Allan Rich's Blog

The Second Response

I had the pleasure of speaking to Kenton Lane after he read my book, A Leap from the Method.  He seemed very pleased by it and I think he got something out of it, but it will take time.  An actor needs time to digest the technique and practice with it.  Nonetheless, I am gratified. 

Meanwhile, I had my second response to the Backstage ad, this time from the east coast.  An actor named Mark Ott in New Jersey saw the ad and went to my website and ordered a dedicated copy of the book.  We sent it out last night.  It's a great deal because for the regular retail price of $24.95 you get a signed and dedicated copy of the book with no additional shipping and handling charges. 

Also there is a new glowing review of my book on Amazon.com.  My thanks to Mother Lode Beth.  She titled the review "Not Just for and About Actors."  That's really appreciated because I worked hard to make the book accessible to everyone while simultaneously being helpful for actors.  Click here to read the review.  All the reviews have been wonderful.  You should consider reading all the reviews because they articulate more about the book than I could possibly say here. 

A Leap from the Method also appeared as part of a full page ad in the New York Times Book Review section last Sunday.  I've yet to have any feed back concerning that ad, placed by the publisher of the book, Author House.   

A Pleasing First Response

I just received my first response from the ad for my book in Backstage Magazine. I couldn’t be more pleased. It was from a young actor who contacted me via my MySpace.com page. He is the sort of actor for whom I wrote the book. He moved here to Hollywood from Kansas just a few months ago. He has studied and read about acting and ended up confused and discouraged. His name is Kenton Lane and he plans to buy the book tomorrow. Here’s an excerpt of what he said in his message:

I've studied acting for years in my home state of Kansas. But I've never felt like any particular approach was right for me. All the odd exercises (running around the lawn of a theater wearing masks and throwing sticks at one another), all the destructive teachers (the ones who yell "You'll never make it as an actor unless you listen to me"), and the confusing technique that made me feel 5 inches tall when I apparently didn't "get it" like others around me did. It's not so much I didn't "get it" as it is I just didn't feel right doing it. I'm still searching for that "thing," that "approach" that's right for me.

I’m hopeful my book will begin to set him on the right path by giving him a clear and pragmatic way of working as actor. Having read many of the acting books out there, I can understand what young Mr. Lane up against.  I seem to remember feeling the same way when I was his age, and I had already worked on Broadway!

I hope I hear back from him soon. I wonder if he will see himself among the letters from my students that I included in the book, specifically Mike MacDonald , the well known Canadian comedian.  He comically describes a destructive teacher early in his career before finding me. He can joke about now, but I’m sure it was hurtful to him at the time.

Meanwhile, I’m still looking forward to the ad for my book the New York Times Book Review section coming out this Sunday. More about that next…

My Full Page Ad in Backstage Magazine

The full page ad for my book just came out in Backstage West and East.  It looks great!  I’m thankful for the great work that Richard and Ginger at Backstage did for me.  You can see what the ad looks like here. 
This weekend my book will be featured in an ad in the New York Times Book Review Section. Author House, the publisher of my book, is featuring 12 of their books in a full page ad.  I’m grateful to be included since it will give my book worldwide exposure.  More later…

The Beginning

Finally! I have joined the blogosphere!   I've begun this blog to help answer questions that have arisen from the promotion of my book on acting, "A Leap from the Method: An Organic Approach to Acting."  I'll begin answering those questions in future posts, but I just wanted to get my feet wet with the whole blogging process.  Right now, the best way to get information about the book is to go the website for the book: aleapfromthemethod.com.  You can also learn about me at:  allanrich.com.  If you need to email me use info@aleapfromthemethod.com and my helpers with see that I get the message. 
If you're an actor, you're probably familiar with weekly magazine Backstage West and Backstage East.   A full page ad for my book will be appearing in the January 31st, 2008 issues (both coasts).  The folks at Backstage did a great job with the ad and it includes quotes from the many rave reviews I've received since the book first came out last year. 
That's it for now.  More later...