Wishful Drinking
Encyclopedia
Wishful Drinking is an autobiographical book by actress and author
Carrie Fisher
that was published
in 2008
. Fisher created a one-woman stage show from the book, which ran on Broadway and in other cities, and HBO filmed a documentary of the stage play.
reviewer Rebecca Traister found the book quite funny in large part, but was disappointed that "instead of pushing aside the twinkling craziness of her outside life to meaningfully reveal the crazy on the inside, as she has always done so well, Fisher is now gathering all the starry stuff around her for comfort and reassurance about who she is and what she means.".
near San Francisco at the beginning of 2008, the Broadway production opened in a limited run on Broadway
at Studio 54
on September 22, 2009 (previews) and October 4, 2009, and closed on January 17, 2010. After its successful San Francisco Bay Area run and before moving to Broadway, Wishful Drinking played at, among other venues, the Arena Stage
in Washington, D.C.
in September 2008, and Seattle Repertory Theatre
April - May 2009.
on September 13, 2011. The film production and DVD received a mixture of reviews. In the Los Angeles Times
, Robert LLoyd described the performance captured: "Fisher can be broad, but that is also the person she plays everywhere now: a little larger than life, worn but not worn out. She's funny as an actress, and as a writer makes memorable phrases". Boston Globe reviewer Matthew Gilbert wrote, "Fisher’s obsession with her parents and stepparents can be a little tiresome, to be honest, even while her tales of Hollywood absurdity remain outrageous ... Fisher even starts to seem boastful about her dysfunction ..." Continuing, "Fortunately Fisher does have some self-awareness about the potential for her show to seem like a narcissistic screed. That helps." DVDTalk reviewer Jason Bailey wrote of the released DVD, "To put across the brilliance of Wishful Drinking, all Bailey and Barbato really needed to do was put Fisher on stage, and turn on the cameras. They do that skillfully and unobtrusively". The DVD's content received 4/5 stars, video quality 3/5, audio quality 3.5/5, extras 2.5/5, replay 4/5, with final advice of "Highly Recommended."
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
that was published
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
in 2008
2008 in literature
The year 2008 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 1 - In the 2008 New Year Honours, Hanif Kureishi , Jenny Uglow , Peter Vansittart and Debjani Chatterjee are all rewarded for "services to literature".*June 15 - Gore Vidal, asked in a New York Times...
. Fisher created a one-woman stage show from the book, which ran on Broadway and in other cities, and HBO filmed a documentary of the stage play.
Reception
Reviews of the book were good, with some misgivings. The January 2009 New York Times review described it as a "funny, sardonic little memoir", but "pretty slight, padded out with big type, extra space between the lines and some family photographs, and it displays at times an almost antic need to entertain. The paragraphs are short, and the jokes — the puns, the wisecracks, the deadpan one-liners — come rattling along at the rate of one every other sentence or so." Salon.comSalon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
reviewer Rebecca Traister found the book quite funny in large part, but was disappointed that "instead of pushing aside the twinkling craziness of her outside life to meaningfully reveal the crazy on the inside, as she has always done so well, Fisher is now gathering all the starry stuff around her for comfort and reassurance about who she is and what she means.".
Stage adaptation
The book has been turned into a one-woman play in which Fisher has been performing. Developed for Berkeley Repertory TheatreBerkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1968, as the East Bay’s first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company runs seven...
near San Francisco at the beginning of 2008, the Broadway production opened in a limited run on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
on September 22, 2009 (previews) and October 4, 2009, and closed on January 17, 2010. After its successful San Francisco Bay Area run and before moving to Broadway, Wishful Drinking played at, among other venues, the Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in September 2008, and Seattle Repertory Theatre
Seattle Repertory Theatre
Seattle Repertory Theatre is a major regional theatre located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and Theatre Communications Group. Founded in 1963, it is led by Artistic Director Jerry Manning and Managing Director Benjamin Moore...
April - May 2009.
Production rights dispute
With the show having met with critical and popular success Off Broadway in New York, Carrie Fisher is now engaged in a battle over its production rights, with producer Jonathan Reinis. Both are claiming lost revenue at the hands of the other.Film documentary
HBO cable television released a filmed documentary of the stage show, directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, and first broadcast in December 2010. The 76-minute film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on September 13, 2011. The film production and DVD received a mixture of reviews. In the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Robert LLoyd described the performance captured: "Fisher can be broad, but that is also the person she plays everywhere now: a little larger than life, worn but not worn out. She's funny as an actress, and as a writer makes memorable phrases". Boston Globe reviewer Matthew Gilbert wrote, "Fisher’s obsession with her parents and stepparents can be a little tiresome, to be honest, even while her tales of Hollywood absurdity remain outrageous ... Fisher even starts to seem boastful about her dysfunction ..." Continuing, "Fortunately Fisher does have some self-awareness about the potential for her show to seem like a narcissistic screed. That helps." DVDTalk reviewer Jason Bailey wrote of the released DVD, "To put across the brilliance of Wishful Drinking, all Bailey and Barbato really needed to do was put Fisher on stage, and turn on the cameras. They do that skillfully and unobtrusively". The DVD's content received 4/5 stars, video quality 3/5, audio quality 3.5/5, extras 2.5/5, replay 4/5, with final advice of "Highly Recommended."