REVIEW: Stage Mum
Stage Mum: Lisa Gee Hutchinson 2008
(I read this on 1-2/7/11).
I felt I had to write about a book that references Ballet Shoes here. Lisa Gee's daughter Dora was cast as one of the Gretls in the original run of the current production of The Sound of Music. It was the girl's first professional engagement and Gee tells the story from the time that the idea of trying out was first suggested to the final performances. She does so in an engaging, confessional style, writing as a self-aware mother, anxious to do the right thing and terrified to turn into that monstrous figure - a 'Stage Mum'. In the process, Gee becomes obssessed with The Sound of Music story, finding out, as I once did, that the true story of the Von Trapps is more extraordinary than the fictionalised version. The questions surrounding child actors, their celebrity, safety and wellbeing are discussed - although sometimes the nuggets of interviews don't always work, getting in the way of the chronological narrative. However, Gee's conclusions based on her experiences and considerations are always interesting.
It's certainly readable (the style is a bit chick-lit in that Gee is willing to poke fun at herself, but then she also discusses the moment when she, with Jewish heritage, had to explain the Nazis to her six-year-old). The fact that she's at one remove from the creative process of developing the show - but with a more personal investment than most members of the audience - adds an interesting tension. There's a constant strand of Gee always failing to see or catch Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Hearteningly, the children and their families seem to have got on and bonded and it seems to have been a positive experience all round.
While I was less invested in the mothering-in-extraordinary-circumstances aspects, this viewpoint of what goes into putting on a West End production, especially this particular one - I've seen it on tour and love TSOM - was easy to read, informative and engaging.
(I read this on 1-2/7/11).
I felt I had to write about a book that references Ballet Shoes here. Lisa Gee's daughter Dora was cast as one of the Gretls in the original run of the current production of The Sound of Music. It was the girl's first professional engagement and Gee tells the story from the time that the idea of trying out was first suggested to the final performances. She does so in an engaging, confessional style, writing as a self-aware mother, anxious to do the right thing and terrified to turn into that monstrous figure - a 'Stage Mum'. In the process, Gee becomes obssessed with The Sound of Music story, finding out, as I once did, that the true story of the Von Trapps is more extraordinary than the fictionalised version. The questions surrounding child actors, their celebrity, safety and wellbeing are discussed - although sometimes the nuggets of interviews don't always work, getting in the way of the chronological narrative. However, Gee's conclusions based on her experiences and considerations are always interesting.
It's certainly readable (the style is a bit chick-lit in that Gee is willing to poke fun at herself, but then she also discusses the moment when she, with Jewish heritage, had to explain the Nazis to her six-year-old). The fact that she's at one remove from the creative process of developing the show - but with a more personal investment than most members of the audience - adds an interesting tension. There's a constant strand of Gee always failing to see or catch Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Hearteningly, the children and their families seem to have got on and bonded and it seems to have been a positive experience all round.
While I was less invested in the mothering-in-extraordinary-circumstances aspects, this viewpoint of what goes into putting on a West End production, especially this particular one - I've seen it on tour and love TSOM - was easy to read, informative and engaging.