Mr. Abbott Meets the Kid: The Care and Feeding of the Revival
In this excerpt from his new memoir ‘Jack in the Box: Or, How to Goddamn Direct,’ Jack O’Brien recounts his fierce face-off with theatre giant George Abbott.
Category Archives: Book Excerpts
Are We Selling Experiences or Serving Communities?
In excerpts from their new book, Anthony S. Rhine and Jay Pension answer important questions about audience engagement practices in nonprofit arts.
Les Waters: Theatre Spaces and Thin Places
In excerpts from a new book, the British-born director talks about childhood mysteries, the theatre buildings he’s worked in, and his fascination with erasure and contradictions.
Life During Wartime: The Backdrop of Kenny Leon’s ‘Much Ado’
How a Shakespeare in the Park production taught this designer that ‘political theatre’ could mean something different for Black and white Americans.
A Lost ‘Member’: The Mary Rodgers Musical That Wasn’t
In this excerpt from ‘Shy,’ the brutally frank memoir Rodgers wrote with Jesse Green, a Carson McCullers adaptation takes shape, then founders.
Customs of the Stage Tribe
This excerpt from a new book introducing performers to the unique world of the stage actor covers some of its unique rituals and traditions.
Fragments, Loss, and Language: On the Jewishness of Pinter and Stoppard
An excerpt from a new book about the lessons learned from staging the work of 2 major English writers.
Oscar Hammerstein II: He Had Some Notes
In 4 excerpts from a new collection of letters to and from the great musical writer and producer, we read his thoughts on matters large and small, as well as his advice for a young Sondheim.
Can Theatre Heal Trauma? A Case Study From India
This excerpt from a new book about performance activism looks at pandies theatre, which has devised plays with and for marginalized youth in the slums of New Delhi.
Try to Remember: ‘The Fantasticks’ in a Warzone
An oral history about the time the beloved Off-Broadway musical magically entertained American GIs in Vietnam.
