Alice Archer Sewall Jamesmdash;known affectionately as ldquo;Archierdquo;mdash;lived a life that most women of her time could only dream about. Educated from a young age and encouraged by her family to express herself in all forms of art; she grew into an irrepressible woman who never stopped looking for ways to pass her experience on to others.This biography traces her life from her childhood in Urbana; Ohio; to teenage years spent traveling in Europe; to her challenging marriage to John H. James; heir to a family fortune built by his entrepreneurial grandfather of the same name. Her father; Swedenborgian minister and educator Frank Sewall; was her greatest fan; supporting her in good times; as she started to build a reputation as a painter and illustrator; and in bad; as poor health forced her to abandon her art and put a strain on her personal relationships. In later years; howevermdash;like the roses in the title poemmdash;she reemerged as an artist and as a teacher; inspiring a new generation of painters at Urbana University.While Archiersquo;s Swedenborgian heritage gave structure and meaning to her life; it was her inner creative drive that truly touched others. Stay by Me; Roses opens a window on the life and times of a unique nineteenth-century woman.
#1810891 in eBooks 2013-05-28 2013-05-28File Name: B00CP7EY7Q
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A book for young actorsBy Shalom FreedmanThis book attempts to teach actors how to properely do a monologue when they audition for a role. Friedman has long experience in the field as actor herself and also as a person involved in the casting of roles. She explains in her introduction why most monologues are performed amateurishly by prospective actors. She tries to give a sense of how the actor when auditioning for a role should be engaged in dialogue with another. She warns against certain kinds of extreme; dramatic ; attention- getting practices which turn off those assessing the audition. She makes it seem as if the whole process of giving a monologue and especially listening and assessing them is a tormenting and unsatisfactory process. And she provides her suggestions on how to do the monologue in a way which will highlight the talent of the actor in question.She then provides a number of texts( which are in fact the bulk of the volume) which she has constructed as monologues for auditions.I am not an actor; and do not have real knowledge of the whole process of auditioning. I simply had curiosity about it ; and this is why I read the introductory and explanatory parts of this book. My sense is it can probably be of help to auditioners. But I am not at at all certain that this will be in a perfect way.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great resource for original monologuesBy Jennifer Van BergenOne of the things that handicaps actors in auditions is that the best contemporary monologues are so often used by actors that directors are tired of them and are not able to get a fresh look at new talent.Friedman fixes this problem by showing actors how to take scenes between two or more characteres and condense them into monologues. Friedman condenses numerous scenes into monologues; which is itself a service to actors; but it is her comments that attend each monologue that I find most interesting. Why? Because Friedman does something that is not always taught by acting teachers: in example after example; she shows you how to find what drives the character. Such drives are not the same as goals: they are central; even universal drives that are shared by all people; but that are; in the specific monologue (or scene) at hand; literally what drives the character to do what he or she does at that moment.This skill -- identifying universal drives -- is so important to acting (and to writing; as well); that Friedmans repeated drumming of it into the actor/readers head makes her book a true gift. You can spend all day speculating about what really drives people and get no further than theory. Friedman; however; nails it every time; in her own inimitable way.Ive heard that Friedman is not a very nice person. I dont care. I once heard Sande Shurin -- also a great; great teacher -- tell a student: "Im not a nice person. If youre going to be tough on yourself; dont take my class -- study with one of the other teachers at my studio." Niceness is not what characterization is about. Characterization is about seeing the truth inside another human being. I use Friedmans work in my "Archetypes for Writers: Using the Power of Your Subconscious" course and book. Both actors and writers can benefit from her courage and insight.7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. DisappointedBy Stephen LewisI expected more from this book. I dont know who all of Mrs. Friedmans students have been but I do know that Willem Dafoe trained with her. I didnt feel that I needed 200 pages or so to show me how to lift a monologue from a scene. The way she composed most of the monologues was pretty bad also.I do; however; think that it is important to show beginning actors how to compose a monologue from existing material. Also; her personalization exercises(i.e. words and pictures) were fairly weak. I think that The Monologue Workshop by Jack Poggi is a bit of a better book. The bad thing about books like this is that they try to cram imformation about monologue work and an entire course on acting into one book. That just doesnt work. Another book thats pretty good is Larry Silverburgs book Loving to Audition.