5 comments about Playwriting: Writing Producing and Selling Your Play.

1. Like many people who aspire to be working writers, I've sunk a lot of money into books intended to make me better at my desired field. Maybe you have, too. If you have, you know there are three things no writing book will ever give you.

   1. Inspiration
   2. Discipline
   3. Connections

   This book is no exception. You'll be sorely disappointed if you go in search of any of these golden rings using this book as your guide. If you think this, or any, book will provide any of these things for you, give up now, go get a real job, make room in the field for the chosen and called.

   You will not be able to read this book and crank out a production-level script cold. But if you dedicate your time to practicing the exercises Catron provides; if you try, try again; if you pursue his advice and keep this book close at hand all the way through the production process, you should do just fine.

   Catron offers a breakdown of play elements based on Aristotle, he offers an overview of what literary directors are usually looking for, he even offers a tutorial in formatting your script so an otherwise sterling piece doesn't get thrown aside too soon for being improperly constructed. If you have a gift for writing theatre, and a burning desire that causes you to spend enough time in writing every day to develop and maintain your skills, this book will bridge the gap between that and being ready for production.

   This book won't provide any magic bullets. You have to want to write, and you have to want to work at it. If you really, really want to be a playwright, and you're really, really willing to work at it, get this book before any other. Then buckle down and START WRITING!!!




2. This book will teach you the proper format but it talks a lot about writing One-Act plays not feature lenghts. Hey I never wrote a play in my life and I created a feature length play that made my professor very proud. Don't let this book limit your creativity by all the talk about One-Acts; Reach out for the stars. But, this book will help you with your formatting and it will help you out with the business side of it too. A keeper for playwrights.



3. I didn't think you could learn playwriting from a book. "A book is going to give rules, but I'm so different I make my own," I thought. Wrong-o! Now that I finally took advice and read this book I wish I had not been so stubborn and wasted all that time. It's like I had been wandering in a huge forest and then along comes this book to be guide and compass and map and path finder. Now, finally, I see what directors meant when they said those early plays needed a stronger sense of theater. I've just had my first production and this book was a major player in getting me there. This is my first "thank you note" to its author.



4. This book has withstood the test of time. I think I was one of the first to buy it when it came out in a Prentice-Hill hardcover, and it still is the first book I urge playwrights to get. The author is a first-class teacher who knows precisely what playwrights need to learn, in what order, to write the first play or revise the 100th. The only thing better than studying this book would be to take his course. I wish I had because I hear Catron's class is excellent. Free of jargon, definite in its clarity of what is stageworthy, its best feature is it makes you write. The chapter on "credo" is alone worth the price of admission. Great for a playwriting class--I always use it in my workshops--and great for do-it-yourself at home. (And I haven't "raved" like this over anything since the premiere of "My Fair Lady"!)



5. I remain firmly in agreement with my good friends, who wrote the critique below. The very best of Catron's texts, this book inspires immediate enthusiasm and, therefore, interaction with the author. I'll hang onto my original hardcover copy until it turns to dust, and continue to use it while both writing and teaching. An inspired text!

No comments about The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.

1 comments about Spark Notes The Oedipus Plays.

1. "Spark Notes Oedipus Trilogy" - I only used these "Spark Notes" for the play "Oedipus Rex" (or "Oedipus The King"). They were helpful in distinguishing the climax and bits of dialogue, but it's nothing spectacular. I "sorta" recommend.

No comments about Frayn Plays: 1: Alphabetical Order, Donkeys' Years, Clouds, Make and Break, and Noises Off (World Dramatists).

No comments about Plays One: The Father, Miss Julie, The Ghost Sonata (Methuen World Dramatists Series).

5 comments about My Life.

1. Meditating on morality and the Spitzer-Dupre debacle which is currently in the news, I recalled reading this book. IIRC, towards the end Burt muses that as-far-as-he-knows, he never actually fathered any biological children, believe it or not ! Plus which the book was entertaining I thought, at about a 3-star level. So for a book with implicit moral lessons to be 3-star-readable, that beats trudging thru Dr. Laura !



2. This book was pretty good but I gave it 4 stars because Burt did not talk about his relationship with Tammy Wynette I read in Tammy's book about it and wanted to hear Burt's side.
   He does tell us a lot about the women that have passed through his life it was pretty interesting. I never would have thought Sally was so petty.
   and Loni was after money. I think the only woman who really loved Burt was Dinah Shore. I think maybe that was the only woman Burt really loved too.
   He tells us the age difference got in the way.
   He let other people put doubts in his head about Dinah he should of not listened to others but followed his heart.



3. I really liked this book, but some of it was hard to believe. Case in point, Chapter 56, Burt says that as late as 1994 he was on the short list to be be archbishop for the Rochester, NY archdiose. Is he even Catholic? Further Burt says in the 70s he was in separate fistfights with former president Jimmy Carter and TV superstar Nell Carter ... and that he broke his nose and her clavicle. That can't be true, can it? And this is the one I had the most diffcult time swallowing -- Burt refuses to recognize Guam as a Commonwealth of the United States all because in a review a newspaper critic in Agana called "Evening Shade" -- "awful."



4. This book started out good with all the excitement of his early career.Some of it is hard to believe though.Towards the end of the book it started dragging.I think Burt's life in the late 80's and early 90's must have been real boring or he just ran out of good stories to tell us.I was basically done with the book around the middle and had to labor to finish it.I am still a Burt Reynolds Fan cannot deny that.It now sits on the shelf next to Loni's book.That is where the real comedy comes in.If you notice Loni's book is larger and Burt wrote his after her? So I guess Burt is the small man next to her now



5. MY LIFE, the autobiography of actor Burt Reynolds, was published just a year or two too soon. The book came out shortly after Reynolds' public battle with former wife Loni Anderson, when people were talking more about his love life than his movies. Had Reynolds published this after his work in the film BOOGIE NIGHTS put him back on top, it would have been a more satisfying conclusion to the story.

   When illness and gossip threatened an end to Burt Reynolds' acting career, he recalled the words of his former girlfriend Dinah Shore, who had assured him that sooner or later his talent would win back what he had lost. As BOOGIE NIGHTS earned Reynolds an Oscar nomination, how right the late Ms. Shore proved to be. (As I write this, 3/1/02, it would have been Dinah's 85th birthday.)

   If you like movies, Burt Reynolds, or both, you can't miss with MY LIFE. The fire in the man's soul and his desire for life's finer things (including the finest women) have made for some incredible ups and downs. And when you're Burt Reynolds, you have a thousand tales of the fantasy life to tell.

   Other MY LIFE reviews question the actor's willingness to take a swing at those who upset him. In Reynolds' defense, he never ran from a fight even when he knew he was outmatched. That's the difference between a coward and a man's man: the will to fight with no guarantee you will win. While Reynolds admits passing on man-handling an ex-football player who was in a group of acting students he was throwing out of a class, he also tells about the time he took on Tony "Two Ton" Galento with no hope of winning. That's a tough guy.

   Read MY LIFE - or Burt'll come after you!

5 comments about The Playbill Broadway Yearbook: June 1, 2005 - May 31, 2006, Second Annual Edition (Playbill Broadway Yearbook).

1. stellar compilation of the entire broadway season's playbills; a must have for any theater fan



2. I live in South Africa and am a regular visitor to New York but was unable to get there this year. This book gives me full information on all aspects of shows on Broadway. I find it exceptionally interesting particularly on those shows that opened within that period.



3. This book was just what I expected, and it was wonderful! I shall definitely go back and buy the previous years' books. However, it is targeted at a specific reader/theatregoer. Lots and lots of pictures and behind the scenes lists, not only cast, but crew, producers, etc. Also lists awards and nominations. A great find for avid theatre buffs, but probably boring for the general public.



4. I purchased the first year yearbook as well as this second one. It is a good source of documentation of the theater season- complete with the cast listing, crew,stage door stories (which I particularly enjoy), photos and events that transpired on that particular theater season.



5. This was an ideal gift for my granddaughter who is majoring in theater in college. I also bought her the previous year's book. She had seen many of the plays and thoroughly enjoyed reading about those along with those she hadn't seen.

1 comments about The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader: NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT IN THE UNIVERSE.

1. Let me preface this review by saying that it will center entirely on the using the book in a college-level course. I used this as an assigned text in U.S. history survey in 2007. Frankly, I did not know how students would react to or engage with Barnum. They enjoyed the book and the sparks flew in our classroom discussion. I think this text works much better than Barnum's autobiography as an introduction to Barnum's historical significance. The only small criticism I will make of the book is that it would be even better (for classroom use) with a longer introduction that expands on Barnum's life, career, and historical context. James Cook has written brilliantly on these points, so perhaps a second edition will include a longer introduction. I prepared one lecture to fill in some of these gaps. Also, the first selection, "Adventures of an Adventurer" is very difficult for undergraduates to grasp, so I just omitted it from the assigned reading.

No comments about Brahms - A Listener's Guide: Unlocking the Masters Series (Unlocking the Masters).

1 comments about 50 African American Audition Monologues.

1. I purchased for an audition piece which would stand out from the crowd. The book has some good monologues and if you are looking for something serious and angst-filled, this is the book for you. If, however, you want something funny or whimsical this may not be the best book for you.