Product Description

This new and fully updated edition of the Illustrated Theatre Production Guide takes a step-by-step approach to the most common and popular theatre production practices, covering important issues related to the construction of wooden, fabric, plastic, and metal scenery used on the stage. This book examines theatres and their equipment, tools and materials, and scenery construction, as well as the principles of electricity and implementation of a lighting design. New additions include:

Customer Reviews (8)

Fabulous! Full of photos and details. You can build a set for any theatre production with this book.
Fantastic. All you need to know about how to build sets and decorations for theatre productions. What amazed me the most was the amount of detailed descriptions, photos and even lists of tools. Everything explained and shown. I cannot see how it can be any better unless this book can come to life and do the work for you.

a staple in all theatre departments..
Complete, thorough instructions. Simply explained and full of well-detailed illustrations. I think this book will be a staple in all theatre departments, school, community theatre or professional. It's all there and easy to understand so even an actor can understand it. Actors or directors or costume people this book is not for you. You will have to look elsewhere to further develop you craft but for all the know-how on what goes on backstage, this book is incredible. I was fascinated by it as I poured over the pages, constantly telling myself, so that's how they do that! Awesome book.

Complete Technical Guide
This thorough, encyclopedic guide to technical theatre gives aspiring professionals everything they need to navigate backstage in a professional or semi-pro production.It also gives working pros the most up-to-date information.And it places all that information in a historical context, so if the latest tech doesn't work for you and you have to go "old school," you will know what the old school was and how it all worked.

Where most general-interest theatre tech books these days focus on direction or design, this book aims for the people who have to run lights, operate fly systems, and hang equipment.Just the table of contents reveals this book's sweeping character.For instance, where my college tech text emphasized the importance of learning to tie knots, this book has a copiously illustrated chapter on knot tying, rope handling, and rigging connection.

In writing this review, I consulted Mark Wethington, Professor of Scenic and Lighting Design, and Darrin Himmerich, Technical Director, both of the University of Nebraska at Kearney.Both expressed amazement at this book, both in its thorough approach and its up-to-date content.Both repeatedly jabbed their fingers at diagrams or description, grinning, and proclaimed: "That's exactly how I want my students to do it!"Both ordered copies for future semesters.

Wethington pointed out that, while this is not the only book of its kind on the market, it's the most current he's seen.Where standard texts like J. Michael Gillette's Theatrical Design and Production focus on how theatre has been done in the past (Wethington said Gillette's book was nearly twenty years out of date on important issues) this book reflects how working stage professionals do their jobs right now.

Himmerich repeatedly gushed over this book's comprehensive nature.It explores current best practices in light, sound, set construction, and other on-stage applications, without assuming any prior knowledge.Where it contains many pieces of information Himmerich has previously had to pull from several different books, this book puts it all between one set of covers.This makes it more useful both in the classroom, and in the crowded working backstage environment.

Be aware, this book does not deal with design.Author John Holloway focuses on stagehand work, the actual processes used in building, lighting, wiring, and operating a stage set.It also spends no time on costumes, the only part of the technical production absent from this book.This book deals with sets, lights, sound, rigging, construction, furnishings, electricity, tools, and software.It's enough to keep students informed and professionals current.

Eye opener
A very good look at stage craft management. Pleasingly
technical and to the point. Good stuff.

a few mistakes here and there
There are a few grammar and even mathematical mistakes in the book, but overall it does its job. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is a one-stop, reader friendly handbook for anyone producing a play or musical. Renowned Broadway producer and three-time Tony Award-winner Stewat Lane guides you through the entire process from idea to ovation, with ways to keep everyone involved working together and solutions to those little - and not so little - problems that occur in every show. Fundamentals covered include selecting a show, finding a theatre space, putting together your creative team, holding auditions and making casting decisions, scheduling rehearsals, promoting the show, and handling all the basic elements of bringing a production from page to stage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Very Informative
This is a great book.Very informative.I'm learning a lot with every page i read. I love it.

"Let's Put On a Show" is a show itself!
I found "Let's Put On a Show" by Stewart F. Lane well written and thorough. Not only is it packed with information, it is also fun to read because he includes things about himself and his own experiences in the theatre, both good and bad. I would say it is a must for anyone contemplating putting on a show, especially if that person is a novice with little or no experience in this area. It covers all the bases from selecting a show to marketing and promotion. I am not a nivice in this area, but I found in the book valuable information I had not considered before.

AWESOME!!! BEST BOOK EVER !!! Well worth the money worth GOLD!!!
I Love this book! It's an easy read, simple, and straight to the point. Packed full of useful info. I'm directing my first play for a fund raiser for a Christian school and I can tell you how great this book is. I actually bought 3 books on Theater, the others were just to all over the place. " Lets Put On A Show", is Awesome,Do yourself a favor BUY IT!! you won't regret it.

Margie Rigby

Terrific reference for small amateur theatre groups
I saw an advertisement for this book in the Playbill for "Mary Poppins" on Broadway when I was last in New York.A group of us had been kicking around the idea of formalizing our little theatre productions which we had been putting on sporadically for several years, so I ordered this book.

It's a great little reference on starting and maintaining a community theatre.It has sections on play selections, incorporation, rehearsal schedules, finances, advertising, and most other topics which arose as we discussed our next production and incorporating our little group.Even though it's written by a five-time (!) Tony-award winner, it's not written just for big cities or groups with big budgets.We have a miniscule budget in a rural community and it spoke right to us.

I highly recommend it.(I also recommend seeing a Disney show if you happen to be in New York any time soon.Wow!)

...Plus a lot more!
How informative can a big, Broadway producer really be?How much does he know about the real world and shoestring budgets?A LOT! Mr. Lane covers theatre from so many angles he has obviously lived it at several different levels.
It is very well written, humorous and it's playwriting section was my favorite.The list of resources, in itself, is worth the price.
My main interest is developing new musicals and this book has proved to be inspirational.
This volume has more than exceeded expectations and has me applying to the "Old Farts Rep Co." as we speak! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A Playwright's Take on The Producetion Notebooks (Vol I and Vol II) by Mark Bly
While the kind of documentation these books offer to the production of live theatre is valuable, to me, a playwright, they are a far cry from "The Seesaw Log, A chronicle of the stage production, with the text, of Two For The Seesaw" by William Gibson, which I wholeheartedly recommend to playwrights.

These books were recommended to me by a dramaturg.Potential readers should be warned that these books are short on aesthetics and long, very long on dramaturgical detail.

While a director or stage manager may find them offering insight, they took me through far more detail than a playwright might find of interest.

The author makes a statement that sets an unsupported attitude of superiority in the introduction to Vol II, "The primary criterion for inclusion in the series has been that the individuals collaborating on the production must be artists of consequence. . ."Yet, when I read the two volumes, I found much of the work to be of little relevance or consequence to regional theatre.
RCJr.

Not just for Dramaturgs!
This book gives tremendous insight into the creative process behind the product we see when we go to the theatre.It is fascinating to read about how dramaturgical research informs every member of a creative team, from the director to the designers to the actors.This book is for all of them, not just dramaturgs.The diary format allows the reader to experience the ups and downs, the doubts and triumphs of the rehearsal process.I highly recommend it to all theatre artists, from stage managers to opera singers to administrators.A terrific read. ... Read more

Product Description
Emphasizing the political nature of Greek tragedy, as theatre of, by and for the polis, Rush Rehm Characterizes Athens as a performance culture, one in which the theatre stood alongside other public forums as a place to confront matters of import and moment. In treating the various social, religious and practical aspects of tragic production, he shows how these elements promoted a vision of the theatre as integral to the life of the city--a theatre whose focus was on the audience. ... Read more

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Concentrating on performance, Thomson reviews the commercial and artistic priorities of Shakespeare and the brilliant and hardheaded group of actors who formed his company during the heyday of the Globe Playhouse, from 1599 to 1608. ... Read more

Product Description
680 page paperback ISBN 0896762436 Copyright 1990 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

On time
This book was delivered on time and was in perfect condition. I would order from this seller again!

Theater Mgmt Textbook
Very comprehensive book, the most modern of Langley's writings. DEFINITELY get this edition over any older versions which have considerably less detail and some outdated ideas.

THE "BIBLE" OF THEATRE MANAGEMENT
Having studied with the late Professor Langley at the Brooklyn College School of Theatre Management, I can assure you that this book captures the vast knowledge that this man had of all things relating to producing theatre.While it is true that certain information (like specific union contracts) may be out of date, there is stillan incredible depth of valuable content here.

My hope is that the publisher will eventually have a current manager update the book, but until then, if you are interested in producing ANY kind of theatre, from Broadway to Community, this book must be the first one on your shelf.

Very outdated.
With all respect to Mr. Langley, this book is 20 years behind the times. There was some good information, but there was an equal amount information that no longer applies.

BUY THIS BOOK
As a frequent Amazon shopper and reader of reviews, let me make this very simple for you. If you are a theatre manager, or want to learn about becoming one, BUY THIS BOOK. It is THE source. Its simply that good. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the most frank and authentic accounts yet written of the pressures placed on today's stars King Lear is perhaps the most challenging role in the Shakespearian canon. In 1991, directed by Deborah Warner, Brian Cox gave a highly-acclaimed performance. In this compulsive account of a theatrical journey, Cox describes the rehearsal room investigation in the possibilities of the text in performance as the production toured to Bucharest and Tokyo, Cairo and Paris in the wake of Perestroika and with the Gulf War gathering momentum in the early '90s. But this is also a personal story; for Lear, like Hamlet is a part notorious for consuming it's players and Cox is not only separated from his family for months, but also trying to negotiate a window in the storm to get married as he plays the character of an old man, rejected by his daughters and friends and sunk in madness... ... Read more

Product Description
This practical guide to the role of the production manager is invaluable reading for anyone involved in the theater, whether student, amateur, teacher, or professional. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Lame
This in many ways is a basic book about theater...I was expecting something a little more advanced. It is also very UK biased.

Haven't got it yet
Ordered this book on September 4th, it's now November 1st and I still haven't received it. Amazon changed the delivery dates twice and the second one estimated arrival around Christmas. I have canceled my order. The excerpts I have read though are very interesting, can't wait to actually get the product though... ... Read more

Product Description
While there is clearly no dearth of material on Greek theatre, until now no systematic effort has been made to integrate the Classical tradition with our modern perceptions and adaptations of it. Professor Walton's unique guide to Greek drama takes on this task, bringing together a wealth of information on Athenian tragedy and comedy as performed and appreciated in its own time and as embodied on the modern stage. The introductory section highlights some of the characteristic features of Greek tragedy and comedy and suggests how and under what conditions plays were first performed. The following section consists of analyses of the thirty-three surviving plays attributed to Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Each essay provides information on dates, characters, size of roles, and plot, together with an assessment of staging problems and a review of dramatic and theatrical qualities. The section concludes with a discussion of the influence of Greek tragic tradition on Roman drama. ... Read more

Product Description
Examines why, and by what means, a theatre like the Moscow Art Theatre comes into existence and acquires the characteristics which made it unique among comparable enterprises which were also established towards the end of the 19th century. The first half of the book examines the background and history of the Moscow Art Theatre and the second half examines the production of four plays by Chekov, Gorky, Turgenev, and Tolstoy. ... Read more

Product Description
This is Theodore Mann's account of his own and the Circle's remarkable history. At times it's difficult to tell where the two diverge, so integral to the company has he been. From Thornton Wilder to Al Pacino, it seems as if every great actor and playwright of the past fifty years has had his or her best work at Circle. As befits a story about theatre, it is at times comic and at times tragic. If you ever wondered how Off-Broadway ever came to be (and how it ever managed to survive), this is the tale to read. DVD BONUS: As a special bonus, An American Theatre Revolution includes a DVD of the 1977 CBS-TV Camera Three program "Twenty Five Years of Circle in the Square." It features Dustin Hoffman, George C. Scott, Vanessa Redgrave, Colleen Dewhurst, James Earl Jones, and Mann himself talking about their experiences at the theatre and includes excerpts of such noted Circle in the Square productions as Death of a Salesman, Mourning Becomes Electra, and The Lady from the Sea. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

interesting book about an interesting "mann"
This is a book for theatre fans,,especially if your interested in the history of the modern off-broadway scene,and how it began

So far no one has mentioned the DVD included!
I only had the opportunity to see one play at the original Circle In The Square Theater in the Village but we were charter subscribers when they moved uptown. I remember seeing Irene Pappas in "Medea" and James Earl Jones in "The Iceman Cometh" to name just a few. Four times a year we'd take the train into Manhattan to be engaged by some of the best talent in the theater world performing classics we knew and others we didn't.

Like the prior reviewer, I found this book fascination but - to me - the real bonus was the DVD that is included in the back of the book. Taken from a series produced for use in schools in 1975 - for the 25th Anniversary of the CITS - the 90 minute presentation consists of five segments of both interviews with Ted Mann and some celebrated actors (Dustin Hoffman, George C. Scott, Colleen Dewhurst, Paul Rudd, James Earl Jones, and Vanessa Redgrave) as well as brief scenes from plays these artists performed on the CITS stage. The interviews ask about how each actor started and more specifically about their years on the stage.The print is acceptable and - during the interview with Mann there is an annoying red "bleed" beside his face.

Long before James Lipton started his "In Side The Actor's Studio" show this document was recorded. It is as fascinating as anything Lipton ever did (without the fawning over his guests). If you need further encouragement to get this book, let the DVD convince you.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

The O'Neill Connection
I haven't worked out yet exactly how old Theodore Mann must be, but he must be one of the oldest people I have ever read an autobiography by.

Nearly everyone he knows from the glory days of the Circle in the Square is dead, so he must feel pretty much free to give his own version of the events that changed American theater and the reputation of Eugene O'Neill.Teddy Mann (or as George C Scott habitually called him, "Teedy,") was there and laid the groundwork, right at a time when O'Neill was a drug on the market and his last Broadway play, THE ICEMAN COMETH, had been a notable flop.Mann and his friend Jose Quintero stepped up, met Carlotta Monterey, fielded all the flak from naysayers, and put on triumphant productions of ICEMAN (with Jason Robards) and other O'Neill plays.Eventually they talked Carlotta (the widow O'Neill) into giving them the rights to stage US premieres for several of O'Neill's then unpublished plays, including LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, HUGHIE, and MORE STATELY MANSIONS.

Theodore Mann saved the day when Florence Eldridge, creating the important role of Mary Tyrone, fell sick on the eve of the opening.He enlisted the famous Dr. Feelgood, Max Jacobson, to step in with an enormous suitcase filled with syringes and soon brought her up to fighting speed.He's filled with great stories like that about half-forgotten people.Why, there was even another Paul Rudd, not the actor of today, but another one back in the 1970s, whom Mann discovered.What's up with that?The two Paul Rudds look crazy different from another, and I have to say, the present day one is far better looking.He also describes the love affair between Amy Irving and Rex Harrison in piquant terms, I'd like to see a whole docudrama about the interaction between ingenue and old man.

Despite continual rumors, Teedy and Quintero were never lovers, just friends from Woodstock.Indeed Theodore Mann's theater is pretty much a straight theater, with plenty of couples and lots of children.He discovered both Rip Torn and Geraldine Page and gave early work to trailblazers like Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave.The Circle in the Square had a long history of reviving forgotten plays and renewing interest in dormant careers, like George C. Scott's 1983 production of Noel Coward's PRESENT LAUGHTER, which showed the world that the man who played General Patton could also play Garry Essendine.

Journeys in the Night: Creating a New American Theatre with Circle in the Square: A Memoir
This book was well written and includes many significant and intimate stories about the start of the American theatre and Eugene O'Neill.There are many short and interesting stories about the acting giants in American theatre.Did you know that Director Jose Quintero met Ted Mann in Woodstock, and that is where the revival of O'Neill plays began?

The greats
This is such a wonderful book in the way it reviews a spectacular time in history.Some legendary actors got their start at the Circle in the Square such as Dustin Hoffman, George C. Scott, Al Pacino and many more.This theatre has been the behind the American theatre as we know it and this book tells the stories of the Circle in the Square and Theodore Mann, a driving force. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Rich and provocative.
This is an extremely useful book. Toscano's exposition is supple, definite, and fresh throughout.Of the names mentioned in the product description, Toscano spends the most time on Deleuze, and the least on Peirce. Whitehead also receives substantial treatment, as do (to a lesser extent) Ravaisson and James. The basic idea is that, beginning with the 'scandal of the teleological' in Kant's later work, we can trace the emergence of a single problem through the work of the above mentioned thinkers. It is Toscano's opinion that this problem - the problem of individuation - receives its most adequate formulation/resolution in Deleuze's philosophy. To be clear, individuation is not simply a historical trope which allows us to tell a coherent story about the development of philosophy - it is also a conceptual trope which lies at the base of many contemporary issues. By attacking the problem at the source, you produce a unified attitude towards an otherwise diverse set of issues.

One such issue, which Toscano mentions but does not develop, concerns the 'ethical' aspect of individuation. Who acts in the 'theatre of production'? What is the 'experience' of philosophy? Presumably these are both instances wherein we are individuated in a certain manner: specifically, individuated to act in one way rather than another, or to pursue one line of thought rather than another. To explain the capacity for 'anomalous' (yet nonetheless valid) judgements of this sort, is to offer an account of ethical individuation. And so on for all the other instances of this problem.

I highly recommend this text. ... Read more

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Examines the practical facilities and performance style of the private playhouses. ... Read more

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As the media have increasingly become the lens through which we see the world, media styles have shaped even the fine arts, and contemporary theatre is particularly indebted to mass media's dramatic influence. In order to stay culturally and financially viable, theatre producers have associated theatrical productions and their promotion with film, television, and the Internet by adopting new theatrical practices that mirror the form and content of mass communication. This work demonstrates how mediatization, or the adoption of the semantics and the contexts of mass media, has changed the way American theatre is produced, performed, and perceived. Early chapters use works like Robert Wilson's 3D digital opera Monsters of Grace and Thecla Schophorst's digitally animated Bodymaps to demonstrate the shifting nature of live performance. Critical analysis of the interaction between the live performer and digital technology demonstrates that the use of media technology has challenged and changed traditional notions of dramatic performance. Subsequent discussion sustains the argument that theatre has reconfigured itself to access the economic and cultural power of the media. Final chapters consider the extent to which mediatization undermines theatrical authorship and creativity. ... Read more

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Describes the plot and characters of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and discusses staging, casting, and other aspects of production for an amateur company. ... Read more

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The show bill for the 1994(?) production starring Henry Goodman, Sally Edwards, Ken Stott, Julia Swift, Margot Leicester, and Ed Bishop, directed by David Thacker. ... Read more