Download or read book Furious Improvisation How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art out of Desperate Times written by Susan Quinn and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2021-06-07 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Under the direction of Hallie Flanagan, a daring 5-foot dynamo, the Federal Theater Project managed to turn a WPA relief program into a platform for some of the most cutting-edge theater of its time. This unique experiment by the US government in support of the arts electrified audiences with exciting, controversial productions, created by some of the greatest figures in 20th century American arts — including Orson Welles, John Houseman and Sinclair Lewis. Plays like Voodoo Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock stirred up politicians by defying segregation and putting the spotlight on the inequities that led to the Great Depression. Furious Improvisation brings to life the challenges of this desperate era when Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt and the tough-talking idealist Harry Hopkins furiously improvised programs to get millions of hungry, unemployed people back to work. Quinn’s compelling story of politics and creativity reaches a dramatic climax with the entrance of Martin Dies and his newly formed House Un-American Activities Committee, which turned the Federal Theatre Project into the first victim of a Red scare that would roil the nation for decades to come. “Insightful, judiciously selective history of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), the most controversial branch of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA)... With careful attention to the underlying political and cultural issues, Quinn cogently retells this sad story of ‘a brief time in our history [when] Americans had a vibrant national theatre almost by accident.’“ — Kirkus “[A] fascinating new book that describes a rare happy marriage between art and government.” — Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, National Public Radio “Quinn does a superb job of recounting the rise and fall of the Federal Theatre Project, a wing of FDR’s WPA meant to employ playwrights and actors while providing diversion and inspiration for Depression-ravaged Americans... Quinn describes eloquently and artfully... a not-so-distant time when a nation bled and great artists rushed as healers into the countryside.” — Publishers Weekly “Quinn skillfully weaves together the cultural, political, personal and theatrical events that shaped the course of the [Federal Theatre Project]... Quinn enriches the prevalent narrative of FTP history... with her thorough analysis of key events outside the theatres.” — Theatre Survey “An energetic and adeptly detailed account of the remarkable achievements of the Federal Theatre Project... Much more than the sum of its fascinating parts.” — Booklist “[A]n excellent book, a model of narrative history...” — Scott Eyman, The Observer “Quinn’s well-written narrative is both fascinating and frightening as politics and idealism come to metaphorical blows with the rise of Martin Dies.” — Library Journal “Susan Quinn has gifted us with a key moment in the history of F.D.R’s New Deal. Especially thrilling and revelatory is the work of the Arts Project of the WPA. Not only were there rakes and shovels, jobs and food for family, there was exhilarating and hopeful theatre, music, and painting, lifting our spirits. They gave us all hope.” — Studs Terkel “This fine book combines elements of political history, theater lore, and a saga of social justice. In showing us a rare triumph of bold artists in league with brave public servants, Quinn rescues the idea that the imagination and government can be friends instead of strangers. Our times are desperate, too, and Furious Improvisation comes at just the right moment.” — James Carroll, author of House of War and Constantine’s Sword “Susan Quinn’s Furious Improvisation is a fascinating account of a fleeting moment in American history when the US government felt some obligation to provide work for its more indigent citizens, including artists. Hallie Flanagan, the heroine of this book, emerges as a true saint of the theatre — passionate, visionary, and inspired. Well written and thoroughly engrossing.” — Robert Brustein, Founder, Yale Repertory Theatre and American Repertory Theatre “With a cast of period icons ranging from Harry Hopkins to Orson Welles, Quinn’s fast-paced, highly readable narrative exposes the myriad ‘isms’ — racism, sexism, communism, fascism — defying the birthright of a young democracy whose survival was still very much in question. A provocative reminder of how consistent national conflicts remain.” — Diane McWhorther, author of Carry Me Home “Anyone interested in how theatre can make a difference in the world should read this book. Susan Quinn inspires us with the courage of Hallie Flanagan and her fellow artists, showing how theatre can be both life sustaining and dangerous — and have a huge impact on the political landscape.” — Tina Packer, Founder of Shakespeare & Company

Download or read book With a Cast of Thousands written by Jill Robinson and published by . This book was released on 1963 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The daughter of MGM's former executive, Dore Schary, tells what it is like to grow up in Hollywood during the 1930's and 40's.

Download or read book Heritage Signature Entertainment Memorabilia Auction 622 written by and published by Heritage Capital Corporation. This book was released on with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Complete Book of Bible Trivia written by J. Stephen Lang and published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 1999-02 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains more than 4,500 questions and answers about the Bible and the people, places, and events described in it.

Download or read book Women s Work written by Courtney Thorsson and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Women’s Work, Courtney Thorsson reconsiders the gender, genre, and geography of African American nationalism as she explores the aesthetic history of African American writing by women. Building on and departing from the Black Arts Movement, the literary fiction of such writers as Toni Cade Bambara, Paule Marshall, Gloria Naylor, Ntozake Shange, and Toni Morrison employs a cultural nationalism—practiced by their characters as "women's work"—that defines a distinct contemporary literary movement, demanding attention to the continued relevance of nation in post–Black Arts writing. Identifying five forms of women's work as organizing, dancing, mapping, cooking, and inscribing, Thorsson shows how these writers reclaimed and revised cultural nationalism to hail African America.

Download or read book Legacy of Disunion written by Susan Mary Grant and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2003-03-01 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conviction that the American Civil War left a massive legacy to the country has generally been much clearer than the definition of what that legacy is. Did the war, as Ulysses S. Grant believed, bequeath power, intelligence, and sectional harmony to America, or did it, as many have argued since, sow racial and regional bitterness that has blighted the nation since 1865? What, exactly, was the legacy of disunion? This collection explores that question from a variety of angles, showcasing the work of twelve scholars from the United States and the United Kingdom. The essays ponder the role of history, myth, and media in sustaining the memory of the war and its racial implications in the South; Abraham Lincoln’s legacy; and the war’s consequences in less studied areas, such as civil-military relations, constitutional and legal history, and America’s ascent on the international stage. By juxtaposing American and non-American interpretations, this stimulating volume sheds light on aspects of the war’s legacy that from a purely American viewpoint are sometimes too close for comfort. Perhaps the greatest legacy of the Civil War is its ongoing debate and continuing fascination worldwide.

Download or read book Film and the Classical Epic Tradition written by Joanna Paul and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-02-28 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paul explores the relationship between films set in the ancient world and the classical epic tradition, arguing that there is a connection between the genres. Through this careful consideration of how epic manifests itself through different periods and cultures, we learn how cinema makes a claim to be a modern vehicle for a very ancient tradition.

Download or read book Theater and Film written by Robert Knopf and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book in more than twenty-five years to examine the complex historical, cultural, and aesthetic relationship between theater and film, and the effect that each has had on the other’s development.Robert Knopf here assembles essays from performers, directors, writers, and critics that illuminate this ongoing inquiry. The book is divided into five parts—historical influence, comparisons and contrasts, writing, directing, and acting—with interludes by major artists whose work and words have shaped the development of theater and film. A comprehensive bibliography and filmography support further work in this area.The book contains contributions from Susan Sontag, Stanley Kauffmann, Sarah Bey-Cheng, Bertolt Brecht, Ingmar Bergman, Harold Pinter, David Mamet, Julia Taymor, Judi Dench, Sam Waterston, Orson Welles, Antonin Artaud, and Milos Forman, among others.

Download or read book Policy Bureaucracy written by Edward C Page and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2005-08-04 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Policy making is not only about the cut and thrust of politics. It is also a bureaucratic activity. Long before laws are drafted, policy commitments made, or groups consulted on government proposals, officials will have been working away to shape the policy into a form in which it can be presented to ministers and the outside world. Policy bureaucracies - parts of government organizations with specific responsibility for maintaining and developing policy - have to be mobilizedbefore most significant policy initiatives are launched.This book describes the range of work policy officials do. The 140 civil servants interviewed for this study included officials who helped originate policies which were subsequently taken over as manifesto commitments by the Labour Party; officials who helped devise the formula by which billions of pounds are allocated to local government in grants; and also officials who recommended to the Secretary of State that a controversial publisher be allowed to take over a national newspaper. Thebackground and career paths of middle-ranking officials show them to be a diverse group who do not tend to develop long-term subject specialisms. The instructions to which these officials work - whether coming from ministers or senior officials - are often very broad and leave much to personalinterpretation.Policy Bureaucracy goes on to examine how ministers and senior officials affect the work of middle ranking officials and the cues policy bureaucrats use to develop policy. The analytical approach adopted in the book is derived from Alvin Gouldner's Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy and his elaboration of Max Weber's notion that hierarchy and expertise place a fundamental tension at the heart of modern bureaucracies. In the UK this tension is handled by combining 'invited authority'with 'improvised expertise'. The book also explores other models of handling this tension in political systems in Europe and the USA.

Download or read book The Lamb s Supper written by Scott Hahn and published by Image. This book was released on 2002-06-18 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As seen on EWTN, bestselling author Scott Hahn unveils the mysteries of the Mass, offering readers a deeper appreciation of the most familiar of Catholic rituals. Of all things Catholic, there is nothing that is so familiar as the Mass. With its unchanging prayers, the Mass fits Catholics like their favorite clothes. Yet most Catholics sitting in the pews on Sundays fail to see the powerful supernatural drama that enfolds them. Pope John Paul II described the Mass as "Heaven on Earth," explaining that what "we celebrate on Earth is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy." The Lamb’s Supper reveals a long-lost secret of the Church: The early Christians' key to understanding the mysteries of the Mass was the New Testament Book of Revelation. With its bizarre imagery, its mystic visions of heaven, and its end-of-time prophecies, Revelation mirrors the sacrifice and celebration of the Eucharist. Beautifully written, in clear direct language, bestselling Catholic author Scott Hahn's new book will help readers see the Mass with new eyes, pray the liturgy with a renewed heart, and enter into the Mass more fully, enthusiastically, intelligently, and powerfully than ever before.

Download or read book New British Cinema from Submarine to 12 Years a Slave written by Jason Wood and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2015-08-18 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past year the success of British films at international film festivals - as well as the numerous awards bestowed on 12 Years a Slave - have demonstrated that British cinema has undergone a genuine renaissance that has caused new voices to emerge. At the same time, directors whose work has enthralled over the past five years have also continued to develop and expand their visions. The boundaries of British film-making are being redefined. Beginning with a preface exploring some of the factors that have led to this fertile environment, New British Cinema features in-depth interviews with the film-making voices at the vanguard of this new wave. Figures such as Clio Barnard, Richard Ayoade, Steve McQueen, Jonathan Glazer, Carol Morley, Yann Demange, Peter Strickland and Ben Wheatley provide a valuable insight into their work and working methods.

Download or read book Cast of Thousands written by Anita Loos and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Loos shares her collection of memories, photos, and anecdotes of a life spanning over 80 years, roamign from New York to Hollywood, to Paris, Berlin and Rome. It features a case of the most famous and fabulous personalities of the stage and screen.

Download or read book The Practice and Problems of Transnational Counter Terrorism written by Fiona de Londras and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-02-24 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the problems of rights, legitimacy and accountability in transnational counter-terrorism.

Download or read book New York Magazine written by and published by . This book was released on 1977-02-21 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.

Download or read book Dungeon Master For Dummies written by James Wyatt and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-11-17 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Design your own fantasy D&D epic filled with adventurous exploits, cloaked characters, and mysterious monsters If you're a Dungeons & Dragons fan, you've surely thought of becoming a Dungeon Master. Learning to be a DM isn't as hard as you might think, especially if you have Dungeon Master For Dummies tucked into your bag of tricks! Whether you've assumed the role of Dungeon Master before or not, this illustrated reference can help you run a D&D game, either online or in person. From organizing your first D&D game to dealing with difficult players, this book covers everything a DM needs to know. Written for the newest edition of D&D by the experts at Wizards of the Coast, the game's creators, it shows you how to: Run your very first campaign, from shaping storylines and writing your own adventures to dealing with unruly players and characters Build challenging encounters, make reasonable rulings, and manage disagreements Recognize all the common codes, tables, and spells Understand the parts of a D&D adventure and how to create dungeon maps and craft monsters Shape storylines and write your own adventures Find your style as a DM and develop a game style that plays to your strengths Script an encounter, vary the terrain and challenges, and establish rewards (experience points and treasure) Decide whether to use published adventures Use and follow the official Dungeon Master's Guide Develop a campaign with exciting themes, memorable villains, and plots to entrance players If you're getting the urge to lead the charge in a D&D game of your own, Dungeon Master For Dummies provides the information you need to start your own game, craft exciting stories, and set up epic adventures. Grab your copy today, and you'll be on your way!

Download or read book God s Kitchen written by Michael Bull and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Old Testament is a violent, bloody book, but the more we modern Christians neglect it, the more our gospel loses its teeth. This little book will call you out, cut you up, lift you up, and set you on fire. It begins where all spiritual meat does: not at the dinner table, not in the kitchen, nor even at the market. It begins in the abattoir. The God of the Old Testament is a butcher only because the Christ of the New Testament is a chef. Real theology deals with food, with milk and honey, flesh and blood, bread, oil, and wine. It is nourishment for children, wisdom for kings, and courage for prophets. God gave us food to teach us about life and death. God gave us sacrifice to teach us about death and resurrection. We prepare food for ourselves as God prepares us for Himself. The culinary art is close to the heart of the God who is a consuming fire.

Download or read book This Odd and Wondrous Calling written by Lillian Daniel and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2009-09-11 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Odd and Wondrous Calling offers something different from most books available on ministry. Two people still pastoring reflect honestly here on both the joys and the challenges of their vocation. / Anecdotal and extremely readable, the book covers a diversity of subjects revealing the incredible variety of a pastor s day. The chapters move from comedy to pathos, story to theology, Scripture to contemporary culture. This Odd and Wondrous Calling is both serious and fun and is ideal for those who are considering the ministry or who want a better understanding of their own minister s life.