Sherly Lee Ralph's new memoir- Page 2
Sherly Lee Ralph's new memoir
#25Sherly Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 1/10/12 at 9:46pmJordan-yes, SLR was featured on "Clean House". She is a clutter hound and a semi-hoarder. Her house was gross. Niecy stepped in to help her.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#26Sherly Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/21/12 at 1:22am
I just finished reading it. The DREAMGIRLS material is great and while she acknowledges the talent and genius of both Michael Bennett and Michael Peters she makes it perfectly clear that they were both very unkind to her.
There's one incident with Bennett that got physical.
About Bennett she states:
Yes, many great artists have felt like outsiders. I was an outsider, and, yes, those feelings have made my work richer. But using that anger as an excuse to treat others badly? Using your own pain like a weapon? Spending your life hurting those around you because you've been hurt yourself? I believe that is a choice. And that choice is a bad one.
What did my grandmother say? Misery loves company. And that is why miserable people spend a lot of time trying to get you to join them in their misery. Grandmother was right then, and it is still true today.
...I look back and can feel sympathy for Michael Bennett. He was so pained within himself. Deep inside, he was that little boy who just wanted his father to be proud of him, the little boy who could never be the version of the “man” his father wanted. Instead of taking comfort in his exceptional gifts— that he was the kind of man to change the world with his artistic vision— he’d kept that hurt little boy inside himself all that time. He wanted to make others feel as bad as he did.
Updated On: 5/21/12 at 01:22 AM
Homer_C
Swing Joined: 5/20/12
#27Sherly Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/21/12 at 2:40am
Given Bennett's reputation, it sounds like she's really taking the high road. There were numerous stories about his behavior in connection with A CHORUS LINE; even that some rules were implemented by Actors Equity as a result of his behavior. As I recall, there was significant speculation that DREAMGIRLS lost Tony Awards to NINE because industry voters were displeased with Bennett's behavior.
Frankly, if I were Sheryl Lee Ralph, I would have been much pettier about Bennett just for the original Act II opening--moving all over that staircase with no railing, in gowns, heels, and singing!
Anyway, Sheryl Lee Ralph is a class act.
#28Sherly Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/21/12 at 2:46am
She IS a class act. She actually reported Bennett to Actors Equity because he slapped her across her right arm because she let her feather boa hit the floor during a rehearsal for the "One Night Only" number.
She ends her connection with Bennett with their last meeting just before he died:
We talked for a little bit. We talked about stuff that didnt mean anything, just empty words fluttering right along with those curtains. When I left, I knew it would be the last time I saw him. I wasnt angry. I didnt want to cry, either. What I felt was deep, intense sadness. And hope. Hope that the next world would bring him something hed never quite found in this one . . . a soothing hand to stroke the hair of that pained little boy hed kept inside him and tell him everything was going to be all right. I learned another important Diva lesson that day, just a simple word, yet one that Id never fully understood until that moment. Forgiveness.
Updated On: 5/21/12 at 02:46 AM
followspot
Broadway Star Joined: 12/27/11
#30Sherly Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/21/12 at 9:02amI just hope Sherly writes about her sister, Sheryl.
"Tracy... Hold Mama's waffles."
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#31Sheryl Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/21/12 at 9:12am
I first met and worked with SLR when I was 20 years old and have known her ever since. She is a class act and has done more for AIDS than most people realize. She has traveled the world to teach and spread the word and has raised millions of dollars over the years with her benefits,
I can't wait to read her book!
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
nasty_khakis
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/15/07
#32Sheryl Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/21/12 at 9:29amIs she a classier act than Elaine Stritch?
#33Sheryl Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/22/12 at 1:46am
It is a very good read and it has a suprisingly uplifting message as well.
Gaveston2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/11
#34Sheryl Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/22/12 at 4:48pm
"Classy"? "Uplifting"? "Inspiring"?
I'm embarrassed to admit these are not qualities I look for in a show business memoir.
#36Sheryl Lee Ralph's new memoir
Posted: 5/22/12 at 6:38pm
Yes i know. You prefer
tawdry, salacious, gossipy, scandalous.
In that case read Merv Griffin.. a life in the Closet. Full of the above.
I'm sure you will love it.
It tells who Merv Slept with (male) in Hollywood which was practically everyone according to this book. So for salaciousness read that.
For an a positive outlook on life and the biz we call show.... read Sheryl Lee Ralph.
It's a nice change from the tabloid school of showbiz memoirs.
