Musicals on CD:

Musicals on DVD:

Musicals in mp3 format

Classics on DVD

Screenwriting Software

Computers

All the World's a Stage: A Pop-Up Biography of William Shakespeare
by Michael Bender
Hardcover
Further info or to order

American Theatre Magazine (12 month subscription)
Serves as a forum for the professional theatre. Includes production schedules, plays and playwrights, government, funding in print, management, stages, and people. Features articles by theatre critics, artists and professionals.
Further info or to order

Angels in America (2003) - DVD
Further info or to order

Avenue Q (2003 Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Jeff Marx, Robert Lopez, John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo
Avenue Q will only fuel the frustration of those who think that Broadway has given up on sophisticated entertainment geared to adults. "Whatever happened to Cole Porter's witty rhymes and mature subject matter?" they'll say. Well, it's hard to deny that Avenue Q's main frame of reference is Sesame Street and that its humor can be very broad -- yes, there's profanity and puppet sex. But the show also displays heart ("The More You Ruv Someone" typically begins with "Why can't people get along?") and a pretty satisfying zany streak. Musically, the score is rooted in 1970s pop, with nods to the aforementioned Sesame Street. The excellent cast, dominated by John Tartaglia and Stephanie D'Abruzzo, does it justice, milking the humorous numbers for all they're worth and finding pathos in the more straightforward ones. Not bad for a childish show
Further info or to order

Best Revenge: How Theater Saved My Life and Has Been Killing Me Ever Since -- With Appearances by Joseph Chaikin, Sholem Asch, and Sam Shepard
by Stephen Fife
Paperback
A middle-aged playwright--in conflict with his ex-wife, his current girlfriend, and a legion of creditors--journeys from Hollywood to Atlanta to work with his youthful idol, legendary avant-garde director Joseph Chaikin. Thus begins a roller coaster ride of a very unusual sort, combining personal revelations with theatrical obsessions, a step-by-step disclosure of a master director's rehearsal process with a search for spiritual truth (and a decent night's sleep). Just hop aboard and get a backstage pass to the "holding-on-by-your-fingernails" reality of the contemporary American theater.
Further info or to order

The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays
by William Goldman
Hardcover
Amazon.com: "The trouble with the Oscar show is that it's too short," William Goldman writes more than once in these infectiously droll essays about Hollywood stars, box office roulette, vintage movie years, and the illogic of Saving Private Ryan. Any other writer would be in deep ironical mode saying that, but the great screenwriter (All the President's Men, The Princess Bride) and giddy movie enthusiast is hardly a "prevailing view" kind of guy.
Further info or to order

Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now
by Mark Steyn
Hardcover
The New Yorker: "A witty, anecdote-stuffed history of the past seventy years in musicals."
Further info or to order

Broadway's Lost Treasures
Broadway's Lost Treasures delivers what the title promises: 21 historic performances of great moments in American musical theater televised on the Tony Awards between 1967 and 1986. (Five were not included when the program was broadcast on PBS in 2003.) Unlike some other arts, theater has rarely been well-documented, so it's a treat to see these numbers performed by the original artists rather than experience them through audio recordings or tepid movie adaptations.
Further info or to order

The Cambridge Guide to Theater
by Martin Banham (Editor) New Edition
Hardcover
Further info or to order

The Cambridge Illustrated History of British Theatre
by Simon Trussler
Hardcover
Further info or to order

Citizen Kane (Special Edition DVD)
No minuscule "featurette" for the greatest movie ever made. The backbone for this grand two-disc set is the 1995 Oscar®-nominated documentary The Battle over Citizen Kane, a very rich two-hour film on how this masterpiece was almost destroyed by Welles's adversary, William Randolph Hearst. A great remastered print of Citizen Kane is complemented by two running commentaries, the better one by critic Roger Ebert. Don't think you want a two-hour lecture by Mr. Ebert? Just listen to his 10-minute talk over the gallery of photographs from the movie (which you can flip through manually with your remote or see as a slide show), and you'll want more. Ad campaigns, storyboards, and even call sheets are included in this must-have DVD. --Doug Thomas
Further info or to order

Comedy-Tragedy Masks Earrings (14K gold)
A great gift for yourself or a loved one. Makes the perfect addition to any jewelry collection.
Further info or to order

The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre
by Peter Found (Editor), Phyllis Hartnoll
2nd Edition Hardcover
Further info or to order

Conversations With Wilder
by Billy Wilder, Cameron Crowe
Hardcover
The Los Angeles Times Book Review: ... Crowe's book is a pleasure .... He was drawn to Wilder out of admiration and the idea of doing an extended interview book, such as Francois Truffaut did with Alfred Hitchcock in the 1960s. He's well-equipped: He does comedy himself; he is a writer-director; and he has a real tenderness for the older man, enough to handle those moments when Wilder is brusque, forgetful or pretty rough.
Further info or to order

The Crafty Art of Playmaking
by Alan Ayckbourn
Hardcover
For the first time, Alan Ayckbourn shares all of his tricks of the playwright's trade. From helpful hints on writing to tips on directing, the book provides a complete primer for the newcomer and a refresher for the more experienced. Written in Ayckbourn's signature style that combines humor, seriousness, and heady air of theatrical sophistication that Noel Coward would envy, The Crafty Art of Playmaking is a must-have for aspiring playwrights and students of drama.
Further info or to order

Creative Careers in Hollywood
by Laurie Scheer
Paperback
In this candid guide, entertainment industry veteran Laurie Scheer offers a witty and informative inside look at the primary professions in the movie biz. Readers will discover real-life, yet upbeat portraits of the "shredder" jobs of the industry, such as assistant or d-girl, and how they can lead to the "keeper" jobs of actor, agent, or studio executive. Each career overview features a clever analysis of the classic film characters who memorably played these jobs on screen; an insightful rewards-risks assessment of the job; and a brief look at such essential job qualities as durability, length of stay, "food chain value," and desirability factor. Part how-to guide, part historical document, and part social commentary, this book will delight career seekers, Hollywood insiders, and film aficionados alike.
Further info or to order

Creative Screenwriting Magazine (12 month subscription)
Creative Screenwriting Magazine interviews filmmakers, the writers and directors, to reveal what went into the creative processes of major motion pictures, art films and TV series. It is a wonderful, easy read for film and TV fans.
Further info or to order

Dear Writer, Dear Actress: The Love Letters of Olga Knipper and Anton Chekhov
by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Olga Knipper, Jean Benedetti
Hardcover
Further info or to order

Diaries of Kenneth Tynan
by Kenneth Tynan, John Lahr (Introduction)
Hardcover
These entries, consistently fascinating, also manage to be witty (frequently of the laugh-out-loud variety), thought-provoking (few sacred cows escape Tynan's dead-on skewering) or raunchy (not a few sections should carry an "R" rating). Not surprisingly, Tynan dissects theatrical foibles and politicking with a keen inside perspective; he can also discourse on the European common market, Spaniards' attitudes toward homosexuality, cricket, French cuisine, Ethel Merman and much more.
Further info or to order

Director's Voice 2: Interviews With Twenty Stage Directors
by Jason Loewith (Editor)
Paperback
The Director's Voice 2 presents a cross-section of the most diverse and dynamic stage directors defining today's American theater in a conversation with director/producer Jason Loewith. In the twenty years since the debut of the immensely popular first volume of The Director's Voice, which has sold over eighteen thousand copies, much has changed. "The nonprofit model was turned on its head in the aftermath of the Reagan years," Loewith notes. "Institution-building is out for these directors; creating a distinctive voice from a multiplicity of influences is in." Taken together, these directors sketch a compelling portrait of the art form in the new century.
Further info or to order

Disney on Broadway
by Michael Lassell (Editor)
Paperback
Go "behind-the-curtain" for an insider's view of Disney's mega-hit Broadway shows Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aida are showcased in a lavish volume of dazzling costumes and set design, creator commentary, and simply spectacular production photography in Disney on Broadway. Discover the secrets behind the special effects of Beauty and the Beast, which are revealed in vivid detail. Witness how director Julie Taymor and her co-designers developed the mechanics of The Lion King with its stylized imagery and distinctive puppetry. And follow the long and sometimes bumpy road from the concept of Aida to the glamorous realization of this innovative musical, through rounds of revisions to its grand opening in New York's famed Palace Theatre.
Further info or to order

Elaine Stritch: At Liberty (2002 Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Elaine Stritch is a legend and she knows it. And so she came up with a whole one-woman show about the best topic she could think of: her life in the theater. And what a trip it's been. From Ethel Merman to Noel Coward, Stritch has worked with some of the greatest names to grace the American stage, and she has anecdotes about all of them (most are included on this recording). In this show, she hits all the marks with the acuity of a seasoned pro who's seen it all and whose love for the theater remains undiluted.
Further info or to order

The Encyclopedia of the Fantastic Film: Ali Baba to Zombies
by R. G. Young
Paperback
Further info or to order

Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical "Follies"
by Ted Chapin
Hardcover
In 1971, college student Ted Chapin was in the right place at the right time. As a production assistant, or gofer, he found himself front row center at the creation of one of the greatest of all Broadway musicals: Follies. And since (as part of a college assignment) he kept a journal of everything he saw and heard, he was able to document-- in unprecedented detail -- how a musical is actually made.
Further info or to order

The First 28 Years of Monty Python
by Kim Howard Johnson
Paperback
Further info or to order

Ghost Light: A Memoir
by Frank Rich
Paperback
Amazon.com: When Frank Rich was an anxious, unhappy kid marooned in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., the fact his parents were divorced was discussed "only in the whisper that Grandma Ross used when talking about being Jewish or having cancer." Like so many others who feel painfully different, Frank found refuge in the theater, particularly the classic musicals of Broadway's golden age. After an enchanted trip to see Bells Are Ringing in 1956 when he was 7, Rich writes, "I was now destined to trace my childhood almost exclusively through an accelerating progression of plays, good and bad, that would captivate and kidnap me." What interests him most here is the theater's power to shape lives.
Further info or to order

The Godfather DVD Collection
Throughout his long, wandering, often distinguished career Francis Ford Coppola has made many films that are good and fine, many more that are flawed but undeniably interesting, and a handful of duds that are worth viewing if only because his personality is so flagrantly absent. Yet he is and always shall be known as the man who directed the Godfather films, a series that has dominated and defined their creator in a way perhaps no other director can understand. Coppola has never been able to leave them alone, whether returning after 15 years to make a trilogy of the diptych, or re-editing the first two films into chronological order for a separate video release as The Godfather Saga. The films are our very own Shakespearean cycle: they tell a tale of a vicious mobster and his extended personal and professional families (once the stuff of righteous moral comeuppance), and they dared to present themselves with an epic sweep and an unapologetically tragic tone. Murder, it turned out, was a serious business. --Bruce Reid
Further info or to order

Going to the Movies: A Personal Journey Through Four Decades of Modern Film
by Syd Field
Paperback
Watching a movie is easy. But it's hard to figure out how its structure, images, acting, camera work and scripts can make us respond so powerfully. Writing in a chatty, informal manner, the author of several popular screenplay-writing manuals (including Screenplay, which is used in numerous college courses) turns to autobiography to meditate on what makes a movie great. Whether he is addressing his friendship with the great French director Jean Renoir, whose masterpiece La Grande Illusion Field considers one of the foundations of modern cinema, or about his classes with the great feminist film director Dorothy Arzner, Field conveys an enormous amount of technical and practical knowledge.
Further info or to order

Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for the New York Times, 1980- 1993
by Frank Rich
Hardcover
They didn't call him "The Butcher of Broadway" for nothing. With the stroke of a pen, longtime New York Times theater critic Frank Rich could make or break a Broadway show. "Hot Seat" is an encyclopedic collection of his writing, including opening-night reviews of Broadway shows and reflections on the careers of theatrical luminaries.
Further info or the order

How Good is David Mamet, Anyway?: Writings on Theater -- and Why It Matters
by John Heilpern
Hardcover
Salon: [Heilpern's]clear thinking, deceptively breezy prose and infectious, generous wit are consistently delightful...Heilpern's best writing offers many of the strange, almost religious delights of an evening at the theater...American playwrights and audiences owe Heilpern a great debt.
Further info or the order

How to Live a Sitcom Life
by Mark Bennett
Hardcover
Further info or the order

Jafsie and John Henry
by David Mamet
Hardcover
In this new collection, fans will discover the author's literary sharing on the nature of creativity, the challenge of aging, and his most intimate interests.
Further info or to order

Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol
by Tom Mula
Paperback
Based on a one-man show written and performed by author Tom Mula, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol offers a unique and entertaining new twist on the familiar holiday tale. Readers follow Marley as he works behind the scenes to save Scrooge's soul. Funny, irreverent, and moving, this beautifully illustrated gift book promises to become a holiday favorite.
Further info or to order

A Jesuit Off-Broadway
by James Martin
Hardcover
Martin, an author and Jesuit priest, lifts the curtain on theater life in this account of his experiences as theological adviser to an off-Broadway play, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. It was the role of a lifetime for Martin, who had access to all the players involved in the production from the first readings to the play's five-week run in 2005. Although the play, which deals with the fate of the disciple who betrayed Christ, is compelling in and of itself, the way Martin combines the story line with historical detail and conversations with the actors, playwright and director is utterly captivating. Martin takes readers inside the play and into the minds of the key players, showing everything from glimpses into their spiritual lives to their reactions to the mixed reviews the play received.
Further info or to order

Kenneth Tynan: Letters
by Kenneth Tynan, Kathleen Tynan
Hardcover
Further info or to order

The Light in the Piazza (2005 Original Broadway Cast)
Adam Guettel, Craig Lucas, Kelli O'Hara
Like a shimmering pearl, The Light in the Piazza emerged from a sea of revivals, rehashings, and movie adaptations to secure 11 2005 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. Based on an Elizabeth Spencer novella (which was also made into a 1962 film), it follows a mother, Margaret (Victoria Clark), and her daughter, Clara (Kelli O'Hara), as they take a vacation to Italy. There, Clara and a young Italian (Matthew Morrison) fall in love, but Margaret is determined to keep them apart.
Further info or to order

Making Musicals: An Informal Introduction to the World of Musical Theatre
by Tom Jones
Paperback
By the librettist and lyricist of "The Fantasticks"
Further info or to order

Masterpiece Theatre : A Celebration of 25 Years of Outstanding Television
by Terrence O'Flaherty, Karen Sharpe (Editor)
Paperback
In the quarter-century that it has been broadcast in America, Masterpiece Theatre has raised its audience's awareness of TV's true potential as a stage for serious dramatic arts. The book includes interviews with artists and directors, covering a wide range of topics, including the challenges of adapting a work of classic literature to a contemporary teleplay. 150 photos, 75 in color.
Further info or to order

Monster: Living Off the Big Screen
by John Gregory Dunne
Paperback
Further info or to order

Moon Over Broadway (DVD)
In 1995, Carol Burnett returned to Broadway after an absence of three decades to costar in Ken Ludwig's comedy, Moon Over Buffalo. Legendary documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker and his wife, Chris Hegedus, enjoyed extraordinary access to capture the nuts and bolts of mounting a Broadway play in this video equivalent of a backstage pass. It is more entertaining than the strained farce we glimpse onstage. The play's director, Tom Moore, certainly has his hands full. Ludwig (who hit it big with the play Lend Me a Tenor) bemoans what the actors are doing to his words. "It's like a pact with the devil, having to cast stars," he complains. He must massage the actors' egos (the play's ingenue dislikes the picture of herself displayed outside the theater) and assuage their insecurities. Observe how he deftly and delicately reins in Burnett, who initially falls back on shtick to get a laugh. In one tense moment, Philip Bosco, Burnett's esteemed costar, becomes flustered when he believes his input is not appreciated. "Don't you want the benefit of our years of experience, of our sense of comedy?" he demands of Moore. Moon Over Broadway is just the ticket for theater buffs.
Further info or to order

My Movie Business: A Memoir
by John Irving
Hardcover
Amazon.com: This slender memoir offers a perceptive, if hardly objective, critique of the inherent differences between novels and screenplays, with the writer sharing his own experiences creating both. Irving focuses principally on his crusade to bring The Cider House Rules to the screen, tracing its gestation through four successive directors; with Irving himself attached as scriptwriter, we see the novelist struggling to reconcile the demands of concision against his paternal instincts toward the original book.
Further info or to order

New York Theatre Walks: Seven Historical Tours from Times Square to Greenwich Village and Beyond
by Howard Kissel
Paperback
Howard Kissel provides a series of seven self-guided walking tours not just of the theatre district but of the East and West Village, the Lower East Side, and the Upper West Side - neighborhoods uptown and downtown that illuminate the theatre's intimate relationship with the city. The book abounds in Broadway anecdotes, but it also gives the walker a sense of the city's own complex, rich history. All Around the Town, New York Theatre Walks provides enjoyment and instruction not just for visitors eager to get off the beaten path but for the native who wants to find the theatrical past lying behind the sights one passes on a regular basis.
Further info or to order

Original Cast Album - Company (A Documentary)
While a proposed series of original cast recording sessions for documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back) never materialized, Original Cast Album: Company survives as the first and only entry, and it was fortuitous that its subject was the 1970 musical Company. Groundbreaking in its use of a series of vignettes rather than a conventional plot, it was also one of the earliest major works for composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, the most important figure in musical theater over the last quarter-century. Unlike films, theater productions rarely have a permanent record, so a musical is preserved for posterity by the cast recording. This puts all the pressure on the recording session, as cast member Susan Browning explains during the recording of "You Could Drive a Person Crazy": a live performance can be imperfect, but "this is different. This is the definitive, it's the end-all and the be-all of this song, and... God, that could drive a person crazy!"
Further info or to order

Next to Normal [Cast Recording]
(Original Broadway Cast)
Next to Normal has been described as a contemporary musical that explores how one suburban household copes with crisis. With provocative lyrics and an electrifying score of more than 30 original songs, Next to Normal shows how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family's world intact.
Further info or to order

Passing Strange [Cast Recording]
Original Broadway cast
Following in the footsteps of Duncan Sheik and Spring Awakening, L.A.’s Stew (who’s released albums both solo and with his band, The Negro Problem) made the transition from the pop-rock scene to Broadway in 2008. The show for which he wrote the book and score, Passing Strange, was not as commercially successful as Spring Awakening, but from a musical point of view, it’s an even better, very funny, wildly inventive gem about shaping your identity. Backed by a rocking quartet that includes co-composer Heidi Rodewald on bass, Stew himself acts/sings the narrator, leading us through the coming of age of his hero, Youth (Daniel Breaker), from Southern California to Amsterdam to Berlin and back. Recorded live, this album captures the score’s energy and depth. The songs can be hard-hitting ("Merci Beaucoup, M. Godard," "Berlin: A Black Hole with Taxis"), but Stew writes particularly lovely ballads, like the heartbreaking "Arlington Hill," "Keys," "Come Down Now" and "Work the Wound," which gains power as it builds up to an angry climax. This is a great score that deserves to be heard. -- Elisabeth Vincentelli
Further info or to order

The Play Goes On: A Memoir
by Neil Simon
Hardcover
The follow-up to Simon's bestselling memoir, "Rewrites."
Further info or to order

Playwrights at Work: The Paris Review
by George Plimpton (Editor)
Paperback
The most famous feature of George Plimpton's Paris Review is the interview with an author that graces nearly every issue. The latest collection of these colloquies showcases 16 dramatists' remarks about their art and their practice of it. In the opening interview, Thornton Wilder makes an observation that resonates in his successors' comments: "On the stage it is always now." A play is written out of the belief that what happens is more interesting than describing or analyzing what happens. For Samuel Beckett, of course, it was what failed to happen that was interesting, as he attests not directly -- he declined to be interviewed -- but through Lawrence Shainberg's superb memoir of him at work. Besides the Beckett piece, the Eugene Ionesco interview is the most intellectually intriguing. Arthur Miller proves the most concerned with historic dramatic form, Neil Simon the most absorbed in stagecraft (save for Beckett), and Tennessee Williams the most gossipy. Some other subjects in this treasure trove for theater lovers are Edward Albee, John Guare, David Mamet, August Wilson, and Wendy Wasserstein.
Further info or to order

Primo Time
by Antony Sher
Paperback
Anthony Sher's enthralling account of the struggle -- and the triumph -- of bringing Primo Levi's Auschwitz memoir to the stage. Sher tells how he first came across Levi's book, of how he conceived the notion of adapting it, of the long-drawn-out negotiations, research trips to Auschwitz and of the struggle to stage his adaptation and remain true to Levi's precepts.
Further info or to order

Profiles
by Kenneth Tynan
Paperback
Further info or to order

Reading Chekhov
by Janet Malcolm
Hardcover
Longtime New Yorker magazine writer Malcolm (The Crime of Sheila McGough; The Silent Woman; etc.) is known for her fearlessly opinionated takes on controversial subjects, from psychoanalysis to murder cases. This short meditation in 13 untitled chapters is a reflection on her reading of a favorite author, famed 19th-century playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov, in the context of a recent tourist trip she took through contemporary Russia. She agrees with all biographers that Chekhov was an admirably humane man, writing prolifically to earn a living because he charged his peasant patients nothing for medical care. The anecdotes may be the more compelling stuff here, however, as when Malcolm squabbles with a curator of a Moscow Chekhov Museum, who does not wish to inform the inquiring American journalist how she manages to earn a living. Fans of Russian lit may squabble with some of the heavier moralizing, but will appreciate this real example of a fan's notes.
Further info or to order

Rewrites: A Memoir
by Neil Simon
Hardcover
Amazon.com Expert Editor's Recommended Book: Broadway's perennial hitmaster Neil Simon, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Lost in Yonkers, follows the funny/poignant style of his recent autobiographical plays. This memoir takes him from childhood into his years as a comedy writer for Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows," through his early Odd Couple-era stage hits and up to the death of his first wife in 1973. Not a traditional autobiography, Rewrites is a story rich with laughter and emotion, and filled with memories of a sweet--sometimes bittersweet--story.
Further info or to order
Paperback
Further info or to order

Screenwriting four Geniuses
by William D. Wolff
Paperback
"Screenwriting four Geniuses" is a parody of self-help books, purporting to teach its readers how to make millions of dollars, effortlessly writing blockbuster screenplays for Hollywood. The title is a humorous take-off of the "for Dummies" series. But more than being merely a collection of jokes and gags, "Screenwriting four Geniuses" is a barbed, satirical and highly literate commentary on the greed- and fear-based mentality prevalent in the world of Hollywood filmmaking.
Further info or to order

Screenwriters: America's Storytellers in Portrait
by Helena Lumme, Mika Manninen
Hardcover
Even if you don't agree with the editors that screenwriting is the toughest and riskiest profession in the movie business, this lovely book holds tremendous appeal. Screenwriters offers unique visual and verbal portraits of each of the 47 writers covered. The striking photographs presented here were exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The book also offers brief comments from the screenwriters on the art of writing, particularly for the silver screen.
Further info or to order

Script Magazine (12 month subscription)
Each issue of Script delivers informative articles on writing, developing and marketing screenplays and TV scripts. Many articles are written by working writers. Development executives, agents, managers and entertainment attorneys contribute regularly. Our editorial is for writers, by writers.
Further info or to order

Spring Awakening (2006 Original Broadway Cast)
Duncan Sheik
Who would have thought that Duncan Sheik would succeed where Paul Simon and Randy Newman failed, successfully transitioning from the pop-rock world to the Broadway stage? With Spring Awakening, Sheik and book writer/lyricist Steven Slater (who had already worked on Sheik's 2001 album Phantom Moon) have created a thoroughly exciting show that incorporates a contemporary art-indie idiom (including a small rock band instead of an orchestra) into a dramatic musical-theater context. The unlikely setting is that of a Frank Wedekind adaptation, but as it turns out, teenage angst is perennial, whether it's in contemporary America or in a 1891 German boarding school.
Further info or to order

The Stephen Sondheim Collection (Into the Woods / Sunday in the Park with George / Follies in Concert / Passion / Sweeney Todd in Concert / A Celebration at Carnegie Hall)
Celebrate the brilliance of Stephen Sondheim, one of musical theater's most acclaimed and popular talents, with this special six-disc collection. Includes A Celebration at Carnegie Hall: This star-studded salute to Sondheim's most enduring melodies features Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli, Madeleine Kahn, Victor Garber, Glenn Close, Betty Buckley and many more!
Further info or to order

Story: A Guide to Screenwriting
by Robert McKee
Audio Cassette
Don't have time to read the book? Then listen to the audio cassette! Mind you, if you don't have time to read the book, we're not sure how you'll have time to write a screenplay, but hey, maybe you can dance to it.
Further info or to order

Sundancing: Hanging Out and Listening in at America's Most Important Film Festival
by John Anderson
Paperback
Book Description: Every winter, 8,000 feet above sea level in the Utah snow, the hopes and dreams of young moviemakers are put on display at the Sundance Film Festival -- the haven for independent films where you can show up a kid and go home a star. John Anderson, chief film critic for New York Newsday, attended his ninth Sundance in 1999, but this time he did more than screen films and leap for tables at overbooked restaurants. He interviewed performers and filmmakers of all kinds, including top prize winners, but also uncovered the effect of all this ballyhoo on the indie film scene--and on the bemused Park City locals. Together, they form the most candid, most fascinating, most hilarious, and most human-sized coverage of the Sundance Film Festival ever achieved.
Further info or to order

Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama
by David Mamet
Hardcover
Further info or to order

The Tony Award : A Complete Listing With a History of the American Theatre Wing
by Isabelle Stevenson (Editor) Reissue Edition
Hardcover
Further info or to order

The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook, Updated and Expanded Edition: An Actor's Reference to Over 1,000 Scenes and Monologues from More than 300 contemporary Plays
by Ed Hooks
Paperback
An invaluable guide to finding just the right piece for every audition. The unique format of the book is ideal for acting teachers who want their students to understand each monologue in context. This remarkable book describes the characters, action, and mood for more than 1,000 scenes in over 300 plays. Using these guidelines, the actor can quickly pinpoint the perfect monologue, then find the text in the Samuel French or Dramatist Play Service edition of the play. Newly revised and expanded, the book includes the author's own assessment of each monologue.
Further info or to order

Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade
by William Goldman
Hardcover
Amazon.com: Fans of the two-time Oscar-winning writer (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men) have anxiously waited for this follow-up since his career serpentined into a variety of big hits and critical bombs in the '80s and '90s. Here Goldman scoops on The Princess Bride (his own favorite), Misery, Maverick, Absolute Power, and others. Goldman's conversational style makes him easy to read for the film novice but meaty enough for the detail-oriented pro. Like most sequels, Which Lie follows the structure of the original. Both Goldman books have three parts: stories about his movies, a deconstruction of Hollywood (here the focus is on great movie scenes), and a workshop for screenwriters. With its juicy facts and valuable sidebars on what makes good screenwriting, this is another entertaining must-read from the man who coined what has to be the most-quoted adage about movie-business success: "Nobody knows anything."
Further info or to order

Why We Write: Personal Statements and Photographic Portraits of 25 Top Screenwriters
by Lorian Tamara Elbert (Editor)
Paperback
Further info or to order

The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers
by Christopher Vogler
Paperback
Many screenwriters have used Vogler's volume to understand why certain scenarios sell, and to discover a blueprint for creating mythic stories of their own. Now in its second edition, The Writer's Journey sets forth archetypes common in what Vogler calls "the hero's journey," the mythic structure that he claims all stories follow. In the book's first section, he lists the different kinds of typological characters who appear in stories. In the second, he discusses the stages of the journey through which the hero generally passes. The final, supplementary portion of the book explains in detail how films like Titanic and The Full Monty follow the patterns he has outlined. --Raphael Shargel
Further info or to order

The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre (Vol. 1): Europe
by Don Rubin (Editor)
Hardcover
Further info or to order

The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre (Vol. 2): Americas
by Don Rubin (Editor)
Hardcover
Further info or to order

Young Playwrights 101: A Practical Guide for Young Playwrights and Those Who Teach Them
by Jonathan Dorf
Paperback
A complete handbook for young playwrights and those who teach them, and for anyone who wants practical advice about the craft and business of playwriting.
Further info or to order

Back to the Bookstore
To the E-script main page