Command Performance: An Actress in the Theater of Politics [Hardcover]

Jane Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2000

A renowned actress's charming, opinionated, and wise memoir of her tenure at the National Endowment for the Arts brings humor and human dimension to the politics of art and the art of politics.. Renowned actress Jane Alexander had attended her share of protest marches in the 1960s and 1970s, but she had never been involved in mainstream politics and was happily engaged in her acting career when she was asked to consider becoming head of the ever-embattled National Endowment for the Arts. This witty, entertaining account of her tenure there brings a Washington outsider's perspective and an actor's eye for the telling human detail to the often stultifying subject of bureaucratic politics.Alexander's NEA tenure coincided with the ascent of the Gingrich Congress and its attempt to sabotage arts funding. In Command Performance she offers a sharp and sometimes hilarious take on those sometimes surreal days, and a gimlet-eyed portrait of Washington at work, play, and cocktail reception. Whether she is listening to Gingrich suggest to Melanie Griffith that there's a part for her in the movie version of his novel, trying without much success actually to talk to the president who hired her, traveling the inspiring landscape of the American arts scene, gracefully skewering the poseurs and politicos who crossed her path, or documenting her own uncomfortable adjustment to political reality and brutality, Alexander is charming, disarmingly honest, and convincingly passionate on why we need art, and why the government should be in the business of supporting it. Renowned actress Jane Alexander had attended her share of protest marches in the 1960s and 1970s, but she had never been involved in mainstream politics and was happily engaged in her acting career when she was asked to consider becoming head of the ever-embattled National Endowment for the Arts. This witty, entertaining account of her tenure there brings a Washington outsider's perspective and an actor's eye for the telling human detail to the often stultifying subject of bureaucratic politics. Alexander's NEA tenure coincided with the ascent of the Gingrich Congress and its attempt to sabotage arts funding. In Command Performance she offers a sharp and sometimes hilarious take on those sometimes surreal days, and a gimlet-eyed portrait of Washington at work, play, and cocktail reception. Whether she is listening to Gingrich suggest to Melanie Griffith that there's a part for her in the movie version of his novel, trying without much success actually to talk to the president who hired her, traveling the inspiring landscape of the American arts scene, gracefully skewering the poseurs and politicos who crossed her path, or documenting her own uncomfortable adjustment to political reality and brutality, Alexander is charming, disarmingly honest, and convincingly passionate on why we need art, and why the government should be in the business of supporting it. * For anyone interest ed in Washington, in the arts and arts issues, and in Alexander's life as a woman and actress Full of amusing profiles of and anecdotes about political and show business celebrities from Jesse Helms to Garth Brooks; Al D'Amato to Katharine Graham * Alexander's stature as one of the most respected theater artists of our time make her take on arts issues noteworthy in the arts community .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The distinguished actress chronicles her stormy four-year tenure as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts with infectious passion and searching intelligence. When she was nominated in 1993, Alexander was appearing in a hit play (The Sisters Rosensweig) and, she says here, needed her star's salary because she had been virtually bankrupted by a crooked accountant. Yet she felt obligated, as someone whose early career had been shaped by the nonprofit theater so dependent on the NEA, to assume the thankless job of defending the agency against conservatives determined to shut it down. In Alexander's scathing depiction, "philistine" would be too kind a term for the politicians she had to confront. "Arthur Murray never needed a grant to write a play," House Speaker Newt Gingrich informs one NEA supporter, "who restrained herself from saying that perhaps the famous ballroom dancer should have applied to the dance program." Thank goodness Alexander has a sense of humor, because she tells a grim tale only partly redeemed by a qualified happy ending, when she manages to get the NEA funded for 1998 before her departure. Although she has good words for arts supporters on both sides of the aisle, notably Democrat Ted Kennedy and Republican Nancy Kassebaum, the author paints a disheartening portrait of members of Congress less interested in defending the First Amendment than protecting their political flanks. Her polite but blunt comments on Bill Clinton make it clear she thinks the president, too, has put expediency ahead of principles. Alexander's liberal activism long predates her chairmanship, and her analysis of politicians' evolution from public servants to interest-group stooges is as strong as her defense of the arts.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

All government agencies funding the arts are prone to controversy, none more so than the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Award-winning actress Alexander, herself a onetime NEA grant recipient, chronicles her appointment as its chairwoman and her subsequent tenure during the Gingrich Congress. The book's structure parallels that of a theatrical production ("Audition," "Rehearsal," "Curtain Up," etc.). Although Alexander's prose style is occasionally given to clich , there is no mistaking her dedication to public support of the arts, especially in the face of conservative cost cutting. Alexander's arguments are both passionate and reasoned. Her reflections show surprising modesty, self-awareness, humor, and political savvy. This is no celebrity figurehead but a hardworking, hardheaded CEO. Although she left the NEA in 1997, she continues to serve it well with this memoir. This book will be useful to general collections well beyond the U.S. borders. (Index not seen.)DBarbara Hutcheson, Greater Victoria P.L., BC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: Public Affairs; 1st edition (May 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891620061
• ISBN-13: 978-1891620065
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,522,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars for Content; 3 Stars for Execution, June 19, 2000

By 

bert1761 (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Command Performance: An Actress in the Theater of Politics (Hardcover)

Ms. Alexander's book presents a scathing indictment of the Federal government and many of the people it comprises, as well as an eloquent argument for government support of the arts (and for campaign finance reform). While Ms. Alexander is clearly a "liberal" (in fact, she has referred to herself as an "aging hippie"), she deals fairly with members of both parties -- crediting INDIVIDUALS who were supportive and chastising those who were not, regardless of party affiliation.

Unfortunately, although Ms. Alexander is an extraordinarily talented actress (her performance in "Testament" is perhaps one of the greatest screen performances of all-time) and an effective administrator, she is not the greatest writing. While in many instances, the book makes one feel as though he or she was "in the trenches" with Ms. Alexander, her tendency for "purple prose," coupled with her propensity for complimenting and thanking ALL who were supportive of her mission, has the effect of pulling one back out of those trenches. At times I felt as though I were watching a lesser actress portraying Ms. Alexander, and not doing a particularly good job of it.

Despite its flaws, "Command Performance" is an important book that should be read by everyone concerned with the future of our society. Thank you, Jane Alexander, for writing it and, more importantly, for living it.

21 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A devastating self-portrait, expressed with gusto., June 5, 2000

By 

Laurence Jarvik "laurencejarvikonline" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Command Performance: An Actress in the Theater of Politics (Hardcover)

For anyone who wants to know what went wrong with the National Endowment for the Arts, an excellent start can be found in Jane Alexander's memoir of her term as Chairman.

Without blinking, the author reveals a deep hostility and contempt towards anyone who dares to point out that the proverbial emperor (or in this case empress) might not be appropriately dressed.

How fascinating it is to read what Ms. Alexander was thinking while running the arts agency during a period of intense controversy. And what she was thinking about was politics and money rather than art.

Her confrontations with pundits, congressmen, and even the President of the United States are absolutely worth the price of the book (no doubt one reason that it graced the cover of the Washington Post Magazine).

Democrats are not spared. For example, Ms. Alexander describes the President as a hick from Hot Springs who prefers Elvis Presley to Karen Finley, since he told her that the American people could not be expected to pay for such stuff. And Ms. Alexander found herself rather unimpressed with the artistic level found in Arkansas during a visit to a cultural center in the President's home town.

Curiously, she nevertheless complains that he stopped hugging her soon after she took over the agency.

Now that she has returned to New York, Ms. Alexander lets everyone in Washington know what she really thought of them. In the telling, Ms. Alexander has painted a devastating self-portrait, expressed with gusto.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquently and passionately written, September 27, 2000

By 

pmg1975 (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Command Performance: An Actress in the Theater of Politics (Hardcover)

For those interested in the worlds of politics and the arts, esteemed actress Jane Alexander brilliantly recounts her tenure as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

From her "auditions" for the position up to her meetings with President Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and correspondence with Jesse Helms, Ms. Alexander infuses her writing with intelligence, literary awareness, and a delightful, wry, witty sense of humour.

Republicans and Democrats alike are not spared Ms. Alexander's opinions on how funding was handled, what was considered art, and how arts organizations, artists, and arts education are constantly overlooked at providing no real social importance by men in power who are "of little mind". She writes adoringly of her staff at the NEA and of the congressional supporters who went to bat for the Endowment.

Voicing political opinion, especially someone who was in Ms. Alexander's position, is always going to be a touchy subject, but like art, it's meant for discussion to learn more about the human race and to challenge our own conventional ways of thinking.

Overall, this book is an educational, interesting look into an area of politics that is shamelessly neglected by members of Congress. Ms. Alexander is to be commended for all she accomplished at the Endowment and this book is a great account of what she had to endure at the center of one of the government's most controversial agencies.