David Bidini; rhythm guitarist with the Rheostatics; knows all too well what the life of a rock band in Canada involves: storied arenas one tour and bars wallpapered with photos of forgotten bands the next. Zit-speckled fans begging for a guitar pick and angry drunks chucking twenty-sixers and pint glasses. Opulent tour buses riding through apocalyptic snowstorms and cramped vans that reek of dope and beer. Brilliant performances and heart-sinking break-ups.Bidini has played all across the country many times; in venues as far flung and unalike as Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and the Royal Albert Hotel in Winnipeg. In 1996; when the Rheostatics opened for the Tragically Hip on their Trouble at the Henhouse tour; Bidini kept a diary. In On a Cold Road he weaves his colourful tales about that tour with revealing and hilarious anecdotes from the pioneers of Canadian rock - including BTO; Goddo; the Stampeders; Max Webster; Crowbar; the Guess Who; Triumph; Trooper; Bruce Cockburn; Gale Garnett; and Tommy Chong - whom Bidini later interviewed in an effort to compare their experiences with his. The result is an original; vivid; and unforgettable picture of what it has meant; for the last forty years; to be a rock musician in Canada.From the Trade Paperback edition.
#1264274 in eBooks 2010-04-27 2010-04-27File Name: B0058DVPI0
Review
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A very useful bookBy Darrell JamesI have been a professional actor and teacher of actors for almost twenty years.FINALLY. someone has written a book that explains. in great detail. what an actor must do to become truly fluent in the text -- how reveal the mysteries of the script and translate them into clear actable choices.This book is destined to be dog-eared. What a great tool for actors.Darrell JamesAdjunct Instructor/Acting at Vassar CollegeMFA from the National Theatre Conservatory. 1994MFA from the Academy for Classical Acting. 20091 of 2 people found the following review helpful. An excellent guide by an experienced professionalBy Sierra MillmanI had the great pleasure and good fortune to study with Maura Vaughn for two years while a teenager. She brought an unusual expertise to her role as high school instructor and frequently regaled us with exciting tales of her own acting life. entertaining and informing us about what it was "really like there" out in the world of theater.Maura regularly practiced the principles she writes about in her work in New York City and generously shared them with us. her students. These principles do no less than reveal the text to actors and ignite the possibility that they can master the craft. a formidable prospect.Mauras decision to become a teacher may have been something of a loss to the acting world - though. fortunately. she has continued to perform from time to time in the Bay Area - but it has been a great gain to the hundreds of young actors who have found in these principles a way to become more skilled and. just as important. more fulfilled in their artistic lives. I used these same principles when I acted in high school and university; when I wrote a prize-winning play. also under Mauras guidance; when I taught drama at an elite private school in Massachusetts; and when I wrote about Lebanese actors in a recent book project.At the time I first learned them though. I couldnt have imagined how useful what she taught us would prove to be to. not only to acting. but to every profession that calls upon its practitioners to read and communicate with confidence. clarity. and depth. In other words. most professions nowadays. I now work as an author and journalist in the Middle East. Though I currently have less call to analyze theatrical texts in my day-to-day professional life. Ill never read a play or watch a movie in the same way. thanks to Maura. Now others can share in the ripe fruit of her gifts.Sierra Prasada Millman[...]1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. An essential tool for all actorsBy mgal531I have been blessed to have had Maura Vaughn as a teacher. Not only is she an incredible person. but she is an amazing teacher. actress. and mentor. Anatomy of a Choice is an essential tool for all actors. no matter where they are in their acting career. She combines in a clear. comprehensive. and concise manner the acting techniques of Stanislavski. Adler. Meisner. Alexander. and many more. Of course taking a class on acting is much more useful than reading a book on it; but having learned to combine these techniques in the way she describes in her book from Maura herself. I have found it very useful and reference this book whenever I feel stuck. or would like to further explore a character. I recommend this book to anyone who is serious about acting.
