1 comments about Finger Frolics - Fingerplays For Young Children.

1. My son and I sat down for over an hour reading and doing the actions from this book and could have gone longer. The actions were well documented and easy to follow. I orginally borrowed the book from a friend an have since purchased a copy for myself. I'm now looking for way to incorporate the finger plays with a felt board.

5 comments about Elia Kazan: A Biography.

1. Elia Kazan was born in Istanbul, Turkey to Greek parents. Immigrating to America at the age of 4 he was the son of a middle class rug merchant. After taking a degree at Williams College he studied drama at Yale. Kazan became a member of the radical leftist theatre groups in New York in the 1920s and the 1930s. Kazan was instrumental in organizing the Actors
   Studio. He directed many hit shows on Broadway but enjoyed working in the movies more than theatre work.
   Kazan had the ability to team up with greats like Arthur Miller (Death of A Salesman, All My Sons, After the Fall-on stage and in the movies) and Tennessee Williams in such film classics as "Streetcar Named Desire." His work with William Inge is also impressive most notably in "Spledor in the Grass." with Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty.
   Kazan's greatest discovery was the enigmatic and volatile Marlon Brando who changed film forever following his stellar performances in Streetcar and On the Waterfront. Kazan won two best director Oscars for Gentleman's
   Agreement dealing with Anti-Semitism and Watefront. He received several other nominatins and is without question a great American director of midcentury angst, anger and a quest to discover the American dream. His film work displays gritty realism with outstanding acting being notable.
   Among his stars were Brando, Beatty, Wood, Malden; Kim Hunter, Vivien Leigh and many others.
   Kazan received a controversial Oscar in 1999 for life achievement. He had been a friendly witness to the HUAC committee in the 1950s investigating Communism in the film industry. Kazan had briefly been a member of the Communist party in his radical New York days. Due to his testimony he has been hated, reviled and called a Benedict Arnold by many in the Hollywood Community.
   Schickel does a good job in separating fact from fiction in Kazan's testimony to Congress. Kazan later apologized for his actions in his autobiography but some have never forgiven him. Kazan also wrote a few middling novels which have not stood the test of time.
   Kazan was married three times. He was a philanderer and serial adulterer. He could be cold and agggresive in his career. I don't think he was a very nice man but admit he was a great film director.
   The book has virtually nothing to say about his childhood focusing on his career and radical politics.
   Richard Schickel is a distinguished film scholar who is Time magazine's
   critic. His book is worth reading for anyone interested in American film;
   the McCarthy era or the life of the fascinatingly complex Elia Kazan



2. I've been fascinated by Kazan since the Ed Harris/Nick Nolte boycott of his 1999 Oscar. Why, 50 years later, would people still hold a grudge for naming names? Is it politics, animosity or stupidity?
   
   But first, this book gives a complete chronological analysis of his career. From his low level involvement with "The Group", a self-contained theater group with strong communist influences, to his first movie directorial debut. Kazan started as an undistinguished worker and grew to an "actor's director". This is overlaid with his involvement as a Communist and early disenchantment. Later, he is called before the committee after his great success and names former stage communists with whom he worked. The initial negative input dies down and he goes on to some of his best work including the classic, "On the Waterfront".
   
   This book will have great appeal for movie and stage historians as it really is it is an in-depth analysis. But the main appeal to me was understanding the hysteria of the Red scare and why 50 years later it would elicit such a negative response. This book demonstrates the artists coming out of the depression influence when faith in capitalism weakened. The growth of fascism heightened the "sales pitch" to this new theory of a great life for all, communism. But, as was later proven, communism had weaknesses also causing many Americans to experiment with a form of government that was cruel and a rival of America.
   
   It's impossible to determine how difficult it was for Kazan to name names. While he lost some friends, his career continued very successfully for some time before it faltered as it does for most in show business after a good run. But 50 years later an honor becomes a media event as modern day left-leaning actors chose to make this an issue. Interestingly, some actors such as Robert Di Nero, Martin Scorcese and Warren Beatty supported and honored Kazan. They had worked with him early in their career. I don't fault Nolte/Harris. In the prism of today's world, it's easy to ostracize a snitch. But the issue is much more complex than that. Our world was in turmoil. Decisions were made. Lives were changed on both sides. Kazan became an opponent of Communism but chose to focus on his career. Not naming names of known communists would have probably ruined his career.
   
   In summary, this is an exhaustive critical study of his work. Frankly, the study is so exhaustive that that is the weakness. This book will be most appealing to true movie and stage history buffs. Also, those with a curiosity into the Red Scare and 1950s American history such as me will receive great information. Other than that, be forewarned this is a long time consuming educational book.



3. Schickel adds nothing to the telling of Elia Kazan's story that wasn't already written up better by Kazan himself in his huge memoir A LIFE, except for constant interjections of Schickel's own opinions on everything under the sun. He (Schickel) thought that Juliette Binoche was great in THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING. he (Schickel) disapproved of the Oscars handed out to Roberto Benigni. Who on earth cares about these irrelevant opinions? Schickel is in love with the sound of his own voice, and somewhere in the shredded cole slaw of his prose, a decent books lies unavailable to us, about the real Elia Kazan.
   
   Provocative? Yes, crazily so. The movies of Kazan you think are great, Schickel finds overrated, and the "little" pictures you always forget, are Schickel's masterpieces--A FACE IN THE CROWD, for example. He compares it to Alexander Mackendrick's THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS in favorable terms, telling us that SWEET SMELL had a script "half-written by Clifford Odets." What do you think that means, "half-written"? He makes it sound worse than it is, but that's his TIME magazine-speak coming to the fore. Richard Schickel can't write a sentence that doesn't sound like a picture caption.
   
   And sure, he can make Elia Kazan sound like a hero for naming names to HUAC in January 1952, but that's just special pleading. "The scapegoats were all eventually welcomed back, often enough as heroes, while the committee's informers are the ones now scapegoated by polite, liberal-minded society." That's a cynical way of thinking about it, but why does Schickel say "often enough" instead of just plain "often" in the sentence above? Is it just plain hasty writing, or could he be even meaner spirited than he seems at first glance?
   
   And why so nasty about Barbara Loden, Kazan's second wife? My God, you'd think she had started World War II he's so unrelenting against her.
   
   The whole book is about Richard Schickel and how he wrote Kazan's acceptance speech and assembled the clip show when the Academy gave him the special award. It's about how Schickel felt when the ceremony turned into an embarrasing dud. It's about how Schickel knew Raymond Massey pretty well and often heard him rage against James Dean. How old is Schickel anyway. He looks pretty good in the jacket photo, only the nose and the combover would betray he's got to be about ten zillion years old.



4. It is amazing how one decision can discolor the image of a man who should be otherwise revered for his pioneering and enduring role in American theater and film during the middle of the 20th century. Time Magazine film critic Richard Schickel, a notable film historian in his own right, gives an insightful, unblemished account of Elia Kazan's career, which gives the man his professional due and also provides much-needed context for Kazan's perceived act of betrayal. The deep shadow that hangs over his legacy is related to just one's day testimony before the communist-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. At the US Senate hearing, Kazan identified 16 names and two others more directly connected to the Communist party. Not only did he disclose their identities, but taking a defensive posture, he also took out an ad in the New York Times defending what he did. From that point forward, Kazan became known infamously as an informer. Moreover, his most enduring classic, "On the Waterfront", specifically Terry's decision to become a government informant, came to be viewed by some critics as a veiled defense of his naming names.
   
   Stepping back though, Schickel recognizes Kazan for the major creative force he was, well worthy of the praise heaped upon him during his lifetime. The journalist delves into how Kazan helped mold promising young actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean into legends and establish the careers of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, all doing their best work under his aegis. Kazan's best work is a slate of unsurpassable movies and plays - the stage versions of Miller's "All My Sons" and "Death of a Salesman", the stage and film versions of Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire" and transcendent films that were either socially conscious (anti-Semitism in "Gentleman's Agreement", racism in "Pinky", labor unions in "On the Waterfront") or expansions of literary works (Steinbeck's "East of Eden", William Inge's "Splendor in the Grass"). He was able to elicit memorable performances from diverse performers ranging from Tallulah Bankhead (Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth") to Andy Griffith ("A Face in the Crowd") to Natalie Wood ("Splendor in the Grass"). This is where Schickel writes lucidly about Kazan's emphasis on the essential rightness of his aesthetic, which seamlessly led characters' psychological events into personal behavior.
   
   Yet, for all his accomplishments, Kazan is defined most by what he said that day and destroying the careers of those he named, including actor John Garfield who died of a heart attack the year after the testimony. Within personal and historical context, Schickel makes Kazan's thinking seem reasonable given his subject's brief membership in the Communist Party during his youth when Kazan worked with a radical theater troupe in the 1930s. As a committed liberal, Kazan felt betrayed by the atrocities of Stalin and his followers' ideological rigidity. With his liberal beliefs fortified by such memories, he cooperated with the HUAC's anti-Communist efforts in order to thwart Communists leading a liberal-biased agenda in Hollywood. Kazan stood by his decision even though it destroyed friendships with colleagues like Miller and Lillian Hellman. He regretted the decision later, but much of Hollywood remained unforgiving as symbolized by the 1999 Academy Awards ceremony where at least one-quarter of the star-studded audience refused to applaud Kazan's lifetime achievement Oscar. It was a sad sight but one that according to Schickel's thorough analysis, marks accurately the public and private halves of the man.



5. I apologize to Mr. Schickel. I didn't read his book. Perhaps it's very good but that's for others to decide. I am however familiar with Elia Kazan's AUTOBIOGRAPHY having read the first 200 pages of this massive work (I am in the process of reading it), written in 1988. It's a masterpiece, as good as any piece of fiction or non-fiction you're likely to come across. I mean 'any'. Kazan does as good a job as anyone at being honestly self-reflective, and his writing style is crisp, clear, fresh and insightful. Powerful. Surprising. You can learn alot about human nature and desire from this book. Its emotions and insights into character ring true...some of it is disturbing, some sad, much of it funny... often riveting. Read it. You won't be disappointed.

1 comments about Stage Directors Handbook: 2nd Revised Edition (Stage Director's Handbook).

1. This is a phenomenal text that is a great resource for directors looking to expand our work in new venues including regional theatre, festivals, and abroad. The introduction by Moisés Kaufman sets a tone of community, stressing the need for collaboration between theatre directors and not just between directors and other theatre artists which I found to be very refereshing. The entire book is set up to do that; share information about our craft.

5 comments about Peterson's College Guide for Performing Arts Majors 2008 (author Carole J. Everett) (Performing Arts Major's College Guide).

1. My daughter and I had hoped this guide would give more insight into the culture of each place and the nature and quality of the experience to be had there -- student anecdotes, description of the atmosphere, insight into teaching strengths, etc., as you would find in the Princeton or Fiske guides to top colleges and universities. There is some good generalized information, but the information pertaining to particular schools is very "listy," not descriptive.



2. I was impressed with the breadth of information for a young person in terms of how to go about applying for programs, how to audition, where to look for scholarship money, etc. However, I noticed that there weren't many Ivy League schools included. I was particularly looking for information on Yale because I had heard they had an excellent program in the performing arts. I was kind of astounded that such a school would not be included. I was also disappointed that the book did not offer any evaluative information regarding the reputation of various programs or the rate of students going on to work in the performing arts. That would be really helpful information. Further, after reading the descriptions of a few schools, (note that for Roosevelt), I wondered whether these were written by the author or whether they were based on responses provided by the schools themselves.



3. For anyone wishing to limit the college search to those schools who offer majors in performing arts - music, dance or theatre. It is divided into these three sections. Lists both BA and BFA majors. Very useful to 2 of my kids who are performing arts majors. Cuts those huge college guide books down for a good place to start to look and compare different performing arts colleges. Other listed info is the same as in any college guide - size, SAT average scores, etc. Recommend - I bought two perfoming arts college guides. They are very similar, you only need one.



4. My son asked me to buy this, he wants to be a music performance major. Helpful features in this book: the nuts & bolts of auditions, how to communicate with the college, knowing your teacher before you decide on a college, questions to ask on a college visit, 12 pages of universities/colleges that offer every imaginable music major/concentration, and facts concerning 500 music schools (number of full & part-time faculty, programs of study). My big problem with this book: out of 500 conservatories/colleges/universities listed for music, two excellent universities were left out: Yale University in Connecticut and The Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester) in New York. Both of these are listed as having excellent music programs in the Fiske Guide (which only lists 12 conservatories, 17 universities and 17 colleges in the nation). It appears that the author, the former Julliard admissions director (New York), did not want to list their competition?



5. My daughter wanted this book to help with her search for a school in the performing arts. It was very helpful in that it gave examples and useful information for this particular field of study. This book is good for anyone seeking information in the arts related majors, such as drama, dance, music.

2 comments about Hollywood Creative Directory, 59th Edition (Hollywood Creative Directory).

1. This is an expensive book, especially when you consider that most of the companies listed say "no unsolicited screenplays" or "submission through agent or lawyer only."
   The contacts are listed but I doubt it will help anybody.



2. Great resource and has helped me make contact with some big hollywood names.

5 comments about Strasberg's Method as Taught by Lorrie Hull.

1. The best technical manual available for an easy to read understanding of those techniques and procedures used in "Method" acting. Extremely rich in detail, laced with dozens of examples and personal anecdotes, this book leaves nothing out as it takes the reader through practically every element of the "Method" and its vocabulary. Relaxation, Sense Memory, Concentration, Imagination, Substitution, Justification, Animal Exercise, Personal Object, Private Moment, Affective Memory, Song and Dance, Inner Monologue, Narrative Monologue, Speaking Out, Moment-to-Moment, and Subtext are just a few of the terms which Ms. Hull explains with crystal clarity. The book also includes advice to Directors, an exhaustive scene list, a glossary, suggested reading and tons of other valuable information. Indispensable. -- TheatrGROUP



2. This book lays out an entire course of training exercises in the most explicit, practical, down-to-earth manner I've ever encountered. It is of enormous value to actors, directors and especially to those who teach these disciplines. Susan Strasberg wrote in the foreword: "When I read Lorrie Hull's book, I thought, 'My God, she's done it! She's caught so much of the work.' She got the answers, wrote them down, used them in her own twelve years of teaching for my father and then translated it all into an understandable, explicit, practical book that offers valuable tools for any actor [beginner or professional], as well as for writers, directors, and teachers. I'm sure a lot of misconceptions about my father's work will be cleared up by this book. After reading "Strasberg's Method," I feel sure that my father, 'Pop,' wherever he is, would be enormously pleased."



3. This book lays out an entire course of training exercises in the most explicit, practical, down-to-earth manner I've ever encountered. It is of enormous value to actors, directors and especially to those who teach these disciplines. Susan Strasberg wrote in the foreword: "When I read Lorrie Hull's book, I thought, 'My God, she's done it! She's caught so much of the work.' She got the answers, wrote them down, used them in her own twelve years of teaching for my father and then translated it all into an understandable, explicit, practical book that offers valuable tools for any actor [beginner or professional], as well as for writers, directors, and teachers. I'm sure a lot of misconceptions about my father's work will be cleared up by this book. After reading "Strasberg's Method," I feel sure that my father, 'Pop,' wherever he is, would be enormously pleased."



4. An extremely helpful book for actors, directors, and acting teachers. Hull gives in-depth descriptions of exercises used by Strasberg and does a great job of telling why the exercises work with examples. The book is broken up into sections. One concentrates on the actor, another concentrates on the director, another on the teacher. Has a great section with suggestions for scenes. Highly reccommended. The appendices have been extremely useful.



5. An in-depth chronicle of Strasberg's approach to the actor's art, detailing the full vocabulary of "method" acting in easy to understand language, this book is the "bible" of Strasberg's "method". No actor's library is complete without it.

2 comments about Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity, and Hollywood Stardom.

1. Having been an avid reader of Golden Years Movie stars biographies & autobiographies for a long time, I was a bit disappointed with this one.
   Particularly as recent reads include, Ava Gardner, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor & Lauren Bacall ....
   If you are studying film and theatre studies, this is actually a great book for you, but it was a bit more technical than I wanted ...
   I persevered for awhile, but have put it aside to read Lana Turners biography instead.



2. Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity And Hollywood Stardom by Adrienne L. McLean (Assistant Professor of Film Studies, University of Texas-Dallas) strives to answer the question "Who was Rita Hayworth?" Exploring the creation of this popular movie star's persona, beloved in movies such as "The Lady from Shanghai" (1948) and "Affair in Trinidad" (1952), Being Rita Hayworth takes an especial interest in her appeal to other women of the day who were struggling to navigate the demands of family and work outside the home. Careful research of Hayworth's life frames the chapters, which meticulously pick apart fabricated image and propaganda from what can be verified as truth. An excellent read for anyone with an especial interest in not only Hayworth's career, but the ripple effect her star persona had on the hearts and minds of a female generation.

No comments about The art of the muppets: A retrospective look at twenty-five years of muppet magic.

3 comments about Seats New York: 150 Seating Plans to New York Metro Area Theatres, Concert Halls & Sports Stadiums (Seats New York).

1. "Seats", by Jode Susan Millman is an invaluable tool for anyone in the New York metropolitan area whom attends Broadway shows, concerts or sporting events. The book profiles over 150 venues, which include on and off Broadway theatres, Stadiums and all major indoor arena's. Take for example Madison Square Garden. Profiled are 4 different seating arrangements for, hockey, basketball, concerts and boxing/wrestling. They are all here and more, like famous landmarks, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Beacon Theatre, Lincoln Center, Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium, and even Long Island venues like the Nassau Coliseum, Jones Beach concert theatre and Westbury Music Fair[now called Northfork Theatre at Westbury]. I have used this book many times over the years, and it has always served me well. If I may quote actor James Earl Jones "For culture and sports lovers, Seats is the most practical gift imaginable". I can't disagree and highly recommend this encyclopedic New York venue tour deforce which will give friends and family members many years of enjoyment and knowledge. Who says great gifts have to be expensive!



2. Some of the seating plans are not readable because the print is very small. It would have been better if larger venues were printed on two pages to be able to read the seat numbers. Otherwise it is very comprehensive.



3. Although I live in Hilton Head, S. Carolina, I'm a native New Yorker who spent many wonderful evenings at concerts and the theatre. I therefore didn't know how valuable this book would be until I planned a return visit this past month.

   A family relative is performing at The Met at Lincoln Center and one of my sisters was getting the tickets. What she was told were the "best available seats" in fact weren't and she later found out from the performer that there is a "family section." I opened my copy of "Seats" and sure enough, there it was.
   I also purchased tickets for "Hairspray." At $240/ticket, I was adamant that unless I got fabulous seats I wouldn't pay the price. After finding several offerings of seats that were less than great, I came upon some in the 3rd row orchestra front and center. Had I not had "Seats" I would have beem back and forth on the internet trying to find a current seating chart .
   I have since bought the book for my sisters, brother and mother (great Christmas gifts).
   Knowledge is power and you've got it with "Seats"!

1 comments about The Working Musician's Dictionary of Terms: The Slang of Pop, Rock, Jazz, Blues and Country.

1. BRAVO, Mr. Aranjo!!!
   Not only is this book witty, insightful and candid it's FUNNY! I have two other books by KARL ARANJO (Guitar Chord Guru & Guitar Scale Guru) and both of them well thought out, educational books, and I count them to be among the finest in my extensive collection. This DICTIONARY OF MUSICAL TERMS reveals an awful lot about the world and words of real musicians. I wish I would've found this book when I was a teenager or a music student because this vocabulary is essential and highly educational for all music students, musicains, hobbyists (like me) and teachers. Mr. Aranjo has obviously been there and done that as his sharp wit and good hearted wisecracking indicate. HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED

   I learned and laughed, what more can I say except that I bought 10 of them for gifts. Hmm,,,, I wonder if he gives lessons