Reviews

Joy Ride: Show People and Their Shows by John Lahr

hedytf's review against another edition

3.0

Very interesting but I little dry, I read it on a Twitter rec from Lin-Manuel Miranda.

alylentz's review against another edition

4.0

This was a really interesting read and I learned so much! His writing style was such that I was able to connect with whoever he was profiling even if I wasn't familiar with their work, which was cool. Some really grabbed me and some I just wanted to get through, so maybe it's not the most even book in the world, but I think that would happen in any compilation like this. The only real complaint I have is that, in reading every profile, it was really easy to see the pattern of "this male artist had a hard childhood and now he has a temper and is tortured," which can get REAL ANNOYING to read about after a while. I thought some of the female profile were far more interesting and unexpected, and I engaged with them much more easily and will remember them better. Of course, that is a reflection of the industry as a whole and it isn't wholly Lahr's fault, but I would have appreciated reading about more women. Overall, it got me excited to see more theatre soon and it helped me connect in a new way with the shows I've seen.