Performing Arts Books
Page 1 of 14 - 324 results
The Zapple Diaries: The Rise and Fall of the Last Beatles Label
Miles, Barry
(Hardcover)
List Price: $24.95 Sale: $3.51
This is the first full-length look at Zapple - the Beatles’ label for experimental music and spoken word recordings and the most ambitious expression of the group’s determination to be leading members of the counterculture movement in the late 1960s. Barry Miles, the acclaimed author, was the Zapple label manager and has written an engaging and slightly gossipy you-are-there review of this fascinating period in Beatles history. The book provides insight into the lives and working methods of leading literary and cultural figures of the time, including Allen Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski, Richard Brautigan, William Burroughs, and Frank Zappa. The Zapple Diaries is the fascinating story of an ill-fated experimental venture and a revealing account of the little-known last chapter of Beatles history.
Zapata
Steinbeck, John
(Softcover)
List Price: $14.95 Sale: $5.43
Steinbeck's short story on which the 1953 Elia Kazan film was based chronicles the life of Emilio Zapata, the man who championed the cause of the peasants during the Mexican revolution, and is accompanied by the author's Academy Award-nominated script.
You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again
Phillips, Julia
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $6.07
An historical whodunnit tracing a thousand years of conflict, here could be no better guide to the greatest political faultline of our times: the relationship between India and Pakistan. "tinderbox" - It's defined as a small container holding flint, firesteel and tinder, used together to help kindle a fire/a potentially explosive place or situation - a handy metaphor for the relationship between India and Pakistan. this is a controversial book about one of the most important issues of our day. India and Pakistan is one of the greatest political fault lines of the modern world. You must've heard the phrase "Planet India" - a new breed of people driven by consumerism, economic strength/superpower, liberation, young population, fusion with the West. the real powerhouse of Asia is India, not China. And the fear of Pakistan is well known - the discovery of Bin Laden in a major city, the ongoing threat of terrorism and the Mumbai attacks, the threat of nuclear war closely monitored by the west. Highly-regarded writer and political commentator MJ Akbar has written a manifesto for peace and tribute to modern India. Everyone interested in the world should want to read this book. 'tinderbox' is split into three sections, one which covers the period from the advent of turko-Afghan invaders in Northern India till the time the British replaced India's Muslim rulers, the second stretches over the period of British rule and the freedom movement and the third starts from the time of Partition and Independence and goes on till the present. Each of these sections is characterised by the same brevity and excellent analysis, interspersed with anecdotes, some funny, some well-known and many I hadn't heard of, till I read this book. In tinderbox: the Past and Future of Pakistan, M.J. Akbar embarks on a historical whodunit to trace the journey of an idea, and the events, people, circumstances and mindset that divided India. the investigation spans a thousand years, and an extraordinary cast: visionaries, opportunists, statesmen, tyrants, plunderers, generals, and an unusual collection of theologians, beginning with Shah Waliullah who created a 'theory of distance' to protect 'Islamic identity' from Hindus and Hinduism. Akbar brings an impressive array of research, perception and analysis to solve this puzzle, writing the story in a fluent, engaging style that makes a difficult subject deceptively accessible. there could be no better guide to the subcontinent's past, and a glimpse into its future.
You Can Count on Me: A Screenplay
Lonergan, Kenneth
(Paperback)
List Price: $11.00 Sale: $4.15
Acclaimed playwright Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me is one of the most highly praised independent films of recent years, earning many of the major screenwriting awards. This is the lovingly drawn story of a sister and brother's fragile but somehow enduring bond. Sammy and Terry Prescott were orphaned as children. Sammy, now the single mother of a young son, has stayed in their hometown. Terry has become something of a drifter, surfacing only when he needs money. Sammy's own life has its complications: she puts off an old boyfriend's proposal and begins an affair with her new boss. Terry's charming irresponsibility collides with Sammy's confusion over her own actions. What remains unspoken is what they've known since they were left with only each other sixteen years before.
A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey
Fellowes, Jessica
(Hardcover)
List Price: $29.99 Sale: $7.83
It's 1924 and there have been many changes at Downton Abbey since the family and their servants first welcomed us there twelve years ago. A generation of men has been tragically lost at the front; children are once again breathing new life into the great house; a chauffeur now sits at the Grantham dinner table; and skirt hems continue to rise. Still, in the midst of all this upheaval, many things at Downton remain largely unchanged. Nanny still holds sway in the nursery, and there are still summer fêtes to be organized, menus to be planned, and farms to be run. This gorgeous book explores the seasonal events and celebrations of the great estate - including house parties, débutantes, the London Season, yearly trips to Scotland, the sporting season, and, of course, the cherished rituals of Christmas. Jessica Fellowes and the creative team behind Downton Abbey invite us to peer through the prism of the house as we learn more about the lives of our favorite characters, the actors who play them, and those who bring this exquisite world to real life.A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey is packed full of exclusive new photographs, with a delicious array of traditional British recipes adapted for modern kitchens: kedgeree, orange marmalade, asparagus tarts, cream of watercress soup, Irish stew, lemon barley water, meringues with red berries, parmesan straws, Christmas pudding with brandy butter and more. From the moment when the servants light the fires against the chill of January, through the last family game of charades and the servants' Christmas ball, this magnificent book invites us to take part in twelve months in the life of Downton Abbey.
The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood
Jones, Naomi McDougall
(Hardcover)
List Price: $26.95 Sale: $7.83
A brutally honest look at the systemic exclusion of women in film - an industry with massive cultural influence - and how, in response, women are making space in cinema for their voices to be heard.Generation after generation, women have faced the devastating reality that Hollywood is a system built to keep them out. The films created by that system influence everything from our worldviews to our brain chemistry. When women’s voices are excluded from the medium, the impact on society is immense. Actor, screenwriter, and award-winning independent filmmaker Naomi McDougall Jones takes us inside the cutthroat, scandal-laden film industry, where only 5% of top studio films are directed by women and less than 20% of leading characters in mainstream films are female. Jones calls on all of us to act radically to build a different kind of future for cinema - not only for the women being actively hurt inside the industry but for those outside it, whose lives, purchasing decisions, and sense of selves are shaped by the stories told.Informed by the journey of her own career; by interviews with others throughout the film industry; and by cold, hard data, Jones deconstructs the casual, commonplace sexism rampant in Hollywood that has kept women out of key roles for decades. Next, she shows us the growing women-driven revolution in filmmaking - sparked by streaming services, crumbling distribution models, direct-to-audience access via innovative online platforms, and outside advocacy groups - which has enabled women to build careers outside the traditional studio system. Finally, she makes a business case for financing and producing films by female filmmakers.
Writing The Romantic Comedy (20th Anniversary Edition, Expanded and Updated)
Mernit, Billy
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.99 Sale: $5.67
Whether you’re a first-time screenwriter, an intermediate marooned in the rewriting process, or a professional wanting to explore the latest genre trends, this thoroughly charming and insightful guide to the basics of crafting a winning and innovative script will take you step by step from “meet cute” all the way to “joyous defeat.” You’ll learn the screenwriting secrets behind some of the funniest scenes ever written; how to create characters and dialogue that getsparks flying; why some bedroom scenes sizzle and others fall flat; and much more. Written in a refreshingly accessible style and updated and expanded to recognize the contributions of a fresh generation of romantic comedies, this newly revised 20th Anniversary edition of Writing the Romantic Comedy features case studies drawn from beloved romantic classics such as When Harry Met Sally, Annie Hall, Tootsie, and The Lady Eve to modern-day favorites including Hitch, (500) Days of Summer, Bridesmaids, and Silver Linings Playbook. Field-tested writing exercises are also included, guaranteed to short-circuit potential mistakes and ensure inspiration.
Writing Short Films: Structure and Content for Screenwriters
Cowgill, Linda J.
(Paperback)
List Price: $19.95 Sale: $5.19
By contrasting and comparing the differences and similarities between feature films and short films, this title aims to offer readers the requirements needed to make their writing crisp, sharp and compelling. It emphasis on characters, structure, dialogue and story, and dispels the 'magic formula' concept.
Writing Movies: The Practical Guide to Creating Stellar Screenplays
Steele, Alexander (Edt)
(Paperback)
List Price: $15.95 Sale: $6.23
To break into the screenwriting game, you need a screenplay that is not just good, but great. Superlative. Stellar. Writing Movies provides everything you need to know to reach this level. In a single book. And, like the very best teachers, Writing Movies is always practical, accessible, and entertaining. Inside you’ll find: Explanations of the fundamental elements of screenwriting craft (plot, character, scenes, etc.); insight into such crucial (but seldom discussed) topics as description, voice, tone, and theme; analysis of five brilliant screenplays - Die Hard, Thelma & Louise, Tootsie, Sideways, and The Shawshank Redemption; strategies for breaking into the business; a guide to screenwriting format; assignments that strengthen your command of screenwriting craft; step-by-step tasks that take you from rough idea to polished script; and tie-ins to supplementary material at the book’s website. Written by Gotham Writers’ Workshop expert instructors and edited by Dean of Faculty Alexander Steele, Writing Movies offers the same methods and exercises that have earned the school international acclaim.
The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America
Butler, Isaac
(Paperback)
List Price: $20.00 Sale: $3.51
When Tony Kushner's Angels in America hit Broadway in 1993, it won the Pulitzer Prize, swept the Tonys, launched a score of major careers, and changed the way gay lives were represented in popular culture. Mike Nichols's 2003 HBO adaptation starring Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, and Mary-Louise Parker was itself a tour de force, winning Golden Globes and eleven Emmys, and introducing the play to an even wider public. This generation-defining classic continues to shock, move, and inspire viewers worldwide.Now, on the 25th anniversary of that Broadway premiere, Isaac Butler and Dan Kois offer the definitive account of Angels in America in the most fitting way possible: through oral history, the vibrant conversation and debate of actors (including Streep, Parker, Nathan Lane, and Jeffrey Wright), directors, producers, crew, and Kushner himself. Their intimate storytelling reveals the on- and offstage turmoil of the play's birth - a hard-won miracle beset by artistic roadblocks, technical disasters, and disputes both legal and creative. And historians and critics help to situate the play in the arc of American culture, from the staunch activism of the AIDS crisis through civil rights triumphs to our current era, whose politics are a dark echo of the Reagan '80s.Expanded from a popular Slate cover story and built from nearly 250 interviews, The World Only Spins Forward is both a rollicking theater saga and an uplifting testament to one of the great works of American art of the past century, from its gritty San Francisco premiere to its starry, much-anticipated Broadway revival in 2018.
The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America
Butler, Isaac
(Hardcover)
List Price: $30.00 Sale: $3.51
The oral history of Angels in America, as told by the artists who created it and the audiences forever changed by it--a moving account of the AIDS era, essential queer history, and an exuberant backstage tale.
The World as a Stage
Morgan, Jessica
(Softcover)
List Price: $25.00 Sale: $6.07
The World as a Stage presents a key group of international contemporary artists - Pavel Althamer, Catherine Sullivan, Tino Sehgal, and others - who reinvigorate the rich historical relationship between visual art and theater. Challenging negative associations made between the notion of “theatricality” and the realm of visual art in recent decades, the artists in this book make visible the extent to which a sense of theater, or spectacle, now permeates the spectator’s role in the museum or gallery and how this carries through to their experience of the contemporary urban environment. Considering a variety of media including installation, sculpture, performance, participatory works, and events, this book deals with issues such as the framing of human presence in the experience of art.
The World According to Star Wars (Revised and Updated)
Sunstein, Cass R.
(Paperback)
List Price: $15.99 Sale: $6.07
In this fun, erudite, and moving book, Cass R. Sunstein explores the lessons of Star Wars as they relate to childhood, fathers, the Dark Side, rebellion, and redemption, along with constitutional law, economics, and political uprisings. Sunstein tells the story of the films' wildly unanticipated success and what it has to say about why some things succeed while others fail. The World According to Star Wars shines a bright new light on the most beloved story of our time.
The Wonders
Woolf, John
(Hardcover)
List Price: $27.95 Sale: $8.63
A radical new history that rediscovers the remarkable freak performers whose talents and charisma helped define an era.On March 23, 1844, General Tom Thumb, just 25 inches tall, entered the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace and bowed low to Queen Victoria. On both sides of the Atlantic, this meeting marked a tipping point in the nineteenth century, and the age of the freak was born.Bewitching all levels of society, it was a world of curiosities and astonishing spectacle—of dwarfs, giants, bearded ladies, Siamese twins, and swaggering showmen. But the real stories—human dramas that so often eclipsed the fantasy presented on the stage—of the performing men, women and children, have been forgotten or marginalized in the histories of the very people who exploited them.In this richly evocative account, John Woolf uses a wealth of recently discovered material to bring to life the sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant, always extraordinary stories of people who used their (dis)abilities and difference to become some of the first international celebrities.Through their lives we discover afresh some of the great transformations of the age: the birth of show business, of celebrity, of advertising, and of “alternative facts” while also exploring the tensions between the power of fame, the impact of exploitation, and our fascination with “otherness.”
Wit
Edson, Margaret
(Paperback)
List Price: $15.00 Sale: $5.88
When it was first performed in New York in 1998, Wit was a revelation to critics and audiences alike. In writing a play about terminal cancer and metaphysical poetry - and exploring the mysteries of both through the central character of Vivian Bearing, a highly accomplished but emotionally remote scholar who is forced to reassess her life during her harrowing stint in a cancer ward - Margaret Edson crafted a work that was as intellectually challenging as it was emotionally immediate.
Win or Die: Leadership Secrets From Game of Thrones
Craven, Bruce
(Hardcover)
List Price: $28.99 Sale: $2.91
A guide to leading without losing your head, inspired by the bestselling books and smash television series Game of Thrones. One of the great joys of Game of Thrones is strategizing what bold moves you'd make in this bloody, volatile world - from the comfort of your living room. And one of the great terrors of being a leader is knowing your real world can be just as brutal - and offices bring no comfort.Every day you're presented with opportunities and challenges, and must decide which roads to follow, which risks to confront, when to deny an opportunity and when to pursue the call to adventure. And you won't know whether you'll profit or fail while you're in the thick of it. In Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, Bruce Craven brilliantly analyzes the journeys of the best and worst leaders in Westeros, so that leaders can create their own narratives of success.Craven considers beloved characters such as Ned Stark, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister as they make terrible decisions and fatal mistakes, but also achieve incredible victories and surprising successes, learning and growing along their (often bloody) ways. Readers will learn how to face conflict and build resilience, develop contextual and emotional intelligence, develop their vision, and more.This entertaining and accessible guide will show readers how to turn danger into opportunity, even when dragons threaten.
The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film
Stratton, W. K.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $28.00 Sale: $7.27
For the fiftieth anniversary of the film, W.K. Stratton's definitive history of the making of The Wild Bunch, named one of the greatest Westerns of all time by the American Film Institute.Sam Peckinpah's film The Wild Bunch is the story of a gang of outlaws who are one big steal from retirement. When their attempted train robbery goes awry, the gang flees to Mexico and falls in with a brutal general of the Mexican Revolution, who offers them the job of a lifetime. Conceived by a stuntman, directed by a blacklisted director, and shot in the sand and heat of the Mexican desert, the movie seemed doomed. Instead, it became an instant classic with a dark, violent take on the Western movie tradition. In The Wild Bunch, W.K. Stratton tells the fascinating history of the making of the movie and documents for the first time the extraordinary contribution of Mexican and Mexican-American actors and crew members to the movie's success. Shaped by infamous director Sam Peckinpah, and starring such visionary actors as William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O'Brien, and Robert Ryan, the movie was also the product of an industry and a nation in transition. By 1968, when the movie was filmed, the studio system that had perpetuated the myth of the valiant cowboy in movies like The Searchers had collapsed, and America was riled by Vietnam, race riots, and assassinations. The Wild Bunch spoke to America in its moment, when war and senseless violence seemed to define both domestic and international life. The Wild Bunch is an authoritative history of the making of a movie and the era behind it.
The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film
Stratton, W. K.
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $5.19
Sam Peckinpah’s film The Wild Bunch is the story of a gang of outlaws who are one big steal from retirement. When their attempted train robbery goes awry, the gang flees to Mexico and falls in with a brutal general of the Mexican Revolution, who offers them the job of a lifetime. Conceived by a stuntman, directed by a blacklisted director, and shot in the sand and heat of the Mexican desert, the movie seemed doomed. Instead, it became an instant classic with a dark, violent take on the Western movie tradition.In The Wild Bunch, W.K. Stratton tells the fascinating history of the making of the movie and documents for the first time the extraordinary contribution of Mexican and Mexican-American actors and crew members to the movie’s success. Shaped by infamous director Sam Peckinpah, and starring such visionary actors as William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O’Brien, and Robert Ryan, the movie was also the product of an industry and a nation in transition. By 1968, when the movie was filmed, the studio system that had perpetuated the myth of the valiant cowboy in movies like The Searchers had collapsed, and America was riled by Vietnam, race riots, and assassinations. The Wild Bunch spoke to America in its moment, when war and senseless violence seemed to define both domestic and international life.The Wild Bunch is an authoritative history of the making of a movie and the era behind it.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Albee, Edward
(Paperback)
List Price: $14.00 Sale: $5.43
A social event becomes a personal challenge for two faculty members and their wives at a small New England college as their inner fears and desires are exposed.
Who Is Alex Trebek?: A Biography
Rogak, Lisa
(Hardcover)
List Price: $27.99 Sale: $8.63
After a contestant wrote “We love you, Alex!” as his Final Jeopardy! answer, fans around the world quickly chimed in to proclaim their own love and support for beloved Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. In the wake of his devastating cancer diagnosis, the moment provided the perfect opportunity to reflect on what the show - and the man – meant to them.It was no surprise, since millions of devoted viewers have long considered Alex Trebek to be a part of their daily lives ever since he began hosting the show in 1984. Now, bestselling biographer Lisa Rogak gives readers a look at Trebek's early life, his career, and his personal life throughout the years, drawing on many sources to tell his full story for the first time.There are many surprises, like the fact that Trebek was almost 50 when he discovered that he had a half brother, as well as the revelation that for a short time he actually dreamed of becoming a priest. The native Canadian also struggled with depression after the failure of his first marriage, and for years afterward he despaired of ever having a family of his own until he met the woman who would become his soulmate.Who Is Alex Trebek? is the first biography of the much-loved game show host, and as such, celebrates the man who has created a remarkable legacy that will live on in popular culture for generations to come.
The Who and the What
Akhtar, Ayad
(Paperback)
List Price: $15.00 Sale: $4.79
The Pulitzer prize-winning author of Disgraced explores the conflict that erupts within a Muslim family in Atlanta when an independent-minded daughter writes a provocative novel that offends her more conservative father and sister. Zarina has a bone to pick with the place of women in her Muslim faith, and she's been writing a book about the Prophet Muhammad that aims to set the record straight. When her traditional father and sister discover the manuscript, it threatens to tear her family apart. With humor and ferocity, Akhtar's incisive new drama about love, art, and religion examines the chasm between our traditions and our contemporary lives.
Where the Girls Are
Douglas, Susan J.
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $5.43
"Provocative...rollicking....peppy and indignant....The most original and engaging parts of Where the Girls Are are Ms. Douglas's irreverent and sometimes very funny readings of specific television shows and pop songs." --The New York Times. SC, 348 pages.
Where Do I Begin?: Stories from a Life Lived Out Loud
Duran, Elvis
(Hardcover)
List Price: $26.99 Sale: $8.63
Elvis Duran’s nationally syndicated radio program, Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, is America’s most-listened-to Top 40 morning show and one of the 10 most-listened-to programs in all of radio, heard live by nearly ten million people every morning.But his success didn’t happen overnight. Elvis spent years navigating the wild world of radio as a DJ for hire, working (and partying) in markets around the country before taking over the morning shift at the legendary Z100 in 1996. Over the last twenty years, he has become one of New York City’s signature voices (Variety calls him “a permanent fixture of the area’s daily commutes”) thanks to his show’s exciting mix of music, new artist discovery, interviews, gossip, and live listener interaction.Along the way, Elvis has become known not just for his incisive interviews (and occasional feuds) with pop music’s biggest stars, but for the show’s commitment to kindness and positivity and Elvis’s own candor and openness with his audience.Bold, funny, and totally candid, Where Do I Begin? is sure to be loved by anyone who listens to Elvis live every morning - or anyone who wants to know what really goes on behind the scenes of the pop music machine from the “man who has been as big a part of the industry’s success as anyone” (Ryan Seacrest).
What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing
Seibert, Brian
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $5.43
What the Eye Hears offers an authoritative account of the great American art of tap dancing. Brian Seibert, a dance critic for The New York Times, begins by exploring tap's origins as a hybrid of the jig and clog dancing and dances brought from Africa by slaves. He tracks tap's transfer to the stage through blackface minstrelsy and charts its growth as a cousin to jazz in the vaudeville circuits. Seibert chronicles tap's spread to ubiquity on Broadway and in Hollywood, analyzes its decline after World War II, and celebrates its rediscovery and reinvention by new generations of American and international performers. In the process, we discover how the history of tap dancing is central to any meaningful account of American popular culture.This is a story with a huge cast of characters, from Master Juba through Bill Robinson and Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Gene Kelly and Paul Draper to Gregory Hines and Savion Glover. Seibert traces the stylistic development of tap through individual practitioners and illuminates the cultural exchange between blacks and whites, the interplay of imitation and theft, as well as the moving story of African Americans in show business, wielding enormous influence as they grapple with the pain and pride of a complicated legacy. What the Eye Hears teaches us to see and hear the entire history of tap in its every step.
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