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9781683932819

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"One of America's most revered (and on occasion reviled) playwrights and librettists, McNally succumbed to COVID-19 in March of 2020 at the age of 82. This volume, which was compiled by Frontain from speeches, columns, and other occasional writings by McNally, serves as a timely, fitting tribute to the author of such Tony Award-winners as Master Class and Love! Valour! Compassion! McNally left no formal autobiography, but these short pieces--by turns droll, incisive, and chatty--show McNally in an expansive and cautiously optimistic mood, commenting variously on the state of the American theater and some of its principal players, from the mid-1980s onward. Compelling are McNally's gentle self-irony; his deep love for his collaborators, colleagues, and friends (there are moving encomia for Zoe Caldwell, Edward Albee, Kander and Ebb, and others); and his conviction that the American theater is ""arguably [the US's] deepest expression of who [Americans] are."" McNally's theater is about characters and stories; he is not a theorist. ""A lot of theater is just hanging out with people[, ]"" he opines. [T]here are also strong statements on censorship and succeeding as a gay playwright. Highly recommended. One of America's most revered (and on occasion reviled) playwrights and librettists, McNally succumbed to COVID-19 in March of 2020 at the age of 82. This volume, which was compiled by Frontain from speeches, columns, and other occasional writings by McNally, serves as a timely, fitting tribute to the author of such Tony Award-winners as Master Class and Love! Valour! Compassion! McNally left no formal autobiography, but these short pieces--by turns droll, incisive, and chatty--show McNally in an expansive and cautiously optimistic mood, commenting variously on the state of the American theater and some of its principal players, from the mid-1980s onward. Compelling are McNally's gentle self-irony; his deep love for his collaborators, colleagues, and friends (there are moving encomia for Zoe Caldwell, Edward Albee, Kander and Ebb, and others); and his conviction that the American theater is ""arguably [the US's] deepest expression of who [Americans] are."" McNally's theater is about characters and stories; he is not a theorist. ""A lot of theater is just hanging out with people[, ]"" he opines. [T]here are also strong statements on censorship and succeeding as a gay playwright. Highly recommended. -- ""Choice Reviews"""

One of America's most revered (and on occasion reviled) playwrights and librettists, McNally succumbed to COVID-19 in March of 2020 at the age of 82. This volume, which was compiled by Frontain from speeches, columns, and other occasional writings by McNally, serves as a timely, fitting tribute to the author of such Tony Award-winners as Master Class and Love! Valour! Compassion! McNally left no formal autobiography, but these short pieces--by turns droll, incisive, and chatty--show McNally in an expansive and cautiously optimistic mood, commenting variously on the state of the American theater and some of its principal players, from the mid-1980s onward. Compelling are McNally's gentle self-irony; his deep love for his collaborators, colleagues, and friends (there are moving encomia for Zoe Caldwell, Edward Albee, Kander and Ebb, and others); and his conviction that the American theater is arguably [the US's] deepest expression of who [Americans] are. McNally's theater is about characters and stories; he is not a theorist. A lot of theater is just hanging out with people[, ] he opines. [T]here are also strong statements on censorship and succeeding as a gay playwright. Highly recommended.-- Choice

"One of America's most revered (and on occasion reviled) playwrights and librettists, McNally succumbed to COVID-19 in March of 2020 at the age of 82. This volume, which was compiled by Frontain from speeches, columns, and other occasional writings by McNally, serves as a timely, fitting tribute to the author of such Tony Award-winners as Master Class and Love! Valour! Compassion! McNally left no formal autobiography, but these short pieces--by turns droll, incisive, and chatty--show McNally in an expansive and cautiously optimistic mood, commenting variously on the state of the American theater and some of its principal players, from the mid-1980s onward. Compelling are McNally's gentle self-irony; his deep love for his collaborators, colleagues, and friends (there are moving encomia for Zoe Caldwell, Edward Albee, Kander and Ebb, and others); and his conviction that the American theater is ""arguably [the US's] deepest expression of who [Americans] are."" McNally's theater is about characters and stories; he is not a theorist. ""A lot of theater is just hanging out with people[, ]"" he opines. [T]here are also strong statements on censorship and succeeding as a gay playwright. Highly recommended."

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Raymond-Jean Frontain is professor of English at The University of Central Arkansas.

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