3 comments about Stories on Stage: Children's Plays for Reader's Theater (or Readers Theatre), With 15 Play Scripts From 15 Authors, Including Roald Dahl's The Twits and Louis Sachar's Sideways Stories from Wayside School.

1. This book is formatted so easily, it took me MUCH less time than I thought it would to prepare a unit on reader's theatre for my class. I used it for my high school theatre class so they wouldn't have to concentrate on large vocabularies, but rather to deliver the story in a simple, easy way. It was a HUGE success of a project and this book made it possible. It tells you how long each story is, what cast you'll need, and what reading level it is!! Yay!!!
   The stories themselves are entertaining (even for high school!!!), compelling, and really fun to work with. I am SO grateful I ordered this!



2. Aaron Shepard is a generous contributor to the field of Reader's Theatre. This book is no exception. It's well-laid out and chock-full of interesting scripts. I've recommended to several folks interested in RT.



3. This book was written in clear language. It was helpful to me as a novice.

1 comments about Essential Elements of Public Speaking, The (2nd Edition) (MySpeechLab Series).

1. Very politically correct, and thus helpful if you plan on speaking to a cross-cultural audience. I had it for an introductory public-speaking college course (undergrad), and found it too heavy on PC and not heavy enough on basic public-speaking skills, an overall frustrating experience.

1 comments about An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary.

1. Jean Benedetti provides the modern translation of this classic text on actor training, a recommended pick for any college-level collection strong in drama theory and actor training. His offers a more accurate new translation of the classic, critiquing Method acting and its legacy and putting Stanislavski's two-volume work back under one cover as he originally intended. The result is a clearer, more revealing legacy than the prior translation, and deserves a spot in any serious college-level acting library.

1 comments about The Challenge of Effective Speaking.

1. A must-have book.Informative and excellently written.Gives all the information you want on Public speaking.

2 comments about August Wilson Century Cycle.

1. Having read all these plays as they emerged in print, having seen many of them on stage over the past 23 years, and having just had the ecstatic experience of witnessing all ten plays in the cycle performed in chronological order at the Kennedy Center in Washington, I confess a strong bias in this review! I believe that every literate American should have this set on his or her bookshelf. It will provoke laughter and tears, stir the mystic chords that bind all people together regardless of race or status, and provide the satisfying recognition that -- while life is an inscrutable mystery -- it is also a rich and rewarding adventure.



2. 5 stars for one of the most significant literary/theatrical endeavors of the last century, August Wilson's cycle of ten plays, a decade-by-decade chronicle of ordinary African-American family life from 1900-2000, elevated to the extraordinary by some of the most powerful poetic diction ever to grace the American stage; Wilson was the successor and peer of Eugene O'Neill and Tenessee Williams, refracted through the sensibility of James Baldwin. The bars, the churches, the backporch, the white-picket fence front yard, the crack-vial strewn alleys, the jails, the recording studios, the ballparks, this was the terrain Wilson took us through, no place was alien to him, every character, old , young, male, female, upwardly mobile, downwardly spiraling, or just holding on, saint and sinner had their gospel and blues-drenched monologue/moment in the spotlight. These ten linked plays are essential reading, and bear in mind Wilson kept himself alive while through sheer force of will while in the throes of a terminal illness to make sure he finished the cycle. And for the first time ever, all ten have been housed in one volume.
   
   So why oh why has the tome been priced in the three figures, beyond the scope of the very people who would most benefit by reading it? A sin and a shame...one star to the publisher, Mr. Wilson's estate, whoever thought this gouging was necessary.

5 comments about Diet for Dancers: A Complete Guide to Nutrition and Weight Control.

1. Written during the Balanchine era, this book works in a way that can actually encourage an eating disorder or create more motivation for someone who already has one. This comes from someone with an eating disorder. While this book does have interesting information and even a couple pages to identity eating disorders, it's important to keep in mind the time this book was written during a different era in ballet and that the biological information is out of date. I verified that with a medical professional.
   
   The average heights, weights, etc., were also taken from quite a while ago, as far as ballet goes. Different ideals are in place now that then. To strive to be the ideal dancer in this book would be to strive to being too thin by modern ballet standards, which is still pretty damned thin.
   
   An updated edition written in a different way would be a better alternative. Otherwise, this book should only be put into the hands of healthy adults without tendency toward eating disorders.



2. Gives some good info and I felt it really helped me understand about dieting and the dancers body. Full of great information.



3. This book helped be understand WHAT kind of exercise I needed to do in order to lose body FAT. I'm not in the "overweight" category, so books that tell you to "just take a walk" or "take the stairs instead of the elevator" aren't the most useful (I already do those things).
   
   I'm not a dancer but I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to go down ONE size, and doesn't need to go down 3 or 4.



4. It is a little confuse for young adults, specially if they are not familiar with measurement :-(



5. Awesome book for any type of Dancer!

5 comments about The Ballet Companion: A Dancer's Guide to the Technique, Traditions, and Joys of Ballet.

1. By far the best ballet book I've ever seen. Lots of pictures, concise information, covers just about everything. Despite being by Minden, it's not a book that overly promotes the shoes. I'm a Grishko-wearer and was expecting a lot of tie-ins, but the book actually says different dancers may have different needs.
   
   I highly recommend this book for young and older dancers alike.



2. We give a copy of this book to all graduating seniors who intend to continue their dance career.



3. This book is a must have for anyone who loves the Ballet. There is a little something her for everyone, instructors, dancers, ballet enthusiast. It's a beautifully put together collection of photos, descriptions of ballet moves as well as descriptions of actual ballets. This is a wonderful book for research purposes and a beautiful addition to anyone's personal library. The history of dance is also included as well as other interesting bits and pieces of trivia.
   
   Ms. Gaynor Minden's love for ballet comes across in this book. I highly recommend this title if you love ballet or know someone who does.



4. Written in lay-persons terms so I could understand. Every thing you need to know concerning ballet. - From warm ups to jumps, ribbons to toe shoes, healthy eating to injury protection, Ballet history to future diva dancer. I have been able to look up an ache, see what muscles are in the area and then look up the appropriate stretches. All in one book!
   
   And there are 5 glossaries in the back of the book. - Ballet Terms, Music Terms, theater Teams, Social Dances, and Dancer Slang! Don't get stuck with a "Dolly Dinkle"! Be a proud "Bun Head" and be in the know! This may very well be the only dusted book in your Ballet Library.
   
   Poor Mom of Three Darling Dancing Divas.



5. I really enjoyed this book. There's almost nothing out there for us adult beginners, and this book fills that gap totally. I highly recommend it for anyone starting out, but would hesitate to get it if you've already been taking classes for a few years.

5 comments about Nureyev: The Life.

1. Nureyev: The Life
   This is a page turner of a book- not only for the unusual life of Nureyev but also for a look into the world of dance. As great a dancer as he was, even he struggled repeatedly to find his place in the world. As he aged, he needed to change his repertoire, and, eventually, his career. Julie Kavanagh is a dancer who understands the politics of dance and builds in enough detail to make us feel the frustrations and struggles of Nureyev as he tries to find a company which fits his personality.



2. Rudolf Nureyev, flamboyant dancer with the Kirov Ballet of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), began life on a train to the Eastern Russian front. He was the son of Tatar parents from a remote part of the Soviet Union. His father was a soldier who was rarely home. The family was extremely poor and often hungry, but his mother managed to sneak them into a performance of a ballet when Rudolf was five. He was determined from that time on to learn to dance and perform on the stage. He had the talent, determination and perseverance to succeed.
   
   Julie Kavanagh has documented the life of this dancing man in this encyclopedic volume. She includes information about Nureyev's early training in his hometown, Ufa, his extensive training with mentor Pushkin and Pushkin's wife, Xenia in St. Petersburg. She details his defection to the West in Paris that read like a spy novel - complete with KGB operatives.
   
   Nureyev passion for dance and for learning propels him to work with choreographers from the Paris Opera Ballet to West Side Story. Kavanagh includes titillating factoids about Nureyev's personal life - hobnobbing with the rich and famous, his womanizing, his homosexual lifestyle, and his final battle with HIV/AIDS. She also talks about his dancing.
   
   Nureyev is first and foremost a ballet dancer and she documents his transition from the formal classical ballet style to the avant-garde modern dance styles he helped to create.
   
   This tome, and it is a tome of nearly 700 pages without counting the extensive footnotes, acknowledgements and index, is an extensive account of a fascinating person. It is quite readable, with the caveat that there are multitudinous Russian names, ballet terminologies, and musical references. These kept me reading somewhat slower than usual.
   
   The book also has three large sections of photographic illustrations.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Anyone with a strong interest in ballet history or in Nureyev himself will find this to be a very satisfying book.



3. I have been buying books my entire adult life and off Amazon since its inception, however never have I before felt compelled to review until now, which speaks to the brilliance of Julie Kavanagh's book. I try to read outside categories I know, and this one was no exception, no absolutely nothing about ballet or dance. But this book made me feel and appreciate both, as well as the epic life of Nureyev. Passionately told and incredible well researched, this is a biography worthy of its subject.



4. Kavanagh's "Nureyev" is another first-rate dance biography, fully matching her marvelous account of Frederick Ashton. Nureyev was more a great star than a great dancer, yet his impact on male ballet dancers worldwide was transformative. Before Rudi, they were mostly earthbound dullards, either crudely straight or mincingly effeminate; after Rudi, men in ballet became nearly as turned out, pulled up, and extended as ballerinas, with a protean animalism that enabled them to live gay yet seem to love their women onstage.
   
   Unlike her predecessor Richard Buckle, whose dance bios read like transcribed engagement books, Kavanagh offers a nearly perfect balance of details and distillation, compellingly tracing arcs in her subject's life. She pays extra attention to Rudi's first years in the West, richly detailing his two key relationships--with Margot Fonteyn, whom he ignited just as she was about to retire, and with Eric Bruhn, the one dancer he would learn from and the love of his life--plus the recasting of his dancing into a fusion of Russian and Western. Rudi's restless gay life is all there, yet without prurience. Eventually he settled down, for a time, with Wallace Potts, an all-American gay boy whose goodness and devotion shine through quite attractively (other acolytes followed). In these pages, Rudi lives just like a coddled star athlete: no matter how beastly his conduct, somebody always satisfies his needs and keeps his ego fully inflated. A fine biography and a great read.



5. 
   He was born on a train as his mother and sisters journeyed to be with his soldier father. Of this unusual entrance into the world, Nureyev was to say "...it was the most romantic event of his life, symbolic of his future statelessness and nomadic existence."
   
   His was a life lived from place to place from humble beginnings in a Russian village to the most luxurious surroundings the world could offer. He was an icon, libidinous, both men and women were drawn to him. The great love of his life, according to this author, was the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn. One reason for his defection Nureyev is quoted as saying is because he wanted to learn to dance like Bruhn and "to study with Bruhn's teacher, the Russian born Vera Volkova, a childhood friend of Pushkin's."
   
   Many were to play a part in Nureyev's life and career, They helped him in numerous ways, introductions, opportunities, advancing his talent. However, once these people had served their purpose they "became dispensable."
   
   A trained ballet dancer Ms. Kavanagh brings insightful commentary to this stunning biography, which abounds with quotes from letters, diaries, and interviews. All of these bring an immediacy to her narrative, an accessibility, if you will, to Nureyev's thoughts and ambitions. He was, of course, a superstar, an idol who lived a flamboyant life and brought a spectacular aura to the world of dance. Nureyev the man was unparalleled, and so is his biography by Julie Kavanagh.
   
   - Gail Cooke

5 comments about The Stagecraft Handbook.

1. I just purchased this book, and while I am satisfied with it, there seems to be missing information. I enjoy the background on the history of theatre and some of the detail in the text. However, the author missed giving more depth to the actual procedures section. It seems like the author spent too much time in the early chapters and lost steam when it came to the true content that readers want...how to build scenery. It is a good reference to add to the collection and is good for students who like to read detailed instructions. But for the builder who needs a quick reference, you would be better off with "The Backstage Handbook" instead.



2. This is not the "Backstage handbook" That bible of the technician is out of print. This, however is a good sub. Excellent for the "first-timer" and useful for those already in theatre.



3. The book I ordered was delivered with speed and is in excellent condition. My thanks to the seller. I look forward to our doing it again.



4. Item was as described. I wish there was a book like this that focused more on the stage construction of movie sets.



5. This is a wonderful book, perfect for the beginner and intermediate. Clear and very helpful. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Technical Theater for Nontechnical People.

1. I am finding this book very useful for a rounded guide to technical theatre for those of us who are 'Jacks of all Trades'. I am a solo technician in a Performing arts college in the UK and find it a useful recourse as I have to don many hats and it makes a good refresher or guide for the less experienced.
   It is well written and I find it honest and light and gives a good bit of detail about specific technicalities without the really mind boggling stuff that I guess 'non technical people' would get someone in for anyway.
   Every director should have a copy, or anyone who has to work with technicians as it is a great overview of different roles and the work that different departments put in.
   Have a go. It's worth the money in my humble opinion.



2. Campbell is a consummate technician, with experience in all areas of entertainment. He certainly knows his stuff and has made it accessible to anyone interested (even casually) in theater and how to make it happen. I interviewed Campbell for my own book, Careers in Technical Theater, and he is included in the chapter detailing technical directors, where he makes clear just how much there is to know about tech theater. Technical Theater for Nontechnical People helps bridge the gap between folks as experienced and knowledgeable as Campbell, and those just trying to put on a show who may lack even the basics. Highly recommended.



3. Very informative book, does what its says it will do, easy to understand.



4. I found this to be an excellent treatise on what it takes from a tecnical standpoint to mount a successful show. I've been involved with Community Theater for over 40 years and I learned a few new tricks of the trade.
   The community theater company I'm involved with now has recently merged with a local art gallery to create a center for the arts. The paid staff has little to no theatrical experience yet has to interact with not only our local members but potential touring groups, local bands, etc. I am recommending to the executive director that the entire staff be required to read the book as part of their asscending the learning curve related to theatrical productions.



5. This is a wonderful book, but did you know there's a revised 2004 edition available? Click on "Paperback (2nd)" so you can get the most updated information on this subject.