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Spring cleaning has arrived, which is not altogether restful if you wish to keep abreast of all these new shows that see fit to come along at torrential pace. This is a good time, though, to clear the shelf of books that have been piling up. With an apology. With only one book column a month, it is hard to cover more than three or four at a clip — which leaves quite a few items unhappily overlooked. Just because I overlook them, doesn't mean that you should. Thus I herewith present ten of these books. If something sounds interesting to you, do pick it up and give it a try.
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Much of what we have are plays, many from celebrated authors. Penelope [TCG] comes from Enda Walsh, the innovative Irish writer who is just now thrilling Broadway with his libretto for Once. (Read about Once in the Playbill Vault.) Penelope is set beside a swimming pool, with lounge chairs and a deluxe barbecue; the title character, though, is the gal Ulysses left behind when he went to Troy in pursuit of Helen. Stunning and Other Plays [TCG] comes from David Adjmi, the Syrian-Jewish-American playwright who has been attracting attention of late. Stunning was presented at the Duke in 2009 with Charlayne Woodard, an early offering of LCT3 (which is the new arm of Lincoln Center Theater). Elective Infinities, one of the two other titles included, played a limited and unconventional run last December in a Fifth Avenue townhouse, starring Zoe Caldwell.
Passionate about theatre books? See what the Playbill Store has on its shelves.
If "a song of purple summer" sounds familiar to you, you might want to take a look at "A Purple Summer: Notes on the Lyrics of Spring Awakening" by Steven Sater [Applause]. This brief paperback — 112 pages, with a $9.99 list price — is precisely what the title implies, a lyricist's explanatory notes on his work for the ground-breaking, Tony Award-winning 2006 musical. With Spring Awakening now available for stock & amateur licensing, it seems likely that many young actors across the land (and elsewhere) will be playing these roles and singing these songs. Imagine having the author on hand, offering helpful insights. (Read about Spring Awakening in the Playbill Vault.)
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"The Actor as Storyteller" by Bruce Miller [Limelight] markets itself as an introduction to the art of acting geared towards high school and college students. Not being a high school or college student, I can't tell you how effective this is; Miller is an acting teacher at the University of Miami, so one expects that he writes with practical knowledge of what today's students walk in needing. At a glance, this book — filled with acting exercises and scene study hints — looks promising.
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Finally, we have "My Awesome Awful Popularity Plan" [Random House], a novel for young adults by none other than Seth Rudetsky. Not your everyday young adult novel, but then we wouldn't expect that from Seth. This one is about 15-year-old Justin Goldblatt, whose to-do list starts with "fall in love with someone (please let it be Chuck)." Rudetsky — author of "Broadway Nights," popular radio show host, conductor/pianist, and Playbill columnist — is as always irrepressibly entertaining. The book ends with a note to young adult readers who are having a hard time dealing with high school and other issues, urging them to reach out to TheTrevorProject.org, ItGetsBetter.org, or to Rudetsky himself.
(Steven Suskin is author of the recently released updated and expanded Fourth Edition of "Show Tunes" as well as "The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations," now available in paperback, "Second Act Trouble" and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He also pens Playbill.com's On the Record and DVD Shelf columns. He can be reached at [email protected].)
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Passionate about theatre books? See what the Playbill Store has on its shelves.