Sensational Scenes for Teens : The Scene Studyguide for Teen Actors! (Hollywood 101)
Gr 7 Up-Like the other entries in this series, this volume offers young actors fresh audition material written by an acting coach who works with kids. Stevens presents more than 30 short comedy and drama scenes, all written for two actors with an even mix of boy-boy, girl-girl, and boy-girl casts. The contemporary urban and suburban settings coupled with culturally neutral names allow for racial and ethnic diversity. Older high school students, however, may find the humor in the comedy sketches a bit juvenile. Solutions come together too easily in a very short time frame in the dramatic pieces, and this may come off as unrealistic to some of the more sophisticated readers who would be interested in this book. For the most part, though, the scenes will be enjoyable to young dramatists and their teachers, and most leave room for students to be creative in their interpretations. A useful section at the end includes interviews with Hollywood insiders, acting exercises, a glossary of industry terms, and a bibliography of plays any serious teen actor should read. Libraries that serve large or growing drama programs would certainly want to consider purchasing this title.-Toni D. Moore, Simon Kenton High School, Independence, KYCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.