An indispensable reference for actors, singers, and dancers, The Back Stage Actor's Handbook has been totally updated to guide tomorrow's performing artist to success.

An invaluable guide to the traditions and best practices of the professional stage actor, from first rehearsal to final curtain. Professional stage actors are expected to have ready knowledge of a multitude of unwritten yet well-established protocols. Traditionally, this knowledge was passed along from one generation of stage actors to the next via word of mouth, or were learned by having one’s missteps corrected—until now. In The Stage Actor’s Handbook, these protocols have finally been assembled into one volume, allowing theatre artists to know in advance what is expected of them. A definitive guide for professionals and aspiring professionals alike, this book details best practices on everything from rehearsal demeanor to backstage etiquette. It also shares the theatre’s unique vernacular and revered superstitions, as well as field-tested guidelines on touring, interactions with the public, and more. Written by established theatre pros Michael Kostroff (The Producers, Les Misérables)and Julie Garnyé (Cats, Come From Away), The Stage Actor’s Handbook features bits of wisdom contributed by legendary stage actors, including Bebe Neuwirth, John Lithgow, Chita Rivera, Alfred Molina, Billy Porter, Betty Buckley, Harvey Fierstein, Sam Waterston, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, and Sir Patrick Stewart.

In updated profiles, the most influential American casting directors reveal their methods of selecting actors for stage, screen, TV, and commercial jobs. This close look at how actors are chosen is an invaluable guide for thousands who depend on casting directors for career opportunities. Includes list of casting directors, contact information, and tips.

April 14, 1865. A famous actor pulls a trigger in the presidential balcony, leaps to the stage and escapes, as the president lies fatally wounded. In the panic that follows, forty-six terrified people scatter in and around Ford’s Theater as soldiers take up stations by the doors and the audience surges into the streets chanting, “Burn the place down!” This is the untold story of Lincoln’s assassination: the forty-six stage hands, actors, and theater workers on hand for the bewildering events in the theater that night, and what each of them witnessed in the chaos-streaked hours before John Wilkes Booth was discovered to be the culprit. In Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination, historian Thomas A. Bogar delves into previously unpublished sources to tell the story of Lincoln’s assassination from behind the curtain, and the tale is shocking. Police rounded up and arrested dozens of innocent people, wasting time that allowed the real culprit to get further away. Some closely connected to John Wilkes Booth were not even questioned, while innocent witnesses were relentlessly pursued. Booth was more connected with the production than you might have known—learn how he knew each member of the cast and crew, which was a hotbed of secessionist resentment. Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination also tells the story of what happened to each of these witnesses to history, after the investigation was over—how each one lived their lives after seeing one of America’s greatest presidents shot dead without warning. Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination is an exquisitely detailed look at this famous event from an entirely new angle. It is must reading for anyone fascinated with the saga of Lincoln’s life and the Civil War era.

This book is no bull, straight from the mouth of a blunt talent agent, currently hustling for over 500 clients and closing deals daily. His words are legit instructions on how to be a working actor in film and TV. Organized into three sections: Getting an Agent, Working with Your Agent, and Thriving with Your Agent, this Q&A format addresses actor questions at all stages of a career. After nearly a decade of sitting on panels and acknowledging that the majority of raised hands are never called upon, Jason Lockhart decided to answer them ALL, right here, right now, in an energetic, honest, and organized place. Getting inside the mind of an agent is crucial, as they are generally the first gatekeeper to an actor's success. Consider this book your secret weapon to breaking in or leveling up.

* A unique series of photographs that go behind the scenes in London theaters, capturing world renowned actors before they go on stage* Includes a foreword by Cate Blanchett* "Simon Annand is one of the most amazing photographers I have had the pleasure of working with. He is an individualist with an eye for the unusual." - Dame Judi Dench, actorBritish photographer Simon Annand has been shooting candid photographs backstage at West End theaters in London for 35 years. In these meditative portraits, often shot in the intimate space of the dressing room, he captures the focus and tension of world-class actors right before they go on the stage. Actors such as Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Judi Dench are seen in these moments of vulnerability, which every actor experiences no matter how long they have been working. Time to Act, with an introduction by Cate Blanchett, contains a hand-picked selection of Simon Annand's remarkable and unique portraits.

Everyacting student and working actor needs a copy of this book! Here’s the essential guide to surviving and thriving as an actor in regional theaters. The thousands and thousands of students in the hundreds and hundreds of acting programs all over the country would all love to become stars right out of school—but the reality of a career in acting usually means honing the craft at regional theaters.The Back Stage Guide to Working in Regional Theaterincludes a history of the movement and a description of each of the League of Regional Theater (LORT) houses in the U.S, plus sections on personal marketing for the actor, the business of acting, strategies and career planning. Essential web sites, a sample organizational chart, contact names, a guide to theater unions, and listings of more than 100 theaters across the country makeThe Back Stage Guide to Regional Theatera must-have for every actor who’s working or wants to be. • Full listings for every regional theater in the US • Valuable information on websites, resources, getting organized • Helps acting students find employers near home or school while they train