Educational

Veteran dance writer Robert Greskovic's comprehensive handbook on how to watch and appreciate the ballet is now available in this new edition. It includes a complete analysis of sixteen important and popular ballets, from Swan Lake to Twyla Tharp's Push Comes To Shove. As Mikhail Baryshnikov states in the book's foreword: All the things that ballet fans talk about at intermission, while newcomers stand there wondering what they mean: those things are here...(Robert Greskovic) has been thinking about ballet --- watching it, reading, writing, and talking about it --- day after day for more than thirty years. He knows it through and through. Now he shares his knowledge.

Cinema of Obsession traces the history of obsessive love and erotic fixation. Seminal works of obsession, The Blue Angel, Peter Ibbetson, and Phantom of the Opera are seen as setting the groundwork for films that follow. The book defines and surveys examples of the explosive nature of amour fou, issues of male control (no matter how tenuous), and the fugitive couple - love on the run - in such films as Romeo and Juliet, Last Tango in Paris, Vertigo, Basic Instinct, and Wild at Heart. Male masochism is explored through film noirs, including Criss Cross, The Killers, Gilda, and The Postman Always Rings Twice. The book shifts gears in its finale and concentrates on the female gaze, films of female obsession: Jane Eyre, The Piano, The Lover, Fatal Attraction, and Vanilla Sky.

The journeys in Acting and Singing with Archetypes are based on the Voices of the Archetypes and Myths workshops that Frankie Armstrong has conducted throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States. Primarily geared toward theatre teachers, directors, and theatre workshop leaders, this groundbreaking, interactive book - with an accompanying CD - shows actors and singers how to expand their creative choices by taking journeys to find the archetypes within themselves. Archetypes are universal essences that we all recognize: the Mother, the Lover, the Trickster, the Spiritual and Temporal Leader. Each one is not a fully developed character but rather its essence - images, forms, voices, bodies and psychological elements - around which a performer can organize a portrayal and begin full character development. The first part of the book contains sixteen archetype journeys. Each archetype journey is accompanied by preparatory explorations for the voice, body, and imagination. The CD, sung by Ms. Armstrong, provides songs and examples of vocal ornamentation to prepare and assist the journeyer. The second part of the book contains suggestions on how to apply the discoveries to real acting situations, explaining how to use the archetypes in the creation of multifaceted characters and in classroom explorations such as mask making, improvisation, monologue, scene and song work, and devising theatre.

Have you heard of the first American musical, The Black Crook, which opened in 1866 and had fifteen revivals? Do you know Oscar Straus's hilarious parody of Wagner's Ring cycle, Die lustigen Nibelungen (The Merry Nibelungs)? Do you know who the Ricci brothers, the Piccinni family, Edmond Audran, David Braham, or Franois-Joseph Gossec were? Look them up in this remarkable, thoroughly researched, lively book. Packed with nearly 1,800 entries, this is a must-have research tool and handy reference for the theater and music lover, student, teacher, professional singer, director, and producer! Meant as a supplement and companion to Blumenfeld's Dictionary of Acting and Show Business (Limelight, 2009), this unique dictionary is chock-full of information about all the various genres of musical theater; thumbnail plot summaries of works well-known and obscure; thumbnail biographies of composers and writers; and dance, theatrical, singing, and music terminology. Historical terms and foreign terms (with pronunciations) are included along with information on available recordings of many obscure pieces. Convenient lists of the works of Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Gilbert and Sullivan, Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and many others are provided.

Monologue Mastery is a manual and workbook for the beginning actor as well as the seasoned professional. It addresses in specific detail every phase of monologue preparation from selection to performance. It covers in great detail the three most important phases of monologue selection and performance: how to find great little-known monologues, how to find monologues that fit you perfectly, and how to act the monologue brilliantly and capture the auditors' attention. Monologue Mastery is easy reading, full of entertaining anecdotes, and intensely practical, providing a step-by-step approach to doing monologues in a very concise manner. Monologue Mastery is a handbook that actors will rely on for years to come. HIGHLIGHTS: A workbook that gives specific exercises to help the actor discover his/her type and to learn how to rehearse and prepare his/her monologue.

Insightful and inspiring analysis of the plays that won the Pulitzer Prize during the first 50 years of its existence (1917-1967). In a series of accessible and straightforward essays, Paul Firestone provides insight into how these dramas reflect America's cultural values and mores, organizing them by their major themes: family life, social protest, political heroes, the spiritual condition of man, and morality in a materialistic society.

Straightforward and readable, The Scene Study Book is a practical, step-by-step guide that runs from the analysis of basic story structure - including conflict and story arc - to making choices, including physical and psychological action. It includes chapters on selecting scenes, partnering, and scoring a script, along with a first-rate list of contemporary scenes to use. The Scene Study Book explores the process of scene work, from first read-through to blocking to taking notes and using them effectively. It addresses what to look for in a class, in a teacher, and in a partner. In short, it covers most of the questions and situations an actor in a scene study class might need help with. HIGHLIGHT: The only book on the market that covers the scene study process, this is the most useful and most commonly used classroom and studio format for learning acting.

Songwriting: A Complete Guide to the Craft is both a comprehensive course for beginning and experienced songwriters and a rich source of new ideas, inspiration, and tricks of the trade for those who have already achieved professional standing. This fresh new edition not only contains all of the original volume's cogent advice on how to write the always-popular genres - the country song, the ballad, and the love song - but has been revised to include: Examples of hard rock, acid, heavy metal, bubblegum, hip-hop, salsa, rap, gangsta, reggae, ska, soul, and many other of today's most recorded styles Finding a song concept, distilling the hook, choosing a form, adding harmony, and selecting rhythm An appendix telling how to copyright, computerize, notate, record, and sell your song Full glossary of musical and songwriting terms, an explanation of rap-speak with a useful section on rhyme for rap songs, many musical examples of well-known songs, and a complete index Unlike other books, Songwriting emphasizes the art - without being arty - and technique of creating a song. For the novice, Stephen Citron goes step-by-step through the writing of a song presupposing no prior knowledge of notation, harmony, rhythmic values, or rhyme. For the more experienced songwriter, Songwriting will serve as a one-stop reference and as an endless source of fresh ideas.

On the brink of celebrating its 50th anniversary, West Side Story remains one of the classic motion pictures of the musical genre. A joint collaboration between directors Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, it won 10 Academy Awards and produced the longest-charting soundtrack album of all time. This book explores not only the stage origins of the piece, but the incredible impact of the movie version and how it became a touchstone for all subsequent generations interested in dance on film and in great filmmaking in general.

A detailed overview of Hitchcock's skill in developing the story from intriguing start to shattering climax. A shot-by-shot analysis, using the shooting script as text, describes how Hitchcock's technique accomplished its magic.