The Wrong Side of the Room: A Life in Music Theater (1)

Norman Mathews was born in the wrong town, the wrong era, and with the wrong name. What's a boy to do? With the mindset of a miniature adult, Mathews conjured up a more enticing, imaginary world to better navigate the perils of childhood. Dreams of a life in the theater and of passionate romance were stymied by lack of self-assurance, in which he allowed adults to dissuade him at every turn. Psychological abuse by a priest led to absurdly comic psychotherapy over his inability to accept his sexuality. At age twenty, a failed suicide nearly shattered a promising future. From the ashes of this near calamity rose a staggering resolve to build a meaningful life. Byzantine twists paved the way to a career as a magazine editor and eventually a life as a Broadway and movie dancer. During his years as a performer, he worked with Barbra Streisand, Gene Kelly, Dorothy Lamour, and Michael Bennett. When an untimely injury cut short his performing career, he reinvented himself as a a pianist, composer, and playwright. In these new roles, he created award-winning works for the concert-stage.Tony-Award winners, and opera luminaries.His passionate and inspirational autobiography is steeped in dark humor, hilarious celebrity gossip, and backstage intrigue. In addition to shining a light into how musicals are made, this gripping memoir recounts a grisly murder of a Broadway conductor, provides an inside look at the embezzlement of a famed Broadway producer, and details a never-reported rehearsal row involving a famous choreographer. Mathews brings his colorful Sicilian-American family, his triumphs and heartbreaks, and his mine-strewn path to fulfilling love vividly to life. This riveting drama is a paean to all late-bloomers, proof that no matter how many wrong cards you are dealt, it's possible, with hope and tenacity, to come up with a winning hand.

To read excerpts and learn more about The Wrong Side of the Room visit"
https://normanmathewsauthor.com
Currently anyone signing up for the email list on the site will receive a free copy of chapter 1.

For an interview with Norm Coleman, of BookPleasures.com visit the link below:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...