Stage Right is a refreshingly abrasive account of the state of British theatre since 1979, offering an account of the development of a new mainstream formed in conscious opposition to the work of the politically committed dramatists of the 70s and an analysis of the plays of the most successful playwrights of the new mainstream: Nichols, Gray, Frayn, Bennett, Ayckbourn and Stoppard.
Before the advent of cable and its hundreds of channels, before iPods and the Internet, three television networks ruled America's evenings. And for twenty-three years, Ed Sullivan, the Broadway gossip columnist turned awkward emcee, ruled Sunday nights. It was Sullivan's genius to take a worn-out stage genre-vaudeville-and transform it into the TV variety show, a format that was to dominate for decades. Right Here on Our Stage Tonight! tells the complete saga of The Ed Sullivan Show and, through the voices of some 60 stars interviewed for the book, brings to life the most beloved, diverse, multi-cultural, and influential variety hour ever to air. Gerald Nachman takes us through those years, from the earliest dog acts and jugglers to Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and beyond. Sullivan was the first TV impresario to feature black performers on a regular basis-including Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, James Brown, and Richard Pryor-challenging his conservative audience and his own traditional tastes, and changing the face of American popular culture along the way. No other TV show ever cut such a broad swath through our national life or cast such a long shadow, nor has there ever been another show like it. Nachman's compulsively readable history, illustrated with classic photographs and chocked with colorful anecdotes, reanimates The Ed Sullivan Show for a new generation.
She wants to dance, and she’s willing to sacrifice everything, everyone, to get it. Coco Bradley is a talented ballet dancer, and when an opportunity arises for her to audition for the prestigious Spencer School of the Performing Arts, she’s not about to let anyone stop her— including her parents, her friends, and any of the prima donnas of the art school. A pastor’s kid, Coco has grown up serving God and people, but gaining entry to Spencer means leaving behind all the expectations that come with growing up in the pastorate, as well as the dead-end town of Wyattsville. Coco lives by the creed “Ballet First,” but she’s about to find out in a painful way that there’s more to life than dancing. Opportunities, fame, and love all come calling as Coco chases her dream. But in going after what she wants, will she lose the things that matter most?
Drama teacher Abby Devlin has always dreamed of being a world-famous actress. While stardom has, so far, proven elusive, she has made quite a name for herself at McMillan Playhouse, where she’s just been cast in a self-written production. Her triumph quickly turns to dread, however, when she learns that McMillan has cast a soap star as her new leading man. After a painful divorce, Dean Altman, former soap star and a single dad, readjusted his priorities, moving back home to Galveston, Texas with his young daughter, Preslie. It doesn’t take long for him to feel the itch to dust himself off and step back into the acting world, which brings him to McMillan’s stage…and Abby’s attention. There is a fire between Abby and Dean when they meet in rehearsal, and not the good kind. Sizzling tension leads to drama both on and off-stage, but when they are forced to work together for the sake of the play, they slowly begin to give in to the undeniable chemistry between them. Before they truly have a chance to understand what they might have, however, an opportunity presents itself to Dean—one that could make or break what they have come to find in one another. Soulmate, Stage Right is an enemies-to-lovers, single dad romance, with quick progression and high-stakes emotion. It will appeal to contemporary romance fans, as well as fans of Hallmark movies. It is low on the heat, but high on the sweet, and can best be described as a romantic dramedy.
“You might think a play that grapples with serious modern social issues—homophobia, teenage alienation, the limits of online privacy—would have no room for a warbling Abraham Lincoln doing an interpretive dance. But then you might not expect to encounter a piece of theater as ingenious and cannily plotted as Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate. It is a suspenseful tale that fuses keen-eyed civic critique with riotous and even campy humor.” – Celia Wren, Washington Post “Hilarious...Speech & Debate’s real accomplishment is its picture of the borderland between late adolescence and adulthood, where grown-up ideas and ambition coexist with childish will and bravado...We never feel we’re being educated, just immensely entertained.” – Caryn James, New York Times “A provocative play...A lot of shows about teens ring inauthentic. Not this one.” – Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune “Stephen Karam’s savvy comedy is bristling with vitality, wicked humor, terrific dialogue, and a direct pipeline into the zeitgeist of contemporary youth.” – David Rooney, Variety In this unconventional dark comedy, three misfit high school students in Salem, Oregon form a unique debate club, complete with a musical version of The Crucible, an unusual podcast, and a plot to take down their corrupt drama teacher. With his signature wit, Karam traces the cohort’s attempts to fend off the menace of encroaching adulthood with caustic humor and subversive antics. Stephen Karam’s plays include The Humans (Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist), Sons of the Prophet (Pulitzer Prize finalist), and Speech & Debate. His adaptation of The Cherry Orchard premiered on Broadway for the Roundabout Theatre Company.
Written as a script in a drama, two men, in the senior season of their lives, wrestle with mortality. Their intent is to finish their lives strong and die well ... and help others do the same. Written as a dialog, we get to "eaves drop" on this conversation as each talks about their lives, their faith and faith crisis, and how they face their own mortality. The average Christian will be inspired and uplifted by Exit Stage Right. The minister or Christian counselor will use this book in counseling and preparing sermons. Exit Stage Right is "full of power and encouragement."
Description Bombay, 1943. The young Parsi actress who was playing Salome in the newly founded Theatre Group's production of Oscar Wilde's eponymously titled play drew the line at performing the Dance of the Seven Veils, a sort of 'Biblical striptease'. So director Sultan Padamsee's 19-year-old sister Roshen stepped in. And met the handsome, intense Arab who played the male lead-Ebrahim Alkazi. In 1946, they were married. Thus was forged one of the greatest alliances in the world of theatre and art in post- Independence India. Ebrahim Alkazi took English theatre from its early beginnings in Bombay to national and even international acclaim as he directed and acted in more than a hundred plays, ranging from Oedipus Rex, Murder in the Cathedral and Macbeth in the 1950s, to Ashadh Ka Ek Din, Andha Yug and Tughlaq in the '60s and '70s. As director of the fabled National School of Drama from 1962 to 1977, he launched some of the finest actors of our times, including Om Shivpuri, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Rohini Hattangadi, Manohar Singh and Uttara Baokar. Chief costume designer and seamstress for all his productions was Roshen Alkazi. In 1977, when Ebrahim and Roshen decided to open Art Heritage in Delhi, it gave a new dimension to the world of art, as the leading artists of the day, including M.F. Husain, Krishen Khanna, F.N. Souza, Tyeb Mehta, K.G. Subramanyam and Laxma Goud, flocked to this space that was not just a 'commercial' gallery, but a foundation for documenting and preserving the arts. With more than 50 rare photographs, Enter Stage Right is the story of theatre in India as it has never been told before...to be treasured by theatre buffs, and savoured by anyone who loves a good story.
