Stop the Show! A History of Insane Incidents and Absurd Accidents in the Theater
...[Schreiber], a theatre professional and columnist for the LA [weekly] Entertainment Today, has a fun idea that doesn't quite hit its mark. A collection of theater anecdotes meant to be both bizarre and funny, the execution suffers from an overload of voices and inside jokes. At over 250 pages, the short tales-most less than a page each-tend to blend together.  And while the better anecdotes feature stars such as Katherine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier, [Schreiber] has relied on far too many stories from and about virtual unknowns [...] whose gossipy stories may play well at parties but fall flat on the page. [Schreiber]'s biggest misstep, however, is his own faltering humor; too often, he uses glib irony to pad out or wrap up tales: after an actor forgets all her lines, another goes to the hospital at intermission, and another falls down a flight of steps on-stage, [Schreiber] quips, "But other than that, opening night was an utter success." Though it frustrates, theater lovers will get a few chuckles from this book, and perhaps some stories to pass along over cocktails.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.