History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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At last !!!
Practical directions for cellists
Helpful...if you're not a beginner.
Muy útil
Finally, an ergonomic cello technique

New Directions in Cello Playing
Victor Sazer
Manufacturer: Ofnote
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0944810039

Book Description

How to Make Cello Playing Easier and Play Without Pain.

New Directions in Cello Playing introduces natural, tension-free ways of playing and anatomically improved techniques that prevent performance-related injury. Its innovative approach to body use increases efficiency and improves performance. This revised and expanded edition also includes new strategies for teaching beginners.

Customer Reviews:

At last !!!.......2007-06-27

I strongly recommend this fine book to all cellists and all cello teachers who in general have not got a clue about ANATOMY. After having suffered several tendinitis and excrutiating back pain I found immediate relief following Mr Sazer's recommandations.

Practical directions for cellists.......2007-01-10

Author is a cellist who has practical suggestions for prevention and amelioration of symptoms related to posture and technique. The line illustrations are useful. Relaxation issues are discussed in relation to repetitive stress conditions. This book can be useful for beginners and professionals alike.

Helpful...if you're not a beginner........2005-01-22

This book is well written and easy to read, but as a beginning cello player, it ended up being more confusing than helpful. The suggestions made in the book seem like logical contradictions to traditional instruction, but when trying to learn the basics from all of the cello teachers I tried, they were irritated by alternate methods described in the book. I think the major problem is that instead of posing the "new directions" as alternate methods to an old system and explaining the initial reasons for the old methods coming about thereby allowing the reader to choose for herself, it just discards traditional methodology altogether.

Muy útil.......2001-08-24

Este libro es muy útil para la gente que se sienta mal o sufre dolores al tocar. Te explica cómo hacer para tocar libremente y sin dolor.

Finally, an ergonomic cello technique.......2000-12-28

So, after 30 years of semi-professional recording and performance, my back is getting pretty tweaky. Plus, I was starting to get some repetitive stress injury after a dense season. My doc said I may have to quit. Well, this book is totally revolutionary. It gives many many ideas about how to reposition myself while playing; things I'd never thought of. I am back playing. I have many ideas still to incorporate, but I already feel much better. I now require my students to get this book. Everyone is excited about these ideas. This is, I repeat, revolutionary, and should be required for those of you who want to play without pain for many years. I deducted one star because there is just so much information, that it looks a little overwhelming. It would probably have been better to do two books. But, since it's not, take a look at it.

Oklahoma!: The Making of an American Musical

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Oklahoma!: The Making of an American Musical
Tim Carter
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 030010619X

Book Description

Oklahoma! premiered on Broadway in 1943 under the auspices of the Theatre Guild, and today it is performed more frequently than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. In this book Tim Carter offers the first fully documented history of the making of this celebrated American musical.
Drawing on research from rare theater archives, manuscripts, journalism, and other sources, Carter records every step in the development of Oklahoma! The book is filled with rich and fascinating details about how Rodgers and Hammerstein first came together, the casting process, how Agnes de Mille became the show’s choreographer, and the drafts and revisions that ultimately gave the musical its final shape. Carter also shows the lofty aspirations of both the creators and producers and the mythmaking that surrounded Oklahoma! from its very inception, and demonstrates just what made it part of its times.

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New Directions in Music
David Cope
Manufacturer: Waveland Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1577661087

Book Description

Directions in the musical avant-garde in the past fifty years seem as numerous and diverse as the com-posers and their works. Yet these directions have historical motives and aesthetic values, traceable and uniquely observable due to their singularly radical nature. Building on the success of previous editions, the Seventh Edition of New Direc-tions in Music explores the history, philosophy, composers, and works of the avant-garde since the late 1940s, emphasizing works depart-ing radically from tradition. Outstanding features include extensive bibliographies of written works and recordings; interviews with important avant-garde composers, showing readers firsthand the thought behind their works; in-depth analyses of specific works relevant to each chapter; and addresses, with websites, of publishers of avant-garde music.

Second Act Trouble: Behind the Scenes at Broadway's Big Musical Bombs

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Doomed
Trouble with 2nd Act trouble
why can't i keep the title in my head!?
Interesting book about Broadway
Very disappointing

Second Act Trouble: Behind the Scenes at Broadway's Big Musical Bombs
Steven Suskin
Manufacturer: Applause Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1557836310

Book Description

If Broadway's triumphant musical hits are exhilarating, the backstage tales of Broadway failures are tantalizing soap operas in miniature. Second Act Trouble puts you with the creators in the rehearsal halls, at out-of-town tryouts, in late-night, hotel-room production meetings, and at after-the-fact recriminatory gripe fests. Suskin has compiled and annotated long-forgotten, first-person accounts of 25 Broadway musicals that stubbornly went awry. Contributions come from such respected writers as Patricia Bosworth, Mel Gussow, Lehman Engel, William Gibson, Lewis H. Lapham, and John Gruen. No mere vanity productions, these; you can't have a big blockbuster of failure, it seems, without the participation of Broadway's biggest talents. Caught in the stranglehold of tryout turmoil are Richard Rodgers, Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, Cy Coleman, Charles Strouse, John Kander, Mel Brooks, and even Edward Albee. The infamous shows featured include Mack and Mabel; Breakfast at Tiffany's; The Act; Dude; Golden Boy; Hellzapoppin'; Nick and Nora; Seesaw; Kelly; and How Now, Dow Jones.

Customer Reviews:

Doomed.......2007-07-16

I couldn't put it down and if this book had just collected only Lewis Lapham's long, long, "new journalism" article on the disastrous Moose Charnap flop KELLY! it would be worth buying. Lapham spares nobody and takes no prisoners and he got everyone to go on record about Ella Logan who must have been a termagant beyond compare. The producers let her go because they couldn't stand her continual "vulgarity" of all things. Kindly old Mel Brooks comes in, takes a look at her, and says, "Fire her." Sadly she had once been a great Broadway star, the original Sharon in FINIAN'S RAINBOW, now reduced to playing mothers (in 1965). Wonder if she's still with us, Suskin might have played fair and allowed us to air her grievances against the horrid KELLY! people. Oh well, SECOND ACT TROUBLE garners one great story after another, and I can't really say which one I like the best. Great monsters always make fantastic reading, and Jerry Lewis in HELLZAPOPPIN is right up there with Hitler and Stalin! There's one part where--he hates Lynn Redgrave--he has to rehearse a song with her, and he refuses to stand up while she's onstage with him so she's forced to sing while he sings with her lying flat on his back on the ground. Oh my, but after a few more chapters of this sort of behavior you begin to feel that being evil is necessary to make it on Broadway, and the squeaky wheels make the most noise.

Steven Suskin has an elastic sense of what shows are hits and which are flops, and some of the shows he covers in this book I was surprised to see he called flops. Some were critical darlings, some were pure spectacle, and some notorious flops like CARRIE aren't covered here. There are many occasions to wonder. Would HALLELUJAH BABY have been a hit if Lena Horne had played in it? I don't think so. Could Jerry Orbach have saved MACK AND MABEL? Who knows at this late date. Could Liv Ullmann be as horrid and egotistical as she is painted here, on the payroll of I REMEMBER MAMA? There goes another illusion shattered.

The book reveals that during the out of town tryouts for KWAMINA Star Sally Ann Howes had an affair with her co-star, and that this behavior was nothing new for Sally Ann for she had previously (a few months before) cheated on her husband, songwriter Richard Adler) with German heartthrob Maxmilian Schell backstage on the sets of a John Frankenheimer telefilm. I didn't even know who Sally Ann Howes is and I'm still enthralled! Adler eventually comes to forgive Howes in the long decades since, and she seems like an admirable woman in many ways, leaving her home to come back to NY and nurse Adler's son in the final months of his tragic illness. Good for you, Sally Ann, I like a woman who goes after what she wants, why, that's what made me a musical queen to begin with.

Trouble with 2nd Act trouble.......2007-07-03

I was extremely disapointed with this book, having read most of the essays contained therein from other sources.

why can't i keep the title in my head!?.......2007-05-23

i read this book and after i finished it, i felt i had enjoyed it. but when i went to purchase it, i couldn't remember the name of it.

then, i was asked by more than a few people for a recommendation of a good book. and i would describe this one but not be able to catch the name for the life of me. and i wondered if it was me, or the title.

well, part of it is the title. it explains what the book is about but doesn't capture the humor of its subject matter or the acerbic prose used by suskin.

and then of course, is that snappy, light, humorous tone. it's fine for a start but then, i didn't stay invited in the book. i read it quickly because i wanted to see the other musicals for this perspective. but then i realized i can't tell you very much about the shows.

and after a moment or two, i can't even tell you any insightful line that suskin wrote about the shows. just that tone--light-hearted, well-researched but not probing or enlightening.

Interesting book about Broadway.......2007-04-11

I haven't read much of the book yet as it just arrived and I have other books to read first. But it looks very interesting to someone interested in theatre. The author seems to have done a very good job

Very disappointing.......2006-10-06

Compared to the wit and flair I had expected, I found this volume boring and dull. It is largely a compilation (with Suskin providing brief notes) of theatrical reviews. Approach this with care if, as I did, you searched on a star's name and found a mention in this book - it may be only one line.

I had expected great humour, inside knowledge, entertaining stories of the backstage. Frankly, I wish I had kept the receipt - I would have returned it the next day.

Adolescents and Their Music : If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old (New Directions in Sociology)

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Explores the intersection of popular music and sociology

Adolescents and Their Music : If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old (New Directions in Sociology)
J. Epstein
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0815306148

Customer Reviews:

Explores the intersection of popular music and sociology.......1998-11-16

A must read for anyone interested in the intersection of popular music, adolescents, and extant sociological discourse. Some of the most current research in the area of rock music and adolescent culture are featured as well as an up to date bibliography on the sociology of rock music. A must read for both the student and professional sociologist!

Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical "Follies"

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Fabulous but true
Wasn't That a Blast???
A Must for Sondheimites
THEY DON'T MAKE 'EM LIKE THEY USED TO
The next best thing to attending a Broadway musical

Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical "Follies"
Ted Chapin
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375413286
Release Date: 2003-09-30

Book Description

In 1971, college student Ted Chapin was in the right place at the right time.
As a production assistant, or gofer, he found himself front row center at the creation of one of the greatest of all Broadway musicals: Follies. And since (as part of a college assignment) he kept a journal of everything he saw and heard, he was able to document–in unprecedented detail–how a musical is actually made.

Now, thirty years later, he has fashioned that eyewitness account into an extraordinary chronicle that sheds new light on a still-evolving art form while vividly capturing an era long gone.
“If there has ever been an account of the creation of a major Broadway production as complete, candid, and apocrypha-free as this one,” writes Frank Rich in the foreword, “I have not found it.”
Everything Was Possible takes the reader on the roller-coaster ride that is the musical-making process, from the uncertainties of casting to drama-filled rehearsals, from the care and feeding of one-time movie stars like Alexis Smith and Yvonne De Carlo to the tension of that first performance, from the pressures of an out-of-town tryout to the exhilaration of opening night on Broadway.
But this was not just any rehearsal process, nor a typical opening night. This was the almost mythical Follies, the work Rich calls “the most elusive of landmark musicals.” Its creators were Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, Michael Bennett, and James Goldman–giants in the evolution of the Broadway musical, geniuses at the top of their game.

“Lord knows at least I was there,” goes a Sondheim lyric from Follies. In Everything Was Possible, we all are there–at the birth of a musical that shimmers to this day.

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous but true.......2007-08-29

A friend of mine kept hounding me to get this book. So finally I did, and what a read! I couldn't put it down. As a former actress myself (did a National Tour that opened in Boston at the Wilbur in 1974), I totally identified with all the actors in "Follies." And knowing the show, I felt the hair go up on the back of my neck as the head honchos talk to Stephen Sondheim about a song for Carlotta who has been around for a long time but is still performing. OK so THIS is when he writes "I'm Still Here"! Many other "hair-raising" moments. If you have ever been involved with the backstage side of theatre--acting, directing, or just working props--you will find this book resonating with your own experiences. Heartily recommend it!

Wasn't That a Blast???.......2005-08-20

Thank you, Ted Chapin. This is a wonderful memoir on the birth of the now legendary, (though not appreciated by everyone at the time), Broadway musical, Follies, as seen through the eyes of young well connected college kid who was lucky enough to work on the production and savvy enough to keep and save all his notes! Whew! Long sentence. Follies is my all time favorite Broadway score and there's a reason for that. Once you get hooked on this musical, its hard to turn away, you'll want all the various recordings. Sadly, though the show ran for over a year, it lost its entire investment, partly due to its huge operating cost and partly because the NY Times critic didnt like it and it lost the Best Musical Tony to an undeserving rival. Over the years and through various revivals the stature of this musical has grown into its own legend. Chapin was there to see its birth and we all should be grateful for this book. From the rehearsals, to its out of town tryout, Broadway opening and beyond, Chapin was there. We get to know many of the principals through his eyes (Alexis, Dorothy, Yvonne) and see how a musical is put together from start to finish. This is must reading for any Broadway fan and fascinating even if you arent much of one. Hopefully, if you havent listened to the score, this will motivate you to go out and buy one of the various recordings (they all have their pluses and minuses, The Paper Mill Playhouse recording is the most complete). Chapin is discrete (Was Yvonne just a pal or a romance?) keeping gossip to a minimum, but the book never loses momentum. A real page turner. I hated to see it end! Bravo!

A Must for Sondheimites.......2005-08-12

All I can say is that Ted Chapin must have kept very thorough notes as Everything Was Possible, the Birth of the Musical Follies, feels like it is written about a show that was produced only recently rather than over thirty years ago. All the creators and performers come alive vividly (and lovingly) in this marvelous book. The author traces the entire rehearsal, out-of-town tryout, and preview period of the musical Follies, focusing only on what he himself witnessed and recorded as a twenty year old gofer with the show. What is quite remarkable is his fairness to everyone involved. Even the divaish moments of some are balanced with these very same personalities more human moments at others. Anyone interested in Sondheim, musical theatre, or the art of putting it together will be delighted with this blow-by-blow account (perhaps a tad too much on rare occasions). A delightful book.

THEY DON'T MAKE 'EM LIKE THEY USED TO.......2005-05-27

There ain't many of us, but there are enough of us to warrant a lengthy and detailed account of how Follies came to be. I'm talking about all of us would-be "Broadway babies," who went through college singing the lyrics to songs such as "Broadway Baby," "Buddy's Blues," "I'm Still Here," and sighed some deep ones over "Losing My Mind." We were too late to see the original production of Follies but we know all the songs by heart and the names of stars Alexis Smith and Yvonne De Carlo, despite never having seen any films of either Hollywood lady. If you can count yourself in this group of show people for whom Follies is legendary, then this book is for you.

To an outsider, it must read like a technical manual on some weird and twisted process. To me, it reads like every theatre production rehearsal period I've ever been through (and I'm not even a pro, so to speak) except that the tunes are being written by Sondheim almost minute to minute, Hal Prince is busting himself to get the nuances to be less subtle and Michael Bennett is try to move the thing along at a trot without giving his "older" actors heart attacks! Same process, big names, very high stakes.

The kid, that is the fly-on-the-wall former Follies gofer turned narrator, is good. Mr. Chapin, as a twenty year old student, worked as the Follies gofer - you think, that could have been me if I had been in the same place at the same time - and kept a journal of everything he saw and heard. The key here is that he heard a lot and jotted it down verbatim. For this he should win a friendly Eve Harrington award because without him we would never know, and come to love, such charming and kooky people like 74 year old Ethel Shutta who immortalized "Broadway Baby," Gene Nelson who struggled arduously to get "The Right Girl" just right, or Fifi D'Orsay who sang "Ah, Paree!" while irritating her colleagues with her fake French persona. Mr. Chapin, with loving detail, recreates every step of hard work which drove Alexis Smith to a Tony Award winning performance. He etches out an edgy portrait of Yvonne De Carlo, far and away outside our expectations of the actress we used to know only as Lily Munster. By the end of the book, I was moved to read about the deaths of many of the people who created Follies. They are so deeply embedded in theatre history and legend that you do really believe that old saying "they don't make 'em like they used to."

From the eager rehearsals in faraway downtown New York, to rocky previews in Boston, and finally to its opening at the Winter Garden, this is a story which includes every human foible and triumph, a theatre account worth its hardcover price. The introduction by Frank Rich alone is enough to make you stand up and cheer for what Broadway used to be.

The next best thing to attending a Broadway musical.......2005-05-11

Recommended for fans of the musical is one of the best books you'll see on how major Broadway production was created: Ted Chapin's Everything Was Possible: The Birth Of The Musical Follies. Chapin's insider's account tells a bewitching story of the musical's evolution, from its initial casting to rehearsals, growth, and the fostering of stars. All the roots of a major Broadway production are clarified and given lively analysis, with plenty of first-person insights and observations throughout. The next best thing to attending a Broadway musical in production!

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To Free the Cinema

Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 069102345X

Book Description

Jonas Mekas, one of the driving forces behind New York's alternative film culture from the 1950s through the 1980s, made for an unlikely counterculture hero: a Lithuanian emigre and fervent nationalist from an agrarian family, he had not grown up with either capitalist commercialism or the postwar rebellion against it. By focusing on his sensitivity to political struggle, however, leading film commentators here offer fascinating insights into Mekas's career as a writer, film-distributor, and filmmaker, while exploring the history of independent cinema in New York since World War II. This collection of essays, interviews, and photographs addresses such topics as Mekas's column in the Village Voice, his foundation and editorship of Film Culture, his role in the establishment of Anthology Film Archives and The Film-Makers Co-op (the major distribution center for independent film), his interaction with other artists, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and finally the critical assessment of his own films, from Guns of the Trees and The Brig in the sixties to the diary films that followed Walden.

Present at the Creation, Leaping in the Dark, and Going Against the Grain: 1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly, La Bete, and Other Broadway Adventures

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Written on the Wind
He's been hiding in Houston too long
The Man Knows His Stuff

Present at the Creation, Leaping in the Dark, and Going Against the Grain: 1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly, La Bete, and Other Broadway Adventures
Stuart Ostrow
Manufacturer: Applause Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1557836469

Book Description

"The best way I know to resuscitate the theatre is to produce dangerous new works." - Stuart Ostrow. Producer Stuart Ostrow's manifesto of how intelligent life might be restored to the theatre is also a unique personal memoir of the producer-creator relationship and an evaluation of the essentials that can make a show fly, or remain earthbound. As a solo producer, Ostrow's many productions include M. Butterfly, which won the Tony Award for Best Play; Pippin; and 1776, which received both the New York and London Drama Critics Awards as well as the Tony Award for Best Musical. He produced the original Broadway production of the critically acclaimed La Bete, which won the Olivier Award in London for Best Comedy. Ostrow was brought in to fix the original production of Chicago, collaborated with Anthony Hopkins on a London production of M. Butterfly, that was not meant to be, and even had his own play, Stages, directed on Broadway by the avant-garde theatrical pioneer Richard Foreman. He riffs about the heroes and heels he's met along the way and that great cast includes Frank Loesser, Meredith Willson, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Bob Fosse, David Geffen, Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Henry Hwang, John Kander, Fred Ebb, and many more.

Customer Reviews:

Written on the Wind.......2006-06-09

I was reading along with great fascination, for here was a man who had been to go-to boy for the great Frank Loesser, author of GUYS AND DOLLS and GREENWILLOW.

Then I realized, a good two thirds of these anecdotes were yawningly familiar to me from having read them before--somewhere--but where? I was experiencing deja vu--my friend Tim called it my "Fugue for Tinhorns," but only a real show queen could tell you what he was referring to.

Turned out beloved Ostrow was double dipping and he had printed all these same stories in his first memoir the first time around! The book was THEN called "A Producer's Broadway Journey." I felt cheated, as though I had been lied to or ripped off. Tim, my showbiz friend, mocked my discomfort, asking me how many tomes I had to buy and read by Stuart Ostrow to get the point, that a producer who has long running shows doesn't believe in the concept that you have to give them something different every night. No! You just put on the same show 8 times a week and nobody complains. Indeed I wouldn't have complained if he has just kept the same title for his book, but instead because he updated the earlier memoir a tad (to include some recent flops, boo hoo) he feels justified in giving the old mutton a new title of lamb. That would be great if you were just paying a few cents more for the new info, instead you're paying the full price for merchandise already received.

Nevertheless, the book is great. I advise everyone with an interest in theater to buy several copies and distribute it yourself if need be. He has the inside scoop on all the backstage devisions which changed our lives, including the bizarre $80,000 set that Tony Walton designed for THE APPLE TREE which sank the production. Speaking of bizarre, what ever happened to Barbara Harris? Poor Barbara, claims Ostrow, was having a nervous breakdown due to Warren Beatty the very night she won the Tony Award for the spirited playing in APPLE. They had to shove her on stage every night. I hope she's okay! Ostrow also tells us all we need to know, and more, about the inexplicable casting of Ron Silver in LA BETE. What he doesn't explain is why he and Jennifer Tipton ever thought LA BETE would be a success in the first place. He gives excerpts, and it's terrible.

It's a great chance for Ostrow to vent on all the people who gave him grief over the years. He really carves up John Dexter. The trouble is, most of these people are faded figures and who cares. However, if you are curious about the day to day struggles that attended the birth of 1776 (the musical) you might like this tepid rehash.

He's been hiding in Houston too long.......2006-04-10

"The best way I know to resuscitate the theatre is to produce dangerous new works," says Stuart Ostrow in his very slim (154 pages, double spaced with wide margins) new memoir of his producing career. However he does not define "dangerous new works." From reading the book, it seems his definition of "dangerous new works" is whatever is being touted by the Village Voice. (Richard Foreman, homosexuality, multiculturalism, Tom Eyen, etc.) Stuart Ostrow has a story, but he is looking at it from the wrong point of view. The way he sees it, he was producing quality innovative stuff that the world conspired to make fail. Another way of looking at it would show a talented young producer who, after producing big hits with 1776 and PIPPIN, went pretentious and politically correct with his subsequent shows and understandably failed.

His damnation of Mel Brooks is unjustified since Ostrow himself says that he has not seen THE PRODUCERS. Well, Stu, I have news for you. THE PRODUCERS was a dangerous new work. It was a slap in the face at political correctness and pretentiousness. It single-handedly killed the bloated Euro Musical that had dominated Broadway for twenty years and paved the way for outrageous, unpretentious shows like HAIRSPRAY and THE WEDDING SINGER. THE PRODUCERS resuscitated the American musical and Ostrow missed it.

Ostrow also badmouths WICKED claiming it was dependent upon special effects and spectacle. If that were true, DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES would still be running. The spectacle of WICKED enhances its compelling story, unlike the all the additional sets and extra players gratuitously inserted into the boring LA BETE.

Ostrow seems to think that problems can be solved by creating yet another bureaucracy to choose the artists who shall be anointed. Evidence has show that the bureaucratic method produces pretentious work like that of Michael John LaChiusa and Jason Robert Brown, which the public doggedly refuses to embrace.

Ostrow tells some good anecdotes, but I wish there had been more of them. There's the germ of a fascinating book in this volume and in Ostrow's previous memoir (also extremely brief and shares some material with this volume). But at this point, there's still not a real book between the two of them.

The Man Knows His Stuff.......2006-02-15

I've been through 2 rounds of Mr. Ostrow's Musical Theatre Lab at UofH. I can tell you this: He's the genuine article. The straight goods.
Broadway itself has been dismantled, dismembered and warehoused -replaced by a Vegas-style act about Broadway. Every day, hopeful innocents who haven't heard the news (or those who have heard, but refuse to heed)that a corporate machine has taken over 42nd St plunk down hard-earned c-notes to hear those tappin' feet. 'Tis machine which roars with the marketing machine of a Lion but has the artistic cajones of a Mouse.
This machine, and the copycat slimy suits who claim to defy gravity while being pulled by nothing but green, cannot compare to the integrity, grit, vision, Ostrow. His ego, like all the greats, is Ostrow-nomical (sorry), yet utterly dwarfed by his passion and commitment to excellent storytelling.
He's lived it. He's done it. He may well do it again. Good God we should be so lucky. In the meantime, I'm proud to have survived his classes, and grateful for the time spent at his feet.

(...)

New Directions for Clarinet (New Instrumentation)

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New Directions for Clarinet (New Instrumentation)
Phillip Rehfeldt
Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520033795

Book Description

The new edition has been completely rewritten, corrected where necessary, and updated. Rehfeldt has added the complete list of William O. Smith's clarinet compositions and recordings to the previous listing of his early multiphonic fingerings. The new edition also includes an appendix containing Eric Mandat's quarter-tone fingerings; a second, extensive music bibliography, the International Update; and an updated and annotated bibliography of music literature.

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