3,760 posts
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Post by anthony40 on Apr 23, 2024 14:53:00 GMT
I've not read this personally, but am certainly aware of it
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent
The New York Times bestselling memoir of Anthony Rapp, star of Broadway's Pulitzer Prize–winning musical Rent.
Anthony Rapp had a special feeling about Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent as early as his first audition, which won him a starring role as the video artist Mark Cohen. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent opened to thunderous acclaim off-Broadway—but even as friends and family were celebrating the show's first success, they were also mourning Jonathan Larson's sudden death from an aortic aneurysm. And when Anthony's mom began to lose her battle with cancer, Anthony found himself struggling to balance his life in the theater with his responsibility to his family.
In Without You, Anthony tells of his exhilarating journey with the cast and crew of Rent as well as the intimacies of his personal life behind the curtain. Marked by fledgling love and devastating loss, Without You is an exceptional memoir of the world of theater, the love of a son for his mother, and maturity won far too early.
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Post by thedrowsychaperone on Apr 23, 2024 15:17:12 GMT
I've not read this personally, but am certainly aware of it Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent The New York Times bestselling memoir of Anthony Rapp, star of Broadway's Pulitzer Prize–winning musical Rent. Anthony Rapp had a special feeling about Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent as early as his first audition, which won him a starring role as the video artist Mark Cohen. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent opened to thunderous acclaim off-Broadway—but even as friends and family were celebrating the show's first success, they were also mourning Jonathan Larson's sudden death from an aortic aneurysm. And when Anthony's mom began to lose her battle with cancer, Anthony found himself struggling to balance his life in the theater with his responsibility to his family. In Without You, Anthony tells of his exhilarating journey with the cast and crew of Rent as well as the intimacies of his personal life behind the curtain. Marked by fledgling love and devastating loss, Without You is an exceptional memoir of the world of theater, the love of a son for his mother, and maturity won far too early. I remember reading Without You years back as a holiday read and finding it extremely moving. I remember it being about 50/50 his personal life and actual behind-the-scenes stories, but it has been a while. Either way, think I'm going to revisit it now that this thread has jogged my memory.
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1,316 posts
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Post by tmesis on Apr 23, 2024 15:35:30 GMT
Hamilton and Me:an actor’s journal by Giles Terera. I didn’t enjoy this much myself (and I’m a huge admirer of Giles) but out and out Hamilton fans may love it.
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Post by lilgirlbigcity on Apr 23, 2024 17:04:51 GMT
Darn, so many of these books are really hard to get hold of! Would love the Barbara Isenberg book but it's £50 on Amazon 🫤
Would also recommend Backstage on Broadway by Marty Bell- each chapter looks at an aspect of putting on a show via a different person involved in the shows of the 1992-1993 Broadway season. Even has a chapter on the massive flop Nick and Nora
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214 posts
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Post by Jane Parfitt on Apr 23, 2024 19:03:28 GMT
"Unnaturally Green: One Girl's Journey Along a Yellow Brick Road Less Traveled" by Felicia Ricci who, in January 2010, went from peddling software in New York City to understudying the lead role in "Wicked" the musical-her first professional theatre gig. Unnaturally Green is the humorous account of the entire journey, from her pit-stain-filled audition to the bittersweet closing night.
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196 posts
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Post by Peter on Apr 23, 2024 21:26:54 GMT
Not quite the same, but Nicola McAuliffe used her experience in flop musical ‘Murderous Instincts’ to inform her novel ‘A Fanny full of soap’.
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Post by happysooz2 on Apr 24, 2024 10:22:30 GMT
I have absolutely gobbled up ‘Murder at the Adelphi.’ Massive thank you for the recommendation. I really got out of the habit of reading over lockdown, and my phone addiction doesn’t help. So while I have read it on my phone, it was rather marvellous to be able to download it and start it as soon as I saw the recommendation. Maybe books about theatre will be my re-entry point to reading. Might read that one about Wicked next, or maybe see if there’s anything about JCS.
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Post by thedrowsychaperone on Apr 24, 2024 11:01:14 GMT
Can we make this an out-and-out thread of theatre-related book recommendations? (If there's not such a thing already)
Seth Rudetsky's autobiographical-inspired novel "Broadway Nights" is a fluffy riot, highly enjoyed that some years back!
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Post by happysooz2 on Apr 24, 2024 11:06:20 GMT
@burlybear could we change the word ‘jobs’ to ‘books’ in the title?
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18,805 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 24, 2024 11:31:38 GMT
We already had a books thread so I’ve merged.
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Post by openbook on Apr 24, 2024 16:48:07 GMT
About a year ago I read Joy Ride by John Lahr. An excellent collection of his writings for the New Yorker, with very in depth portraits of theatre people (mostly writers and directors) such as Arthur Miller, Tony Kushner, Susan Stroman, wallace Shawn and many others. One of my favourite anecdotes is about a couple watching the play ‘the clean house’ (which I’ve seen in Oxford with Patricia hodge and elenor bron) and he turns to her and said ‘well, it wasn’t not good’ and she agrees and they turn to the woman next to them and asked her and she said ‘true, it wasn’t not good’ and they never found out that it was Sarah Ruhl who wrote the thing!
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Post by kate8 on Apr 24, 2024 20:51:31 GMT
If we‘re including novels, I’d recommend The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz. It’s part of a whodunnit series with the meta aspect that Horowitz himself is a character. So in this one he‘s got a play on in the West End and a critic is murdered after giving the play a bad review. Really entertaining if you enjoy a cosy Murder mystery.
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