The Girl Who Fell Down: A Biography of Joan McCracken

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive, enjoyable
Review: Dr. Sagolla's meticulous research reveals an exacting study of the life and person of Joan McCracken. From McCracken's beginnings in ballet to her Broadway debut to her experiences in Hollywood and the Actor's Studio, The Girl Who Fell Down chronicles an inside look at the dance and theatre world from the perspective of a free spirit whose bohemian nature occasioned her to be at times ahead of the women of her generation. The factual history is highlighted with contextual vignettes that are socially enlightening without the sensationalism of 'the business.' Includes the often inconstant life of theatre, her lesser-known mentorship to Bob Fosse, her debilitating illness, her frustrations with Hollywood and the many personalities along the way, as well as privy notes on McCracken's love of painting, decorating and fashion and her changing personal relationships over the years. The book paints a generously informative portrait of the dancer-comedienne pioneer. Historically thorough and enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Bio For Entertainment & History Fans
Review: From its opening pages about the Broadway debut of "Oklahoma!" to the tragic last days of its subject, THE GIRL WHO FELL DOWN is a wondrous profile of the "Zelig-like" Joan McCracken. At every crucial moment, at every critical juncture of dance in America, Joan McCracken was there making vital contributions. When one of America's early ballet companies is taking its first, formative steps, McCracken is there as a leading dancer. When Agnes de Mille is revolutionizing Broadway choreography, Joan McCracken is there, bringing de Mille's work to life while stealing the show at the same time.

During the first glittering moments of television's Golden Age, McCracken is an early star of its finest dance and dramatic productions. When it comes to situation comedy, she "out-Lucy's" Lucille Ball before there is an "I Love Lucy."

In the early fifties, Joan McCracken bluntly tells a gifted young dancer he'll never be "the next Fred Astaire" and should instead focus on becoming a choreographer. She goes on to marry the dancer while nurturing and guiding him to a successful career. He goes on to become Bob Fosse.

Lisa Jo Sagolla's comprehensive research interestingly and entertainingly leads the reader through McCracken's entire life, from her childhood as the fortunate daughter of a popular Philadelphia sportswriter, to her successes and failures in every medium of show business, to her final loss in a lifelong battle against diabetes. Dr. Sagolla's precise prose provides a passport to the past, making the reader feel he or she has stepped into a time machine and is not just reading about history, but is there watching it unfold.

Rating:
Summary: Juicy read for theater buffs
Review: This extremely readable, informative biography is both the hauntingly sad tale of an enchanting brief candle of a performer and an inside, knowing evocation of the New York theater world of the 40s and 50s. Joan McCracken's singing and dancing eight times a week on Broadway while diabetic, and her premature demise no doubt accelerated by her stage exertions, are heartbreaking to read. The author's explanations of dance steps and narrative accounts of ballets and show choreography are extraordinarily well done in converting dancer shop talk into something palpable and understandable for the lay reader. This book is a reminder that history, artistic and otherwise, is made not just by the superfamous. A show business career like McCracken's is more typical, and more illuminating to read about, than made-to-order rehashes of Stars A to Z. In the retrospect of fifty years, it is fascinating to read Sagolla quoting McCracken commenting on early television being too "commercial" and the servant of too many masters. Sagolla's book becomes not just a portrait of a singular performer but an oblique statement about changing times in the American entertainment industry. A well researched, engaging read to the end.