New books at the Playhouse Archives

Sheldon Epps with the Friends of the Pasadena Playhouse at Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena, CA.

​Epps, Sheldon. 2022. My Own Directions : A Black Man's Journey in the American Theatre. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.
​
Life in the theatre is often a rollercoaster ride, with all the excitement and occasional anguish that come with the highs and lows. The author’s journey in the American theatre has been amplified by his experience as a Black man who has frequently been “one of the few,” “the first” or even “the only.” His directing career has been full of rewards and opportunities as well as huge challenges and frustrations, along with the anger that has come from being “chased by race” for so many years. Much of the author’s experience comes from two decades artistic director of Pasadena Playhouse, one of the oldest and well-known theatres in America, and for a time early in his career, one of the whitest.
​
This is the story of how the author came into leadership at Pasadena Playhouse after a successful career directing on Broadway, in London and all over the world. It relates how the theatre was radically changed and reignited by his leadership, including his insistence on making diversity a priority onstage and off. This is the very personal story of a person who wanted his race to be recognized, but never used as a reason to be less than fully respected. In many ways, this memoir tells the story of what people of color in America must face repeatedly to make their lives matter.

​​Fazio, Larry. 2017. Stage Manager : The Professional Experience Refreshed . 2nd ed. New York, NY: Routledge. 
​
Larry Fazio was born in Providence, Rhode Island and lives with his wife in Southern California. While serving in the United States Army, he trained as a motion-picture photographer. As fate would have it, he became part of the Department of the Army Entertainment—Special Services. While with this group, he was awarded the Army Oscar, the Irving Berlin Trophy, and the Gold Key Award—a three-year full scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse in California. On the merits of his grades there, he was then given another scholarship to attend California State University, Fullerton, to finish his bachelor’s degree, where he won the Best Director Award.

His first big break came with a musical production of Gone With the Wind as the second assistant stage manager. Since that time, he has worked professionally in theatre, managing star productions of musicals, dramas, comedies, and magic shows throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe. His purpose in writing this book is to bring to the student and beginning stage manager the world of professional stage managing as he worked it and experienced it.

As a Docent-Volunteer, Larry   leads   the   tours   at   the   Pasadena   Playhouse.   

---

Larry Fazio presenting the 1st edition of his book "Stage Manager".

Stern, Lawrence, and Jill Gold. 2022. Stage Management . 12th ed. New York, NY: Routledge.

Jill Johnson Gold   recent productions credits   at   the   Pasadena   Playhouse   include   Little Shop  of Horrors,   Ragtime,   Casa   Valentina.     

Stage Management offers readers a practical manual on how to stage manage in all theatre environments.

Revered as the authoritative resource for stage management, this text is rich with practical resources, including checklists, diagrams, examples, forms and step-by-step directions. In addition to sharing his own expertise, Stern has gathered practical advice from working stage managers of Broadway, off-Broadway, touring companies, regional, community, and 99-seat Equity waiver theaters. In its 11th edition, the book is now fully in color and updated to include new information on Equity contracts, social media applications in stage management, and working with high school productions.

This book is written for Stage Management courses in university Theatre programs.