Act One: An Autobiography Author: Moss Hart | Language: English | ISBN:
B00HY0197M | Format: PDF
Act One: An Autobiography Description
The Dramatic Story that Capitvated a Generation
With this new edition, the classic best-selling autobiography by the late playwright Moss Hart returns to print in the thirtieth anniversary of its original publication. Issued in tandem with Kitty, the revealing autobiography of his wife, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Act One, is a landmark memoir that incluenced a generation of theatergoers, dramatists, and general book readers everywhere. The book eloquently chronicles Moss Hart's impoverished childhood in the Bronx and Brooklyn and his long, determined struggle to his first theatreical Broadway success, Once in a Lifetime. One of the most celebrated American theater books of the twentieth centure and a glorious memorial to a bygone age, Act One if filled with all the wonder, drama, and heartbreak that surrounded Broadway in the 1920s and the years before World War II.
- File Size: 632 KB
- Print Length: 463 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0312032722
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 2 edition (February 11, 2014)
- Sold by: Macmillan
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00HY0197M
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,812 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #2
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Arts & Photography > Theater > Broadway & Musicals - #2
in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > Broadway & Musicals - #14
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Authors
- #2
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Arts & Photography > Theater > Broadway & Musicals - #2
in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > Broadway & Musicals - #14
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Authors
Whenever I teach a class for actors, I recommend Moss Hart's autobiography, ACT ONE. It is simply the finest book I know about the theatre and what it was like to work on Broadway in the 1920's thru the 1950's. It was a true tragedy that Hart died so young, robbing not only his family of husband and father, but the world of a great playwright and director and chronicler of his times.
This is a funny, perceptive, first-hand account of life in the fast lane of one of the best playwrights Broadway has ever produced. An obsessive worker (it was the stress of his constant work that ultimately killed him), a perfectionist, a brilliant upstart, Hart teamed with George S. Kaufman to write some of the best and funniest plays of the first half of the 20th century...and even today. Is there really a better play about a family coping through love during the Depression than "You Can't Take It With You?" (That was a rhetorical question). And as Nathan Lane proved only two years ago, "The Man Who Came To Dinner" is very much worth reviving in a first class production even if you have already seen it in your local community or dinner theatre. The autobiography doesn't so much end as it stops and it is obvious that Hart meant to write a second and, perhaps, a third volume that would include his other writing partners, his Hollywood career, his directing, etc.
Steven Bach has written a biography of Hart's entire life called DAZZLER, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOSS HART that is a fine companion to Hart's own, unbeatable ACT ONE. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
By MOVIE MAVEN
"Act One," Moss Hart's timeless autobiography, is not only the story of a man's life and dreams, but of an era that feels as legendary and distant to us as Camelot. All of the theatrical giants are there, peppered in among a cast of characters that include Hart's painfully dysfunctional family as well as his colorful array of employers and cohorts as he scratches out a living in pursuit of a seemingly impossible goal: life in the legitimate theatre. More than anything, it is an inspirational tale of taking charge, of setting out to rise above oppresive beginnings and follow the soul's destiny, no matter how foolhardy that may seem. We know the outcome, but Hart's ability to spin the tale and build the tension is impeccable! Will he really make it? Of course he will, or we wouldn't be reading this wonderful book, but so involving is Hart's journey, that one can't help but get pulled along for the ride. Like the last drops of water in a scorching desert, I wanted to stretch this book out, greedily reading only a few paragraphs at a time so that tomorrow I'd have some left over. If you love the art of live theatre, or if you're an artist in need of a creative jump-start, "Act One" will provide the juice.
By A. R. Karpe
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