Description

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Theater veteran and acting teacher Joanna Merlin has written the definitive guide to auditioning for stage and screen, bringing to it a valuable dual perspective. She has spent her career on both sides of the auditioning process, both as an award-winning casting director who has worked with Harold Prince, Bernard Bertolucci, and James Ivory, and as an accomplished actor herself.

In this highly informative and accessible book, Merlin provides everything the actor needs to achieve self-confidence and artistic honesty–from the most basic practical tips to an in-depth framework for preparing a part. Filled with advice from the most esteemed people in the business, such as James Lapine, Nora Ephron, and Stephen Sondheim, and charged with tremendous wisdom and compassion, this indispensable resource will arm the reader to face an actor's greatest challenge: getting the part.

About the Author

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Joanna Merlin was a recipient of the Casting Society of America's Artios Award for Outstanding Achievment in Dramatic Feature Film Casting for Bertolucci's The Last Emperor and for Best Musical Theatre Casting for Sondheim and Lapine's Into the Woods. As Hardol Prince's casting director, she cast the original Broadway productions of Follies, A little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Pacific Overtures, and Evita, among others, and her film casting includes Michael Camino's Year of the Dragon and Merchant Ivory's Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. 

Harold Prince is an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known American Broadway musical productions of the 20th century. Prince was born in New York, New York. He began his career as a stage manager working with director George Abbott. After a small while, he and Abbott co-produced The Pajama Game, which won Prince his first Tony.  In total, Prince has won over 20 Tony Awards, more than any other person.

Praise For…

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"Joanna Merlin [is] one of the top casting directors in the country and a formidable actress…. Her compassion and understanding toward actors is matched by her sensitivity and generosity in teaching this unusual craft."–Kevin Kline