Off Stage

In this incandescent autobiographical collage lyricist playwright and performer Betty Comden takes an exuberant and rueful look back on a lifetime of celebrated triumphs and private sorrow. With her lifelong collaborator Adolph Green she has achieved glorious success on stage in such musical milestones as ÊOn the Town Wonderful TownÊ and ÊBells Are RingingÊ and on screen in the unforgettable ÊSinging in the RainÊ and ÊThe Band WagonÊ. But this very intimate memoir takes us behind her experiences in theatre and film to her childhood in Brooklyn her determined exodus to Manhattan and Broadway her courtship and marriage and the lessons she has learned as a wife and mother. ÊOff StageÊ is then not only of special interest to theatre and movie buffs. It is also the poignant and inspirational story of a woman of many talents and interests who tried to have it all ä and very nearly succeeded.