Letters from Backstage profile picture

Letters from Backstage

Letters from Backstage

About Me

I'm Michael Kostroff, a professional television and stage actor, and the author of the book, "Letters from Backstage." It's a funny, honest, behind-the-scenes journal of my time on the road with two major Broadway tours -- "The Producers" and "Les Miserables."You can have a look at the book, along with reader reviews, at Amazon.com. It can also be found at most major bookstores. I hope you'll check it out. People seem to really be enjoying it.As for me, I'm most often recognized from my role on HBO's "The Wire" (I play the dark and unscrupulous gang lawyer, Maury Levy), and for my Arby's commercial (I'm the guy getting whistled at by construction workers). For those of you curious about my other television credits, you'll find them listed at a site called IMDB.com, where you can look up any tv or film actor.I travel several times a year, so if you have a book club, theatre company or school group that you think might be interested in scheduling a visit, master class or book signing, feel free to let me know and I'll see what I can do.Thanks for stopping by.Michael

My Interests

Theatre, plays, musical theatre, voice, anything truly funny, TV shows, movies, Scrabble, language, writing. I'm a great believer in using proper English. We have a language -- a great one, because it allows us to communicate clearly and creatively. The recent trend of replacing English words with symbols, numbers, abbreviations and non-words is detrimental to that communication. It's not clever. It doesn't make the writer cool or interesting. What it does is hurt our ability to understand each other.NIFTY LINKS Reader's Circle

I'd like to meet:

You! Drop me a line. I especially love to hear from theatre students, theatre fans and book lovers.

Music:

Broadway, Joe Jackson, Billy Joel, Manhattan Transfer, Janis Siegel, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Chaka Kahn, Joe Williams, Johnny Hartman, Mavis Staples, Aretha, Temptations, Stylistics, American Idol (OK. I admit it. I'm hooked.)

Movies:

Among my favorites are: "Brazil," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "The Ritz," "Citizen Kane," "Cabaret," "Night of the Hunter," "The Inlaws" (the original, of course, with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk), "Singin' in the Rain," "Shakespeare in Love" and "After Hours."

Television:

I miss "The Flip Wilson Show." Of course, I'm partial to my own show, HBO's "The Wire."

Books:

Favorites: "Les Miserables," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Oliver Twist," "Say Please, Say Thank You," "Eats, Shoots and Leaves." Currently reading "An Actor Behaves."

Heroes:

Laurence Olivier, Bob Fosse, Matthew Bourne, Joe Jackson, Martin Luther King, Phil Silvers, Mel Brooks.

My Blog

"Audition Psych. 101" Workshop -- New Dates!

Back by popular demand.....              Michael Kostroff's  Audition Psych. 101 A refreshing new approach to the dreaded process  ...
Posted by Letters from Backstage on Tue, 20 May 2008 06:15:00 PST

Where to buy the book:

You can find Letters from Backstage on Amazon.com, or at most Borders, Barnes & Noble, or theatre bookstores. If you don't see it, ask them to order it. Let me know what you think! MK...
Posted by Letters from Backstage on Sun, 23 Apr 2006 11:59:00 PST

A book for everyone who loves theatre.

Greetings, MySpacers! I'm Michael Kostroff, a professional television and stage actor, and the author of the book, Letters from Backstage. It's is a funny, touching, behind-the-scenes chronicle o...
Posted by Letters from Backstage on Wed, 19 Apr 2006 10:36:00 PST