GETTING YOUR SOLO ACT TOGETHER. By Michael Kearns. Portsmouth, NG: Heinemann. 1997; pp. ix-101; $12.95 (paper).

Review Published In: Text and Performance Quarterly, Vol 19, Number 3, July 1999. 269-270

Although quality scholarship exists on the subject of solo performance—John Gentile’s Cast of One and Jordan R. Young’s Acting Solo immediately come to mind—very little of this work seems tailor-made for the formidable challenge of putting together a solo show from start to finish. For this reason, I was encouraged when a student came to my office with a copy of Getting Your Solo Act Together by Michael Kearns. Aspiring solo performers need a good “how-to” guide on the practical issues of this challenging yet rapidly growing genre; Kearns’ reputation as a solo artist and as a writer make him a credible performer in this role. Unfortunately, optimism quickly turned to skepticism after thumbing through a few pages. First impressions suggest an underwritten and pedestrian little book: the kind of opportunistic, consumer-driven writing often seen in screen-writing or self-help books. As I thumbed further, however, a different text emerged. Seduced by Kearns’ clarity of insight and passionate conviction, I found myself underlining impressive chunks and filling the margins with ink. In short, in sprite of many obvious shortcomings, Getting Your Solo Act Together deserves more than just a passing glance.

Granted, there is still much to overcome. True to its billing as a “nuts-and-bolts” look at the elements of solo performance, Getting Your Solo Act Together takes a process-oriented approach to its subject. It consists of twelve short chapter with titles such as “The Genre,” “The Creation,” “The Staging,” “The Tech,” “The Demands,” etc. To call these divisions “chapters” may be an overstatement. “Meditations” might be a better description. In each, Kearns dispenses advice in a sketchy, hit-and-miss narrative that often leaves the reader unquenched. The chapters on script creation and staging stand-out as particularly weak. Regarding the former, few fresh insights exist in statements such as “building a bio for your characters is imperative to establish a flesh and blood human being” (16), or “Doing readings-whether in your living room with a group of friends or at a meeting place with a neutral audience-is critical to the process” (17). Similarly, Kearns’ five page discussion of staging may be reduced to the statement, “Never self-direct” (24). Such cryptic brevity particularly disappoints in light of the fact that so little has been written on the unique challenges of staging solo productions.

Fortunately, the several wonderful moments indiscriminately sprinkled throughout Getting Your Solo Act Together make the failings of the book easier to forgive. For example, Kearns beautifully refutes the common assumption that solo performance is “self-indulgent” by characterizing his chosen profession as a “service occupation” ideally guided by “selfless” goals. With conversational flash, Kearns writes, “If the solo performer has something valuable to impart-and you better, honey, or go elsewhere-how can the artist not be a service to a larger purpose?” (5). Other sparkling moments result from the description of the shifting role of the audience in a solo show from unspecified other to relied-upon character (46). In his “The Demands” chapter, Kearns wisely disputes the myth that the fringe quality of solo performances means that performers do no need sufficient vocal and physical training (52). This plea for professionalism balances nicely with information in the chapter entitled, “The Rewards.” Commenting on his status as an openly gay actor, Kearns writes, “my gifts as an actor were more fully recognized as a solo performer. This was empowering, infusing me with a sense of artist-self I didn’t know existed.” (59). Although underwritten, the chapters entitled “The Market Place” and “The Dos and Don’ts” provide practical, logistical, and humorous information regarding the challenges of making a solo piece financially feasible. Finally, the nine excerpts from solo scripts that conclude the book, including pieces by Kate Bornstein, Rob Sullivan, and Kearns himself, offer an opportunity to examine some of the rarely published literature from the solo scene.

Very little in Getting Your Solo Act Together fits under the descriptions of “scholarly” or “academic.” In fact, Kearns’ attempts to sound erudite result in some of his weakest moments. He often passes off anecdotal quotes as incontrovertible truths. Only slightly more troubling is the gradual realization that most of the expert testimony in the book comes from the author’s own small circle of friends. And yet, the fact that Getting Your Solo Act Together would not pass a masters thesis defense does not entirely dismiss its value or its potential influence. Weaknesses aside, Kearns gives students and scholars alike the rare opportunity to peer into the mind and the method of a gifted performer ,a performer with enough guts and skill to stand alone, both on-stage and off.

In large part due to the passion, conviction, and charm of its author, Getting Your Solo Act Together survives as a useful, if uneven, supplement to the limited literature on flying solo.

Robert J. Hubbard

Northwestern College