Reviews (13)

A Great Little Guide to Broadway
Seth Rudetsky is fiercely talented, an encyclopedia of Broadway facts and lore, and (most importantly) hysterically funny.He also knows everyone in the business and is the King (Queen?) of Broadway benefits and concerts.
Great tips from a true insider!
This book gives you every inside tip (okay, ALMOST every tip) you need to know about theater in New York.It also happens to be a very entertaining read.Rudetsky's wit shines through as he gives you a history of "essential" Broadway.If you're a fan of theater, this is a must read!!

AmAHzing...but what would you expect from this ultimate insider?
If you're addicted to Seth's Big Fat Broadway on Sirius (channel 77--Broadway's Best) you MUST have this book.Seth is FIERCE!Worth the price for the website information alone.
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Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. General    3. Performing Arts    4. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    5. Popular Culture - General    6. Theater - Broadway & Musical Revue    7. Travel    8. Gay & Lesbian studies    9. Travel / General    10. USA   

Reviews (34)

The 'Angels' have come!
This remarkable play writen by the best playwrite since Shakespeare has achived not only rocking your mind with it's beautiful prose, language, and story, but also has gained the title of the most wonderufl play in modern liturature (counting plays). Its star-stricken plot will not make you put it down! It is truly wonderful.

The 'Angels' have come!
This remarkable play writen by the best playwrite since Shakespeare has achived not only rocking your mind with it's beautiful prose, language, and story, but also has gained the title of the most wonderufl play in modern liturature (counting plays). Its star-stricken plot will not make you put it down! It is truly wonderful.

I love this book!
I'm a college student majoring in Theater Design.I had to read this play for one of my classes my freshman year.So I sat down expecting to plod through a story that I'd never read again.Boy was I shocked!I loved it!I couldn't put it down until I'd read the last page, and then I got right online and ordered the sequel.Honestly, I'm not as big a fan of the second book.I haven't read it in a while, but from what I remember it's more offensive, and honestly, a little more like smut.There's an angel with 7 vaginas and it has sex with one of the characters...one of the gay characters..go figure.The second book also seems to take more pot shots at God, which I didn't appreciate as a Christian.Anyway.This is a review of the first book, not the second.(just reminding myself!)I have 7 big bookcases of books at my parents' house, plus my dad is a librarian, so I do a LOT of reading.This book is ALWAYS one of the few "Chosen" books that I take to college with me to keep in my dorm.And just as a side note, I'm not gay, so this book is NOT just for gay people like some of the people whom I've talked to seem to think.BUY IT! You'll be enlightened and inspired to think. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Cohn, Roy M    3. Cohn, Roy M.    4. Drama    5. Gay    6. Gay men    7. General    8. Jewish - General    9. Plays    10. Plays / Drama    11. Drama / General   

Subjects:  1. Homosexuality    2. Performing Arts/Dance    3. Sociology    4. Sociology - General    5. Theater - General    6. United States    7. Behavioural theory (Behaviourism)    8. Gay & Lesbian studies    9. Gender studies    10. Performing Arts / Theater / General   

Reviews (17)

The Laramie Project
Like a quilt, each little piece of play is woven together beautifully. Some pieces are juxtaposed next to contrasting pieces, but step back -- the entire piece is a sight to see, and touch, and feel.
Laramie
The book was in excellent condition and was delivered even earlier than expected.Wonderful and smooth purchase.

For a parent, almost unwatchable
I am the 61-year-old father of a 24-year-old son who appeared in The Laramie Project two years ago, when he was a college senior.I sat in the front row of the theater in the round in which the play was produced.The play did not "get to me"--it dragged me into the worst What If a parent can have: what if my son were gay (he's not), what if he were murdered--how would I react, what would I feel?
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Subjects:  1. American    2. American Contemporary Drama    3. Crimes against    4. Death and burial    5. Drama    6. Gay men    7. Homophobia    8. Performing Arts/Dance    9. Plays / Drama    10. Shepard, Matthew,    11. Trials (Murder)    12. d. 1998    13. Drama / American    14. Shepard, Matthew   

Subjects:  1. 1854-1900    2. 19th century    3. Authors, Irish    4. Biography    5. Drama    6. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    7. Gay men    8. Great Britain    9. History    10. Homosexuality and literature    11. Literary Criticism    12. Literature - Classics / Criticism    13. Plays    14. Wilde, Oscar,    15. Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900    16. Drama / British & Irish    17. English    18. Influence    19. Literary studies: 19th century    20. Plays & playwrights: 19th century    21. Wilde, Oscar    22. Wilde, Oscar,--1854-1900   

Subjects:  1. Asians    2. Drama    3. England    4. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    5. Gay men    6. General    7. London    8. Plays    9. Plays / Drama    10. Transvestites    11. Drama / General    12. Drama texts: from c 1900 -   

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Drama    3. Gay Studies    4. General    5. Plays    6. Biography: general    7. Drama / General    8. Theatre, drama   

Subjects:  1. Cinema/Film: Book    2. Film & Video - History & Criticism    3. Gay Studies    4. Performing Arts    5. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    6. Semiotics & Theory    7. Social aspects    8. United States    9. American Studies    10. Cultural studies    11. Gay & Lesbian Studies/Queer Th    12. Gay & Lesbian studies    13. PERFORMANCE STUDIES/THEATER    14. USA   

Reviews (5)

Coming Out of the Closets
Having read Stephen Capsuto's book "Alternate Channels" I was eager to read this fairly recent work by Stephen Tropiano on gay and lesbian representation on the small screen.Both books are valuable and reliable resources but I think to compare both books against each other is a little unjust to both authors.Tropiano brings to light shows and episodes that Capsuto missed or forgot to mention for one reason or another and really picks up where Capsuto's earlier work leaves off. Wonderful book: Attention All Universities and Colleges
Stephen Tropiano's book is a ground breaking, scholarly book about a topic which has rarely received such meticulous attention.The book is well-written and a page turner.An enormous amount of research went into the book.Tropiano has created a definitive study of the history of homosexuality on television.One cannot help but be amazed at how powerful television was (and is) in defining how entire groups of people were seen ~ and judged.It was not too long ago that [homosexuals] were being defined as "a social problem" or "having an illness" on well-intentioned but blatantly off-based news programs and some of the first produced talk shows. I recommend this book highly to colleges, universities, and the general public.

FAAAAAABULOUS!!!!
I use the word 'faaaaabulous' for Stephen Tropiano's "The Prime Time closet" not to perpetuate a stereotypical gay word but as an homage to Tropiano's engaging, offbeat combination of camp and intelligence in presenting an incredibly accurate, exhaustive and, ultimately, extremely excellent study of the history of gays and lesbians on television.It is impressive enough that the author managed to gather hundreds of hours of television episodes and news programs (dating back to the 1950s) that featured gays and lesbians.But his analysis of where we've been, where we are and where we are going is so impressive that I'm sure it is just a matter of time before someone (hopefully Tropiano) takes this book and turns it into a historical documentary a la "The Celluloid Closet."Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Homosexuality on television    3. Performing Arts    4. Performing Arts/Dance    5. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    6. Songbooks - General    7. Television - History & Criticism    8. Television - Reference    9. Gay & Lesbian studies    10. History of specific subjects    11. Performing Arts / Theater / General    12. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    13. Television    14. USA   

Reviews (3)

One of the Best
After viewing the film, I recently purchase the hardcopy of the play for myself to read and of course to add to my own library. If you don't like to read the film is wonderful, witty, and walks/talks the truth about friendship and how we bond as gay men. This isn't a play, it's simple truth. A must read/see.

One of the best plays ever
I saw the movie and thought, "I have to read this play!" So I did and it's every bit as wonderful as the movie. The characters are so *real* and the whole thing is just so poignant and brilliant. The ending is wonderful as well. I very highly reccommend reading this one.

One of the best plays ever
I saw the movie and thought, "I have to read this play!" So I did and it's every bit as wonderful as the movie. The characters are so *real* and the whole thing is just so poignant and brilliant. The ending is wonderful as well. I very highly reccommend reading this one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Drama    3. Gay men    4. Performing Arts    5. Plays    6. Plays / Drama    7. Theater - Playwriting    8. Drama texts: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (1)

great new plays
"Out of the Fringe" provides an electric and eclectic new world of plays by latinas/latinos. Thanks to this handsome new anthology, latino/latina theater is shown to alive and thriving in the U.S., whetherin the hands of gay activist chicano humorist Luis Alfaro or lyricalcuban-american Nilo Cruz. Caridad Svich, who compiled the anthology, has anextremely musical incantatory play included as well. It is a testament tothe energetic state of latino/latina theater and thought that mixed-bloodchicano Oliver Mayer writes a play which has but a single latina characterand whose themes are national more than regional. This is a must-read.These plays should be done! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. American    3. American drama    4. Anthologies (multiple authors)    5. Drama    6. Hispanic American Drama    7. Hispanic American authors    8. Hispanic American gays    9. Plays    10. Plays / Drama    11. Scenes and Monologues    12. Drama / General    13. Drama texts: from c 1900 -    14. Latin-American Spanish    15. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    16. Theatre, drama    17. USA   

Subjects:  1. 16th century    2. 17th century    3. Drama    4. Early modern and Elizabethan,    5. Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600    6. England    7. English drama    8. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    9. Gay Studies    10. History    11. History and criticism    12. Homosexuality and literature    13. Literary Criticism    14. Plays / Drama    15. Renaissance    16. Drama / British & Irish    17. Drama-English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    18. English    19. English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600--History and criticism    20. Literary Criticism-Renaissance    21. Literature and society    22. Plays & playwrights: 16th to 18th centuries    23. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Reviews (2)

Williams in the context of his homosexuality
Gentlemen Callers is a penetrating look at the work of Tennessee Williams in the context of his homosexuality and the pervasive homophobia in the midst of which he grew up and created some of the most moving and significant works of drama in the English language.Gentlemen Callers describes in all its chilling reality the emergence of intense homophobia in the mid-20th century, intentionally fostered by government agencies, and discusses how this homophobia impacted his life and his work.Author Paller makes a particular effort to point out the wrongmidedness of latter day gay liberationist critics who pilloried Williams for supposedly creating characters from an internalized homophobia, criticism which failed to appreciate the process of artistic creation and the characters themselves in their dramatic settings.Paller analyzes a number of the most developmentally significant of Williams' plays in the light of the homosexuality that was such an important motif in his oeuvre.Gentlemen Callers is an engaging study, and the most substantial examination of this writer in the context of the homosexuality that so signficantly informed his work.

The Man, The Time, and Life in America
This book is kind of a mixture. Partly it's a biographical sketch of Tennesee Williams, partly it's a review of the struggles gay and lesbian people had during the 1940's and '50's, partly it's an analysis of the homosexuality in Williams plays, partly it's an analysis of the critics writing about his plays. And all of that is a lot to put in one rather small book.
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Subjects:  1. 1911-1983    2. 20th century    3. American    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. Drama    6. Gay Studies    7. History    8. Homosexuality and literature    9. Homosexuality, Male, in literature    10. Performing Arts    11. Sexual orientation in literature    12. Social Science    13. Sociology    14. Theater - History & Criticism    15. United States    16. Williams, Tennessee,    17. Biography & Autobiography    18. Drama-American    19. Literary Criticism-Drama    20. Performing Arts / Theater / History & Criticism    21. Sex in literature    22. Social Science / Gay Studies   

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Reviews (2)

Unfortunately, a mixed bag
Frightening The Horses is described as a "personal journey through a century of gay-themed cinema."While there are some personal references, it would be much more accurate to describe the book as a compendium of gay actors, gay icons, and key movies they made. More info than you thought possible
I had heard rumors about certain actors and actresses all my life - who hasn't - that So & So was gay/lesbian/whatever. This book discusses some of these aspects of Hollywood life as well as the various films regarding homosexuality. Read more

Subjects:  1. Film & Video - General    2. General    3. Performing Arts    4. Performing Arts/Dance    5. Plays / Drama    6. Films, cinema    7. GAY THEATER    8. Sociology, Social Studies   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Criticism    4. Gay Studies    5. General    6. ART HISTORY & CRITICISM    7. Gay & Lesbian Studies/Queer Th    8. Gay & Lesbian studies    9. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles    10. PERFORMANCE STUDIES/THEATER    11. Performing Arts   

Subjects:  1. American    2. Drama    3. Gay    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay men    6. Plays    7. Plays / Drama    8. Drama / General   

Reviews (3)

Specifically concerning "Slavs!"
Tony Kushner is an amazing playwright, with an enormous capacity for depth and drama, as evidenced by his Pulitzer prize-winning tome "Angels in America." "Angels" is a great play, a landmark of American literature, but for some reason, I prefer "Slavs!" It is a smaller play, simpler, lighter, more elegant, more compact...like a thin slice of cheesecake after a hearty steak dinner. Like all Kushner's work, it defies categorization--it is simultaneously comedy, drama, agitprop, and history. Do not limit yourself to "Angels," but give "Slavs!" a try. Satisfaction will surely follow.

Talking about "Thinking about..."
This book, a compilation of many short works, is truly one of Kushner's gems.And though, certainly, none of these pieces attains the truly unique, Kushnerian glory of "Angels" (but Good God, does *anything*?) they are most definitely not to be put aside too hastily. assembling a book, like baking lasagna
Kushner (perhaps the greatest poetic/playwright genius of our time) has assembled some of his more marginal works (though few of his works actually are marginal) and some of his most brilliant in this collection of "essays, a play, two poems and a prayer." having read all of hisplays, including his Tony Award Winning "Angels in America" twopart masterpiece, i have to say that SLAVS, while it present a brilliantmessage, isnt the best of his works. Sometimes, also, these essays can berepetitive. however, some are brilliant, spiced with new meaning andmetaphor, different ways of viewing the evils of capitalism and oursociety. They concern sex and life (as one? as a duality?), love, politicsand food. (can we live without any of the above. the answer is neverpresented, but it must be a resounding no). best of all is Kushner'sprayer, at the end of the book, which was delivered on the national prayerfor aids day. full of anger and grace, compliance and vengence, this prayereloquently asks and reasks the questions within all of us, directly to"God." this book provides one of the most provocative andbrilliant commentaries that i have seen in recent years. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American Contemporary Drama    2. Essays    3. Gay Studies    4. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Social Science    7. Literary Collections / Essays   

Reviews (2)

I thought it was the playwrite
I ordered it and I found it is just the playbill, which I've already got one as I entered the theature in New York City.In case the real playwrite it out, somebody please kindly tell me where to find it. :)

Are we writing for stage or screen?
There is plenty to like about this play by Jeff Baron, who has written more for television and film.The premise, in which a young corporate man is compelled by a judge to make regular visits to an elderly Jewish man he struck with his car, is loaded with opportunities for character conflict and humor.Initially the men, who are of different generations and different attitudes about their "Jewishness," are so badly matched the playwright has to cash in some disbelief credit to keep the arrangement going.The terms of their friendship tug at the heartstrings with the neatness and economy of a television 'dramedy.' Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Drama    3. Gay men    4. Male friendship    5. Older men    6. Plays    7. Plays / Drama    8. Upper West Side (New York, N.Y   

Reviews (5)

Finding the roots of tragedy
There are quite a few playwrights today that have mastered the craft of dramaturgy, and perhaps even enhanced it through linguistic prowess and ingenious plot development.But "The Goat" does something few plays today can do: give us a sense of the ritual nature of drama and its ability to evoke catharsis by dealing with a taboo theme in such a way that allows us to stay riveted to the action despite the underlying threat to our social and personal homeostasis. Like the best of Aristolean-influenceddrama, this play presents a family embroiled in a predicament that slowly and inevitably must lead to tragedy, and, although we witness an excrutiating dilemma, we stay riveted to it because the hand of fate shows itself to be the master of our lives, a master from which we cannot disengage.Just as Oedipus or Antigone is doomed by their transgressions of societal rules, the "house" of a middle class family is doomed for reasons that are all too human and all too base, but owing to the playwright's skill with tone, dialogue, dramatic structure, and character development, keeps us watching as the lamb or "goat" is led to slaughter.

Brilliant!
There's little doubt that this is a very disturbing play.However, the writing and the dialogue are so brilliant that one finds himself transported into the realm of the author's world.Only someone with Mr. Albee's talent and flair can raise this type of theme to art in it's finest form.The characters are well drawn and well-rounded and even the most die-hard conservative will find himself feeling empathetic towards all the characters.In my opinion this play is a "must read" and a "must see."Don't miss it when it comes to your theater.

one of his best
Edward Albee is without question the finest American playwright we've yet had, and all through The Goat, particularly in the second and third acts, he's in top form.Structurally, it's as perfect a tragedy as anything penned by Shakespeare, perhaps even by Sophocles.And structure and form are very much what seem to be at stake.What was Chagall's famous (partially correct) quote?Something like "It doesn't matter if it's a chicken or a barn door or a red blotch - just that something be there."In The Goat, Albee inserts a goat into a tragedy of marital infidelity, and manages, in spite of it's absurd nature, to be not only hilarious, but deeply moving.The oddness of it all is set off magnificently by the fact that Martin is as conscientious, rational, and aware of linguistic connotations as nearly any character you'll see upon a stage.And as always, Albee's dialogue is masterful, his touch deft, his ear damn near infallible.If I had to take one Albee play, besides V. Woolf this might be it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Albee, Edward - Plays & Criticism    2. American    3. Bestiality    4. Drama    5. Gay youth    6. General    7. Goats    8. Married people    9. Plays    10. Plays / Drama    11. Drama / American   

Reviews (2)

Lowest common denominator gay fiction
When I found out this author was a writer on Showtime's series "Queer As Folk" it came as no surprise, as his fictional work is just a continuation of gay stereotypes. As a gay man with a lover of nine years, I find this material lacking in talent, wit and authenticity.It is sadly typical of how many gay TV writers with marginal talent portray gay life.If Tolins actually had true writing talent, he might choose to look at the multi-layered aspects of gay lives in America, rather than his one-dimensional cartoon versions of gay life.

This guy can write!
Last Sunday in June was my favorite theater experience of whatever year I saw it in!And Twilight of the Golds was truly searing and thought-provoking!This man is a writer we'll be hearing more about.Comparisons to Neal Simon are obvious but don't do justice to this writer whose heart is as big as his sense of humour and his compassion for his characters reminds me more of Checkov than Neal Simon.(So if he's so good, why no 5 stars?Simple: I'm an honest man and I haven't read this book yet, and am reviewing it only on the basis of the two productions I SAW.So, when I read If Memory Serves I'll re-check in on this review if it's a warranted 5th star.)But buy this book!You won't be disappointed!This man's one liners and characters are as good as they get. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Drama    3. Gay couples    4. Gay men    5. Greenwich Village (New York, N    6. Greenwich Village (New York, N.Y.)    7. Plays    8. Plays / Drama