Performing Arts Books - Page 4

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor

Bruce Campbell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 209 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

My favourite Autibiography 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Such a great read, I mustve recommended it to at least 100 people who have all enjoyed it. Such a fun time to be had making your way through this one. I love the emails from fans he has included too. Also the paperback has a bonus chapter updating you on his book tour from when the hardback came out.

Editorial Review:

My Chin Can Kill is a delightfully irreverent, yet oddly touching, epic of ambition and disappointment, fame and anonymity, and lots of fake blood. Told in Bruce's wry, sarcastic voice, it is a "Hollywood from the bleacher seats" look at his experiences in film and TV and at his status as a cult horror and sci-fi movie god. This man with the face of a matinee idol and the heart of a Three Stooge first attracted what has grown into an enormous cult following as the star of Sam Raimi's legendary Evil Dead trilogy of thriller-comedies. With tireless good humor and biting wit, Bruce acted, produced, and directed his way through a baker's dozen of "B" horror films and space operas before finally enjoying mainstream stardom on prime-time TV. Deeply earnest and fiercely funny, this book tells the story of an unlikely star who continues to lead a unique double life as cult movie icon and regular Joe.

Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part

Michael Shurtleff

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Totally necessary for any actors library 5 out of 5 stars.
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This book breaks down the audition process and helps to give you something, a formula to work with and depend on to prepare your best performance. A great tool for any actor or performer.

Fantastically Helpful 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is fantastic. I read my friend's copy of it when I was at a performing arts program a couple years ago, and we had general auditions for the 13 shows being done there the next morning. Later I went on to read the entire book, which was immensely helpful. Not only does it help with auditioning skills, which, less face it, are among THE most important skills an actor can have, but it also helps with acting in general. Anyway, the night after reading a few sections after this book, I went to my auditions, and then the next day I attended 5 callbacks to different shows. I was approached by directors the next day telling me about the strength of my cold readings and how the directors had argued that evening because they all wanted to cast me in their shows. This hadn't happened before, and I attribute this success to this book. It's essential for every actor to read this. Gold.

Editorial Review:

The casting director for Chicago, Pippin, Becket, Gypsy, The Graduate, the Sound of Music and Jesus Christ Superstar tells you how you can find your dream! Absolutely everything an actor needs to know to get the part is here: What to do that moment before, how to use humour; create mystery; how to develop a distinct style; and how to evaluate the place, the relationships and the competition. In fact, Audition is a necessary guide to dealing with all the "auditions" we face in life. This is the bible on the subject.

Rise up singing: The group-singing song book

Peter Blood-Patterson

List Price: $14.95 By: Sing Out Corp Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $6.16

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 67 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Best songbook ever! 5 out of 5 stars.
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I've had this book since I was a kid in the early 90s who wished she'd been around for the sixties. I found it in the library and checked it out over and over til I finally had to special order a copy from the Waldenbooks in the mall. ('Member back in the day when we ordered stuff from Waldenbooks?)

I am far from an accomplished musician! But I got the hang of their system pretty quickly. You have to really know the song to make any sense of the chords, since it's just lyrics and chord names, but it tells you the chords for each line and if you do know the song you'll have a sense of exactly when to switch chords. It also tells you what albums have the song on them so you can find it if you don't know it but like the looks of it. ('Member back in the day when we bought albums?)

Anyway, this book is fantastic, I love it to death, and you should buy the spiral bound version so it stays open while you play and sing. ('Member back in the day when we played and sang? Oh yeah, we still do that. That will never go out of style!)

Editorial Review:

This comprehensive collection has sold tens of thousands of copies around the world. It contains words and guitar chords to nearly 1200 songs, arranged in a compact, easy-to-use format for locating songs and working with groups. You won't find an array of songs like this anywhere else: 'Folk Revival' favorites popularized by Baez, Seeger, Collins, Peter, Paul and Mary, Dylan, Mitchell, Taylor, Donovan, and many others. * The best-known material of contemporary folk songwriters including Near, Staines, Williamson, Rogers, Bok and many more. * Broadway show tunes, Beatles songs, Motown hits * Hymns, spirituals, and gospel standards * Songs about peace, freedom, labor and the environment * Ballads, cowboy songs, shanties and blues

Lord of the Dance

Michael Flatley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 136 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

As the spirited step dancer and international star of Riverdance, Michael Flatley shattered records, silenced doubters, revolutionized an ancient dance form, and brought joy to millions of people worldwide. After finding his calling at the age of eleven, when he was "dragged by the ears" to dance school, Michael went on to become the first American to win the World Irish Dancing Championship.

In this no-holds-barred autobiography, Michael explains what really happened backstage at Riverdance -- and why and how he launched one of the greatest show business success stories of all time, Lord of the Dance. He also discusses his life as a dancer -- the hours of rigorous training and the drama behind his controversial rise to stardom. Filled with commentary from family, friends, colleagues, and celebrities and brimming with Michael's Irish charm and good humor, this book is the very personal story of a man who has lived life to the fullest according to his own credo: Nothing is impossible.

Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library)

William Shakespeare

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Mac-Good for Mac-Shakespeare 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I'll admit, it's hard for me to get into Shakespeare (so go stone me in the streets, you drama geeks). Yet, this play is a killer.....literally. I mean, they need to make this into a movie nowadays-all the battle scenes, all the drama, all the Scottish accents. This play is the epitome of action-packed. You get the real beauty of this play sitting in your AP Literature class, reading it out loud as a class, and getting the class clown to tackle the part of Lady MacBeth. It's Mac-Awesome.

Editorial Review:

Each edition includes:

• Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

• Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

• Scene-by-scene plot summaries

• A key to famous lines and phrases

• An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language

• An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

• Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books

Essay by Susan Snyder

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.

Anna Karenina

Helen Edmundson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 238 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Please enter a title for your review 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Half the content is elaborate banal detail used to establish context, but in it's more consequential moments this novel is the final word on the disingenuous nature of institutionalized aspects of social behaviour. It's a theme I've pondered and seen touched on in a few other books, but I was blown away by how comprehensively Tolstoy articulates and extrapolates my own thoughts.
This novel is primarily a work of philosophy, using the characters to illustrate social observations at the expense of a fully cohesive narrative.
It's difficult to understand how fans of classic fiction, who generally consider "reading" a neccessity for respectable people, don't take offense to this book as it seems to be constantly critcizing that kind of cultural pretense.
Another interesting thing I got from the book is how culture 100+ years ago doesn't seem as formal and conservative as I had previously been led to believe. Parents were already complaining about tradition falling out of favor among the younger generation and governmental red-tape was already something criticized as getting in the way of practical goals. On the other hand the doctors of the era are presented as having no medical knowledge whatsoever.
my fave quote:
"The word talent, which they understood to mean an innate and almost physical capacity, independent of mind and heart, and which was their term for everything an artist lives through, occurred very often in their conversation, since they required it as a name for something which they did not at all understand, but about which they wanted to talk."

Editorial Review:

Translated by Constance Garnett, Introduction by Leonard J. Kent and Nina Berberova

War and Peace

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Subjects -> History -> Russia

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 287 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An amazing novel 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Leo Tolstoy combines philosophy and history for one of the best fictional stories about a historical event that I have read. The plot is captivating from the beginning. A glimpse at the high society of Russia in the early 1800's followed by the story of the lives of the families at that gathering. The story of the Rostov's captures all the human emotions. The excitement of Nikolay at his first battle, only to be overcome by cowardice. The maturing of Nikolay into a courageous soldier. To see the same cycle beginning in his brother Petya. The life and death experiences of Prince Andrey and Pierre that shed light into the character of men. But throughout this story, Tolstoy inserts his cynical view of historians and government. Tolstoy does not love Napolean or think of him as a great commander, nor does Tolstoy give him credit for leading the French army to victories. Additionally, he criticizes the actions of government officials and military leaders for their brutality to their citizens and soldiers. I can only begin to describe the plot and the multiple story lines in War and Peace, but I assure you this novel will captivate you. The brilliance of Tolstoy is demonstrated in this novel and I highly recommend it.

Editorial Review:

Details the invasion of Russia by Napoleon and his army.

Who's the Dummy Now?: Winner of America's Got Talent

Terry Fator

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Who's the Dummy Now? 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a very insightful book. It tells what has made Terry Fator, Terry Fator. What he is today is because of his circumstances. It reminds us all not to let our past rule us. It was very welcoming to see that anyone and everyone can acheive success if we have motivation and if we have God on our side. It is really nice to read how one depends on God to help him through. One great book to read. I couldn't put it down. If you are lucky enough to meet this man, you will find that he is facinating and amazing man, not to mention a world class ventriloquist!!!

Editorial Review:

What happened to the boy who suddenly got everything he ever wanted?

He lived happily ever after.

Terry Fator overcame many odds—an abusive father, a peripatetic and isolated childhood, and decades of struggles—before winning America's Got Talent. In one year, he went from being a struggling entertainer to appearing on Oprah, Letterman and Ellen to sold-out shows in Las Vegas and signed as the major headliner on the Strip in Las Vegas at The Mirage. This is the story of the man with the million dollar voice.

Absolute Power: The Screenplay

Goldman William

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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Movies -> Screenplays

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Don't look for Dirty Harry here 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Absolute Power is about corruption - absolute power corrupts absolutely. Eastwood directs himself in this story of a very professional burglar who finds himself trapped in a closet while a murder is committed in the presence of none other than the American President. What is interesting about this fairly predictable plot is that he seems interested in portraying NOT Dirty Harry. The now aging Luther, having done his time and paid his debt to society, wants nothing more than to reconnect with his only child, a very successful attorney. She, on the other hand, disdains his overtures, knowing a tiger cannot change his stripes. The detective on the murder case convinces her to contact Luther; but, not surprisingly, the bad guys have tapped her phone.
Seeing Clint's softer, human side was a pleasure. If you study his real life, you know he is highly intelligent and concerned with the good of others, and it's satisfying to see those qualities on the screen.

Editorial Review:

When a routine burglary in an elegant, upscale Virginia mansion goes awry, career thief Luther Whitney finds himself witness to a brutal murder involving none other than Alan Richmond, the youthful, charming, and thoroughly corrupt President of the United States. Torn between fear for his life and devotion to his family and country, Luther must make a decision that will change not only his own destiny, but the destiny of the world as we know it. Based on the best-selling thriller by David Baldacci, described as "relentlessly entertaining" by The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, William GoldmanÕs screenplay captures the paranoia, greed, and corruption of politics through the ages and around the world.

Doubt (movie tie-in edition)

John Patrick Shanley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Now a major motion picture! Starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley from his Pulitzer Prize–winning play.

“The best new play of the season. That rarity of rarities, an issue-driven play that is unpreachy, thought-provoking, and so full of high drama that the audience with which I saw it gasped out loud a half-dozen times at its startling twists and turns. Mr. Shanley deserves the highest possible praise: he doesn’t try to talk you into doing anything but thinking-hard-about the gnarly complexity of human behavior.”—Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal

“A breathtaking work of immense proportion. Positively brilliant.”—Melissa Rose Bernardo, Entertainment Weekly

“#1 show of the year. How splendid it feels to be trusted with such passionate, exquisite ambiguity unlike anything we have seen from this prolific playwright so far. In just ninety fast-moving minutes, Shanley creates four blazingly individual people. Doubt is a lean, potent drama . . . passionate, exquisite, important and engrossing.”—Linda Winer, Newsday

John Patrick Shanley is the author of numerous plays, including Danny in the Deep Blue Sea, Dirty Story, Four Dogs and a Bone, Psychopathia, Sexualis, Sailor’s Song, Savage in Limbo, and Where’s My Money? He has written extensively for TV and film, and his credits include the teleplay for Live from Baghdad and screenplays for Congo; Alive; Five Corners; Joe Versus the Volcano, which he also directed; and Moonstruck, for which he won an Academy Award for best original screenplay.