With relatable, fluid stories, O'Brien effectively demystifies the art of directing.
An eminent director looks back over 50 years of work in the American theater.
Early on, O'Brien (b. 1939) admits, “I never took a single course in directing from any institution.” Rather than a guidebook, he offers a “compendium of lessons learned and not learned” over his long, illustrious career. As artistic director of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego from 1981 through 2007, O'Brien was a key player in the national development of regional theater in the U.S. But his fundamental belief applies across venues and genres: The piece itself asserts “its own organic truth.” Pedagogy aside, O’Brien gets down to his real subject: telling witty and often wise tales—mostly laudatory but some not—about his mentors, collaborators, and tormentors. Among the many boldfaced names in these pages are George Abbott, a “veritable colossus” of Broadway whose Damn Yankees O’Brien adapted; collaborators Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine; Jerry Lewis, the "last avatar of an art form long gone from the annals of American stagecraft," vaudeville; and playwright Neil Simon, who was chummy and intimate before becoming vindictive about his director's split loyalties. O'Brien offers a truly eye-raising account of the "other side" of Andrew Lloyd Webber from their work together on The Phantom of the Opera sequel, Love Never Dies. The author appreciates the genius of director Mike Nichols, and he provides an entertaining comparison of the working styles of John Goodman and Kevin Kline, both of whom O'Brien directed to greatness as Falstaff in Henry IV. O'Brien saves his highest praise for the great British playwright Tom Stoppard, a few of whose major plays he directed when they were performed in New York City. Stoppard seems a director's true dream, writing dazzling plays while remaining humble in his collaborations. The latter also applies to O’Brien, whose sheer list of credentials seems intimidating but whose interactions with other towering talents seem to have remained down-to-earth.
With relatable, fluid stories, O'Brien effectively demystifies the art of directing.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-374-60382-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.
The iconic model tells the story of her eventful life.
According to the acknowledgments, this memoir started as "a fifty-page poem and then grew into hundreds of pages of…more poetry." Readers will be glad that Anderson eventually turned to writing prose, since the well-told anecdotes and memorable character sketches are what make it a page-turner. The poetry (more accurately described as italicized notes-to-self with line breaks) remains strewn liberally through the pages, often summarizing the takeaway or the emotional impact of the events described: "I was / and still am / an exceptionally / easy target. / And, / I'm proud of that." This way of expressing herself is part of who she is, formed partly by her passion for Anaïs Nin and other writers; she is a serious maven of literature and the arts. The narrative gets off to a good start with Anderson’s nostalgic memories of her childhood in coastal Vancouver, raised by very young, very wild, and not very competent parents. Here and throughout the book, the author displays a remarkable lack of anger. She has faced abuse and mistreatment of many kinds over the decades, but she touches on the most appalling passages lightly—though not so lightly you don't feel the torment of the media attention on the events leading up to her divorce from Tommy Lee. Her trip to the pages of Playboy, which involved an escape from a violent fiance and sneaking across the border, is one of many jaw-dropping stories. In one interesting passage, Julian Assange's mother counsels Anderson to desexualize her image in order to be taken more seriously as an activist. She decided that “it was too late to turn back now”—that sexy is an inalienable part of who she is. Throughout her account of this kooky, messed-up, enviable, and often thrilling life, her humility (her sons "are true miracles, considering the gene pool") never fails her.
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780063226562
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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