Customer Reviews

Off Stage

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If Betty Comden had done nothing more than collaborate on the great musical On The Town, she'd be a star in my personal pantheon. But she's had a wonderfully varied career, as creator and performer, and she has set high standards in all projects. Ms. Comden has lived long enough to have experienced many sadnesses, and she writes about them as openly as she does the happinesses. This book is a gift from a true Broadway original, and a genuine professional. Not to be missed, and bless you, Betty, for giving it to us!

Even if she weren't one-half of the legendary theatrical writing team of Comden and Green, Betty Comden's life would be worth reading about. Collaborating with Adolph Green for some 70 years the brilliant duo gave us such blockbuster Broadway shows as "On The town," "Bells Are Ringing," "The Will Rogers Follies" and "Applause."

Alone, she was a doting wife, a mother who thought she could never master motherhood, and a woman left to mourn the death of her husband, son, and many dear friends.

Born in Brooklyn to Russian immigrant parents, the young Betty had a love for words and was intrigued by the theater. While her teaming with Green made theatrical history, her unprecedented success did not shield her from tragedies and disappointments. These, along with her joys and triumphs, she recounts with candor and humor.

- Gail Cooke

Maybe I shouldn't have bought the book in the first place. I have always liked Betty Comden on a professional basis. But after reading this boring and terribly self-indulgent book, my opinion of her has lowered drastically.

Quite frankly, her life growing up and all of her wonderful friends and aches and pains are not worth reading about. Now if this was more of a balanced autobiography that combined her professional and personal lives, the book would be much better. She grew up rich (she admits the Great Depression did not affect her much) and became quite successful. She admits to guilt about being a part-time mother and talks at embarrassing length about her son who died of HIV due to his years as a drug addict.

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