Starry-Eyed: 16 Stories that Steal the Spotlight

by Ted Michael, Josh Pultz, Clay Aiken (Introduction)

No light is as unforgiving as the spotlight, but to be in it while being a teenager is just plain brutal. This collection of fictional short stories highlight the struggles, hopes, failures, and triumphs of young aspiring singers, dancers, actors, actresses, and performers. While these characters may feel out of place during their everyday lives, they are able to find a home onstage and in rehearsals. Woven throughout the anthology are personal anecdotes from several of today's most celebrated performers of stage, screen, and television.

Whether hilarious or romantic or devastating or suspenseful, these diverse coming-of-age stories are perfect for anyone who is reaching for the stars.

Genres: Short Stories, Young Adult, Anthologies, Contemporary

400 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2013

About the author

Ted Michael was born in 1984 and grew up in Roslyn Heights, New York. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the Juilliard School and is a Presidential Scholar in the Arts.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so so so impressed with this book. Honesty, it's an incredible work.

Starry-Eyed is an anthology of 16 fiction stories (at least I'm assuming they're fiction? I would have liked a description of the author/story/inspo at the end, like the 'stars' did in their essays, but that's okay) and 16 anecdotes/ personal essays by stars of TV, movies, plays, and musicals.

This anthology was incredible because of the enormous variety of writing and the brilliance of the writing. I was so amazed out the range of style in it- there were great humor stories, super creepy stories, quirky love stories, and everything in between. I loved that there weren't a large amount of either type- it was all spread out and equal. And the actual writing was wonderful. i was so so impressed that the editors could get such good writers to contribute- seriously, every piece was very well written, every author is so talented. And I have to mention the length of each story- so. nice. I am someone who gets daunted at a long short story (like 15-30 pages?). I feel like I need to read it all in one sitting but that'll take *forever*... these stories were short, but not too short, the perfect length. Overall, I loved reading this.

The only thing I did not like were the personal essays, which I was really looking forward too. They were very short and the writing was slightly awkward. However, there were a couple brilliant ones, so I'm not complaining.

I also would have liked more than acting and singing and musicians in a 'performing arts' anthology- what about dance?! What made me super excited at first was the prospect of there being dance, acting, and music, all put together, rather than mostly acting/singing. But I can't have everything, right? :)

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up several years ago at ALA from the publisher booth and have FINALLY finished it--it's literally just been sitting all winter and spring.

Good stories about how being a performer or creator affects the teenage years of different kids, interspersed with actual "famous people" (most of whom I didn't recognize because I'm old). Some lovely writing here.

[Sana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read some of the stories in here and they (sort of) changed my negative perspective on anthologies/story collections.
Usually I steer away from them because of the lack of character development and shallow plot, but most of the stories I did read from this collection were good.

I mean that they were written well and they had plot and decent character development. The characters actually had some voice and reason... and personality.
Which is crucial to a short story, I think.

Perhaps this is the only anthology I would ever recommend to anyone, but I don't particularly favor this genre of music/spotlight/etc anyway, so I wouldn't suggest it to anyone except for the writing aspect of the short stories.

[Talia L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful collection of stories. Some were realistic fiction while others had supernatural elements, but they were all captivating and real. Some stories I didn't relate to as much but I did appreciate the lessons I gleaned from them; others gave me chills and left me in awe. I especially loved "The Accompanist," "Echo," "A Midwinter Night's Dream," and "A Love Song." These stories capture so many elements of performing: the fear of rejection, the healing quality of music, the thrill of connecting to an audience and pouring your heart out, the way acting allows you to assume a persona while being true to yourself, the way singing and dancing is a transcendental experience. Moving, relatable, and gorgeously written.

[Monica Fumarolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this collection of 16 stories all based in the world of the performing arts, readers get a wide variety of situations. Some of these stories completely captivated me and I was very sorry to see them end so soon, and I will definitely be picking up these writers' novels. Others, however, I had a more difficult time connecting with. All in all, if you like performing arts, short stories, and your library has a copy of this, give it a shot.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this solely for Anthony Fedorov's contribution. Other than that, the rest of it was hit or miss. Some of the short stories were quite enjoyable, and some of them were pure dreck. I guess as compilations go, it's pretty typical. Definitely aimed at a teen audience, but as a whole it was enjoyable enough.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the book, I did not enjoy every story! I really liked "The Accompanist," "Tessitura," "Echo," "Talent," "A Midwinter Night's Dream," "Gravy and Mashed," "A Love Song," "Stage Kiss," "Becca First," and "A Date With Destiny"

[T.M. Carper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for teens and middle schoolers who are in the performing arts or interested in the performing arts - focuses mainly on singers and actors with some piano players but not dancers.