Photo Flash: THE PLAY THAT CHANGED MY LIFE Reading At The Drama Book Shop

The American TheatreWing is pleased to present its original book, The Play ThatChanged My Life: America's Foremost Playwrights on the Plays that Influenced Them, now on shelves. The 200-page paperback, published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books and edited by Ben Hodges (Theatre World), was released this month and features an Introduction by Paula Vogel and essays and interviews from nineteen of America's most distinguished playwrights on the plays that transformed their lives.

Contributors, who have a combined total of some 40 Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prizes and Obies,include Jon Robin Baitz, Nilo Cruz, Christopher Durang, Horton Foote, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-LoriParks, John Patrick Shanley and more. From Edward Albee's 1935 visit to New York's Hippodrome Theatre to see Jimmy Durante (and an elephant) in Rodgers and Hart's Jumbo, to Diana Son's twelfth-grade field trip in1983 to see Diane Venora play Hamlet at The Public Theater, from David Henry Hwang's seminal San Francisco encounter with Equus to a young Beth Henley's epiphany after seeing her mother in a "Green Bean Man costume," The Play That Changed My Life offers readers a unique peek into the theatrical influences of some of the nation's most important dramatists on stages both professional and amateur, in New York, across the country and overseas. The 200-page book is filled with tributes, memories, anecdotes and other insights that connect past to present and altogether make this volume an instant "must have" for anyone who adoresthe theatre. Other contributors include David Auburn, Charles Fuller, A.R. Gurney,Tina Howe, David Ives, Donald Margulies, Sarah Ruhl, ReGina Taylor and Doug Wright.

American Theatre Wing Executive Director Howard Sherman commented: "Eighteen years ago, I read a film book with a similar title to ours and was disappointed because the essays weren't by filmmakers, but rather by essayists recalling their youth through films. I decided back then that if I ever had the opportunity, I would see to it that theatre got its ownbook with this theme -- but one that would tell us about playwrights' formative influences intheir own words. I held on to that for a long time, and thanks to the mission of the American Theatre Wing, the enthusiasm of the playwriting community, the efforts of Ben Hodges andthe support of Applause Books, my long-ago vision will finally be in the hands of theatre students and fans this fall."

Ben Hodges is editor-in-chief of Theatre World, the most comprehensive annual pictorialand statistical record of the American theatre and the recipient of a 2001 Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre.

His other publications include The Commercial Theater Institute Guideto Producing Plays and Musicals (with FrEd Vogel), Forbidden Acts: Pioneering Gay andLesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century and Out Plays: Landmark Gay and Lesbian Plays ofthe Twentieth Century.The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman of the Board of Directors; Howard Sherman, Executive Director) is best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry"Tony" Awards ® , which it presents annually with The Broadway League.

The Wing sponsors many activities, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre. These programs include "Downstage Center," a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with the leading artists and professionals working on stage today; "Working in the Theatre," a weekly television program on CUNY TV which gathers panels of theater artists to discuss their crafts; "In the Wings," a new web series that spotlights theatre's behind-the-scenes talents; "Guides to Careers in the Theatre," a video series developed for schools and libraries; a grants program for New York City not-for-profit theatre companies, which has awarded nearly $3 million since its inception; the Theatre Intern Group, a career development program for young professionals; Springboard NYC, a two-week college-to-career boot camp for young performers moving to NYC; and the Jonathan Larson ® Grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers. The expanded offerings of the American Theatre Wing website include "Masters of the Stage" with the Stage Directors and Choreographers Societyand "This is Broadway" with The Broadway League. All ATW media is available on americantheatrewing.org and on iTunes. For additional information about all American Theatre Wing programs, go to americantheatrewing.org. You can also find the American Theatre Wing on Twitter (www.twitter.com/TheWing).

Applause Theatre & Cinema Books is America's foremost publisher of books on the performing arts. Applause books cover the full range of film and theatre topics, includingbiographies, librettos and scripts, reference books, film and theatre history, critical analysis,and more. An imprint of Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group, Applause is based inNew York. For additional information, visit www.applausepub.com.

 

Howard Sherman and Ben Hodges

Howard Sherman and Ben Hodges signing books at The Drama Bookshop

Howard Sherman and Ben Hodges speak at The Drama Book Shop

Howard Sherman and Ben Hodges