Climbing Rejection Mountain: An Actor's Path to Success, Stability, and Self-Esteem

by Nick Wyman, Michael X Martin (Illustrations)

How do I get an agent?" "How do I get in the room where it happens?" "How do I hang on to my happiness, confidence, and self-esteem?" The answers to these questions, and other ideas and suggestions, are all waiting inside Climbing Rejection Mountain by Broadway veteran and former Equity President Nick Wyman. This is a book for everyone who loves theater and wonders how actors make a living, but it is most especially a book for those who are trying to make (or hoping to make) a life in theater. Students in high school and college who are contemplating life as an actor and actors just starting out in their careers will find in these pages an amusing gold mine of useful knowledge--and actors further on in their careers will also find this book instructive, beneficial, and entertaining. Climbing Rejection Mountain is highlighted by anecdotes from Mr. Wyman's long, illustrious career (sixteen Broadway shows) as well as dozens of clever, amusing cartoons by the noted Broadway actor (seventeen Broadway shows) Michael X. Martin. Making a life as an actor is difficult, but this book--full of practical advice and guidelines for approaching not only acting but life--will make it easier and more fun.

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 2020

Reviews

[Keith Raffel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve just finished reading Climbing Rejection Mountain. What a find! Its author Nick Wyman is, as the phrase goes, a star of stage and screen. He’s appeared on Broadway with Bryan Cranston in Network and played Thenardier for six years in the first run of Les Misérables. He has a side gig in movies where, among other roles, he’s played the villain in Die Hard with a Vengeance starring Bruce Willis. What he’s written is ostensibly a guide to “an actor’s path to success, stability, and self-esteem.” What he’s in fact written is a guide to life. Towards the end of the book, he writes, “A trained actor is creative, a good communicator, able to take direction, flexible, a team player, and a people person.” From personal experience I can attest those same qualities are needed for success in the tech world and the literary world. I’ll bet they apply in plenty of other careers, too, from artist to salesperson. Don’t we all aspire to climb the mountain to success? And to do so we need to learn to deal with the failures on the ascent. A bonus to the book’s wise advice is Wyman’s incisive writing which occasionally lapses into snarkiness (I love snarky!). It’s a fast and delightful read. Bravo! Author, author! Curtain call!