<p>Does anyone have any recommendations for books that our acting student kids should read and should own? Thinking ahead to potential Christmas presents.</p>
<p>My daughter is about to graduate from NYU, and I'm really looking for anything else that will help prepare her for this life she's chosen.</p>
<p>Thanks for any suggestions ...</p>
<p>Uta Hagen’s “Respect For Acting” and “A Challenge For The Actor.”</p>
<p>Are you sure she hasn’t been asked to read some of these books already in school? If it were me, I’d give her a bunch of theater tickets or something like that (even an IOU), maybe a membership to a theater company, and let her know that you’ll pay for the tickets when she picks the shows. </p>
<p>Or, go to the Playbill.com store online for some gifts. My D’s favorite, and continual, request is for Playbill binders. They have theater yearbooks and other stuff there, too.</p>
<p>Audition, by Michael Shurtleff</p>
<p>Not knowing what she’s being taught in school and which texts and guest teachers are being utilized, it’s hard to say which books on survival in the biz might be most useful. Honestly, I don’t find most of those books very good at all since the business is always changing and most are out-of-date by the time they hit the shelves. </p>
<p>That being said, Acting as a Business is pretty decent for New York. Self Management for Actors is somewhat LA-centric, but really contains more useful and up-to-date advice as far as I’m concerned. A lot of people also highly recommend How to Be a Working Actor although I personally found long stretches of it to be a big nothing burger. Some others I haven’t read but have heard decent things about are One Less Bitter Actor and How to Get Arrested.</p>
<p>Another good one that even the parents on here might enjoy since it’s such an entertaining read is An Agent Tells All. Again, parts are out-of-date and it’s very LA-centric, but a shark in the Pacific isn’t much different from a shark in the Atlantic except that the Atlantic variety also maintains a steady diet of theatre artists. I actually say that with some affection since I adore my own agents and it is a good primer on the mindset and care and feeding of those who more or less control our destinies and also provides a good introductory overview of how the TV and film business works - or doesn’t … </p>
<p>Another that is useful to actors and was actually used as a text at my school is The Eight Characters of Comedy by Scott Sedita. You parents will like it, too, although you’ll never watch a sitcom with the same mindset again. 
He has another book called Making It in Hollywood that I don’t recommend because I think he overreaches his expertise with “who can” and “who can’t.” However, he has [an excellent video of an interview he gave to Judy Kerr](<a href=“http://www.scottseditaacting.com/video-jk-mih.php”>http://www.scottseditaacting.com/video-jk-mih.php</a>) on his website that contains most of the good stuff. I’ve not been around long enough to make global pronouncements, but all I’m seeing is that he is DEAD. ON. about the three steps to success and the three steps to failure as well as his definition of success as preparation meeting opportunity. Pay special attention to his parable of “Jay Greenspan” from his time at BU at 08:15 because that is indeed what it takes imho. </p>
<p>Another sad fact is that while the many BFAs do a good job of teaching you what to do when you‘re actually working, something I have been seeing more and more is that most do a very poor job of teaching you how to book the job in the first place. It‘s a different animal … Audition by Michael Shurtleff is the all time classic on this and How to Get the Part Without Falling Apart and The Lyndon Technique may be useful depending on her personal acting process. </p>
<p>Really, most BFA graduates need ongoing training in audition technique and it’s a sad fact that most are broke, in debt or a combination of both and can’t afford it, so I’ll suggest that one of the greatest gifts you can give her is to set aside enough money for a couple of months of classes or private coaching with a teacher of her choice for when she decides she needs it. I can recommend Bob Krakower and I know others who swear by Josh Pais who I believe also teaches in the Tisch Atlantic studio. Penny Templeton has a great rep, too, though I can’t say I know anyone who’s been to her. I don‘t personally do commercials, but Weist Barron Studio comes highly recommended for that. You can set yourself up for a year if you manage to book a National … </p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Thanks Fish. Watching the interview with Jean Kerr and it’s very good.</p>
<p>First I want to agree with the people that suggested uta hagen and michael shurtleff- those are must reads.</p>
<p>And to add to the pile- True and False for the actor-- David Mamet</p>
<p>MomsterofM, your daughter has probably already read it, but if not, “How to Stop Acting,” by Harold Guskin, is (as I understand it) a must.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! Good suggestions.</p>
<p>One of the main books we discuss in my acting class is True and False by David Mamet. It is definitely one that challenges many widely accepted values of acting, but very interesting and insightful to read!</p>
<p>The Acting Lions By Penny Templeton! You can pick it up at the Drama Book Shop, which is at 250 West 40th st. New York City. When I went to buy it, they were all sold out and had to order more of her books for the 6th time! She is my acting coach, and I have grown so much with my performance as an actor because of her! I recommend everyone to check her studio out, and go buy her book! Her book has everything you need to know about being in the industry as actor, from booking a job to learning how to keep it, and then learning about the history of acting, and then she talks about the craft in every aspect! You can also check out her website at [Acting</a> Classes | New York City Acting Studio | Penny Templeton Studio](<a href=“http://www.pennytempletonstudio.com%5DActing”>http://www.pennytempletonstudio.com)!</p>
<p>Absolutely, hands down, the one book EVERY actor should own, read, and memorize is called The Professional Actor, by Tom Markus. I believe it has been reissued under the title An Actor Behaves. This book was given to me when I was about 15 (nearly 30 years ago) and provided the roadmap to professional behavior that I have practiced ever since. I read it so many times that I really DO have passages of it memorized, and I draw on the information so frequently that it is almost like breathing. I am a professional actor and just finished doing a show with a fairly temperamental celebrity. I found myself remembering the section in the book on “working with stars” to help me through the particular challenges of this production.</p>
<p>If you do not buy any other book for your young performer, buy this one. </p>
<p>And if you have money left over, get a copy of The Art of Coarse Acting, by Michael Greene. It’s Waiting for Guffmann before Waiting for Guffmann was ever conceived - an absolute laugh riot!</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> New Tax Guide for Writers, Artists, Performers & Other Creative People: 2010 Edition (9781585103799): Peter Jason Riley: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Artists-Performers-Creative-People/dp/1585103799/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321656005&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Artists-Performers-Creative-People/dp/1585103799/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321656005&sr=1-1)</p>
<p>Hopefully they will come out soon with the 2011 edition. :-)</p>
<p>also perhaps a year subscription to backstage and/ or American Theatre Magazine?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.backstage.com/bso/index.jsp[/url]”>http://www.backstage.com/bso/index.jsp</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.tcg.org%5B/url%5D”>http://www.tcg.org</a></p>