Theatre Kids, John DeVore
Theatre Kids, John DeVore
List: $35.99 | Sale: $25.20
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Theatre Kids
A True Tale of Off-Off Broadway

Author: John DeVore

Narrator: Brian Holden

Unabridged: 7 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/18/2024


Synopsis

Friendship. Grief. Jazz hands.In 2004, in a small, windowless theater in then-desolate Williamsburg, Brooklyn, an eccentric family of broke art-school survivors staged an experimental, four-hour adaptation of William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying inside an enormous wooden coffin that could barely fit the cast, much less an audience.The production’s cast and crew—including its sweetly monomaniacal director—poured their hearts and paychecks into a messy spectacle doomed to fail by any conventional measure. It ran for only eight performances. The reviews were tepid. Fewer than one hundred people saw it. But to emotionally messy hack magazine editor John DeVore, cast at the last minute in a bit part, it was a safe space to hide out and attempt sobering up following a devastating loss.An unforgettable ode to the ephemeral, chaotic magic of the theatre and the weirdos who bring it to life, Theatre Kids is DeVore’s buoyant, irreverent, and ultimately moving account of outsize ambition and dashed hopes in post-9/11, pre-iPhone New York City. Sharply observed and bursting with hilarious razzle-dazzle, it will resonate with anyone who has ever, perhaps against their better judgment, tried to bring something beautiful into the world without regard for riches or fame.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Celeste on June 12, 2024

I received an advance digital copy of this novel from the publisher, Brilliance Audio, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I requested this book on NetGalley while still on a readerly high from Judi Dench’s Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent. I thoroughly enjoyed the glimpse Dench pro......more

Goodreads review by Chris on January 14, 2025

For weirdo theatre kids like I was, this book is like hanging out in the common room after the theatre club meeting is over but no one wants to go back to their dorm. A pleasure.......more

Goodreads review by twoey on February 01, 2025

Finally, a book for theatre people who were too weird for Broadway. I don’t know what it says about me, a BA-holding former NYC theatre person who also has a dead dad, but as I write this I am currently while in active labor, about to give birth to my son. I loved this book so much that I finished i......more

Goodreads review by Tara on May 20, 2024

Writing: B Narration: B+ Best Aspect: Interesting stories about the author’s life in theatre. Perfect for anyone who was interesting in stage productions at some point in their life. Worst Aspect: A little over done in parts and long winded. Recommend: Yes.......more

Goodreads review by Elin on March 20, 2024

I was incredibly excited and entertained by this book for the first 50 or so pages but as the story went on I ended up being a little disappointed in the tone. The author talks a lot about his alcoholism and disillusionment with theatre, which I think a lot of theatre kids can relate to but I wish i......more


Quotes

“[Holden]’s amused tone and playfully self-deprecating comments are narrated with candor and appropriate snarkiness. He portrays theater kids (TKs) as oddball individuals who joined the drama club in high school and college, and who kept ‘playing’ long after graduation.… The author provides an insider's look at rehearsals, productions, catastrophes, and successes, as well as his frank assessment of his own abilities or lack thereof, his overfondness for alcohol and drugs, and the feeling of family engendered by belonging to a group of like-minded weirdos. As narrator, Holden offers an engaging listening experience that will be of particular interest to those who are, or once were, TKs.” AudioFile Magazine“A wry and boisterous account… Electric prose elevates this homage to an enduring art form.” Publishers Weekly"For those of us lucky to call John DeVore a friend, the skill and warmth with which he’s written Theatre Kids comes as no surprise. If you should not be in the elect group, however, the next best thing would be to read this book. There’s something funny, moving, surprising, or trenchant on every page. Often there’s all of these at once. Theatre Kids is a lemon tart made by someone who loves you, sweet and light and sharp and substantial all at once." —Isaac Butler, author of The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act