Sidemen-professional musicians hired to perform with groups of which they are not regular members-are essential to bands and orchestras, but most remain anonymous for their entire lives. A few music aficionados might know their names, and sometimes a sideman becomes a star for compositions or for exceptional performances. Even so, few ever achieve fame or an identity separate from the organizations with whom they perform. My Best to You ...captures a glimpse of Kasper "Stranger" Malone, a musician struggling to survive in the early days of recorded music. In his own words, Malone documents, names, places, and personalities of that era. He played in every musical genre, from early recorded country music with Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers to silent movie orchestras, from live radio to jazz recordings with Benny Goodman, Pee Wee Hunt, and Jack Teagarden. He played with symphony orchestras in San Francisco, Denver, Tucson, and Rome, Georgia, finally ending his long career full circle playing folk and bluegrass in North Georgia. With a Founder's Award from the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame, a Guinness World Records acknowledgement of his unprecedented seventy-seven year recording history, and a recently released documentary of his life, in his old age he found he had achieved an uncomfortable fame. Presented here is his history and biography, edited by his daughter, Patricia Poos and filled with fascinating details of a long and historic career.

The Austrian composer Hanns Eisler was Bertolt Brecht's closest friend and most politically committed collaborator. In these conversations with Hans Bunge which took place over a period of four years, from 1958 until his death in 1962, Eisler offers a compelling and absorbing account of his and Brecht's period of exile in Europe and the USA between 1933 and 1947, and of the quality of artistic, social and intellectual life in post-war East Germany. Brecht, Music and Culture includes a discussion of a number of Brecht's principal plays, including Life of Galileo and The Caucasian Chalk Circle, considers the place of music in Brecht's work and discusses the time that Brecht was brought before The House of Un-American Activities Committee. It includes lively accounts of Brecht's meetings with key cultural figures, including Arnold Schoenberg, Charlie Chaplin and Thomas Mann, and offers throughout a sustained response to the question of the purpose of art in a time of political turmoil. Throughout the conversations, Eisler provides illuminating and original insights into Brecht's work and ideas and gives a highly entertaining first-hand account of his friend's personality and attitudes. First published in Germany in 1975, and now published in English for the first time, the conversations provide a fascinating account of the lives and work of two of the twentieth century's greatest artists.

With a lifelong love of music dating back to his childhood, author Don Tolle dreamed about achieving fame as a recording artist. But it was in 1973, after a tour in Vietnam, that he finally took the leap, picked up the telephone, and called record companies about his songs. It was a fateful day in his career, one that reverberates even today. In For the Record, Tolle shares his career as a music man, beginning in the record business of the wide-open 1970s, when everything seemed possible. The story follows his career from its beginnings in an entry-level position at a record company to his eventual founding of a record company and production of his own hit records, winning multiple awards in the process. Tolle also shares the story of his precipitous fall from the summit of success. For the Record describes his walk through the long shadows of the valley, where he wandered lost and alone before staging a remarkable comeback that ultimately led to his greatest triumph and the realization of the misplaced, but not forgotten, dream of his youth. Filled with the experiences, memories, revelations, and reflections of an amazing career during the golden age of the music business, this memoir offers an insider's view of the music world filled with unique personalities.

Tiberio Fiorilli, also known as Scaramouche, (November 9, 1608 - December 7, 1694) was an Italian actor of commedia dell'arte, popular in France for his role of Scaramouche. He was the director of the troop of the Comediens Italiens, which shared with the troop of his friend Moliere the Theatre of the Petit-Bourbon, and the Theatre of the Palais-Royal. This biography of Fiorilli by his fellow-actor Angelo Constantini was published in Paris in 1695, shortly after the actor's death. The English translation by the dance scholar and historian Cyril W Beaumont, presented here, includes detailed explanatory notes and background information.

Love, Please is a memoir of a timeless love story between a man and a woman from opposite sides of the world. They meet in Tokyo when she is there on tour, and each immediately realizes they are soul-mates. Their story unfolds over a period of seventeen years, from the mid seventies to the early nineties, chronicling the extraordinary adventure of their lives together. Satoru Oishi is a architect and sculptor who works with Jasper Johns and Phillip Johnson. Susana Hayman-Chaffey is a soloist with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The backdrop is their Manhattan loft, from which they travel around the world making a living any way they can, and learning about life through dramatic, often humorous, ups and downs. It is a voyage of love between two people, their families, friends and children. It encourages and inspires us to keep faith in the midst of what seems to be an impossible life journey, proving that, with courage and determination, anything can be accomplished. It is a human story told simply and honestly about life and love.

Where else but in America could a Jewish kid from Kansas, son of self-made, entrepreneurial parents and a grandson of Russian and Eastern European immigrants, end up as a congressman, secretary of agriculture, and chief lobbyist for Hollywood? In Laughing at Myself: My Education in Congress, on the Farm, and at the Movies Dan Glickman tells his story of a classical family background, religious heritage, and 'Midwestern-nice' roots, and how it led to a long and successful career in public service. Dan combines a steady sense of humor with serious reflection on his rise from the middle of nowhere to becoming a successful US politician and the first Jewish secretary of agriculture since Joseph served pharaoh in biblical times. Dan defines success as a willingness to listen, an ability to communicate ideas, and a yen for compromise. Dan has successfully navigated the worlds of congressional politics, cabinet-level administration, and the entertainment industry and offers readers the many tricks of the trade he has learned over the years, which will inform the understanding of citizens and help aspiring politicians seeking alternatives to the current crisis of partisanship. Dan is convinced that the toxicity seen in our current political culture and public discourse can be mitigated by the principles that have guided his life-a strong sense of humor (specifically an ability to laugh at himself), respect and civility for those who have different points of view, a belief system founded on values based on the Golden Rule, and a steadfast commitment to solve problems rather than create irreconcilable conflicts. While these values form the backbone of Dan Glickman's personal life and professional career, the real key to his success has been resiliency-learning from adversity and creating opportunities where none may have originally existed. Even though you never know what's around the corner, in Laughing at Myself Dan offers a bold affirmation that America is still a nation built on opportunity and optimism. Laughing at Myself affirms readers in their desire to move beyond just surviving to living life with purpose, passion, and optimism.

SHOWTIME is the follow-up book to Monologues: Dramatic Monologues For Actors. It is contains 16 hilarious comedic scenes for two actors that range from one to ten minutes in length. All of the scenes are original and are taken from selected plays, films, and television pilots from Gregory's body of work. Like Monologues, SHOWTIME was written to fill a much needed void for comedic scenes for black and minority actors; although this book was written for actors of all races. There are the many unique characteristics in this book that separates it from similar books. The characters can be performs by anyone and there are plenty of scenes for males and females, males and males, older males and younger males, and so on. There are scenes that are appropriate for middle school actors all the way to professional actors. It is the perfect book to produce a show consisting of short comedic scenes for two actors. Also, it is the perfect book for directing funny scenes or shows at high school, colleges, or professional level. SHOWTIME was written to be a comedic actor and director's dream. The characters in each scene allow the actors to explore a different character through: researching, exploring, and understanding the motivation and objective necessary to bring the character to life. For the director, it allows him/her to utilize, enhance, broaden, and develop many of their skills necessary for directing full-scale productions. As a literary resource for educators, SHOWTIME includes: a chapter on vernacular, commonly used vernacular terms, a chapter on copyright infringement, a chapter on stage terminology, a chapter on film/television terminology and more. It is an excellent resource to teach: acting, scene study, and character development. SHOWTIME is original, the characters are diverse, very funny and lots of fun for acting, directing, or teaching.

I LOVE YOU, MOM-Please Don't Break My Heart is the true story of one boy's journey through a childhood of physical, mental, and emotional abuse. John endured neglect, isolation, physical beatings, mental degradation and malevolent admissions into numerous mental institutions, and eventual attempted murder within the custodial supervision of his unscrupulous mother. This literary work is indeed John's factual account of his small, bruised body clinging to life, his struggle as a teenager fighting and winning against insurmountable odds, and his entrance into young manhood as a warrior for the young and innocent, protecting them from experiencing a similar childhood of hell on earth.

Manfred von Richthofen is widely known as the famous pilot who achieved an incredible eighty aerial victories, eclipsing all other aces of World War I. He became a living legend not only to the German people, but also to his opponents, who admired his prowess and affectionately referred to him as the Red Baron.

In "Attack Out of the Sun: Lessons from the Red Baron for Our Business and Personal Lives," author Dr. Durwood J. Heinrich explores the life of Richthofen, a man who lived to be only twenty-five years old but who still had a tremendous impact on the lives of many. Heinrich examines the Red Baron's personality, technical skills, management style, leadership ability, strategies, and undaunted determination.

Against the backdrop of Richthofen's positive attributes as a wartime hero, "Attack Out of the Sun" focuses on preparation and planning for success, execution for results, and evaluation and renewal in order to help you improve your business interactions and personal life.

'Two throughout Eight' is a different kind of novel, strategically adjutant from the first book entitled 'One throughout Eight.' An enlightening metaphysical treatise, Kevin Jon Klause shows us the struggle of life depicted with a mixture of deities and powerful people. The most brilliant people are the victors. Only they will enjoy the best life has to offer.

Fifteen years in the making, "860 glittering pages" ("The New York Times"), the first volume of the astonishing life of Barbara Sanwyck--one of our greatest screen actresses--explores her extraordinary range of eighty-eight motion pictures, her work, her world, and her Hollywood through an American century.
Frank Capra called her "the greatest emotional actress the screen has yet known." Yet Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) was also one of its most underrated stars. Now, Victoria Wilson gives us the most complete portrait of this magnificent actress, seen as the quintessential Brooklyn girl whose family was in fact of old New England stock...her years in New York as dancer and Broadway star...her fraught marriage to Broadway genius, Frank Fay...the adoption of a son; her partnership with Zeppo Marx, with whom she created a horse breeding farm; her fairytale romance and marriage to Robert Taylor, America's most sought-after male star... Here is the shaping of her career working with Hollywood's most important directors, all set against the times--the Depression, the rise of the unions, the coming of World War II, and a fast-evolving motion picture industry. At the heart of the book is Stanwyck herself--how she transformed herself from shunned outsider into one of America's most revered screen actresses.
Volume One is the result of more than 100 exhaustive interviews with those who knew Stanwyck, many who never before had agreed to be interviewed: her family, friends, and co-workers from Lauren Bacall, Jane Fonda, and Jackie Cooper to Patricia Neal, Milton Berle, and Kirk Douglas; from Billy Wilder, Bruce Dern, and Anthony Quinn to Jane Powell, Charlton Heston, Arthur Laurents, and Sydney Lumet. "An epic Hollywood narrative," "A Life of Barbara Stanwyck "includes never-before-seen letters, journals, and photographs.

Insightful, in-depth and evocative, this book is a collection of conversations with nine of the most innovative theatre directors of our time in Europe and North America: * Eugenio Barba * Lev Dodin * Declan Donnellan * Elizabeth LeCompte * Robert LePage * Simon McBurney * Katie Mitchell * Peter Sellars * Max Stafford-Clark. All these directors have developed their own highly individual theatre language and have been influential, nationally and internationally, across a wide range of theatre practices. The length, depth and scope of the discussions distinguishes this collection from others, each director providing a fascinating insight into his/her particular working processes. The book reveals the complex world of directors and their creative relationships with actors, in rehearsal and performance, and playwrights. Each conversation is framed by an introduction to the work of the director, a detailed chronology of productions and an indicative bibliography to inspire further reading and research.