Depicts the fears, setbacks and daily struggles of aspiring young actors and actresses, and, for the very few, stardom and success.

What do Natalie Portman, Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Braff, and Mandy Moore have in common? Before they were stars, they were campers at Stagedoor Manor, the premier summer theater camp for children and teenagers. Founded in 1975, Stagedoor continues to attract scores of young performers eager to find kindred spirits, to sing out loud, to become working actors—or maybe even stars. Every summer for the past thirty-five years, a new crop of campers has come to the Catskills for an intense, often wrenching introduction to professional theater. (The camp produces thirteen full-scale productions during each of its three sessions.) These kids come from varying backgrounds—the offspring of Hollywood players from Nora Ephron to Bruce Willis work alongside kids on scholarship. Some campers have agents, others are seeking representation. When Mickey Rapkin, a senior editor at GQ and self-proclaimed theater fanatic, learned about this place, he fled Manhattan for an escape to upstate New York. At Stagedoor, he tracked a trio of especially talented and determined teen actors through their final session at camp. Enter Rachael Singer, Brian Muller, and Harry Katzman, three high school seniors closing out their sometimes sheltered Stagedoor experiences and graduating into the real world of industry competition and rejection. These veteran campers—still battling childhood insecurities, but simultaneously searching for that professional gig that will catapult them to fame—pour their souls into what might be their last amateur shows. Their riveting stories are told in Theater Geek, an eye-opening, laugh-out-loud chronicle full of drama and heart, but also about the business of training kids to be professional thespians and, in some cases, child stars. (The camp has long acted as a farm system for Broadway and Hollywood, attracting visits from studio executives and casting directors.) Via original interviews with former and current campers and staff—including Mandy Moore, Zach Braff, and Jon Cryer—Rapkin also recounts Stagedoor Manor’s colorful, star-studded history: What was Natalie Portman’s breakout role as a camper? What big-time Hollywood director, then barely a teenager, dated a much older Stagedoor staff member? Why did Courtney Love (at Stagedoor visiting her daughter) get into an argument with a hot dog vendor who had set up shop at the camp? Theater Geek leads readers through the triumphs and tragedies of the three senior campers’ final summer in an absorbing, thought-provoking narrative that reveals the dynamic and inspiring human beings who populate this world. It also explores what the proliferation of theater camps says about our celebrity-obsessed youth and our most basic but vital need to fit in. Through the rivalry, heartbreak, and joy of one summer at Stagedoor Manor, Rapkin offers theater geeks of all ages a dishy, illuminating romp through the lives of serious child actors. Rich, insightful, and thoroughly entertaining, Theater Geek pulls back the curtain on an elite and intriguing world to reveal what’s really at its core: children who simply love to perform.

Behind The Stage Door is a ride through the years and a compilation of 80 tracks (chapters) and over 300 photos, posters, and admats from Rich Engler's personal collection. For anyone who loves rock n' roll, this book is a must.

In 2020, for the first time in centuries, heavy red curtains swept closed on stages across the West End; all theatres were closed. Two actors, keenly feeling the loss of their theatre homes, turned to a form of art that could still thrive over the following months, and set about photographing the stage doors of the deserted city. An extraordinary collaborative project almost two years in the making, Exeunt – The Stage Door Project collects together these moving images, alongside anecdotes from some of the world’s leading luminaries who have trodden the boards of the pictured theatres. A tribute to the magical nature of the stage door and the tales lurking behind it, Exeunt is a celebration of the legendary theatres of the city, the extraordinary figures behind the curtain – and the faithful audiences who have flocked back after the storm. Proceeds from sales of this book go to the Actors’ Benevolent Fund, ArtsMinds and Theatre Artists Fund Featuring the words of Dame Judi Dench, Emma Rice, Ned Seago, Simon Callow, John McCrea, Diane Page, Reece Shearsmith, Anita Dobson, Macy Nyman, David Bedella, Kwong Loke, Luke Giles, Stephanie Street, Dame Harriet Walter, Rebecca Frecknall, David Jonsson, Jackie Clune, Ben Cracknell, Richard Sutton, Adeyinka Akinrinade, Le Gateau Chocolat, Paule Constable, Lucian Msamati, Adrian Scarborough, David Acton, Natalie Law, Gordon Millar, Leanne Robinson, Thomas Aldridge, Katrina Lindsay, Eben Figueiredo, Andy Taylor, Aimie Atkinson, Jack Holden, Laura Donnelly, Laurie Kynaston, Abraham Popoola, Oengus MacNamara, Louis Maskell, Valda Aviks, Garry Cooper, Mark Dugdale, Lyn Paul, James Graham, Emma Sheppard, Paul Bazely, Preston Nyman, Lauren Ward, Jessica Hung Han Yun, Natalie McQueen, Gavin Spokes, Niamh Cusack, Paterson Joseph, Anna Fleischle, Daniel Monks, Michael Sheen, Lia Williams, Ruthie Henshall, Simon Lipkin, Tom Brooke, Ian Rickson, Rufus Hound, Zoë Tapper, Patsy Ferran, Joshua McGuire, Sharon D Clarke, Mark Gatiss, Taz Skylar, Marianne Benedict, Ferdinand Kingsley, Lez Brotherston, Tamsin Withers, Hadley Fraser, Karl Queensborough, Neil Salvage, Jessie Hart, Kathy Peacock, Howard Hudson, Jonathan Andrew Hume, Andy Nyman, Andrew McDonald, Claire Roberts, Michael Jibson, Jason Pennycooke, Christopher Tendai, Laura Baldwin, Matt Henry, Robert Lindsay, Simon Evans, Fisayo Akinade, Irvine Iqbal and Zoë Wanamaker.

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