TOPICS [To be read in no particular order.]
|
This Is Not Your Typical “How To Succeed” Book |
The Possible Dream |
Teachers, Students, Mentors and Protégés |
A Little History |
Turtles All The Way Down |
Experts and Expertise |
An Apprenticeship Of The Mind |
Words |
No Business Like Show Business |
Show Business Is A Business! |
Perspiration and Inspiration |
Goals and Intentions |
What We All Want |
Consistency and Novelty |
The Man Who Made Me Cry |
Who We Are and Who We Are Not |
Identity |
Nature vs Nurture |
The Brain You Live In |
The Body That Your Brain Lives In |
The Big Fat Lie |
Chops |
Singers vs Musicians |
The Three P’s: Performance, Perception and Persistence |
Performance |
Evaluating Your Performance |
Perception |
The Eye Of The Beholder |
Do’s and Don’ts |
Persistence |
Exit Music |
This book is different! Most “How to Succeed” books tell you that you can and will succeed if only you believe in yourself and never give up pursuing your impossible dreams, you know the song!
This is my quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far.”
from "The Impossible Dream" by Mitch Leigh
(Look up the definition of “impossible.”)
This book is about The Possible Dream. It challenges you to honestly evaluate whether “success in show business" is, in fact, really, really “possible’ for the person you are, the brain that you have, and the body you live in. It will neither encourage nor discourage you to “follow that star,” it will simply provide some insight into what it takes to make the journey.
AN APPRENTICESHIP OF THE MIND
In this “Apprenticeship of the Mind” you will have the opportunity to learn the problem-solving processes that this expert (that’d be me!) uses to handle the complex tasks associated with professional practice in the performing arts, specifically my professional practices as I carry on the business of a composer, a playwright, and a theatrical producer with an Off-Broadway track record, and especially the language (the words) I use to talk and think about my work.