Actor-Musicianship

Jeremy Harrison

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781472509635
• eBook ISBN: 9781472513779
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Drama

Actor-musicianship is a permanent feature of the musical theatre landscape. Actor-musician shows can be seen from Bradford to Broadway, from village halls to international arena tours. However, with the exception of a couple of academic papers, there has been nothing written about this fascinating area of theatre practice. Jeremy Harrison's book addresses this deficit, operating as both a record of the development of the actor-musician movement and as a practical guide for students, educators, performers and practitioners. It explores the history of actor-musicianship, examining its origins, as well as investigating – and offering guidance on – how this specialist form of music theatre is created. It, in turn, acts as a means of defining an art form that has to date been left to lurk in the shadows of musical theatre; a subset with its own distinctive culture of performer, maker and audience, but as yet no formal recognition as a specialism in its own right. The actor-musician show is multifarious and as such this book targets those interested in mainstream commercial work, as well as alternative and avant-garde theatre practice. The book draws together expertise from a range of disciplines with contributions from many of the leading figures in this field, including performers, directors, teachers, MDs, producers and writers. It also features a foreword by theatre director John Doyle.

Table of contents

• FC
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 From The Bubble to Broadway
• 2 Jack and Master
• 3 Training the Actor-Musician: An Introduction
• 4 Directing Actor-Musicianship
• 5 Choreographing Actor-Musicianship
• 6 Musically Directing Actor-Musicianship
• 7 A Young Theatre