Diary of a Mad Playwright

by James Kirkwood Jr.

Book Overview

(Applause Books). Kirkwood, the co-writer of the book of the great musical A Chorus Line , also wrote the stage play Legends , for which Carol Channing and Mary Martin embarked on a nationwide,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525247610
• ISBN13: 9780525247616
• Release Date: September 1989
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Classic Book On The Theater...

Suppose you are a playwright who co-authored a little something called "A Chorus Line"? And just suppose you managed to sign theatrical legends Mary Martin and Carol Channing for your latest play, appropriately called "Legends!"? What could possibly go wrong? Grab this book, and boy, will you find out! For example, Mary Martin could no longer remember lines, so she was fitted with a small radio headset so she could be "fed" her lines. But seemingly every taxi driver in the city was on the same frequency... Hilarious, tragic-a true classic, right up there with "Act One" by Moss Hart.

A must for theatre buffs

Hilarious yet often sad true tale of the author's incredibly frustrating run of his stage play Legends, starring two honest-to-goodness stage divas Carol Channing and Mary Martin, who in real life gave their stage characters more than a run for their money. Greedy producers, bickering stars, hostile reviewers, backstage manipulations, it's all here, presented in good humor by Kirkwood, a vastly unsung writer, unfortunately long since deceased. This was his final book. A good read in itself, and sure to provoke laughter and empathy from anyone who has been involved in theatre.