The Complete Singer-Actor: Training for Music Theater

by H. Wesley Balk

This book contains a wealth of information for the singer & actor. *Preface to the second edition *Preface to the first edition *The use of the book Part 1: The implication of the form *Exploring the territory *The legacy of the past *Commitment to the present Part 2: The skills of the form *Creating the energy *Focusing & structuring the energy *Recapitulation- the final three skills *The uses of improvisation Part 3: Exercising the skills *The basic tools *Energizing primers *Round one - improvised *Round two - memorized *Round three - improvised & memorized Notes Index

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one of those fundamental, ground-breaking books that re-shapes a field, like Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares. Balk focuses on the world of opera and musical theatre. One of his great insights is to introduce the idea of improv to a form that is notoriously score-bound. His basic program is to integrate singing and acting, and he argues that you need 5 skills to do that: energizing, concentrating, structuring, imagining, stylizing, and coordinating. He includes lots of exercises to build the five skills. A must-have for anyone in that world.