Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical
by David Cote
from Hyperion
Wicked is not just a musical, it is a phenomenon. Every week 15,000 people pack New Yorks Gershwin Theatre to see the show. The most successful musical on Broadway in 2004, Wicked is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire. It tells the story of Elphaba, the headstrong Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the good witch, growing up in the Land of Oz. The show has cast a spell on fans, many of whom return for second and third viewings. In 2005, the show begins an extensive tour across the United States and Canada, hitting major cities such as Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and many more. This beautifully packaged, whimsical keepsake is designed to resemble the Grimmerie, an ancient book of spells that Elphaba uses in the show. Wicked: The Grimmerie offers fans a behind-the-curtains peek at the musical, profiles of the cast and creative team, and inside stories, with full-color photographs throughout. Some of the irresistible special features include an Ozian glossary, spells, the shows libretto, an illustrated family tree, and a step-by-step look at how Elphaba gets green before each showeverything fans need to relive the Broadway experience day after day.
Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays
by David Ball
from Southern Illinois University Press
Ball developed his method during his work as Literary Director at the Guthrie Theater, building his guide on the crafts playwrights of every period and style use to make their plays stageworthy. The text is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, exposition, imagery, motivation/obstacle/conflict, theatricality, and the other crucial parts of the superstructure of a play. He includes guides for discovering what the playwright considers the play’s most important elements, thus permitting interpretation based on the foundation of the play rather than its details.
Using Hamlet as illustration, Ball assures a familiar base for illustrating script-reading techniques as well as examples of the kinds of misinterpretation readers can fall prey to by ignoring the craft of the playwright. Of immense utility to those who want to put plays on the stage (actors, directors, designers, production specialists) Backwards and Forwards is also a fine playwriting manual because the structures it describes are the primary tools of the playwright.
Technical Theater for Nontechnical People
by Drew Campbell
from Allworth Press
This innovative resource has been completely updated to reflect state-of-the-art standards in today's fast-changing theater technology. Designed exclusively for nontechnicians in the field, this pioneering book helps actors, dancers, playwrights, and directors to understand every aspect of a traditional and digitally supported backstage environment, from scenery, lighting, sound to props, and stage management to the use of integrated show control systems. The new edition covers new technology that has become mainstream, such as computer-controlled lightning instruments and audio (including various new formats), software to build audio cues, and PC-based audio play-back systems. A new chapter discusses show control systems that allow theater directors to make informed choices on which software to choose (the book covers DMX, MIDI, and SMPTI) and how to communicate their needs to a programmer. A chapter on costumes has been added to improve the communication between theaters and the costume department or rental company, including a check-list with helpful questions. All facets of production are clearly explained in jargon-free prose, and unfamiliar terms are highlighted and defined in an appended glossary. Besides theater newcomers and professionals, the book has targeted advice for event planners working and show producers working in the convention business, fashion, real estate, sports, and politics, including a special chapter on "How to Do a Show in a Hotel." Written with clarity and humor, this is the definitive user's guide to developing the vocabulary and technical skills crucial to working with technicians and technical equipment in a timely, efficient manner.
Improvisation for the Theater 3E: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques (Drama and Performance Studies)
by Viola Spolin
from Northwestern University Press
LION KING, THE: PRIDE ROCK ON BROADWAY
by Julie Taymor
from Disney Editions
You saw the animated film, you bought the video, you couldn't get tickets to the stage show--here's the coffee-table book. But wait: what keeps The Lion King: Pride Rock on Broadway from being just another commercial Disney tie-in is the iconoclastic voice of director/designer Julie Taymor. She uses the text of this book as a diary for her personal struggle to merge her off-off-Broadway avant-garde sensibility with Disney's unabashedly bigtime commercial one. Her chronicle lends context to the already lush and abundant illustrations, photographs, and sketches of Taymor and her collaborators at work.
You saw the animated film, you bought the video, you couldn't get tickets to the stage show--here's the coffee-table book. But wait: what keeps The Lion King: Pride Rock on Broadway from being just another commercial Disney tie-in is the iconoclastic voice of director/designer Julie Taymor. She uses the text of this book as a diary for her personal struggle to merge her off-off-Broadway avant-garde sensibility with Disney's unabashedly bigtime commercial one. Her chronicle lends context to the already lush and abundant illustrations, photographs, and sketches of Taymor and her collaborators at work.
Avenue Q
by Avenue Q
from Hyperion
An exclusive first look behind the scenes of the popular Broadway musical.With its cast of furry puppets, its shockingly politically incorrect lyrics, and its hilarious upending of children's television,Avenue Q took Broadway by storm. The New York Times declared it "a breakthrough musical," and after a two-year run, the Golden Theater is still selling out eight shows a week. Its success is not limited to the Great White Way, however: This summer, the cast will be swearing, drinking, and ennui-ing their way across the country.As smart, risqu+, and downright entertaining as the show itself, Avenue Q is a must-have companion book. In addition to the complete Tony Award-winning book and songs (perfect for those who can't get enough of the lyrics to "It Sucks to Be Me"), Avenue Q is packed with exclusive interviews with the cast and creatures, and features puzzles, connect-the-dots, and other "educational" activities to prepare readers for life after college. With a distinctive cover and chock-full of gorgeous photography and original illustrations, Avenue Q is a jam-packed thrill ride of a book.
The Makeup Artist Handbook: Techniques for Film, Television, Photography, and Theatre
by Gretchen Davis
from Focal Press
This full-color and amply illustrated book is written for film, television, and theatre makeup artists who need to know the basics on how to accomplish flawless makeup applications. It begins with fundamental practices and continues through more complex techniques usually known only by Hollywood makeup artists. Written by two expert authors who have experience doing makeup for television, commmercials, and blockbuster films, readers will learn about beauty, time periods, black and white film, as well as cutting edge techniques such as air brusshing makeup for computer-generated movies, and makeup effects.
High definition (HD) technology has revolutionized the techniques needed by makeup artists--you need to know more, have more talent, and be more detailed than ever before. Because HD emphasizes every detail on screen, it's essential for makeup artists to know how to achieve a desired "look" that fits the director's requirements. This book will help professional and aspiring makeup artists to hone their craft in both conventional and HD techniques.
Gorgeous full color book shows how makeup artists make Hollywood stars look as good as they do, even in HD!
Get the inside track about how to work with the pros and all about set etiquette
Contains tips and techniques from a number of professional Hollywood makeup artists
Includes a full reference section with useful websites, business listings, and contacts
A Director Prepares: Seven Essays on Art in Theatre
by Anne Bogart
from Routledge
I am interested in the artistic process. In order to approach the theatre as artists, we should have a good look at our tools and how we make decisions. How do we approach one another in the arena of a rehearsal or on a stage? How do we begin, how do we proceed, and what are our allies?
--From the Introduction
A Director Prepares is a fascinating and thought-provoking examination of the challenges of making theatre. In it, Anne Bogart speaks candidly and with immense wisdom of the courage required to create "art with great presence."
Each chapter tackles one of the seven major areas Bogart has identified as both potential partner and potential obstacle to art-making. They are Violence; Memory; Terror; Eroticism; Stereotype; Embarrassment; and Resistance. Each one can be used to generate extraordinary creative energy, if we know how to use it.
A Director Prepares offers every practitioner an extraordinary insight into the creative process. It is a handbook, Bible and manifesto, all in one. No other book on the art of theatre comes even close to offering this much understanding, experience and inspiration.
Friendly Enemies: The Director-Actor Relationship
by Delia Salvi
from Billboard Books
The best-kept secret in the entertainment industry is how much actors, including award-winning major stars, distrust directors and how directors, in turn, fear actors. UCLA professor, acting coach, and actress Delia Salvi addresses this problem in her book Friendly Enemies: Maximizing the Director-Actor Relationship.
Based on a course the author designed in the mid-1970s, and still teaches at UCLA, the book guides young directors in film and television in how to work with actors, as well as how to analyze scripts. Friendly Enemies is divided into seven chapters focusing on key topics such as understanding the actor, the director's self-knowledge, the language of the actor, the director's preparation, casting, rehearsal, and working on the set. An additional chapter includes directors' notes for the script, character analysis, and a scene breakdown from a section of the classic movie On the Waterfront.
The book also includes author interviews with entertainment professionals Burt Brinckerhoff, well-known producer and director of the successful television series 7th Heaven, and director of over 46 TV shows, including episodes of Touched by an Angel, Beverly Hills 90210, Magnum P.I., Moonlighting, and The Bob Newhart Show; Todd Holland, Emmy-winning director of the comedy series Malcolm in the Middle as well as The Larry Sanders Show, Felicity, My So-Called Life, and Twin Peaks; Alexander Payne, director of the award-winning film Election as well as Citizen Ruth; Mark Rydell, director of such films as On Golden Pond and The Rose; Brad Silberling, film director of the box-office smash City of Angels, with Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage, as well as television director of such shows as Judging Amy and NYPD Blue; Audrey Wells, director of the films Under the Tuscan Sun and Guinevere, and screenwriter for such films as The Kid, starring Bruce Willis, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, and George of the Jungle; Geena Davis, star of The Accidental Tourist, Thelma and Louise, and A League of Their Own, as well as three television series; Anthony Franciosa, star of stage, screen, and television; and Barry Primus, who's recently appeared in such films as Life as a House and 15 Minutes as well as on such television shows as The Practice, X-Files, and Law and Order.
The Producers: The Book, Lyrics, and Story Behind the Biggest Hit in Broadway History!
by Mel Brooks
from Miramax
This is the laugh-out-loud story of two scheming men, Bialystock, a shady producer, and Bloom, his nervous accomplice. Together they come up with the ultimate con: raise more money than needed, produce a show that is bound to flop, and pocket the change. Of course, all best laid plans are subject to be mucked up.
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