I saw Carrie Fisher's one woman show
Wishful Drinking on its closing weekend so I didn't write about it. I didn't want to recommend something that was unable to be seen. However, if you're in the New York/New Jersey area, you have one last chance to see it live. She's filming it for posterity in June.
Here's the info. No word yet on exactly what it's for. I suspect some sort of pay cable airing. Maybe short theatrical?
The show is very funny whether you're into self-deprecated celebrity wit, Old Hollywood lore or
Star Wars trivia. The highlight of the show for me was an absurd celebrity genealogy chart that springs from one of Hollywood's most legendary scandals: the breakup of Carrie's parents Eddie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds ("America's Sweetheart") once La Liz wanted Eddie for herself.
Fisher also picks at Princess Leia like a scab. I'm sure the Princess Leia /
Star Wars bits were the hook for any Broadway tourists who picked up tickets during the show's initial run but for me it's the weakest setpiece of the show. Still funny though, don't get me wrong...
Leia and double get some sun in the Yuma desert on the set of Return of the Jedi
My biggest gripe with the one woman show is that it was too short. I could listen to Fisher yammer on for at least twice the length. I would totally love a sequel or better yet a miniseries wherein Carrie delves deeper into
her onscreen Warren Beatty fling in Shampoo, or the making of
Postcards From the Edge (but Debbie gets a lot of attention in the show so perhaps she felt she covered that).
There wasn't a peep about that
Wizard of Oz riff she starred in called
Under the Rainbow that everyone has long since forgotten about. Seriously, mention that one aloud anywhere and people will be like "what? never heard of it"! ...even if they lived through the 1980s. And isn't there anything to say about antics on the set of
When Harry Met Sally?
I suppose I should buy
Wishful Drinking in book form since I've read all of her other books. Her best, if you ask me, is
Surrender the Pink which was the follow up to her bestselling debut
Postcards... (which is quite different than the movie version though Carrie wrote both of them).
Have you read any of her books?
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