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The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers
by Mary Rodgers, Jesse Green
The memoirs of Mary Rodgers - writer, composer, Broadway royalty, and "a woman who tried everything."
"What am I, bologna?" Mary Rodgers (1931–2014) often said. She was referring to being stuck in the middle of a talent sandwich: the daughter of one composer and the mother of another. And not just any composers. Her father was Richard Rodgers, perhaps the greatest American melodist; her son, Adam Guettel, a worthy successor. What that leaves out is Mary herself, also a composer, whose musical Once Upon a Mattress remains one of the rare revivable Broadway hits written by a woman.
Shy is the story of how it all happened: how Mary grew from an angry child, constrained by privilege and a parent's overwhelming gift, to become not just a theater figure in her own right but also a renowned author of books for young readers (including the classic Freaky Friday) and, in a final grand turn, a doyenne of philanthropy and the chairman of the Juilliard School.
But in telling these stories―with copious annotations, contradictions, and interruptions from Jesse Green, the chief theater critic of the New York Times―Shy also tells another, about a woman liberating herself from disapproving parents and pervasive sexism to find art and romance on her own terms. Whether writing for Judy Holliday or Rin Tin Tin, dating Hal Prince or falling for Stephen Sondheim over a game of chess at thirteen, Rodgers grabbed every chance possible―and then some.
Both an eyewitness report from the golden age of American musical theater and a tale of a woman striving for a meaningful life, Shy is, above all, a chance to sit at the feet of the kind of woman they don't make anymore―and never did. They make themselves.
"In this rollicking posthumous memoir, composer and writer Rodgers (1931–2014) revisits the highs and lows of her life and career...Of the decades-long success of Once Upon a Mattress, Rodgers cheekily proclaims, 'Some people have a medley of their hits; I have a medley of one.' It's this playful, self-deprecating humor that makes Rodgers's stories sing, and fans are sure to delight in every witty detail. This has major star power." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[Rodgers's] remembrances are lively, witty, honest, and 'dishy' regarding a host of boldfaced names, both those she loved and those she hated...A Broadway tell-all that deserves to become a classic of music theater lore." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Rodgers tells it the way she saw it, often stripping away the celebrity glamour of growing up in a revered musical theater environment. Green is a welcome and unobtrusive organizing voice and fact checker. Hollywood biography readers and musical theater fans will enjoy." - Library Journal
"Shy is a treasure chest of goodies for fans of the New York performing arts world at mid-century and just beyond...Readers besotted with Old Broadway would probably inhale Rodgers's memoir no matter its quality, but Shy has the added bonus of being note-perfect." - Shelf Awareness
"Mary careens across these pages with her usual wit, wisdom and honesty. It is Mary as we remember her and loved her. Jesse Green, her co-author, deserves much praise for his unique, delightful contribution. One feels that Mary is back with us once again...and how lovely is that!" - Julie Andrews
"Having just finished Shy, an extremely funny and always fascinating book, I am very sorry I never met Mary Rodgers. But I do feel as if I have, because Shy provides the appealing and droll voice of Rodgers, alongside Jesse Green's always knowledgeable and witty commentary. For anyone who loves Broadway, or wants to hear about its heyday from a lifelong insider, this duet of a memoir is a welcome compendium of information, anecdote, gossip, and strong opinions—and never anything less than a tremendously good story." - Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion
This information about Shy was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Mary Rodgers (1931–2014) was an accomplished composer, author, and screenwriter. She was the author of the novel Freaky Friday and its 1976 screenplay adaptation, and of several other novels. Rodgers also wrote the music for Once Upon a Mattress, which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical. She lived in New York City until her death.
Jesse Green is the chief theater critic for the New York Times. From 2013 to 2017 he was the theater critic for New York magazine. Before that, he covered theater and other cultural topics, as well as writing long-form news features, for many national publications. He is the author of the novel O Beautiful and the memoir The Velveteen Father: An Unexpected Journey to Parenthood.
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