Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Every Told (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780767931694)

Free for All is an irresistible behind-the-scenes look at one of America's most beloved and important cultural institutions.

Under the inspired leadership of founder Joseph Papp, the Public Theater and the New York Shakespeare Festival brought revolutionary performances to the public for decades. This compulsively readable history of those years--much of it told in Papp's own words--is fascinating, ranging from a dramatic early showdown with Robert Moses over keeping Shakespeare in the Park free to the launching of such landmark productions as Hair and A Chorus Line. To bring the story to life, film critic Kenneth Turan interviewed some 160 luminaries--including George C. Scott, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols, Kevin Kline, James Earl Jones, David Rabe, Jerry Stiller, Tommy Lee Jones, and Wallace Shawn--and masterfully weaves their voices into a dizzyingly rich tale of creativity, conflict, and achievement.

Author: Kenneth Turan, Joseph Papp
ISBN-10: 0767931696
ISBN-13: 9780767931694
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Language: English
Published: 11/02/2010
Pages: 640
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 1.70d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 11/28/2010 pg. 28