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The Glenn Alterman Studio
The Man Who Wrote The Books

Glenn Alterman is a professional career consultant, monologue/audition coach, college lecturer, published writer, award winning playwright, and actor.

He has guest lectured and taught at such diverse places as The Governors School For The Arts (Old Dominion University), The School For Film and Television, Star Map Acting Studio of Long Island, The Edward Albee Theater Conference (Valdez, Alaska), Southampton College, The Dramatists Guild, The Learning Annex, The Screen Actors Guild, The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Western Connecticut State College, in The Boston Public School System, and at many acting schools around the country and in Europe. He has privately coached thousands of students who have gone on to win roles on Broadway, and in film and T.V.

Published Works

He is the author of 31 theater related books (including 11 books of original monologues). His published works include: The Perfect Audition Monologue (Smith and Kraus), Two Minutes and Under  (and volumes, 2 and 3 (Smith and Kraus), An Actor's Guide - Making It in New York City  (and the completely revised, 2nd Edition) (Allworth Press), Creating Your Own Monologue (Allworth Press), Promoting Your Acting Career  (and the completely revised 2nd Edition) (Allworth Press), 100 Acting Jobs For Actors (Smith and Kraus), 100 Day Jobs For Actors (Smith and Kraus), Street Talk- Original Character Monologues For Actors  (Smith and Kraus), Two Minute Monologs (Meriwether Publishers), Uptown (Smith and Kraus), What To Give Your Agent For Christmas (Smith and Kraus), 101 One Minute Monologues (Smith and Kraus) Creating Your Own Monologue (and the completely revised 2nd Ddition)(Allworth Press).  All of his books have all been Doubleday Book Club (Fireside Theater) “Featured Selections and have had multiple printings.

Plays, Playwriting Awards and Commissions

As a playwright, Mr. Alterman is the recipient of the first Julio T. Nunez Artist’s Grant, The Arts and Letters Award in Drama, and over 200 playwriting awards. His play The Pain in the Poetry was published in 2009 The Best Ten Minute Plays For 2 or More Actors. Second Tiers  is published in 2012, The Best 10 Minute Plays (Smith and Kraus) and by Playscripts. Mr. Alterman’s plays, Like Family and The Pecking Order, were optioned by Red Eye Films (with Alterman writing the screenplay). His play, Solace, was produced off-Broadway by the Circle East Theater Company (formerly Circle Rep Theater Company). Nobody’s Flood won the Bloomington National Playwriting Competition, as well as being a finalist in the Key West Playwriting Competition. Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda won the Three Genres Playwriting Competition several years in a row! The prize included publication of the play in the Prentice Hall textbook, used in college theater departments all over the country. It is published by Playscripts and Smith and Kraus in their  Best 10 Minute Plays annuals.

Mr. Alterman wrote the book for Heartstrings: The National Tour (commissioned by DIFFA, the Design Industries Foundation for Aids), a thirty-five city tour that starred Michelle Pfeiffer, Ron Silver, Susan Sarandon, Marlo Thomas, and Sandy Duncan. Other plays include Kiss Me When It’s Over (commissioned by E. Weissman Productions), starring and directed by André De Shields; Tourists of the Mindfield (finalist in the L. Arnold Weissberger Playwriting Competition at New Dramatists); and Street Talk/Uptown (based on his monologue books), produced at the West Coast Ensemble. Goin’ Round on Rock Solid Ground and Unfamiliar Faces were finalists at the Actors Theater of Louisville’s playwriting competition. Spilt Milk received its premiere at the Beverly Hills Rep/Theater 40 in Los Angeles and was selected to participate in the Samuel French One-Act Festival. The Danger of Strangers won Honorable Mention in the Deep South Writers Conference Competition, was a finalist in the George R. Kernodle Contest, was selected to be in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival and has had over 35 productions, including at Circle Rep Lab, the West Bank Downstairs Theater Bar (starring James Gandolfini), the Emerging Artists Theater Company’s one-act marathon, the Vital Theater Company in New York, and, most recently, with the Workshop Theater Company. There have been several major productions of his original monologues play, God In Bed, both in the United States and in Europe.

His plays have been performed or received honors and awards at The Actors Theater Of Louisville, Circle In The Square (Downtown), Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons, LaMama, Beverly Hills Rep, Pittsburgh New Works Festival, Circle Rep., Bloomington National Playwrights Project, The Three Genres Playwrights Competition, HERE Theater, The Turnip Festival, Weissberger Competition (New Dramatists), Deep South Writers Conference, George R. Kernodle Contest, Showtime's Act One Playwrights Contest, The Samuel French One-Act Playwrights Competition, The Worshop Theater Company, Emerging Artists Theater Company, The West Bank Café Downstairs Theater, on Theater Row in New York, and at many other theaters all over the country and throughout Europe.

Acting

Glenn Alterman has been a working actor for over 30 years.  He has worked extensively in film, TV, and on the stage.  He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, received a B.S. in Theatre from Emerson College, and has been trained by many of the top acting teachers in New York.

Background Information

What follows is the story of how I started writing monologues and eventually became a monologue coach and career consultant. If this interests you, please read on. If not, you can go directly to the Coaching or Consultations page.

Starting Out: Monologues, Books, Productions

I've been a working actor for over thirty years. About 16 years ago I became a writer, more specifically, a monologue writer. After spending countless hours trying to find that "perfect" audition monologue, I decided to try to write my own. I had practically NO CREATIVE WRITING EXPERIENCE. It was hit and miss at first. But finally I completed my first monologue ("Sal", later published in my book, Street Talk. I brought this monologue into acting class and the response was overwhelmingly positive. I knew I was on to something. After a few more monologue successes, I decided to start writing monologues on a regular basis. What followed was a long and sometimes frustrating period of trial and error. Some monologues really flew, others crashed and burned. Eventually however, I started to realize that by utilizing my acting skills I could write powerful audition-winning monologues. During this time, I also wrote my first one-person show (which was later produced regionally). I started developing certain techniques, skills, and even short cuts for writing monologues. During the next year I turned out well over 100 monologues. I began having readings of the monologues. These readings grew into productions of "monologues plays". The monologues became very popular among actors both in New York and Los Angeles. In the next 5 years, I had four #1 best selling original monologue books published: Street Talk, Uptown, Two Minutes and Under (Smith and Kraus Publishers), and Two Minute Monologs (Meriwether Publishers). Much of what I learned during those years is discussed in my book, Creating Your Own Monologue (Allworth Press).

Street Talk by Glenn Alterman       Uptown by Glenn Alterman       2 Minutes & Under by Glenn Alterman       Two Minute Monologs by Glenn Alterman       Creating Your Own Monologue by Glenn Alterman       2 Minutes & Under by Glenn Alterman      2 Minutes & Under by Glenn Alterman

Coaching and Teaching Begins

About 25 years ago I began coaching actors who needed help finding effective, audition-winning monologues. I had access to over 6,000 monologues to select from. I worked with the actor to find the best material for all their auditions, from entrance to exit.

About 15 years ago, I started working with actors who wanted to prepare for upcoming theater, film and T.V. auditions. We first analyze what the scene is about, and then decide what the best choices are. Many of my students have gone on to win roles on Broadway, off-Broadway, on episodic T.V., and in motion pictures .