Actor musicianship is a permanent feature of the musical theatre landscape Actor musician shows can be seen from Bradford to Broadway from village halls to international arena tours However with the exception of a couple of academic papers there has been nothing written about this fascinating area of theatre practice Jeremy Harrison s book addresses this deficit operating as both a record of the development of the actor musician movement and as a practical guide for students educators performers and practitioners It explores the history of actor musicianship examining its origins as well as investigating and offering guidance on how this specialist form of music theatre is created It in turn acts as a means of defining an art form that has to date been left to lurk in the shadows of musical theatre a subset with its own distinctive culture of performer maker and audience but as yet no formal recognition as a specialism in its own right The actor musician show is multifarious and as such this book targets those interested in mainstream commercial work as well as alternative and avant garde theatre practice The book draws together expertise from a range of disciplines with contributions from many of the leading figures in this field including performers directors teachers MDs producers and writers It also features a foreword by theatre director John Doyle