Musicals on CD:

Musicals on DVD:

Musicals in mp3 format

Art of Dramatic Writing
by Lajos Egri
Paperback
A classic text; essays on the craft and art of stage writing
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The Art of the Playwright: Creating the Magic of Theatre
by William Packard
Paperback
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Blunt Playwright: An Introduction to Playwriting
by Clem Martini
Paperback
The Blunt Playwright guides new students of playwriting through the intricacies of playwriting in a direct, informative, and entertaining fashion. It examines dramatic structure, discusses the creative process, explores the nature of character in dramatic work, provides a number of writing exercises that are useful for generating text, and cites local and international playwrights throughout.
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Characters in Action: Playwriting the Easy Way
by Marsh Cassady
Paperback
Amazon.com Books: Dr. Marsh Cassady thoroughly understands his subject and offers an excellent method of teaching it to inexperienced writers. The twelve chapters of this book provide a complete survey of every step in playwriting from the germination of an idea to its complete development into a theatrical production. He covers the basics of writing for theatre, creating characters in conflict, plots and subplots, structure and dialogue and winning an audience. Cassady provides some basic rules, but the reader learns most from the countless examples and anecdotal illustrations from amateur and professional playwrights. The book is ideally suited to be a basic text on the art of playwriting.
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The Crafty Art of Playmaking
by Alan Ayckbourn
Hardcover
For the first time, Alan Ayckbourn shares all of his tricks of the playwright's trade. From helpful hints on writing to tips on directing, the book provides a complete primer for the newcomer and a refresher for the more experienced. Written in Ayckbourn's signature style that combines humor, seriousness, and heady air of theatrical sophistication that Noel Coward would envy, The Crafty Art of Playmaking is a must-have for aspiring playwrights and students of drama.
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The Dramatist's Toolkit: The Craft of the Working Playwright
by Jeffrey Sweet
Paperback
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How to Read a Play
by Ronald Hayman
Paperback
From the jacket: Ostensibly an introductory guide to the art of translating the printed page of a play into dramatic mental images, this book is really a witty, basic handbook to drama and all the elements that compose it. How should we read stage directions? How can we imagine the theatrical effect of a sound effect? What about the effect of colors, costumes, groupings, relative positions on the stage? The book becomes a basic guide to the art of the drama.
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Making Plays: The Writer-Director Relationship in the Theater Today
by David Jones, Colin Chambers (Editor), Richard Nelson
Paperback
Particularly interesting for the involvement of playwright Richard Nelson, author of "Some Americans Abroad" and "The General from America."
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Naked Playwriting: The Art, The Craft, And The Life Laid Bare
by William Missouri Downs, Robin Russin
Paperback
Well-written, comprehensive, and filled with illustrative examples, Naked Playwriting includes both innovative and tried-and-true writing techniques, sage advice from veteran writers, a short study of the major schools of dramatic thought, and writing anecdotes.
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Perfect 10: Writing and Producing the 10-Minute Play
by Gary Garrison
Paperback
Perfect Ten is the perfect nuts-and-bolts primer for writing and producing the hottest trend in American theatre today: the ten-minute play. Look in any small or medium-sized theatre and you're bound to run smack up against it. This new creative form is growing faster than anyone can keep track of, with a whole new generation of artists embracing it. Writing with the same sharp wit and wise, conversational voice of The Playwright's Survival Guide, Garrison demystifies the process of writing and producing the ten-minute play by breaking it down structurally, dramaturgically, and theatrically.
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The Playwright's Guidebook
by Stuart Spencer
Paperback
The Playwright's Guidebook, is a clear, concise, and engaging handbook. Spencer addresses the important principles of structure, includes insightful writing exercises that build upon one another, explores the creative process, and troubleshoots recurrent problems that playwrights actually face.
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The Playwright's Handbook
by Frank Pike, Thomas G. Dunn
Paperback
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Playwrights on Playwriting
by Toby Cole (Editor), John Gassner (Introduction)
Paperback
The classic collection of essays by playwrights from the canon.
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The Playwright's Process: Learning the Craft from Today's Leading Dramatists
by Buzz McLaughlin
Paperback
Unique among playwriting manuals, this volume offers readers instruction tested in playwriting workshops and based on interviews with famous dramatists. Quotations from authors such as Edward Albee, Arthur Miller, Marsha Norman, Wendy Wasserstein, and others reveal methods concerning every facet of playwriting, from developing the initial idea to producing a workable piece, and more.
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The Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama in Your Work and Out of Your Life
by Gary Garrison
Paperback
The Playwright's Survival Guide is written for both aspiring and established writers looking for an emotional, spiritual, or even just plain practical connection back to what's important--the writing.
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The Playwright's Workbook
by Jean-Claude Van Itallie
Paperback
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Playwriting in Process: Thinking and Working Theatrically
by Michael Wright
Paperback
A hands-on compendium of games and activities to help writers stimulate creativity, exercise skills, and practice their craft.
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Playwriting Master Class
by Michael Wright (Editor), Mead Hunter
Paperback
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Playwriting at Work and Play: Developmental Programs and Their Processes
by Michael Wright
Paperback
Editorial Reviews: "A groundbreaking work on new play development."
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The Power of the Playwright's Vision: Blueprints for the Working Writer
by Gordon Farrell
Paperback
Every playwright has his or her own vision of life -- and seeks to express that vision on stage. Over the past two hundred years, the world's greatest dramatists have been constructing models, or blueprints of their visions, to make sure that what is in their hearts gets put on stage. This book distills that genius and innovation into a practical manual.
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Scriptwork: A Director's Approach to New Play Development
by David Kahn, Donna Breed
Paperback
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Solving Your Script: Tools and Techniques for the Playwright
by Jeffrey Sweet
Paperback
The techniques Jeffrey Sweet uses to write his award-winning plays and which he teaches for New York's Actors Studio are now in a book. He describes principles, introduces exercises and analyzes work some of his students have written in response. The result is a workshop between covers. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies (Dinner With Friends) says, "New and seasoned writers, as well as teachers of playwriting, should find Solving Your Script a welcome addition to the small number of truly valuable books on the craft of playwriting, Sweet's own Dramatist's Toolkit notably among them."
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Stage Writers Handbook: A Complete Business Guide for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists
by Dana Singer
Paperback
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The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot)
by Samuel Beckett
Hardcover
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Working on a New Play: A Play Development Handbook for Actors, Directors, Designers & Playwrights
by Edward M. Cohen
Paperback
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Writing: American Theatre Wing (Working in the Theatre Seminars)
by Robert Emmet Long (Editor)
Hardcover
For more than 30 years, the Wing has produced the Working in the Theatre seminars, a series that features the greatest names in theatre. In book form for the first time, these compact volumes-at an affordable paperback price for gift-giving-are for students and for anyone with a passion for the theatre. Here are the inside, behind-the-scenes words of the actors, writers, directors, and producers who make Broadway, off-Broadway, regional theatre, and London's West End come alive.
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Writing the Broadway Musical
by Aaron Frankel
Paperback
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Writing Drama
by Yves Lavandier
Paperback
Writing Drama is an invaluable tool for screenwriters as well as theatre writers (or indeed anyone interested in the process of . . . writing drama!). It's also a fantastic book for producers and development executives, as it analyzes in detail those tools -- like dramatic irony or the real three-act structure -- which are often ignored or misunderstood by mainstream literature on the subject. Whether you're a writer, a development executive or a producer, if you're bored with rigid rules -– or were never totally convinced by them -- and are looking for more flexible yet efficient tools, then Writing Drama is for you.
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Young Playwrights 101: A Practical Guide for Young Playwrights and Those Who Teach Them
by Jonathan Dorf
Paperback
A complete handbook for young playwrights and those who teach them, and for anyone who wants practical advice about the craft and business of playwriting.
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