How to Get the Part...Without Falling Apart!: Featuring the Haber Phrase Technique for Actors

by Margie Haber, Barbara Babchick, Heather Loclear

How to Get the Part...Without Falling Apart! is the answer to every actor's audition prayers. Acting coach Margie Haber has created a revolutionary phrase technique to get actors through readings without stumbling over the script. The book helps actors break through the psychological roadblocks to auditioning with a specific, 10-step method for breaking down the scene. Actors learn to prepare thoroughly, whether they have twenty minutes or two weeks. With a client list that includes Halle Berry, Brad Pitt, Kelly Preston, Heather Locklear, Vince Vaughn, Téa Leoni, Josie Bissett, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Laura Innes, and Tom Arnold, among others, Haber encourages and leads the reader through the audition process with helpful and oftentimes humorous examples. Includes script excerpts, celebrity photos, audition stories from today's hottest stars, and tips from top industry professionals.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction

360 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Cass Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the day, I had this book gifted to me when I graduated high school. It became my bible, filled with highlights, dog-eared pages, and notes. The format and information is fantastic. There are stories from actors who have made it, actual script experts to analyze, and one of the best character development break downs I've come across.
Eventually my life veered away from the stage and I began to write stories. I stumbled across this book and discovered the content is just as usable for writers building characters as it is actors portraying them.
This book is a fantastic resource for digging deep and creating dimensional characters.

[Casey McKinnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful read for actors on auditioning techniques, with a lot of fun horror stories from Hollywood stars who also studied under Margie Haber. This is required reading for studying at the Margie Haber Studio.

[Julija · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good technique when it comes to acting or auditioning because I believe a certain structure and preparation allows me the freedom to play and really just be free in my performance when it's showtime whether that be on a stage or in front of an audition panel.
Therefore I am a sucker for the techniques Haber suggests in this for auditioning, I think a lot of them are really useful. I was already familiar with many of them from my training, but it's always good to keep your knowledge fresh and remind yourself of the little things that sometimes get lost along the way.
!! However I have to point out that many aspects of this are outdated (especially advice given in the interviews) and not so relevant to my experience as an actor in Europe (the book manly focuses on Hollywood / LA based auditions).

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

lots of helpful information, will definitely be rereading this a lot

[Regan Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very motivating and helpful for especially to people new to acting. Really loved the scene excerpts that can be easily used for practice and training.

[Sami Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

while some of the information is very dated, i know i will use the information surrounding audition prep for my entire career. i hope to take a class with her someday. highly recommend!!!

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good and helpful read, especially for actors who fear auditions. The step-by-step guide of breaking down a script and fully analyzing a character is extremely valuable and something that really helped me in the last show I was in. And the Haber Phrase Technique sounds very interesting and something that I will be giving a try during my next audition. I did drop a star simply because of the age of this book. It came out a few decades ago so when it talks about how the industry works in "present day" I listened, but took those parts with a grain of salt because not all the information in those sections is likely applicable to actual present day. Regardless, this was a very insightful read and I will be using plenty of the information provided in this book going forward.

[Paul Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valuable resource for the actor or actress regarding the problem of auditioning. Margie Haber uses her years of experience as an actress, a speech therapist, casting director, and teacher to educate those wanting to improve their cold readings during auditions for film and television.

In "How to Get the Part...Without Falling Apart!: Featuring the Haber Phrase Technique for Actors," Haber highlights her patented, cold-reading technique, and goes into detail on how to break down a scene into tangible, playable verbs, beats, and intentions. She guides the actor to steer away from memorizing for an audition, and instead embrace the sides in front of you as an important tool as. you focus on the other person (you are reading with). In addition, there are various lists of Do's and Don'ts, as well as focus on living the life of a scene through one's body.

In addition to various anecdotes from Margie's professional career, she also features quotes and anecdotes from many of the professional actors and actresses she has worked with over the years...all in relation to the art of auditioning.

Yes, perhaps too much of the book is devoted to the author's self-promotion of her teaching and technique, which serves as more a distraction than anything helpful to the actor. And yes, some of her teachings are vague and confusing, creating a need for deeper explanation. That said, Margie Haber's "How to Get the Part...Without Falling Apart!: Featuring the Haber Phrase Technique for Actors" is still helpful guideline for the actor, encouraging current and future thespians to embrace the audition process, rather than fear it.

[Porter Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great resource...I go back to it for auditions all the time. Practical advice to help actors prep on-camera auditions.