Best of the Web: Performing Arts

Assessed academic performance of fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders in a range of subjects, including NAEP administered assessment of students' knowledge and skills in music, theatre, and visual arts.

Listings of "organizations and individuals engaged primarily in the creation, interpretation and support of contemporary music".

This 229-page site by Richard Toscan is a detailed manual of the playwright's craft, with a plethora of Quotes on Craft from more than 375 professionals. Major Sections: " Starting from Scratch " Structure of Plays " Working as a Playwright " Format for Manuscripts " The Business of Playwriting " Resources " Running New Play Competitions.

Leads to a variety of informative resources on Beckett, his influence, his work.

Located in Stratford-on-Avon, the Trust preserves Shakespeare's birthplace and maintains a museum and a library with a rich Shakespeare collection as well as the archives of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Emphasizes late 19th & 20th centuries including Big Band jazz, Gospel and African American sacred music, and folk music includes the Duke Ellington Collection & the Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music.

The Institute, the Festival, the film programs, the theater, the college and more. .

Access to bibliographic records and (for public domain works) digitized images of "over 10,000 pieces of pieces of classical, popular, and sacred music from the 19th and early 20th centuries".

Lessons on the anatomy and mechanics of voice and speech and other resources on voice training for actors. (This page is underdevelopment).

Listings of graduate programs in theater, with descriptions and contact information, in the U.S. and internationally.

Jack Wolcott's spare but lucid directory of theatre history resources, regularly maintained.

Fully searchable, full-text versions of up to five years of such scholarly journals as Asian Theatre Journal, PAJ, TDR (The Drama Review), Theater, Theatre Journal and Theatre Topics can be accessed at The New York Public Library. Tables of contents, selected full-text articles, and the impressive search feature are available to anyone with an internet connection.

From the Burcardo Library and Theatre Collection in Rome, this selection of links is noteworthy for its scholarly flavor, its international focus, and some unusual resources. The site, primarily categorized by country, also contains links to cinema and dance resources.

Britain's National Museum of the Performing Arts holds the world's largest collections relating to the British stage. Exhibitions, education and more.

TWB is an informal group of individual artists around the world who are working to support international theatre exchange. The website offers opportunities to discover people and organizations, find resources, and exchange information and conversation about international theatre projects.

Yet another theatre e-zine, with info, news, reviews, interviews about the theatre scene in New York, Boston, Chicago & Los Angeles. Also contains a Festivals Button, which links to information about various theatre festivals across the U.S.

This well-designed site functions like an encyclopedia on theatre, with descriptions of terms, biographical data on actors, directors, playwrights and other theatre people, critical material on plays, and career information. Internet links are woven into each topical article.

Compiled and edited by Richard Finkelstein.

Official site for the Tony Awards. Searchable database of nominees & winners from 1947 to present. Also search by presenter of award.

Information about how to register sound recordings of music, drama or lectures. Includes link to copyright registration form for sound recordings.

Containing over 220,000 films and television programs, and 27 million feet of newsreel footage, we are the largest university held moving image archive in the world. (University of California, Los Angeles)

Information on audio preservation & restoration, including sticky shed syndrome, magnetic tape storage, 78rpm records & cylinders, compact disc rot, bronzing & corrosion, digital audio & media, film & video tape preservation, media disaster plans, audio restoration/preservation products & service links, organizations.

New Zealand site with world wide links.

The University of San Francisco's compendium of links to Asian theatre, arranged by country.

Includes complete scores for operas, art songs, orchestral/chamber/piano/solo instrumental music literature (Indiana University site)

Bulgaria.

A 3D simulation of a complete act by legendary vaudeville comedian Frank Bush and a 3D tour of an extravagant Victorian theater, as well as extensive historical information.

Vocal ensemble activities and information in the NYC area includes link to Concert Calendar.

VSA(Vision, Strength, and Artistic Expression) is a nonprofit organization providing support for artists with disabilities. Contains affiliate network, national and international programs.

(Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana, Library of Congress) "More than two hundred sheet-music compositions that represent Lincoln and the war as reflected in popular music."

Women In Film is a professional organization founded in Los Angeles in 1973 with the commitment to recognize, develop, and actively promote the unique visions of women in the global communications industry.

The labor union representing writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable and new technologies industries who live east of the Mississippi River.

Pointers to resources in over 50 countries for professionals, amateurs, academics and students. Includes a keyword search. The General Organizations and Resources and Theatre Image Collections Online categories are most helpful.

Links to web pages for selected agencies and for casting information for actors & other media professionals in the United States.