5 comments about Urinetown: The Musical.

1. Absolutely fantastic is really all I can say about this. Each line is more clever than the next and the music is absolutely genius. Each song is unique and each lyric has value. The show has a great message and is hilarious. I've read the script and listened to the music at least 50 times and I still laugh out loud every time. I can't even pick my favorite song or scene or say anything bad about it.



2. I used this book in our amateur production of the musical and I recommend this script. The pictures and story behind the musical was interesting.



3. I always thought "Forum" was the best musical written but that is now in second place to Urinetown. This one also has a lot to think about as a commentary on our times. Shouldn't be missed.



4. Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) in Reno is performing this play in March 2006. I should add that it is one of the first community theaters to get the rights to producing this still-running show. Having the book in this format has been very helpful while blocking the show instead of lugging around the bulkier copies provided to us; however, as the Music Director pointed out, the lyrics written in the book don't exactly match what is in the score. But if you are an aficionado of Broadway Musicals, this is a fun book to have!



5. UrineTown was, i believe, the most unique musical ever been created! The Concept of this play was just fall-to-the-floor funny and has gone beyond what we see in broadway throughout the years. but what this show has is great characters and some witty dialogue and lyrics. It's unique concept gave the script strength and power and was a fame for all viewers who went out and saw it.
   
   I encourage anyone who has heard little of Urinetown to go out and give it a shot. Maybe it could be a well-known musical some day.

5 comments about Make Your Own Damn Movie!: Secrets of a Renegade Director.

1. Even if you have already been through all the stages of filmmaking yourself, this book is an inspiring battle cry for the TRUE indie filmmaker. It also made me laugh out loud several times. I happened to be on the NYC subway when this happened and it made some of my fellow passengers scared of me. What other book about filmmaking can do that?



2. I rarely laugh when reading books, even when its really funny.
   Reading this book though, I was constently cracking up.
   The advice is ACTUALLY usefull, it tells the good and bad of film making.
   Im keeping this short and simple, so to sum up. This is a truely awesome book.



3. I don't think I read through 300+ pages so fast in my life. It's incredibly informative on making your own flick from conception to distribution and it is one of the easiest reads I've had. Its also funny as hell, filled with that Kaufman wit.
   
   If you liked Rebel Without a Crew, you'll love this one.
   
   If you're a Troma fan pick it up. If you want to make movies pick it up. If you want a look into the life of a man with an extremely interesting story pick it up.
   
   This is a book I will be returning to both for reference and enjoyment.



4. I bought this book hoping to have a fun read about making movies and this persons experience. Sadly, what I got was a book load of expletives and degrading ideas of what to throw into a scene them film it. I take away three stars for the no effort put in to not writing a fun book that many can read. I understand the shock value of the title, fine, but curses in every paragraph? I'm not saying to write like a bored, stiff, old tenured expert... But the name calling and mud slinging is not necessary (atleast not all of it). I give it two stars for the street level info. all independents need to know before making a film. Please do protect yourselves.



5. This is an interesting book for Troma fans and independent film fans. It is really just a book that is meant to entertain and tell stories rather than provide real helpful insight about how to make films. While I appreciate the show of support for independent art, the book doesn't really seem to support independent creation other than Troma's own brand (despite the title of the book). While I will admit that the book is very funny to read, I think sometimes it crosses into somewhat arrogant and self-important banter.
   
   To me this book is more about Troma patting itself on the back and reflecting on their wacky stories then about really empowering anyone but themselves. Read if you are a fan of Troma, not if you are looking for encouragement.

4 comments about 24 Favorite One Act Plays.

1. Cannot find the Table of Contents for this book anywhere! Not here, not on the publisher's site. Just what plays would I find? And how long are they? One-act could be 5 minutes or an hour.
   
   I would order it if I knew what the heck was in it. I'm a HS drama teacher. Can someone use Amazon to send me the TOC?
   
   Thanks.



2. This wasn't what I expected. The choice of plays, with a few exceptions, was bland and poor.



3. I've had this book thrust upon me as a student over the past 7 years in middle and high school from Drama, English and Language teachers. It is a really good book- the plays vary from being abstract and bizarre to being thoughtful and introspective. If you're a student looking for a good quick play, a teacher looking for something to get your students to do, if you're just looking for some quick quirky one act plays- this is it.

   Totally worth it!




4. The book was very cool. In fact it was so kooky that I could not put it down. I was able to use it in all of my eighth grade classess. I am a language arts teacher at Turlock Junior High, and it was extremly easy to find a 'cool' play that related to what we were learning at the time. I have been using this book for about 10 years now, and I have never grown old of it. My class this year has recently used it to put on a few short plays for the rest of the school.

5 comments about The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan.

1. This is a fine presentation of Wiener Blut with fine singing & acting by all the prncipals. Unfortunately, this particular disc has flaws in the second act which may prevent proper playback on most equipment. If you are able to find unflawed discs, the performance is worth paying extra.Wiener Blut



2. 
   This reeinforces my original G&S Modern Library edition circa 1937 that I still use with my own notes made as I listened to D'Oyly Carte in those days.
   Refreshing to know what W.S. meant 50 years before I came along.



3. Though sung in English, it can be difficult to understand the words of G&S operas without libretti. I listen to the CDs while following along in this book, and it has greatly increased my pleasure in G&S, as well as my admiration for both Gilbert's witty and insightful lyrics and the way Sullivan carries the words along with his music.



4. $42.00?? C'mon now, this is a paperback for pity's sake! I would have no problems with the price if this book really had enough information contained to make it worthwhile. Basically it consists of the librettos of all the G & S (Thespis excluded. so how is it so darn complete?) operas on the right-hand page, with notes etc. on the left page. In all fairness the notes are on the exhaustive side, but without an index it become a chore to find anything revelant to which you may want to apply them. Coupled with some perfunctory introductions I can't in fairness give this more than 3 stars. Perhaps a bio of the respective librettist & composer would have come in handy, as well as a few illusrations showing productions of the operas over the years; would make me harp less about the price.



5. This book is the ultimate source for information on all things Gilbert and Sullivan. Written for a contemporary audience, it has a plethora of background info on the productions of the Savoy operas, the singers who originated the roles, the translations to some of the meaning of the words in the lyrics (which were inside jokes back in the time of Gilbert and Sullivan:1870-1900 and a history of performances throughout the 20th century. There are profiles and biographies of William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as well as Richard D'Oyly Carte. William Gilbert was a playwright, poet and writer for the satirical magazine Fun. His comic style of writing came to its full powers when he wrote the lyrics and libretti for all the light operas he conceived. Arthur Sullivan was a serious English composer, who at the time was probably competing against the bigger names of Elgar, Ralph Vaughn Williams or Benjamin Britten. Arthur Sullivan wrote English equivalent for German Lieder as Victorian drawing room songs, as well as symphonies and concerti. The Irish Symphony and the Program Music- The Tempest are his most acclaimed. Gilbert and Sullivan were not always a perfect match. Their personalities were distinctly different. Gilbert was humorous, witty, playful and always catering to popular tastes. Arthur Sullivan was intellectual, artistic, serious and introverted. All his life he was unable to step out of the fame he got for the light operas he wrote with Gilbert. He wanted the fame of the serious music composer and not just the silly light operas he made so popular in what was at the time the ancestor of today's Armerican Broadway- the Savoy.

   Richard D'Oyly Carte was the manager and impresario for Gilbert and Sullivan. He first collaborated with them in Trial By Jury in 1875. He would manage finances for the Savoy, a theatre built especially for Gilbert and Sullivan light operas. D'Oyly Carte's children and grandchildren, among them Bridget D'Oyly Carte, would continue to produce Gilbert and Sullivan operas after his death. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company continued successfully launching all the great titles- The H.M. S. Pinafore (first premiered 1878) Pirates Of Penzance (1879-1880) The Mikado (1885)
   as well as other great but less popular Princess Ida, Iolanthe, Patience, The Gondoliers, The Yeoman Of The Guard, The Grand Duke and Utopia Limited. The D'Oyly Carte Opera has had a rich history of performers- baritone John Reed, soprano Valerie Masterson, tenor Phillip Potter and mezzo soprano Christene Palmer as well as bass Donald Adams. There is a sensational film made in 1967 of The Mikado starring these legendary singers. I hope this great book gets you into Gilbert and Sullivan. It's enough info for you to acquire a Ph.D. in light opera

5 comments about Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing (Plume).

1. Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing is an excellent resource for the aspiring writer. Written clearly and without jargon, Walter explains all aspects of the writing to-how as well as how to sell the script.



2. OK, first the bad news out of the way: This book is often very pompous and uses a lot of lengthy descriptions to illustrate simple points. Walter loves the sound of his own keyboard and often diverges into long lists and lofty philosophy on how your screenplay should leave audiences misty eyed and gasping in awe at the glory of humanity.
   
   On the other hand, for those willing to sift through the self indulgent prose, there are a great many fabulous tips to tighten and polish story, structure, and dialogue. Walter offers tremendous insight and fresh ideas and reminds us of the basics at the same time. I read this book through twice and the second time, highlighted the good parts for reference.



3. I read this book twice. It is written very directly but is entertaining at the same time. It does well at explaining what to do and what not to do. There is a section at the end regarding technology that should probably be out. It kind of felt like my grandpa was writing a chapter on computers after using one for the first time. Stick with what you know. The rest is excellent.



4. It was on a whim that I decided to read this book and boy, am I glad my muse was alert! The information contained here is gold, and to the point. That latter reason is why I gave it a five-star review: there's no bushwhacking going on here, it's succinct and immediately useful information.
   
   I knew it was going to be a different experience when I read chapter 3's (Story: Tale Assembly) opening story about Mozart's unfinished "doooo" furnishing one of the best examples of tension and resolution I have read. Walter is a proponent of the Aristotelian three-act structure and he does such a good job of explaining why that, of course!, I understand it to be wholly applicable.
   
   I particularly like the way he explains without the excessive prose other authors on the subject seem to think necessary. `Story' by Robert McKee is a brilliant piece of work, but one of its downfalls is the flabbergasting language Mr. McKee uses; it almost impedes knowledge transfer. This is not a problem with `Screenwriting': it's simple, clean writing that imparts maximum knowledge with maximum efficiency, it's screenwriting Judo.
   
   Witness this list from chapter 4 (Character: Only Human, Humans Only):
   There are three basic rules for creating audience-worth movie characters.
   First: No stereotypes.
   Second: Render everybody, even the foulest, most evil villain somehow sympathetic.
   Third: Instead of having them lie there on a slab, static and stale, require your characters to grow and develop throughout the tale.
   
   He goes on to expound brilliantly (and again, simply) on each of those points.
   
   This should be a staple in every writer's library; in fact, I wish I'd read this book before Syd Field's `Screenplay' which, while it's actually good, is "flow" challenged.



5. I've read many screenwriting books, and this book didn't tell me anything I haven't read elsewhere. Walter has no real insight into the writing process, just some knowledge of the business which you can pick up from the other books. A disappointment.

5 comments about Teaching Music with Passion: Conducting, Rehearsing and Inspiring.

1. Good book for my needs. I'm a rookie conductor-director of orchestral ensembles and use materials like this regularly. Thanks and good luck with whatever new undertakings may leave you feeling as vulnerable and under-prepared as I!
   
   Rob Rife



2. I have been so fortunate to be able to work with Dr. Boonshaft in performance. He recently conducted the community band that I have been involved with. My parents, who were audience members, and I were so impressed with Dr. Boonshaft, that my mother hopped on the computer and ordered this book as soon as we got home from the performance. I have since been reading it, a little at a time, finding it so full of amazing information, awesome advise, and well thought out structure that I have been savoring it and trying to absorb as much of it as possible. Currently, I have finished the first chapter and I am compelled to write the review!
   
   For a girl who loves quotes, there are many, many quotes from astute thinkers from every realm in this book that are so ridiculously relevant to the subject Dr. Boonshaft is delving into. I highly recommend this book to ALL TEACHERS not just music teachers. Even though this book is titled "Teaching MUSIC with Passion" there are many concepts that are relevant for ALL teachers.



3. I wish I had been taught all of these little tricks of the trade before I was tossed in and baptized by fire. My first years of teaching would have been DRASTICALLY different. I also find this book to be quite a good pick-me-up as well as cheerleader as I flirt with burnout on the occasion. Highly recommended!



4. I am a former student of Dr. Boonshaft, and was introduced to this book when it was assigned as my class text for the semester. The book was very consistent with my Secondary Band Methods class, and reading it allows outsiders to share in Dr. B's funny anecdotes and useful tips. It's almost like taking a class with him. It was interesting enough to read beyond the assigned sections each night. He touches on lots of useful rehearsal techniques and also gives advice on how to deal with different situations. Well known for his conducting, he breaks down different methods in Laymen's terms.
   
   I highly recommend this book, for it an extremely useful read to keep on a nearby shelf for reference. Years later I still refer back to it on a regular basis. It speaks to the the director, the instrumentalist, the conductor and most importantly, the teacher.
   
   If you're like me, it will definitely leave you inspired.



5. Dr. Boonshaft was a lecturer at The Complete Band Directors Workshop this year at Capital University. His presentation gave me many ideas for this school year to use with my middle school bands. I am about 3/4 of the way through his book and know I'll reread it because it has so many useful ideas for rehearsals. This is one to keep on your director's bookshelf.

No comments about Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility (Wadsworth Series in Communication Studies).

5 comments about Jim Henson: The Works - The Art, the Magic, the Imagination.

1. Wow!!
   This is a book for everyone and anyone that loves the muppets and its good for all ages, coffee table or for propsmakers.
   Top choice as a present for muppets lovers



2. Fabulous. So many other reviewers have expressed the feelings this book gives you so much more eloquently, so I will leave mine with just that one word. Fabulous.



3. This book is fabulous. I ordered it from America to come to England as the current exchange rate made it cheaper to buy this book new than to buy it second hand in England, and the wait for shipping was worth it. There are some brilliant anecdotes from people working with Henson, and beautful pictures illustrating everything that ever went on in Jim Henson's studios, right up to unpublished notes that Henson wrote for a book.
   
   This book is beautiful, and really interesting in looking at the work of Jim Henson.



4. Complete with full color pictures, as well as black and white photos of Jim's early years, this book is not only a great read. -It's fun to look at too! Even young children can sit and appreciate the magic of Jim Henson's creations through the artwork and photo-journalistic shots throughout.
   
   This book contains a great deal of biographical information on Jim throughout his life, and includes a great deal of his earlier forrays into the world of experimental art and design.
   
   Definitely a good buy.



5. It's hard to believe Jim Henson has now been gone for over 16 years. Christopher Finch's book stands as a great testament to Henson's amazingly prolific work and his larger-then-life existence. Despite Henson's natural shyness and reticence and quiet manner, the thing that strikes you in the book is how many lives this guy touched. He bestowed livelihoods on literally thousands of people. Their gratitude is expressed in these pages time and again in fervent, emotional recollections. To say Jim Henson inspired devotion only begins to get at what this guy meant to his family, friends and employees.
   
   My hat is off to Christopher Finch for this wonderful collection, which is still available here as a beautiful and hardily-constructed first-edition hardback. Mr. Finch gets an extra level of respect for the decision (of which he no doubt had a say) to keep his name off the dustcover front. He's graciously stepped aside to let the lights shine warmly on Jim Henson.

5 comments about Wanderer.

1. This book is as convoluted as its author. It maintains a flow of semi-stream-of-consciousness from start to finish, and what emerges are the memoirs of a man whose love of seafaring and considerable self-deprecation ("self-loathing" is a little too strong a term) has brought him to a sea voyage to Tahiti with a pick-up crew and his four children in violation of a court order. Hayden's story is it's own animal, going from the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine, to the forests of Yugoslavia, to courtrooms and congressional chambers and movie sets and finally to the high seas and South Pacific islands with a strain of fatalism and regret throughout. It should make for a downer of a read; instead, I found myself staying up and turning the pages to see what happened next. A great book.



2. I would like to add something to the excellent and perceptive reviews above. What came through so strongly is that life is messy, yet Hayden's remarkable self awareness didn't seem to help him. This is a fascinating look inside a big life. I found it valuable.



3. 
   I believe it was 1959 and I had just returned from a month's cruise to the Tuamotus and Marquesas islands on the copra schooner Charlotte Donald. I was sitting at a table on the quay in front of the Hotel Le Grand when the schooner first appeared off Papeete. It sailed in smartly, picked up the Pilot, and docked stern first, as was the custom, at the concrete quay. The name "Wanderer" was nicely affixed to her transom. I lived in District Punavia, kilometer thirteen, next to Paul Gauguin's old home by the Thompsons. Several weeks later I would board the Wanderer after meeting her skipper at a party to buy some of the 16mm color film he had for sale. He was courteous, the children were well mannered, the library below was impressive, and his ship was clean and appeared to be able to sail on a minute's notice. We chatted for some time and he recounted some stories of his trip. We knew the same haunts in coastal California. We met a couple of more times at functions on the island. He seemed to be a cheerful and courteous person. He was a large man and deep voiced and I knew he was an actor, but that's about all I knew. Not long ago I had written my autobiography and had made a small mentioned of the encounter and the film. A friend who read my book asked if I had read Hayden's biography, which I hadn't. He suggested I do so, and last month I ordered it from Amazon. The book was disheartening for me to read. While he and I had many similarities in our lives (I wasn't an actor) and had been to many of the same places, we came away with massively different reactions. Mr. Hayden is a good writer and tells, especially about his life at sea, in an authentic style that kept me reading. I don't know if I would have finished if there weren't the similarity of our experiences. The sparse interjection of the third person voice over his normal narrative of first person was effectively used. The book and his life stand on their own merits and I make no judgment. He was first and foremost a seafaring man of unusual talents, and I wish I had visited him in the States in our later years. Mr. Hayden, you steered the course you wanted in recounting the voyages of your life. That's about all most of us could ask for. Rest in peace.
   
   PS:
   Spike Africa, his mate, came as a surprise, or else I had forgotten. Skip ahead twenty years and I chartered the "Spike Africa", a 70 foot schooner out of Newport Beach California somewhere around 1979 for a company off-site (the exact thing Hayden despised ... sorry). Bob Sloan built and then christened the boat "Spike Africa". The California yachting community all knew of Spike Africa the man, as a legend in the Pacific ocean, although I never knew any details of the legend.



4. Hayden was one of those force of nature types who, sadly don't exist in sufficient quantities to make the world a really interesting place. In this book, he tells his life story, while telling the story of his last voyage on the 100 foot schooner, Wanderer. His prose is lovely and has the rythm of the sea; like other great works of sea literature (like Moby Dick). I'll give a high point of his prose before I complain:
   
   "What does a man need ---really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in --and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all --in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where then lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be, bankruptcy of purse of bankrutpcy of life?"
   
   Hayden was a child of the depression who worked his way out of bad circumstances by a combination of stubbornness, physique and leadership skill. He is eventually given a job a an actor, after being spotted by the media during a sailboat race in Glocester. He abandons this due to a love affair with an actress who fancies herself concerned with serious social issues. He joins the war and does OSS/CIA type operations in maritime support of partisans in Yugoslavia. He returns to his acting. Makes many movies. Marries an evil shrew. Divorces. Gets the kids. Chucks it all for a trip to Tahiti in his 100 foot yacht. All this is well and good, but the man reveals too much about himself. His self loathing isn't interesting. It is certainly not edifying, and though he seems to abundantly pity himself, I cannot feel sorry for him. The man had many fine opportunities. He had fine charachter qualities; I admire the fact that he chucked it all, just because he didn't like it. But he was not a fine man: he was petty and ugly -he couldn't even treat his own widowed mother decently, and though his ex wife was probably no better, I rather doubt as being around such a tormented spirit was good for his kids. In that way, he is a tragic figure; all the more tragic because he doesn't seem to realize it himself. It is no suprise he never did much with himself after he wrote the book. I don't know this to be true, but I suspect he drown himself and his self-loathing in booze.
   
   Still, it is a beautifully written book. In a way, the book is his triumph over it all. It is doubtless a finer thing than any of the movies he made, and his great "the heck with it all" dramatic gesture is probably better than any he made on camera. I know I will read the book again. Perhaps when I am older I will think differently of Captain Hayden. Amusingly, a visit to Sausalito revealed that I had known Hayden as the demented General Jack D. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove."



5. A griping story that reads like fiction. Hayden is a "one of a kind" spirit that lives life to the fullest. He wants good things for the world and lives up to his character of being an iconoclast. A great read for sailors or romantics who dream of being before the mast and finding lifes' meaning out on the sea.

5 comments about The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide.

1. Any MSTie absolutely must buy this book. The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide is a consistently funny book, chronicling the rise of MST3K, and is kept from becoming dull or repetitive by allowing a different member of the crew - all of the show's major cast and crew except Josh Weinstein and Joel contribute - to write each episode entry or chapter introduction. Each has their own unique writing style, making the book an absolute treat.
   
   Any criticisms of the book are minor. Very little is gone into depth, perhaps understandably (particularly why Joel decided to leave), the "historical" aspects of the book are sketched in (but then, it IS an episode guide). But given that the book was written after Season Six, arguably the show's high-point, as opposed to an after-the-fact retrospective, it still holds up well. It would be nice if the online episode guide written for the Sci-Fi era were included in a revised addition, but for now, this is still a fun book and a must for all MSTies.



2. The book is fine for what it covers. But I agree with other reveiwers that it's high time that this was updated to include ALL of seasons 7 - 10. I think that some of the Pearl Forrester era episodes are outstanding.



3. I've been watching MST3K for years, first in England and then in the US. Whilst I got most of the references made by Joel and Mike, this book really helps with the more obscure ones. Thank you, authors!



4. Despite the fact that MST3K has been off television for a good while now, the spirit lives on through the Internet where new fans are still minted to this day. For that reason, every MSTie really should have this book; the nonstop hilarity found within is still as hot as a knife through butter, and ranks among the best sources of obscure references, inside jokes, and information about the cast and the movies that were endlessly riffed over the years. Some of the information is outdated--mostly contact and fan club information--but that's why search engines exist. (You can get the followup Amazing Colossal Episode Guide covering later seasons over at mst3k.com, again written by the cast.)
   
   Newer endeavors such as Rifftrax and the Film Crew have many of the original crew on board, and are excellent in their own right. These may never be MST3K 2.0--not that they aspire to be, nor should they--they're more than worthwhile to check out.
   
   In conclusion, MITCHELL!



5. This book is a great companion and behind the scenes guide for this Television series. It contains information for most episodes up to the Expriment #700 series. Be warned it will not contain any show information past 700, well partial info but nothing else. Beyond that this guide is great for whenever Rhino is releasing a new boxed set as well as current boxed sets, as you can preview an episode before you purchase the corresponding dvd. Funny and witty commentary about the staff and even TV's Franks picks of his favorite episodes. I enjoyed the entire book as a Mystery Science Theater fan, myself.