The Stage Actor's Handbook
The Stage Actor's Handbook

Author: Michael Kostroff

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-07-13

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 1538160447

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An invaluable guide to the traditions and best practices of the professional stage actor, from first rehearsal to final curtain. Professional stage actors are expected to have ready knowledge of a multitude of unwritten yet well-established protocols. Traditionally, this knowledge was passed along from one generation of stage actors to the next via word of mouth, or were learned by having one’s missteps corrected—until now. In The Stage Actor’s Handbook, these protocols have finally been assembled into one volume, allowing theatre artists to know in advance what is expected of them. A definitive guide for professionals and aspiring professionals alike, this book details best practices on everything from rehearsal demeanor to backstage etiquette. It also shares the theatre’s unique vernacular and revered superstitions, as well as field-tested guidelines on touring, interactions with the public, and more. Written by established theatre pros Michael Kostroff (The Producers, Les Misérables)and Julie Garnyé (Cats, Come From Away), The Stage Actor’s Handbook features bits of wisdom contributed by legendary stage actors, including Bebe Neuwirth, John Lithgow, Chita Rivera, Alfred Molina, Billy Porter, Betty Buckley, Harvey Fierstein, Sam Waterston, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, and Sir Patrick Stewart.

A Practical Handbook for the Actor
A Practical Handbook for the Actor

Author: Melissa Bruder

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2012-04-25

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 0307499138

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For anyone who has ever wanted to take an acting class, "this is the best book on acting written in the last twenty years" (David Mamet, from the Introduction). This book describes a technique developed and refined by the authors, all of them young actors, in their work with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, actor W. H. Macy, and director Gregory Mosher. A Practical Handbook for the Actor is written for any actor who has ever experienced the frustrations of acting classes that lacked clarity and objectivity, and that failed to provide a dependable set of tools. An actor's job, the authors state, is to "find a way to live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play." The ways in which an actor can attain that truth form the substance of this eloquent book.

The Young Actor's Handbook
The Young Actor's Handbook

Author: Jeremy Kruse

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2017-04-01

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 1495093956

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The way some introductory acting books are written, it seems that a literal leg break is your best option. In The Young Actor's Handbook, Jeremy Kruse, an actor, writer, producer, and director who teaches method acting, acting for camera, improvisation, and sketch comedy at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, mends this mangled genre, distilling invaluable lessons and years of experience down to a lean, mean, intuitive hundred page primer. Rather than bludgeoning the uninitiated with dense paragraphs, vague concepts, and opaque examples, The Young Actor's Handbook ignites the beginning actor's creative soul with inspirational acting exercises, acting theory, writing exercises, and insight into what it means to be an actor. This concise and pragmatic manual will guide and inform the young actor, beginning actor, novice acting teacher, or anyone who wants to understand acting through a broad and diverse survey of essential knowledge. The teachings of Richard Boleslavsky, Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Uta Hagen, Michael Shurtleff, Lee Strasberg, and Constantin Stanislavsky are eloquently and accessible rendered, as are basics of script analysis, camera technique, the audition mindset, agent acquisition, and the actor's life. Whether you're a curious novice, veteran acting teacher, or even an interested observer, The Young Actor's Handbook will enhance your understanding of this vast and rewarding craft.

The Actor's Life
The Actor's Life

Author: Jenna Fischer

Publisher: BenBella Books

Published: 2017-11-14

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 1944648232

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Jenna Fischer's Hollywood journey began at the age of 22 when she moved to Los Angeles from her hometown of St. Louis. With a theater degree in hand, she was determined, she was confident, she was ready to work hard. So, what could go wrong? Uh, basically everything. The path to being a professional actor was so much more vast and competitive than she'd imagined. It would be eight long years before she landed her iconic role on The Office, nearly a decade of frustration, struggle, rejection and doubt. If only she'd had a handbook for the aspiring actor. Or, better yet, someone to show her the way—an established actor who could educate her about the business, manage her expectations, and reassure her in those moments of despair. Jenna wants to be that person for you. With amusing candor and wit, Fischer spells out the nuts and bolts of getting established in the profession, based on her own memorable and hilarious experiences. She tells you how to get the right headshot, what to look for in representation, and the importance of joining forces with other like-minded artists and creating your own work—invaluable advice personally acquired from her many years of struggle. She provides helpful hints on how to be gutsy and take risks, the tricks to good auditioning and callbacks, and how not to fall for certain scams (auditions in a guy's apartment are probably not legit—or at least not for the kind of part you're looking for!). Her inspiring, helpful guidance feels like a trusted friend who's made the journey, and has now returned to walk beside you, pointing out the pitfalls as you blaze your own path towards the life of a professional actor.

The Voice Over Actor's Handbook
The Voice Over Actor's Handbook

Author: John Burr

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-11-29

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 9781533083449

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This voice over guide will teach you how to break down, understand, and read aloud scripts for expert delivery. Prominent voice over coach John Burr developed this handbook when he recognized that his students didn't understand the fundamentals of the English language and grammar-the first step in analyzing voice over scripts. In this in-depth guide, you'll discover what it takes to become a successful voice over actor. You will acquire the skills to pronounce words clearly, pace yourself through a script, take pauses at appropriate times, and incrementally express emotion. As the chapters unfold, you will learn the importance of understanding the meaning of the script, how to compare and contrast, and how to handle dialogue and quotes. A section on language dynamics instructs readers on deciphering sentences within a script and highlighting the right words and phrases to communicate effectively. It gets into the nuts and bolts of language so that readers can understand how sentence structure and grammar affect delivery. You will learn how to mark a script to ensure a consistent delivery from take to take. The Voice Over Actor's Handbook is the next best thing to having a voice over coach in your living room.

Playing the Audience
Playing the Audience

Author: James B. Nicola

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9781557834928

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(Applause Books). In this book divided into eight chapters, author James Nicola reveals how the technique of live acting springs directly from the unique relationship between the performer and the spectator. Playing the Audience includes advice on: creating a character from the stage from external gestures to inner dialogue; scoring the text; subtext; emotional memory; substitution; conflict; objectives; through-line of action; improvisation; blocking a scene; language and speech; connecting to the world of the play; and much more.

The Actor's Survival Handbook
The Actor's Survival Handbook

Author: Patrick Tucker

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-03-18

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1135470413

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Worried about short rehearsal time? Think that fluffing your lines will be the end of your career? Are you afraid you'll be typecast? Is there such a thing as acting too much? How should a stage actor adjust performance for a camera? And how should an actor behave backstage? The Actor's Survival Handbook gives you answers to all these questions and many more. Written with verve and humor, this utterly essential tool speaks to every actor's deepest concerns. Drawing upon their years of experience on stage, backstage, and with the camera, Patrick Tucker and Christine Ozanne offer forthright advice on topics from breathing to props, commitment to learning lines, audience response to simply landing the job in the first place. The book is rich with examples - both technical and inspirational. And because a director and an actor won't always agree, the two writers sometimes even offer alternative responses to a dilemma, giving the reader both an actor's take and a director's take on a particular point. Like Patrick Tucker's Secrets of Screen Acting, this new book is written with wit and passion, conveying the authors' powerful conviction that success is within every actor's grasp.

Improv!
Improv!

Author: Greg Atkins

Publisher: Heinemann Drama

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13:

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This friendly, informative book looks at the reasons many actors hate improvisation, while quietly reinforcing the reasons improv is a vital part of acting and of theatre.

Actors Handbook
Actors Handbook

Author: Andrew Heller

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2017-06-14

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13: 1365882276

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Actor, writer, director, producer and teacher with over 50 years of experience brings you in exact precise language that is easy to understand to a point where you can be in the business of Acting.