Holiday Giftfilter - Theater Books

December 8, 2014 3:41 PM

My cousin (highschool senior) has been in all of his highschool theater productions so I figured I should give him a theater-related gift.

The only thing that comes to mind (other than buying tickets to a show) is some kind of book that has anecdotes or a story set in the theater. It should probably be fluffy and entertaining rather than heavy. Does anyone know any books like this or know any other $20-ish gifts for a young actor, singer?

posted by just.good.enough to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Freeing The Natural Voice, by Kristin Linklater. There's a strong chance that, if he's planning on going on to study theater in college, this will be one of his texts.

Uta Hagen's Respect For Acting is a classic.

Something like The Oxford Illustrated History Of Theatre might be interesting if he's into that sort of thing.

It's hard to give really good advice, because "theatre books" covers a lot, and being a senior in high school who acts in school productions could mean anything from Broadway Junkie to Obsessed With Bertolt Brecht to Digs Improv/Comedy to pretty much anything. Especially since most people who are interested in theatre/acting at that age don't make strong distinctions between stage and the entertainment industry in general. So what he might really love is Live From New York, or old Hollywood memoirs, or something about opera, or pretty much anything.
posted by Sara C. at 4:10 PM on December 8, 2014

Hmm, I think the Live from New York is closer in vein to what I'm looking for. Entertaining stories about the stage. Less textbook, more fun anecdotes. If you know of any others, let me know.

Thanks!
posted by just.good.enough at 5:41 PM on December 8, 2014

Everything Was Possible
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:51 PM on December 8, 2014

Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre is supposed to be splendid about the acting process.
posted by nickggully at 6:20 PM on December 8, 2014

Moss Hart's memoir Act One is a fantastic read about Broadway theater in the heyday of NYC theater. Inspiring, delightful and glamorous.

I'd also recommend The Fervent Years about the early days of The Group Theater.

You might also want to look at My Life in Art for a European perspective.

Feel free to Memail me if you want more suggestions.
posted by geryon at 8:05 PM on December 8, 2014

For some good theatre fun, I highly recommend Not Since Carrie, a book about 40 years of musical theatre flops (warning: cover features theatre "Carrie" covered in stage blood). I loved it when I read it in my teens. Well-written theatre criticism, but also breezy and entertaining and full of gossipy stories.
posted by ilana at 9:12 PM on December 8, 2014

In the order I'd recommend them:

Michael Shurtleff's Audition
David Mamet's True and False; Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor.
Keith Johnstone's Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting

All four of these books are kiiiind of textbooks I guess, but they're great. They're fascinating yet easy reads, and pretty much every professional actor in North America has read them.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 10:39 PM on December 8, 2014

When I was a high school thespian someone gave me "No Turn Unstoned: The Worst Ever Theatrical Reviews" by Diana Rigg. I thought it was hilarious. It's a compilation of worst-ever reviews of stage acting which Dame Diana collected from friends and colleagues as well as from the historical record.

Just a taste - someone's review of James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope said he "rolls about the stage like a barrel set in motion by a homunculus within."

Also possibly "It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here: My Journey Through Show Business" by Charles Grodin. I think this one's only good if you know who he is and can imagine his voice telling you these stories.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 10:59 PM on December 8, 2014