A talkback, signing, and live podcast recording.About this Event
The Drama Book Shop presents, in association with Jay Michaels Global Communications, “On Bette Midler, An Opinionated Guide” - A talkback, signing, and live podcast recording.
About the book: Bette Midler today is a beloved legacy star, best known for her comic witch in Disney's Hocus Pocus (1993) and its 2022 sequel. She has also gained prominence for sentimental, anthemic ballads like "Wind Beneath My Wings," her initiation of green space projects in New York City, and tussling with Donald Trump on Twitter. Her profile is that of an articulate, civic-minded matriarch enjoying thoroughly mainstream stardom. But more than fifty years earlier she emerged from the steam of the subterranean Continental Baths as the Divine Miss M, the bawdy, campy, fearless alter ego she created in front of an audience of towel-clad gay men who came to the baths seeking not just sex, but a sense of community and safety from an often-harrowing outside world.
The Divine Miss M coalesced gay, Jewish, feminist, and show business sensibilities into an outrageously funny and emotionally compelling persona that travelled with surprising ease from the cultural margins to the entertainment mainstream. Her embrace by mom-and-pop audiences, rock fans and critics, and the guardians of middle-of-the-road show business demonstrates just how deeply the tastes and sensibilities of her original audience have been absorbed into popular culture. On Bette Midler: An Opinionated Guide traces the early development of Midler's performing ethos from New York's downtown experimental theater scene and examines her impact across media, with chapters on the soaring highs (and occasional cringe-worthy lows) of her stage work, movies, recordings, and television appearances, and considers her influence as an environmental activist and social media presence.
About the Author: Kevin Winkler enjoyed a career of more than twenty years as a curator, archivist, and administrator at the New York Public Library, prior to which he was a professional dancer. His books include Everything is Choreography: The Musical Theatre of Tommy Tune (2021) and Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical (2018), which won the Theatre Library Association's George Freedley Memorial Award, Special Jury Prize, was a finalist for the Marfield Prize from the Arts Club of Washington, D.C., and was cited as an ALA/ACRL CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title. He is an on-screen commentator for the acclaimed documentary Merely Marvelous: The Dancing Genius of Gwen Verdon (2019).
About the Moderator: Charles Kirsch is the 16-year-old host of the theater podcast Backstage Babble, which has presented over 190 in-depth interviews with theater legends such as Carol Burnett, Harvey Fierstein, Joel Grey, and Chita Rivera. Kirsch has also hosted game night benefits for the non-profit organization Dancers Over 40, and his YouTube reunions of Follies, Applause, and On the Twentieth Century have garnered thousands of viewers. He has hosted events at 54 Below, The Drama Book Shop, Theater Row, BroadwayCon, The Museum of Broadway, and more, and contributed to Cast Album Reviews, Encore Magazine, and 50 Key Stage Musicals (Routledge Press). He is also the youngest voting member of the Drama Desk.
About the event
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Please note that the purchase of. “On Bette Midler, An Opinionated Guide” ($29.99) is required for entry.
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Event Venue
The Drama Book Shop, 266 West 39th Street, New York, United States
USD 0.00
