At auditions for my show, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, I often wondered why a particular actor or actress compelled my attention, why the very air in the room became charged as they sang. Now I know the answer: they were utilizing the very techniques that Malcolm Arnold espouses so expertly in The Complete Singer-Actor Manual. Malcolm has thought deeply about the whole process of vocal communication, drawing upon years of experience and perceptive observations. The result is a richly-detailed, highly-readable text about how to give the words we sing “a message and a destination.” He shifts easily from musical theater songs to opera arias, and in several stunning examples, analyzes exactly what is going on, dramatically and musically, measure by measure. The reader learns to think like a composer and lyricist, then learns how to work with their own feelings and perceptions to fashion a performance that has rhyme, reason and emotion. In The Complete Singer-Actor Manual, Malcolm Arnold, with zeal and generosity, shows us how we can transform mere words and notes into something wondrous and magical.