BOOK PREVIEW: “The Play That Changed My Life”
The American Theatre Wing Presents:
“The Play That Changed My Life: America’s Foremost Playwrights On The Plays That Influenced Them”
***AVAILABLE NOW***
“I think what hooked me - and this was long before I knew it had hooked me - was the absolute unreality of the experience becoming absolute reality. The absolute suspension of disbelief which took my six-year-old mind by storm.” ~Edward Albee
This 200-page paperback, with an Introduction by Paula Vogel and essays and interviews from nineteen of America’s most distinguished playwrights on the plays that transformed their lives, is a must-read for theatre enthusiasts. The book is filled with tributes, memories, anecdotes, and other insights from writers who have a combined total of some 40 Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prizes and Obies, including Jon Robin Baitz, Nilo Cruz, Christopher Durang, Horton Foote, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, John Patrick Shanley, and MANY MORE.
From Edward Albee’s 1935 visit to New York’s Hippodrome Theatre to see Jimmy Durante in Rodgers and Hart’s Jumbo, to Nilo Cruz’s first glimpse of a cabaret from a hiding spot underneath a table as a child, to Beth Henley’s mother picking her up for a kindergarten carpool painted green, to David Henry Hwang’s seminal encounter with Equus, “The Play That Changed My Life” offers readers a unique peek into the theatrical influences of some of the nation’s most important dramatists. The writers delve into the significance of theatre in American culture, as well as the emotions and stories that lead both authors and audiences on a journey of self-exploration. In addition, we see from first-hand accounts how plays not only entertain, but change the lives of writers who will in turn be inspired to write the plays that will change the lives of generations to come.
This book addresses the way in which we’re all drawn to the theatre because it at one point touched some part of our lives, and brings to light the uniqueness of this experience for every theatre lover. As David Henry Hwang writes in his piece, “It seems to me that, over the course of our time here, we live several different lives - sometimes simultaneously. The wonder of theatre is that any production, in any space, experienced at any age, can change any one of those lives.” We see in this book what sparked a passion for theater in some of the creators of the works that inspire us, and it is amazing to see how similar to our own influences (and how different) those moments can be.
This book is a phenomenal outlet for the most prominent writers of our time to tell their “theater story,” and it is a must read! Get it now!
(Continue reading to learn more about the creators of the book and to read what previous readers are saying!)
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Meet the creators of “The Play That Changed My Life”
Howard Sherman: Howard Sherman has been executive director of the American Theatre Wing since 2003, and initially conceived the idea for this book. With ATW, he has executive produced the Working in the Theatre television series and cohosted the Downstage Center radio program. He has previously held management positions at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Geva Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Hartford Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the Westport Country Playhouse. Mr. Sherman also recently did an interview with TheatreStory’s David Moon, check out the full interview HERE.
Ben Hodges: Ben Hodges is editor-in-chief of Theatre World, the annual pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre and the recipient of a 2001 Special Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre. His other publications include The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals (with Fred Vogel), Forbidden Acts: Pioneering Gay and Lesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century and Out Plays: Landmark Gay and Lesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century. An actor, director, and producer, Hodges has also served as the executive producer of the Theater World Awards for outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway debut performances, as well as for the LAMBDA Literary Foundation “Lammy” Awards for excellence in LGBT publishing.
The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman of the Board of Directors; Howard Sherman, Executive Director): The ATW is best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. The Wing sponsors many activities, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in the theatre. These programs include “Downstage Center,” a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with the leading artists and professionals working on stage today; “Working in the Theatre,” a weekly television program on CUNY TV which gathers panels of theatre artists to discuss their crafts; “In the Wings,” a new web series that spotlights theatre’s behind-the-scenes talents; “Guides to Careers in the Theatre,” a video series developed for schools and libraries; a grants program for New York City not-for-profit theatre companies, which has awarded nearly $3 million since its inception; the Theatre Intern Group, a career development program for young professionals; SpringboardNYC, a two-week college-to-career boot camp for young performers moving to NYC; and the Jonathan Larson Grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers. Check out all of these offerings on the ATW website at www. americantheatrewing.org. You can also follow the American Theater Wing on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TheWing.
Applause Theatre & Cinema Book: Applause is America’s foremost publisher of books on the performing arts. Applause books cover the full range of film and theatre topics, including biographies, librettos and scripts, reference books, film and theatre history, critical analysis, and more. An imprint of Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group, Applause is based in New York. For additional information, visit www.applausepub.com.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Advance praise for “The Play That Changed My Life”
“Nineteen first-rate playwrights are represented in this American Theatre Wing presentation. This treasury documents, in first-person accounts and interviews, what enticed them to the theatre in the first place, and I’m happy to say: collectively, they are unpretentious, and breezy.” ~Hal Prince
“As someone whose career has consisted of interpreting the words of writers, I loved reading these essays. I was delighted and fascinated by each one of them. It should be required reading for anyone who is serious about theatre.” ~Glenn Close
“What a thrilling book! By describing their own formative moments in a theatre, our best playwrights collectively define the transformative power of theatre itself. For years now, we’ve heard these men and women speak in the voices of their characters, up on stage. Here they regale us in voices that are passionate, personal, witty, and true: their own.” ~John Lithgow
“A brilliant and inspirational idea. Ask playwrights to name the plays that were their inspiration. Their words then inspire us and they move on to write yet more inspirational plays. I think it’s called ‘Win, Win!’” ~Lynn Redgrave
“Incredible! I loved reading it so much. This book made me laugh out loud. As a young actor at the start of my career, this book provided me with as much joy as it did inspiration.” ~Jonathan Groff
“Buy this wonderful book! It’s a fascinating compendium of how, when, and where our most gifted playwrights fell under the magic spell of the theatre. A must for theatre lovers and a great gift for any young person who dreams of a life in the theatre.” ~Sigourney Weaver
“The Play That Changed My Life: America’s Foremost Playwrights On The Plays That Influenced Them”
***AVAILABLE NOW***
“I think what hooked me - and this was long before I knew it had hooked me - was the absolute unreality of the experience becoming absolute reality. The absolute suspension of disbelief which took my six-year-old mind by storm.” ~Edward Albee
This 200-page paperback, with an Introduction by Paula Vogel and essays and interviews from nineteen of America’s most distinguished playwrights on the plays that transformed their lives, is a must-read for theatre enthusiasts. The book is filled with tributes, memories, anecdotes, and other insights from writers who have a combined total of some 40 Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prizes and Obies, including Jon Robin Baitz, Nilo Cruz, Christopher Durang, Horton Foote, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, John Patrick Shanley, and MANY MORE.
From Edward Albee’s 1935 visit to New York’s Hippodrome Theatre to see Jimmy Durante in Rodgers and Hart’s Jumbo, to Nilo Cruz’s first glimpse of a cabaret from a hiding spot underneath a table as a child, to Beth Henley’s mother picking her up for a kindergarten carpool painted green, to David Henry Hwang’s seminal encounter with Equus, “The Play That Changed My Life” offers readers a unique peek into the theatrical influences of some of the nation’s most important dramatists. The writers delve into the significance of theatre in American culture, as well as the emotions and stories that lead both authors and audiences on a journey of self-exploration. In addition, we see from first-hand accounts how plays not only entertain, but change the lives of writers who will in turn be inspired to write the plays that will change the lives of generations to come.
This book addresses the way in which we’re all drawn to the theatre because it at one point touched some part of our lives, and brings to light the uniqueness of this experience for every theatre lover. As David Henry Hwang writes in his piece, “It seems to me that, over the course of our time here, we live several different lives - sometimes simultaneously. The wonder of theatre is that any production, in any space, experienced at any age, can change any one of those lives.” We see in this book what sparked a passion for theater in some of the creators of the works that inspire us, and it is amazing to see how similar to our own influences (and how different) those moments can be.
This book is a phenomenal outlet for the most prominent writers of our time to tell their “theater story,” and it is a must read! Get it now!
(Continue reading to learn more about the creators of the book and to read what previous readers are saying!)
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Meet the creators of “The Play That Changed My Life”
Howard Sherman: Howard Sherman has been executive director of the American Theatre Wing since 2003, and initially conceived the idea for this book. With ATW, he has executive produced the Working in the Theatre television series and cohosted the Downstage Center radio program. He has previously held management positions at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Geva Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Hartford Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the Westport Country Playhouse. Mr. Sherman also recently did an interview with TheatreStory’s David Moon, check out the full interview HERE.
Ben Hodges: Ben Hodges is editor-in-chief of Theatre World, the annual pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre and the recipient of a 2001 Special Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre. His other publications include The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals (with Fred Vogel), Forbidden Acts: Pioneering Gay and Lesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century and Out Plays: Landmark Gay and Lesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century. An actor, director, and producer, Hodges has also served as the executive producer of the Theater World Awards for outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway debut performances, as well as for the LAMBDA Literary Foundation “Lammy” Awards for excellence in LGBT publishing.
The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman of the Board of Directors; Howard Sherman, Executive Director): The ATW is best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. The Wing sponsors many activities, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in the theatre. These programs include “Downstage Center,” a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with the leading artists and professionals working on stage today; “Working in the Theatre,” a weekly television program on CUNY TV which gathers panels of theatre artists to discuss their crafts; “In the Wings,” a new web series that spotlights theatre’s behind-the-scenes talents; “Guides to Careers in the Theatre,” a video series developed for schools and libraries; a grants program for New York City not-for-profit theatre companies, which has awarded nearly $3 million since its inception; the Theatre Intern Group, a career development program for young professionals; SpringboardNYC, a two-week college-to-career boot camp for young performers moving to NYC; and the Jonathan Larson Grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers. Check out all of these offerings on the ATW website at www. americantheatrewing.org. You can also follow the American Theater Wing on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TheWing.
Applause Theatre & Cinema Book: Applause is America’s foremost publisher of books on the performing arts. Applause books cover the full range of film and theatre topics, including biographies, librettos and scripts, reference books, film and theatre history, critical analysis, and more. An imprint of Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group, Applause is based in New York. For additional information, visit www.applausepub.com.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Advance praise for “The Play That Changed My Life”
“Nineteen first-rate playwrights are represented in this American Theatre Wing presentation. This treasury documents, in first-person accounts and interviews, what enticed them to the theatre in the first place, and I’m happy to say: collectively, they are unpretentious, and breezy.” ~Hal Prince
“As someone whose career has consisted of interpreting the words of writers, I loved reading these essays. I was delighted and fascinated by each one of them. It should be required reading for anyone who is serious about theatre.” ~Glenn Close
“What a thrilling book! By describing their own formative moments in a theatre, our best playwrights collectively define the transformative power of theatre itself. For years now, we’ve heard these men and women speak in the voices of their characters, up on stage. Here they regale us in voices that are passionate, personal, witty, and true: their own.” ~John Lithgow
“A brilliant and inspirational idea. Ask playwrights to name the plays that were their inspiration. Their words then inspire us and they move on to write yet more inspirational plays. I think it’s called ‘Win, Win!’” ~Lynn Redgrave
“Incredible! I loved reading it so much. This book made me laugh out loud. As a young actor at the start of my career, this book provided me with as much joy as it did inspiration.” ~Jonathan Groff
“Buy this wonderful book! It’s a fascinating compendium of how, when, and where our most gifted playwrights fell under the magic spell of the theatre. A must for theatre lovers and a great gift for any young person who dreams of a life in the theatre.” ~Sigourney Weaver
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