Plays

Thirteen plays by the Oscar-winning author of Moonstruck. Includes: The Big Funk, Savage in Limbo, Danny & The Deep Blue Sea, Welcome to the Moon, The Red Coat, Down & Out, Let Us Go Out Into the Starry Night, Out West, A Lonely Impulse of Delight, Women of Manhattan, The Dreamer Examines His Pillow, Italian-American Reconciliation, and Beggars in the House of Plenty. Also includes an introduction by the author.

A tapestry of plays, stories, and letters artistically woven together to form a beautiful new work worthy of Chekhov's own heart and hand. The American artists Sharon Gans and Jordan Charney have reconceived Chekhov in their duets and arias with sensitivity and passion of the finest dramatic caliber. The true wonder and character of Chekhov shines through...enlightening! - Moscow Contemporary Theater

It is hard to believe that over 25 years have passed since A Chorus Line first electrified a New York audience. The memories of the show's birth in 1975, not to mention those of its 15-year-life and poignant death, remain incandescent - and not just because nothing so exciting has happened to the American musical since. For a generation of theater people and theatergoers, A Chorus Line was and is the touchstone that defines the glittering promise, more often realized in lengend than in reality, of the Broadway way. This impressive book contains the complete book and lyrics of one of the longest running shows in Broadway history with a preface by Samuel Freedman, an introduction by Frank Rich and lots of photos from the stage production.

Paul Sills, the master of improvisation and found of The Second City and creator of Story Theatre - and who has influenced some of theatre's most important directors, writers and actors - adapts for stage one of the classic works of literature, Charles Dickens' masterpiece, A Christmas Carol. Included as well are some of the exercises devised for Story Theater by Viola Spolin, renowned for her work with games and improvisation and whose best-selling text has become the definitive guide to improvisational practice.

Mr. Noonan is quite a skillful jokesmith. He has a fine ear for language...and a sense of timing that is pretty much faultless. - New York Times

Complete screenplay from this outrageous comedy. Wanda defies gravity, in both senses of the word, and redefines a great comic tradition. - Time The meanest, most consistently hysterical film in ages ... the writing is sharply pointed and delightfully irreverent. - Gannett Newspapers

If there has ever been a groundbreaking edition that likewise returns the reader to the original Shakespeare text, it will be THE APPLAUSE FOLIO TEXTS. If there has ever been an accessible version of the Folio, it is this edition, set for the first time in modern fonts. The Folio is the source of all other editions. The Folio text forces us to re-examine the assumptions and prejudices which have encumbered over four hundred years of scholarship and performance. Notes refer the reader to subsequent editorial interventions, and offer the reader a multiplicity of interpretations. Notes also advise the reader on variations between Folios and Quartos. Prepared and annotated by Neil Freeman, Head, Graduate Directing Program, University of British Columbia.

A Performer Prepares is a 13-part master class on how to perform on any stage from bleak rehearsal room to the Palace Theatre. The class covers the basic Broadway song numbers, from show ballad to showstopper. With precise, logical steps and dynamic and entertaining dialogues between himself and his students, David Craig takes anyone with the desire to shine from an audition to final curtain call. These lessons on the pages recreate as closely as possible the unique interpersonal dyamic of Craig's legendary coaching encounters in New York, Los Angeles and across the country.

There is no book about Hollywood as riveting as this documentary. - Allan Carr, Vanity Fair There is no question that the 1954 version of A STAR IS BORN holds a special place in the pantheon of classic movies. It was director George Cukor's first foray into musicals, his first color film, and it was, without a doubt, Judy Garland's greatest screen performance.With incredible detail and color, Ronald Haver gives us the fascinating story of the making, marketing and restoration of this groundbreaking classic. Here is how producer Sid Luft orchestrated the deal for his wife, how Cukor was selected to direct, how James Mason was cast to co-star and how Moss Hart's script was developed. Here are the myriad techincal problems, the clashes of personalities and the shocking emotional ups and downs of the film's star. Here, finally, is the author's own mission to restore the film to its original length and glory in the 1980s.