Jonathan Gillard Daly was born to be an actor, but he has never been in a Broadway play, or a Hollywood movie or TV series. Instead, he has worked for forty-five years as a stage actor in the American regional theater. In this unflinching, intensely personal memoir, he takes the reader backstage for an intimate account of the challenges, sacrifices, and triumphs of a creative life. His deep-rooted love of imaginary play takes him all the way from his backyard, where he spends hours pretending to be his childhood hero Henry ...
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Jonathan Gillard Daly was born to be an actor, but he has never been in a Broadway play, or a Hollywood movie or TV series. Instead, he has worked for forty-five years as a stage actor in the American regional theater. In this unflinching, intensely personal memoir, he takes the reader backstage for an intimate account of the challenges, sacrifices, and triumphs of a creative life. His deep-rooted love of imaginary play takes him all the way from his backyard, where he spends hours pretending to be his childhood hero Henry Aaron, to professional theaters from coast to coast, playing classical heroes including Prospero, King Lear, Ebenezer Scrooge and Atticus Finch. But his equally meaningful roles are the ones that he's played offstage: that of husband, and father. He has spent his career proving to himself and to his peers that a vital career as a performing artist can go hand in hand with a richly satisfying home life. ROUGH MAGIC is a compelling account of an actor's search to find his whole self. For anyone contemplating a career in the performing arts, it's a frank and honest look at the prices to be paid, the everyday stresses and strains, and the satisfaction and contentment possible in a lifelong quest for personal and artistic fulfillment.
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