Information AboutLittle Me |
|
The heavily illustrated work also featured numerous illustrations by photographer Cris Alexander , who used original photographs taken for the project, which were then added to stock photographs to create Belle Poitrine's life. Published in 1961 , it was considered pretty risqué at the time. The book also featured friends of Dennis and Alexander, including ballet dancer Shaun O'Brien , actress Dodie Goodman and comedienne Alice Pearce . Actress Jeri Archer portrayed the often overexposed, self-centered and clueless Poitrine. ''Little Me'' was reissued in 2002 with a new preface by Charles Busch and foreword by Alexander. The plot of ''Little Me'' tells the rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches, etc. story of Maybelle Schlumfert, an overdeveloped and clueless girl who rises to become Belle Poitrine. (An example of her cluelessnes: Belle is born in 1900 and the book proces with a chapter for each decade- but chapter six is titled "Frankly Forty") Throughout the book, Poitrine's character trumpets her successes (which are few) while glossing over her failures (which are many). The book was a stinging parody of the cult of celebrity and self-importance stemming from the numerous "personality overcoming obstacles" biographies of the late 1940s and early 1950s . It was made into a musical, with book by Neil Simon , music by Cy Coleman , and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh , which was made memorable by Sid Caesar in multiple roles with multiple stage accents, as all of Belle's husbands, each of whom comes to a propitiously untimely end. Virginia Martin as Belle, won a Tony Award for "Best Supporting Actress." The Broadway production opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 17 , 1962 and ran for 257 performances. The London production opened at the Cambridge Theatre on November 18 , 1964 and ran for 334 performances. It is a rags-to-riches comedy, the best known song in the score being "Real Live Girl". In his memoir, ''Rewrites,'' Simon mentions that aside from tailoring it to Sid Caesar, the second attraction was a chance to work with the choreographer Bob Fosse . ''Little Me'' was revived on Broadway in 1998 as a vehicle for Martin Short . EXTERNAL LINK |
|
|