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THE INCOMPARABLE REX

Name: THE INCOMPARABLE REX
Author: Patrick Garland
ISBN: 0-88064-217-3

A MEMOIR OF REX HARRISON IN THE 1980S

by Patrick Garland ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2000

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A purported memoir about the last ten years in the life of Rex Harrison (1908–90), this book by British director Garland

is actually a warts-and-all look at the 1981 Broadway revival of My Fair Lady. Although Sir Rex continued working until a few months before his death, Garland (who directed the short-lived revival of the 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical) glosses over the other stage roles Harrison took on when he was well into his 70s (such as his definitive interpretation of Captain Shotover in Shaw's Heartbreak House in 1983) and instead focuses on the actor's mercurial personality during rehearsals of My Fair Lady. He dwells in particular detail upon Harrison’s nasty treatment of Nancy Ringham (who was plucked from the chorus to play Eliza Doolittle after leading lady Cheryl Kennedy lost her voice at the 11th hour), which he believes was ultimately responsible for sinking the production. Garland’s account is not boring. Theater buffs will enjoy reading about Harrison's rivalry with Richard Burton and will marvel at the tales of the beloved trouper Cathleen Nesbitt, who played Higgins's mother in the original My Fair Lady and reprised the role 25 years later at the age of 94 (when her faculties were fading, yet she was still, amazingly, able to charm the audiences once the curtain went up). One begins to wonder, however, whether Garland is simply out to make a quick buck from his association with Harrison: there's just too much information about the actor's favorite obscenity, his mistreatment of his six wives and assorted girlfriends, and his cruel deathbed comments to his sons Carey and Noel—and not nearly enough about what made him “the last of the great high comedians,” as Garland contends. For diehard Rexophiles only—but even they would do better with Alexander Walker's Fatal Charm (1993). (8 pages b&w

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Pub Date: April 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-88064-217-3

Page Count: 272

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2000

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.