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Foolish Hearts
by Emma MillsWhen Claudia accidentally eavesdrops on the epic breakup of Paige and Iris, the it-couple at her school, she finds herself in hot water with prickly, difficult Iris. Thrown together against their will in the class production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, along with the goofiest, cutest boy Claudia has ever known, Iris and Claudia are in for an eye-opening senior year. Smart, funny, and thoroughly, wonderfully flawed, Claudia navigates a world of intense friendships and tentative romance in this book about expanding your horizons, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and accepting—and loving—people for who they really are.
High School Reunion: The Musical
by Jane Milmore Nick Degregorio Billy Van ZandtCharacters: 10 male, 7 female Unit Set Welcome to the 30th Reunion of the Class of '79. Everyone you ever loved, hated, had a crush on, or wanted to punch in the face will be there. They are just older, fattier and angrier. Old scores will be settled, old games will be replayed and new (or should we say old) love will be found. And they will all be singing and dancing to an amazing score by Van Zandt, Milmore & Nick DeGregorio including "I Hope They Know Me," "I Want to Bang Miss Blumquist," "(I'm in a) Garden State of Mind," and the show stopping "I'll Never Dance With You." "The downright funniest reunion you'll ever attend" - Two River Times
Drop Dead
by Jane Milmore Billy Van ZandtComedy / Characters: 7 male, 3 female Scenery: Interior . A cast of has been actors plan to revive their careers in Drop Dead!, a potboiler murder mystery directed by "Wonder Child of the Broadway Stage" Victor Le Pewe (a psychotic eye twitching megalomaniac). At the dress rehearsal the set falls, props break, and the producer and an actor are murdered. During the opening night performance, the murders continue. The remaining thespians must save the show and their careers, solve the mystery and stay alive for curtain calls. . "A nonstop physical comedy that turns the world of theater on its head!" Variety. . "The audience laughed at everything!" L.A. Times. . "Pick of the Month" L.A. Magazine. . "Heartily entertaining!" L.A. Reader.
Lie, Cheat, And Genuflect
by Jane Milmore Billy Van ZandtComedy / 4m, 4f / Interior / The Buckle brothers, Billy and Tom, are in big trouble: Tom's infallible eye for slow horses has drained away all of Billy's savings and he has borrowed from loan shark Pizza Face Petrillo, who now wants his money back or else! There's plenty of money in grandfather Buckle's will, but these two black sheep are pretty sure they'll never see any of that. What else to do but dress Billy up as a nun and have him pose as their cousin who is to inherit the entire fortune? Involve a stuffy young lawyer, a hard drinking, man hungry housekeeper and a trio of beautiful young women, and you have the recipe for a laugh packed farce of twists, turns, puns and pratfalls as Tom strives mightily to compensate for Billy's "habitual" errors.
Silent Laughter
by Jane Milmore Billy Van ZandtComedy / 8m, 2f / New York audiences went wild for this gag-filled water sloshing, bed crashing, pie throwing craziness. Performed in black and white with title cards projected over the actors' heads, and a live theatre organ accompanying every doubletake, this comic tour de force stars a dashing hero who overcomes jail, poverty, World War I and a dastardly villain, Lionel Drippinwithit, to win the girl of his dreams. She is the heiress to the Thickwad Screw Factory, a firm that has been "Screwing the American Public since 1861." The biggest pie fight the theatre world has ever seen caps the silent action. More than a tribute to the slapstick antics of Chaplin, Keaton and Arbuckle - this is a reverential recreation of a bygone era.
Till Death Do Us Part
by Jane Milmore Billy Van ZandtFarce / 6m, 5f / 2 Interiors / This delightful look at modern marriage in all its marred majesty had them rolling in the aisles at its premier in New Jersey. Narrated by a jaded bachelor who knows the bloom inevitably leaves the rose, the play opens with a pristine view of marriage: a wedding album slide show of the weddings of four happy couples. The images are quickly supplanted by the reality of the couples' eroding relationships. By the time all four couples repair to a Vermont country inn, their marriages are in an advanced state of disrepair. There doesn't seem to be a happy ending in sight, but the ending is full of surprises. The dialogue is sprinkled liberally with hilarious gags in this comedy about the dark side of marriage.
What The Bellhop Saw
by Jane Milmore Billy Van ZandtFarce / 8m, 4f / Interior / A nice fellow checks into an expensive suite in New York City's finest hotel, precipitating a fantastic nightmare involving a Salman Rushdie type author, an Iranian terrorist, a shrew like woman, a conniving bellboy, an incompetent F.B.I. agent, a nubile celebrity mad maid, a dimwitted secretary and a little pig tailed girl. Gag lines are popping as events transpire at a whirlwind velocity. Topical humor blends with the traditional antics of farce: doors slamming, characters careening and confusion reigning supreme.
What The Rabbi Saw
by Jane Milmore Billy Van ZandtFarce / 7m, 4f / Interior / Adrienne Barbeau headed the cast of this crazy slapstick farce which takes pre wedding jitters to nightmare proportions. In a posh New York hotel just before Walter and Wendy are scheduled to say "I do", Walter's zipper becomes attached to his bride's sister's dress during a last minute act of infidelity. Meanwhile Wendy is having a fling with the best man. This finely tuned exercise in physical comedy zips from one hilarious situation as all try to hide their exploits and make it to the church on time.
Wrong Window!
by Jane Milmore Billy Van ZandtComedy Thriller / Characters: 5m, 3f / Set: InteriorVan Zandt & Milmore pay tribute to Master of Horror Alfred Hitchcock, with this comedy whodunit. Off-and-on New York couple Marnie and Jeff enter an even more complicated phase of their relationship when they think they spy their cross-courtyard neighbor do away with his wife. After they draw their torn curtain, the lady vanishes, and suspicion places murder beyond a shadow of a doubt. The bumbling witnesses sneak into their neighbor's apartment - 39 steps away - and the fun begins. Among multiple door-slammings, body-snatchings, and a frantic flashlight chase scene, two questions remain: Who killed Lila Larswald? And... if she's not dead...then who is? The crazy farce plays out on a shadow-box set that allows the audience to be present in one apartment, while viewing the action in its mirror-image neighboring unit across the way. "Take the money and run to this window before it closes!" Two River Times. "If you're a fan of Rear Window on screen, you'll award Wrong Window on stage a perfect 10. A barrage of gag-filled dialogue. Knee-slappingly funny from start to finish! Take the money and run to this window before it closes!" -Philip Dorian, Two River Times
Bulgakov: The Novelist-Playwright
by Lesley MilneFirst published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The Everything Shakespeare Book
by Cork MilnerWithout question, William Shakespeare is the most celebrated and quoted writer of all time. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to his writing, The Everything Shakespeare Book, 2nd Edition will help you fully appreciate and understand Shakespeare's works. In everyday language, this book covers everything from All's Well that Ends Well to The Winter's Tale-and every play and sonnet in between, featuring:Famous quotationsBackground information on Shakespeare's life and timesAn in-depth look at the controversy over the authorship of the worksAn Elizabethan English lessonWhether you're doing research for a school paper or simply building your literary knowledge, this book is the perfect introduction to the world and works of "The Bard of Avon."Cork Millner is a Shakespeare scholar, playwright, and author of several books, including To Be or Not To Be Shakespeare. He teaches writing at the University of California and Santa Barbara City College and has been on the literary staff for the prestigious Santa Barbara Writer's Conference for 20 years. He lives in Carpinteria, CA.
The Everything Shakespeare Book (The Everything®)
by Cork MilnerWithout question, William Shakespeare is the most celebrated and quoted writer of all time. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to his writing, The Everything Shakespeare Book, 2nd Edition will help you fully appreciate and understand Shakespeare's works. In everyday language, this book covers everything from All's Well that Ends Well to The Winter's Tale-and every play and sonnet in between, featuring:Famous quotationsBackground information on Shakespeare's life and timesAn in-depth look at the controversy over the authorship of the worksAn Elizabethan English lessonWhether you're doing research for a school paper or simply building your literary knowledge, this book is the perfect introduction to the world and works of "The Bard of Avon."Cork Millner is a Shakespeare scholar, playwright, and author of several books, including To Be or Not To Be Shakespeare. He teaches writing at the University of California and Santa Barbara City College and has been on the literary staff for the prestigious Santa Barbara Writer's Conference for 20 years. He lives in Carpinteria, CA.
Paradise Lost
by John Milton Paul Stevens Erin Shields“The biggest mistake any of us could make would be to underestimate Satan.” The seventeenth century and present day are seamlessly intertwined as Satan vents to an audience about her frustration at being cast out of Heaven and her thoughts on oppression. When she finds out that God has created delicate new creatures called “humans,” she crafts a plan for revenge and betrayal on the Almighty. Erin Shields turns Heaven and Hell upside down in this witty, modern, feminist retelling of John Milton’s epic poem about the first battle between good and evil. Shields’s wickedly smart and funny script questions the reasons of the universe, the slow process of evolution and the freedom of knowledge. The debate over right and wrong has never been so satisfying.
Living Quixote: Performative Activism in Contemporary Brazil and the Americas (Performing Latin American and Caribbean Identities)
by Rogelio MinanaThe 400th anniversaries of Don Quixote in 2005 and 2015 sparked worldwide celebrations that brought to the fore its ongoing cultural and ideological relevance. Living Quixote examines contemporary appropriations of Miguel de Cervantes's masterpiece in political and social justice movements in the Americas, particularly in Brazil.In this book, Cervantes scholar Rogelio Miñana examines long-term, Quixote-inspired activist efforts at the ground level. Through what the author terms performative activism, Quixote-inspired theater companies and nongovernmental organizations deploy a model for rewriting and enacting new social roles for underprivileged youth. Unique in its transatlantic, cross-historical, and community-based approach, Living Quixote offers both a new reading of Don Quixote and an applied model for cultural activism—a model based, in ways reminiscent of Paulo Freire, on the transformative potential of performance, literature, and art.
Living Quixote: Performative Activism in Contemporary Brazil and the Americas (Performing Latin American and Caribbean Identities)
by Rogelio MinanaThe 400th anniversaries of Don Quixote in 2005 and 2015 sparked worldwide celebrations that brought to the fore its ongoing cultural and ideological relevance. Living Quixote examines contemporary appropriations of Miguel de Cervantes's masterpiece in political and social justice movements in the Americas, particularly in Brazil. In this book, Cervantes scholar Rogelio Miñana examines long-term, Quixote-inspired activist efforts at the ground level. Through what the author terms performative activism, Quixote-inspired theater companies and nongovernmental organizations deploy a model for rewriting and enacting new social roles for underprivileged youth. Unique in its transatlantic, cross-historical, and community-based approach, Living Quixote offers both a new reading of Don Quixote and an applied model for cultural activism—a model based, in ways reminiscent of Paulo Freire, on the transformative potential of performance, literature, and art.
Director's Cut
by Margaret MincksThe director of the Cosgrove Elementary school play learned that directing a play is a great way to make enemies. Casting is not that easy, especially when there are Talented Terrors involved.
The Princess Who Never (Well, Hardly Ever) Laughed
by Margaret MincksA king becomes upset because his daughter never laughs and because she turns away all the men who want to marry her. When will someone come along who truly delights her?
Doris Humphrey: A Centennial Issue (Choreography and Dance Studies Series)
by Naomi MindlinIn honour of Doris Humphrey's centennial, which was celebrated worldwide in 1995, this issue explores her legacy to the world of dance and her place in history. The varied aspects of her work are covered including choreography, teaching approach, Labanotation scores, reconstruction/recreations, and composition.In order to convey a sense of movement into the next century, the articles are presented in "chronological" order, beginning with that of Ernestine Stodelle, who worked with Humphrey during the 1920's and ending with an examination of Mindlin's 1995 experience learning Humphrey's work from Stodelle.
Reverberating Song in Shakespeare and Milton: Language, Memory, and Musical Representation
by Erin MinearIn this study, Erin Minear explores the fascination of Shakespeare and Milton with the ability of music-heard, imagined, or remembered-to infiltrate language. Such infected language reproduces not so much the formal or sonic properties of music as its effects. Shakespeare's and Milton's understanding of these effects was determined, she argues, by history and culture as well as individual sensibility. They portray music as uncanny and divine, expressive and opaque, promoting associative rather than logical thought processes and unearthing unexpected memories. The title reflects the multiple and overlapping meanings of reverberation in the study: the lingering and infectious nature of musical sound; the questionable status of audible, earthly music as an echo of celestial harmonies; and one writer's allusions to another. Minear argues that many of the qualities that seem to us characteristically 'Shakespearean' stem from Shakespeare's engagement with how music works-and that Milton was deeply influenced by this aspect of Shakespearean poetics. Analyzing Milton's account of Shakespeare's 'warbled notes,' she demonstrates that he saw Shakespeare as a peculiarly musical poet, deeply and obscurely moving his audience with language that has ceased to mean, but nonetheless lingers hauntingly in the mind. Obsessed with the relationship between words and music for reasons of his own, including his father's profession as a composer, Milton would adopt, adapt, and finally reject Shakespeare's form of musical poetics in his own quest to 'join the angel choir.' Offering a new way of looking at the work of two major authors, this study engages and challenges scholars of Shakespeare, Milton, and early modern culture.
Kissing Shakespeare
by Pamela MingleA romantic time travel story that's ideal for fans of novels by Meg Cabot and Donna Jo Napoli--and, of course, Shakespeare.Miranda has Shakespeare in her blood: she hopes one day to become a Shakespearean actor like her famous parents. At least, she does until her disastrous performance in her school's staging of The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide. Fellow cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meet Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England--the world Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda to use her acting talents and modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help, Stephen claims, the world will lost its greatest playwright. Miranda isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only chance of getting back to the present and her "real" life. What Miranda doesn't bargain for is finding true love . . . with no acting required.From the Hardcover edition.
Adaptation, Intermediality and the British Celebrity Biopic
by Márta Minier Maddalena PennacchiaBeginning with the premise that the biopic is a form of adaptation and an example of intermediality, this collection examines the multiplicity of 'source texts' and the convergence of different media in this genre, alongside the concurrent issues of fidelity and authenticity that accompany this form. The contributors focus on big and small screen biopics of British celebrities from the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, attending to their myth-making and myth-breaking potential. Related topics are the contemporary British biopic's participation in the production and consumption of celebrated lives, and the biopic's generic fluidity and hybridity as evidenced in its relationship to such forms as the bio-docudrama. Offering case studies of film biographies of literary and cultural icons, including Elizabeth I, Elizabeth II, Diana Princess of Wales, John Lennon, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Beau Brummel, Carrington and Beatrix Potter, the essays address how British identity and heritage are interrogated in the (re)telling and showing of these lives, and how the reimagining of famous lives for the screen is influenced by recent processes of manufacturing celebrity.
The Pop Musical: Sweat, Tears, and Tarnished Utopias (Short Cuts)
by Professor Alberto MiraAfter Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley’s iron grip on the movie musical began to slip in the face of pop’s cultural dominance, many believed that the musical genre entered a terminal decline and finally wore itself out by the 1980s. Though the industrial model of the musical was disrupted by the emergence of pop, the Hollywood musical has not gone extinct. Many Hollywood productions from the 1960s to the present have revisited the forms and conventions of the classic musical—except instead of drawing from showtunes and jazz standards, they employ the styles and iconography of pop.Alberto Mira offers a new account of how pop music revolutionized the Hollywood musical. He shows that while the Hollywood system ceased producing large-scale traditional musicals, different pop strains—disco, rock ’n’ roll, doo-wop, glam, and hip-hop—renewed the genre, giving it a new life. While the classical musical presented a world light on conflict, defined by theatricality and where effortless talent can shine through, the introduction of pop spurred musicals to address contemporary social and political conditions. Mira traces the emergence of a new set of themes—such as the painful hard work depicted in Dirty Dancing (1987); the double-edged fandom of Velvet Goldmine (1998); and the racial politics of Dreamgirls (2006)—to explore why the Hollywood musical has found renewed relevance.
Readings in Music and Artificial Intelligence (Contemporary Music Studies #20)
by Eduardo Reck MirandaFirst published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Italian Funerals and Other Festive Occasions
by John MirandaDramatic Comedy / 6m, 6f / Interior / This comic drama broke all box office records for straight plays at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre. Faced with the impending loss of his mother to dementia and death, John clings to memories to postpone present decisions. He views his life in operatic proportions, feeling a kinship with Alfredo in La Traviata, with Rudolpho in La Boheme and with Tosca in Tosca because they too were unable to save the one they loved. The value of family unity and acceptance of death as an affirmation of life, twin themes in the play, emerge as John finds answers for the present in the past.
In The Heights: Finding Home **The origin story behind the feelgood film of the summer**
by Lin-Manuel Miranda Quiara Alegria Hudes Jeremy McCarterLin-Manuel Miranda's new book gives readers an extraordinary inside look at In the Heights, his breakout Broadway debut, written with Quiara Alegría Hudes, now a Hollywood blockbuster.WHAT FANS ARE SAYING... "This book is so beautiful I want to cry." ~ "I genuinely think I've needed this for years." ~ "Reading this book made my love for both the musical and movie versions of In the Heights grow even more."In 2008, In the Heights, a new musical from up-and-coming young artists, electrified Broadway. The show's vibrant mix of Latin music and hip-hop captured life in Washington Heights, the Latino neighborhood in upper Manhattan. It won four Tony Awards and became an international hit, delighting audiences around the world. For the film version, director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) brought the story home, filming its spectacular dance numbers on location in Washington Heights. That's where Usnavi, Nina, and their neighbors chase their dreams and ask a universal question: Where do I belong?In the Heights: Finding Home reunites Miranda with Jeremy McCarter, co-author of Hamilton: The Revolution, and Quiara Alegría Hudes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist of the Broadway musical and screenwriter of the film. They do more than trace the making of an unlikely Broadway smash and a major motion picture: They give readers an intimate look at the decades-long creative life of In the Heights.Like Hamilton: The Revolution, the book offers untold stories, perceptive essays, and the lyrics to Miranda's songs-complete with his funny, heartfelt annotations. It also features newly commissioned portraits and never-before-seen photos from backstage, the movie set, and productions around the world.This is the story of characters who search for a home-and the artists who created one.