Event Listing - Theater |
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Fri Feb 8 - Sat Apr 12
Berkeley Repertory Theatre presentsWishful Drinkingwritten and performed by carrie fisherTel. 510.647.2949 Website |
$16.50 - $50  Box Office: 510.647.2949 |
Location |
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2015 & 2025 Addison St. Berkeley, CA 94704 map district: Berkeley |
Fri Feb 8 (8:00 PM) Sat Feb 9 (8:00 PM) Sun Feb 10 (7:00 PM) Tue Feb 12 (8:00 PM) Thu Feb 14 (8:00 PM) |
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Hide All Dates| Description written and performed by carrie fisher
directed by tony taccone in association with jonathan reinis productions the roda theatre february 8–march 30, 2008 Carrie Fisher is the life of the party on Berkeley Rep’s 40th birthday with Wishful Drinking, an uproarious and sobering look at her Hollywood hangover. Fisher tells a true and intoxicating story with the strong, wry wit that she poured into bestsellers like Postcards from the Edge. Born to celebrity parents, she was picked to play a princess in the original Star Wars when only 19 years old. Alas, aside from a demanding career and her role as a single mother, Carrie also spends her free time battling addiction, weathering the wild ride of manic depression and lounging around various mental institutions. It’s an incredible tale—from having Elizabeth Taylor as a stepmother, to marrying (and divorcing) Paul Simon, from having the father of her daughter leave her for a man, to ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed. Entertainment Weekly declares Drinking “drolly hysterical,” and the Los Angeles Times dubs it a “Beverly Hills yard sale of juicy anecdotes.” Don’t miss this outrageous chance to get Carried away. the artists: The daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher became a cultural icon when she starred as Princess Leia in the first Star Wars trilogy. Her star-studded career includes roles in countless films such as Austin Powers, The Blues Brothers, Hannah and her Sisters, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, The Man with One Red Shoe, Romancing the Bride, Shampoo, When Harry Met Sally and Wonderland. Fisher’s first novel, Postcards from the Edge, leapt onto the New York Times’ bestseller list—and she turned it into a screenplay for a hit film starring Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep. Fisher followed this with three more bestsellers: The Best Awful, Delusions of Grandma and Surrender the Pink. Her television credits range all the way from Laverne and Shirley to Jack and Bobby. Fisher hosted her own show on the Oxygen network, Conversations from the Edge, and is currently a celebrity judge for Steven Spielberg’s On the Lot. Her experiences with addiction and mental illness—and her willingness to speak honestly about them—have made her a sought after speaker and respected advocate for this community. After his Broadway success with a completely different one-woman show—Sarah Jones’ Bridge & Tunnel—Tony Taccone directs another wild ride. Last year, he took two shows from Berkeley Rep to New York City: Brundibar sold out its run and was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards while Bridge & Tunnel extended its Broadway stay for five months and won a Tony Award. Taccone’s other recent hits here at home include Continental Divide, Culture Clash’s Zorro in Hell and Honour. the buzz: Read a New York Times article about how Carrie came to create her show. “a Hollywood survivor and, as ever, a witty chronicler of its many pitfalls”—New York Times “hilariously ennobling…she definitely provides humorous theatrical company…and wry ambivalence to keep it getting from sappy…By now you’ve probably heard a good deal about the psychological case study known as Carrie Fisher. To review the basic facts: Hollywood icon parents torn asunder by lavender-eyed Jezebel, early movie stardom marred by laughingstock hairdo, a minor shipwreck on the shoals of Paul Simon, rehab, resurrection via Postcards From the Edge, rehab again, confession of mental illness to Diane Sawyer, bipolar acclaim, fresh scandal involving dead gay Republican operative in bed, more rehab. Prognosis: one-woman show. [Carrie Fisher’s show], the Beverly Hills yard sale of juicy anecdotes, is an L.A. story that would defy credulity were it not for the very credible presence of its narrator. You can call Fisher many things—an unflagging exhibitionist for starters—but she has a candor that makes her a most reliable witness to the far-fetched autobiography that is at once her curse and cure…the sight of the unsinkable daughter of the unsinkable Molly Brown reasserting control never grows old.”—Los Angeles Times “a drolly hysterical collection of unrelated short-short-short stories…Fisher serves up funny Hollywood stories at a rapid-fire pace…Fisher is so gifted as both a standup comic and actress, and so good at segues between non sequiturs…arrive expecting to be regaled with tidbits about first husband Paul Simon (who dryly replies ‘Maybe not’ after a semi-estranged Fisher tells him he’ll feel bad if her plane crashes), George Lucas (who informs her ‘There are no bras in space’), ultimate bad dad Eddie Fisher (who ‘consoled Elizabeth Taylor with his penis,’ we learn in a finely detailed history of Hollywood affairs and divorces), and cameo players like Bob Dylan (who calls Fisher because he needs a co-writer—to help him name a fragrance he wants to develop).”—Entertainment Weekly “Carrie Fisher. She is an actress and a writer, daughter, sister, wife, ex-wife, mother, survivor. She’s now created a funny and personal one-woman show…Think of the real-life cast: Elizabeth Taylor as the evil stepmother, OK. And then Paul Simon as the wandering troubadour love interest—they were married for two years. Harrison Ford as the costar pal. Then the alcoholism, the drugs, the bipolar shifts that get her locked up and medicated. And finally true love, a solid romance, a baby—until her guy, Brian, says he’s fallen for someone else—named Scott.”—National Public Radio “very funny and highly entertaining…Fisher takes us on a hopscotch journey across some of the highlights of her life, her anecdotes exhibiting her trademark wit and wry observations…Yes, the humor of hangover tales, pill-popping escapades, and off-the-chart family drama is great fun…All of it becomes fair game for pithy remarks about a life lived in outlandish excess…Fisher holds nothing safe from being poked with a sharp stick just for laughs.”—Theatermania “hilarious…the jokes cascade…a gold mine of very funny material…Fisher spells out her life without ascribing blame or, dare we say it, crying in her cocktail glass.”—Variety “Carrie Fisher’s new one-woman show is an imperfect yet poignant rumination on drugs, survival, and the psychological scars left by a certain metal bikini…The way in which Fisher can spin her web of tragedy into one of ironic comedy is what makes her remarkable…her stock-in-trade biting one-liners, which border on the aphoristic, are in abundant supply.”—The Advocate |
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