The Actor’s Art: Conversations with Contemporary American Stage Performers

This collection offers insight into 75 years of acting in the American theatre through interviews with 17 of its most accomplished performers. From Jessica Tandy, who made her stage debut in 1927, to Nathan Lane, who first appeared on Broadway in 1982, these conversations help preserve the details, nuance, rhythm and magic of performances that might otherwise have been lost with either the artists or the audiences who were lucky enough to have seen them. Many of the actors recall legendary performances that inspired them; in speaking of their own work, they also have much to say about their contemporaries. As they each tell their own story, tracing their professional lives from repertory theatre and summer stock to Broadway and beyond, we hear their perspectives on the art of acting, their insights into the characters they’ve played and the directors with whom they have worked, and their views - from the inside - of the world of American theatre. Taken together, the observations and opinions of these 17 masters provide a lively view of the actor’s art.