We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.
Books: The Show Goes On & I Seek a Kind Person
Today we are recommending The Show Goes On Broadway Hirings. Firings & Replacements. The sudden replacement of Beanie Feldstein with Lea Michel in Funny Girl a few seasons ago was not the first Broadway casting controversy and surely will not be the last. This book not only explores the truth of what really happened in that case but also other notorious casting scandals as well including when the producers tried to replace Okieriete Onadowan in the middle of his run in Natasha Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 with Mandy Patinkin, which only ended up leading to the show's early closing. Reading this book is like taking an exciting deep dive into some of Broadway's most notorious scandals and discovering the truth behind all the rumors and innuendos.
However, this book is not only about the scandals. It is about theater casting and recasting in general. It explores the vagaries of how certain actors were cast in certain shows, and why a particular casting worked out and another didn't. It delves into why Chicago has lasted for so long on Broadway even with a constant parade of new cast members temporarily joining the cast and what makes it so easy for most new cast members to fit right into the show even those with little or no stage experience, It provides an overview of what wrong with the casting of the original production of Merrily We Roll Along. Plenty of other fascinating casting stories are also detailed in the book. If there's been a surprising cast decision you can think of, chances are it's discussed in the book. Any true Broadway fan will be completely engrossed by this unputdownable book and even casual fans may find it quite interesting.
Today we are recommending I Seek a Kind Person by Julian Borger. In 1938, as conditions started getting worse and worse for Jews living in Vienna, some families began placing ads in a British newspaper seeking families to take in their children and get them out of the country to keep them safe. Julian Borger's father was one of the children saved in this way. Upon his father's death, Borger decided not only to delve further into his father's past something he knew little about but also to uncover the fate of some of the other children who were similarly advertised.
Although there have been numerous books about the Holocaust, this book reveals a unique aspect that most people are likely to be unfamiliar with. Like any similarly-themed story, it is not exactly an uplifting feel-good story. Aside from being ripped away from their families in the first place many of these children never saw their relatives again and/or although not blatantly abused were not treated as kindly as they might have been by their host families. However, their stories are not quite as gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking to read about as other Holocaust stories because most of them ended up somewhat happily. Not only were they able to make it through the war, albeit not necessarily completely unscathed in any way particularly mentally, but they were able to marry, have families, and lead relatively successful lives. However, that doesn't make the fact that their parents had to resort to such extreme measures to save them any less heartbreaking or make their stories any less fascinating to read.
Movies: WII: Operation Phoenix
Today we are talking about WWII: Operation Phoenix. When a female spy is captured by the Germans, a group of allied commandos, some female French resistance fighters, and a group of escaped prisoners-of-war join forces to rescue her. Although there is not much plot or character development in this film, there is plenty of action. There is also quite a lot of violence and killing, although not a lot of blood, guts, and/or gore. It is mostly for action fans who don't care much about the latter. The tiny bit of romance in the film is not likely to satisfy any true romance fan and anyone looking for more than a surface level plot and well developed and delinated characters is sure to be disappointed.
WWII: Operation Phoenix is available digitally for purchase or rental.
And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.
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