behind musicals are developed and honed. With a breezy, lighthearted approach, creators at all levels are provided key advice for building winning musical stories. Cuden, who has been there, done that, offers writers the know-how and encouragement to construct brilliant, attention-grabbing musical storylines. Beating Broadway provides readers with practical, down-to-earth advice for crafting successful musical theater stories that will reach audiences everywhere. This complete, two-part manual also guides aspiring writers in what it takes to develop shows that can attract Broadway producers. By showing writers the ins and outs of storytelling required for today's commercial musical theater, Beating Broadway places success firmly within grasp. Readers also gain insight into how stories function in forty of the world's most beloved stage and movie musicals as Cuden breaks down each one into key narrative beats and plot points. "Beating Broadway is a take-you-by-the-hand guided tutorial written by a seasoned professional who really knows his stuff. This book feeds your mind with how stories for musicals are made. If you are interested in creating or producing a musical, Steve's insights will be helpful and inspiring to you.JEFF MARX, Tony winning Composer/Lyricist of Avenue Q "Beating Broadway digs deep to the core of how stories for successful musicals are created. This is a must-have book for anyone who wants to write exceptional musicals or is just a fan."SCOTT WITTMAN, Tony Winning Lyricist of Hairspray and Co-Lyricist and Executive Producer for the Hit TV Series, Smash "Beat-by-beat, Steve Cuden breaks down story, structure, and song spotting so you can beat the Broadway musical before it beats you!"CHERI STEINKELLNER, Emmy-winning Writer/Producer of Cheers and Teacher's Pet, Tony-nominated Writer of Sister Act

Author: Tom Jones
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1617748706
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
(Limelight). The lyricist/librettist of The Fantasticks , the longest-running show in the history of the American theater, takes on a new role as your guide through the magical world of the stage musical.

Author: Mark Fisher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472520556
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
What do you do if you find yourself weeping in the stalls? How should you react to Jude Law's trousers or David Tennant's hair? Are you prepared to receive toilet paper in the post? What if the show you just damned turns out to be a classic? If you gave it a five-star rave will anyone believe you? Drawing on his long years of experience as a national newspaper critic, Mark Fisher answers such questions with candour, wit and insight. Learning lessons from history's leading critics and taking examples from around the world, he gives practical advice about how to celebrate, analyse and discuss this most ephemeral of art forms - and how to make your writing come alive as you do so. Today, more people than ever are writing about theatre, but whether you're blogging, tweeting or writing an academic essay, your challenges as a critic remain the same: how to capture a performance in words, how to express your opinions and how to keep the reader entertained. This inspirational book shows you the way to do it. Foreword by Chris Jones, Chief theater critic, Chicago Tribune

Author: Julian Woolford
Publisher: Theatrebook
ISBN: 9781848421752
Category : Musicals
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A practical guide to, and history of, musical theatre. What makes the great shows work, and why some never did.

Author: Markus Flanagan
Publisher: Sentient Publications
ISBN: 1591810639
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
An invaluable reference for anyone who is a working actor, or wants to be. Learn how to make it in the day-to-day business of acting and stay sane and focused while attempting to merge art and commerce. This book covers everything the author wishes someone had told him about how casting decisions are made, what rejection really means, how to behave on a set, the two factors the business is built on, and much more. Markus Flanagan offers encouraging, highly useful pointers on such vital matters as: How do you combat getting typed?, Understanding the people you are auditioning for, Bad habits to avoid in the audition waiting room, The two deadliest questions you may be asked before starting your reading, What are they looking for in the call back?. One Less Bitter Actor offers sage, pragmatic, anxiety-calming advice on how to succeed in acting from one who has.

Author: Reginald Nelson
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1556528132
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
With advice and instruction from an experienced actor and theater director, this pragmatic, authoritative guide imparts backstage know-how for wouldbe playhouse practitioners on everything from fundraising and finding a space to selecting plays and navigating legal issues. Chronicling three seasons at Chicago's award-winning Congo Square Theatre, this journey behind the curtain reveals the nitty-gritty details--such as managing rent, parking, and safety issues; determining tax status and calculating budgets; and finding flexible day jobs--that are often overlooked amid the zeal of artistic pursuit. Inspired by Congo Square's own unique inception, the valuable how-to also speaks directly to the many underserved audiences who want to create their own companies, including African American, Asian American, Latino, physically challenged, and GLBT communities. With lists of Equity offices, legal advisers, and important organizations, this complete resource is sure to help ambitious theater lovers establish and maintain their own successful companies.

Author: Michael Kostroff
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538160447
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 165

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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.