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The Stage Actor's Handbook:
Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette
for the Working and Aspiring Professional
By Michael Kostroff and Julie Garnyé
Foreword by Jeff Daniels
Praise for The Stage Actor's Handbook:
“The Stage Actor’s Handbook is essential in the toolkit of the professional theatre actor. What a gift to young artists and educators to have a source that shares the unique legacy of decades of traditions, protocols, superstitions, and etiquette within the theatre community. It is especially delicious to read about the origins of many of our rituals that have been passed down from generation to generation. As an educator, I can’t wait to share this joyful, valuable journey with my students that will take them deep into the lore and history of our culture and the magic of our sacred community.”
— Kaitlin Hopkins, Head of Musical Theatre, Texas State University
“I think The Stage Actor’s Handbook will live long past all who wrote it, participated in it, and inspired it. Full of wisdom, wit, and love, that is exactly as it should be. Bravo!”
— Ken Page, Broadway legend
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Professional stage actors are expected to have ready knowledge of a multitude of unwritten yet well-established protocols. Traditionally, this knowledge was passed along from one generation of stage actors to the next via word of mouth or were learned by having one’s missteps corrected—until now.
In The Stage Actor’s Handbook, these protocols have finally been assembled into one volume, allowing theatre artists to know in advance what is expected of them. A definitive guide for professionals and aspiring professionals alike, this book details best practices on everything from rehearsal demeanor to backstage etiquette. It also shares the theatre’s unique vernacular and revered superstitions, as well as field-tested guidelines on touring, interactions with the public, and more.
Written by established theatre pros Michael Kostroff and Julie Garnyé, The Stage Actor’s Handbook features bits of wisdom contributed by legendary stage actors, including Bebe Neuwirth, John Lithgow, Chita Rivera, Alfred Molina, Billy Porter, Betty Buckley, Harvey Fierstein, Sam Waterston, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, and Sir Patrick Stewart.
Michael Kostroff is an established stage and television actor best known for his five seasons on HBO’s The Wire. He is also an instructor, director, and writer. He is the author of Letters from Backstage and Audition Psych 101, and the co- author of Answers from “The Working Actor.” On stage, Kostroff has played a host of iconic character roles, including Max Bialystock, which he covered on the first national tour of The Producers, and the comic villain Thénardier, a role he played on two national tours of Les Misérables.
Julie Garnyé is a singer, actress, director, voice teacher, producer, and writer. She was an original cast member of the first national tour of the Broadway hit musical Come From Away, appeared in the roles of Jennyanydots and Grizabella in the national tour of Cats, and originated the role of Martha Dumptruck in the developmental readings of Heathers: The Musical.
The Stage Actor's Handbook: Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette for the Working and Aspiring Professional
Publishing July 2022 • ISBN: 978-1-5381-6043-5 • $19.95, Paperback • 160 pages