Entertainment & Performing Arts

The gifted filmmaker, corduroy activist and amateur dentist, Richard Ayoade, first chanced upon a copy of The Two-Hander Trilogy by Harauld Hughes in a second-hand bookshop. At first startled by his uncanny resemblance to the author's photo, he opened the volume and was electrified. Terse, aggressive, and elliptical, what was true of Ayoade was also true of Hughes's writing, which encompassed stage, screen, and some of the shortest poems ever published.

Growing up in Liverpool as the entertainer of the family, impersonating neighbours to the delight of her friends and playing pranks on her unwitting mother (from which the poor carpet never recovered), the young Alison Steadman could never have imagined what the future had in store. But when she snuck off to London to audition for drama school in secret, Alison set in motion a series of events that would see her become one of the greatest character-actors of the age, and a national treasure to boot.

On March 17, 2005, Spamalot debuted on Broadway to rapturous reviews for its star-studded creative team, including creators Eric Idle and John Du Prez, director Mike Nichols, and stars Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, Sara Ramirez, Tim Curry, and more. But long before the show was the toast of Broadway and the winner of three Tony Awards, it was an idea threatening to fizzle before it could find its way into existence. Now, Eric Idle shares original journal entries and raw email exchanges, revealing the sometimes bumpy, always entertaining, path to the show’s unforgettable run.

It’s never as simple as just speaking; there’s a real trick to it. We’ll talk through cadence and tone, how to form concise sentence structure on the fly, and how to keep people interested in what you have to say.

Fresh off the success of her groundbreaking first play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window tells the tragicomic story of a young bohemian couple in New York's Greenwich Village, struggling to do what's right in a world that rewards everything that's wrong. Sidney is a dreamer who wants his own Walden Pond; Iris is a budding actress whose own backstory is a performance. They're caught in a moment where, "the world is about to crack right down the middle," as the play tackles racism, sexism, antisemitism, homophobia, liberal complacency, and more.

In this brutally candid memoir, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts pulls no punches about the ups and downs of his career and his sometimes stormy relationship with his famous sister, Julia.

In this brilliant work of political satire, Henry Morris presents fourteen years of Conservative (mis)rule in the only form in which such misfortunes could be portrayed: as a Shakespearean play. In five acts that take in five prime ministers, The Tories: A Tragedy is a captivatingly realised Jacobean tragedy, replete with Machiavellian manoeuvrings, hilarious mechanicals and poignant verse.

Al Jolson, born Asa Yoelson, immigrated from a shtetl in Lithuania to the United States in 1894 after his father secured a job as a rabbi in Washington, D.C. A poor, Yiddish-speaking newcomer navigating a racially segregated and antisemitic America, young Jolson dreamed of becoming a star, and he did. Through Jolson, Bernstein simultaneously breaks open the history and legacy of the cultural sensation The Jazz Singer. Not only was The Jazz Singer the first feature-length film with synchronized music and dialogue, but it was also taboo smashing in its content.

For fans of one of the most successful and highly discussed shows in recent memory, LOST: Back to the Island is both a delightful time capsule and a rousing work of entertainment criticism.

In this second edition, Murch reconsiders and completely revises his popular first edition's lengthy meditation on digital editing (which accounts for a third of the book's runtime) in light of the technological changes that have taken place in the six years since its publication.

あなたのセンスが良くなる本！　哲学三部作のラストを飾る一冊がついに誕生

Virtually anyone who has ever watched a profound movie, a powerful TV show, or read a moving novel understands that entertainment can and does affect us in surprising and significant ways. But did you know that our most popular forms of entertainment can have a direct physical effect on us, a measurable impact on society, geopolitics, the economy, and even the future itself? In You Are What You Watch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Walter Hickey proves how exactly how what we watch (and read and listen to) has a far greater effect on us and the world at large than we imagine.

This eclectic volume traces Rigg’s career as a renowned star of television, film, and the stage. The author includes insights from rare, archived interviews, encompassing both video dialogues conducted by the University of Kent and Oxford Union.

The 1920s was a bustling time in Hollywood, as starry-eyed young women sought fame and fortune—only to discover that their dreams did not match the reality of the film industry. Edgcumb Pinchon was there to report on it all. He interviewed women who worked as “extras” in Hollywood, and was himself involved in the film business as a screenwriter and author. He describes here the hierarchy of those on set (in front of and behind the camera) with first-hand knowledge and humor.

The rise in UFO sightings and Alien encounters is unprecedented. With thousands of everyday people claiming to be in contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. What is happening on planet Earth? Why are the Aliens here and what do they want with the human race? Explore the theories and the astounding accounts that defy comprehension. Maybe the film 4th of July is closer to reality than we could have ever imagined.

Written by film critic Odie Henderson, Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras is a spirited history of a genre and the movies that he grew up watching, which he loves without irony (but with plenty of self-awareness and humor). Blaxploitation was a major trend, but it was never simple. The films mixed self-empowerment with exploitation, base stereotypes with essential representation that spoke to the lives and fantasies of Black viewers. The time is right for a reappraisal, understanding these films in the context of the time, and exploring their lasting influence.

In the last half century an amazing amount of history has occurred. Jim Vann was responsible for none of it but he had a great perch from which to watch. From behind the microphone, Jim has seen, shared and made fun of it. You may or may not have heard of Jim, but you are invited to share some good radio stories and reminisce about your own experiences. It is sure that you will flash back to the times, the tunes and the events that were shared on the radio, if not with Jim, with some other “disembodied voice.”

Pennyland Amusement Park was once one of the most popular parks in Canadian history. However, after an accident involving the Ferris Wheel/Sky Wheel that injured many people, they were forced to close down. After repairs, they reopened, but nobody showed up because of the incident. Because of that, they shut down for good. They removed all of the carnival rides, but kept the roller coaster building. Due to its' history it is currently in an undisclosed location.

Creatures, cryptids, alien encounters, Bigfoot and the return of Planet X, all suggest that our world is full of fantastical phantoms living among us.

Explore the powerful, secret underworld of a shocking coalition of the human elite and advanced of beings not of this world dating back hundred of years.

What makes a murderer tick? Some of the most renown serial killers have tragic and violent back stories that you never hear about on the news. Explore some of the most deranged killers of all time and what made them into monsters.

Who runs the world? Is there a shadow world of powerful and elite men pulling the strings of our global society? If so, when did it originate and why? Discover the Secret Origins of the Knights Templar, Freemasonry, The Bilderbergers, Serpent Cults, the Illuminati and delve into a formidable world hidden from our eyes, an all too real conspiracy that has been ongoing for centuries.

Explore pyramids around the world even more mysterious than those in Egypt as well as bizarre "Alien" archaeological artifacts that defy comprehension.

New discovery of highly advanced civilizations that defy the historical timeline, presents a far different human origin story than what we've been told.

Advances in science and technology are now enabling us to see dozens of highly advanced civilizations that defy the historical timeline as we know it.