Joel GreyReseñas

A very honest autobiography, especially about Grey's early desires for men and his horribly selfish mother. He spends equal time on his inner life and sexuality, his desire for a wife and children, and his theatrical life. The chapters on Cabaret, musical and film, are glorious and enlightening, especially his battles with Bob Fosse. Grey is a complicated man and he seems to have told his truth without holding anything back, an admirable and rare feat.

I knew very little about this actor, though I'm familiar with much of his work... It droned on a bit, but it's an *Actor*! So no surprise there. :)

Tony and Academy Award-winning Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret tells his remarkable life story from Vaudeville to Broadway. Born Joel David Katz in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1932, he began his acting career at age 9 and remained hooked for over 7 decades. Although he was married for 24 years, had a family, and seemed to have a picture perfect life, he was ambivalent about his sexual identity. He spent most of his life hiding his “Jewishness” and his homosexuality. “Joel’s story comes straight from his heart right into yours.” – Carol Burnett.

I love Joel Grey but who doesn't. He will forever be imprinted on my mind as the master of ceremonies in Cabaret. I saw it twice. The second time with Alan Cumming which didn't quite do it for me. The highlight of this book is experience as the master of ceremony in Cabaret. It defined him ever after. He repeated the role to great success on the road. But also touching was his dealing with his homosexuality and finally sharing it with his wife of twenty-five years who he loved deeply. She couldn't take the news and left him immediately never to talk to him again. A sad conclusion to his story. He had affairs with men but never found himself as a homosexual man. The book is touching and fun if you like showbiz and I do. I highly recommend this book.

I have seen Joel Grey at least three times. The first times, he was Joel Katz and I had no idea who he was. I was a child and my mother took my brother and me to the Cleveland Play House to see some of the children’s plays. While I don’t remember which ones or who was in them but it was during the mid-1940s and, since Joel was an active member of the Curtain Pullers, the children’s division of the Play House at that time, he must have appeared in at least one of the shows I saw. That’s when I discovered the magic of live theater.
The second time was when he was appearing in Cleveland as George M. Cohan. He had already made his mark on Broadway. In MASTER OF CEREMONIES, he says he was taught to never ad lib. In this particular performance, one of the dancers began to lose her skirt as she walked up the gangplank onto the ship. Joel noticed and started to laugh. He couldn’t stop. He tried continuing from there but, after several attempts, realized he would not be able to stop laughing and went on to the next part of the play. He did not ad lib. But the audience loved watching live theater being, well, live theater.
The third time was last autumn. The Cleveland Play House was beginning its 100th year and had just received the Regional Theater Tony Award. Joel was part of the celebration and did a live interview with dialogue, films, and songs. He talked a little about his book that was soon to be published. MASTER OF CEREMONIES is that book. My husband and I were able to get seats in the center of the front row.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES has basically three parts: His childhood; his career and marriage; his homosexuality.
In a brief prologue, Joel tells how he developed the character of Emcee in Cabaret. It was the result of watching numerous shows while his father, Mickey Katz, performed in the orchestra on-stage or in the pit. Emcee was his impression of a very poor vaudeville comedian. As he wrote later on, his personal life and observations were very important to finding his characters.
The book continues with the story of his family: His father, who was part of the Spike Jones Orchestra and became famous with his Yiddish parodies of popular songs, his mercurial mother and her dysfunctional family as well has his brother and his father’s family.
He tells the story of when, in the 1940s, his father was playing on a pleasure boat on Lake Erie and witnessed a black couple being told they were not allowed to dance. He stopped the band and said, “If they can’t dance, then I’m not playing.”
He became more aware of the effects of being Jewish after learing about the St. Louis bringing European Jews to safety in the US during World War II and being sent back. To be Jewish was dangerous. His father’s “zany Yiddishish songs were “an act of bravery” during World War II. There was a fear of being Jewish in the US. Successful Jews wanted to assimilate. Jews were not allowed in country clubs, law firms, hospitals. Yiddish was death. Katz breathed life back into it, inserting Jews into pop culture..
His family lived in a hotel for a number of years. It was there that he realized that he was attracted to men and boys, even though he was still a child. He also realized that he had to keep it a secret. “The disgust in the voices of my parents, their friends, and the kids on the block alerted me to a very real danger.”
MASTER OF CEREMONIES moves to one of the biggest influences of his life: The Cleveland Play House. It is dedicated to K. Elmo Lowe, the artistic director at that time. Grey calls it the “One place where it seemed nothing bad could happen, a safe haven where I was free to let go of my caution.” “In the acting company, I found a family of an entirely different sort. Here, you could say and feel whatever was inside you. Problems were solved and decisions were made by listening to different points of view. There was an exchange of ideas because no one way would satisfy.” “Differences celebrated, contradictions used as creative fodder: The theater was a collective endeavor in which everybody had his or her part to play. The company was made up of so many types....”
He further explains: “Space to act out your dreams is arousing. That’s why a lot of people have affairs with other cast members. With the line between pretend and real blurred, permission is freely given.” He learned to become the character. “Learning to do things as if was a discovery that turned out to be an invaluable tool as an actor and as a person with secrets.”
His family moved to California in the late 1940s. The book speaks briefly of his early years there and then goes into the beginnings of his career. Even though he really wanted to be a stage performer, he did various jobs in the field before that.
His big break onto Broadway happened with Cabaret. He says of his character: “The challenge was to seduce the audience into having a good time, just as Hitler excited the German people into genocide. The Emcee was grotesque and seductive. His mission at the beginning of Act II, after the shock at the end of Act I, was to get the audience laughing and having fun again.” He then “Jammed in the second knife when he finished “If You Could See Her Through My Eyes.” On opening night, there was “Not a sound, let along a laugh.” Until I read his analysis of that line, I hated it. It made me feel very uncomfortable. Now I understand it was supposed to make the audience squirm. The people who I heard laughing at it missed the entire point.
Grey discusses other shows he was in then moves on to the effects of his coming out to his wife. Family was very important to him. He loved being a husband and thought he and Jo had a good marriage. She had given up her career for him. After he told her that he was gay, his relationship with her and his children changed drastically.
The book ends with his feelings and experiences after coming out including his role in “Next to Normal.” “Now I was ready to honor who I was and all those who suffered so that people like us could have a sense of freedom, love, and acceptance,”
The story, typical of too many celebrity autobiographies, is full of unnecessary name dropping. When he meets a new agent or producer, etc., he mentions a lot of celebrities who are also their clients. I would have like more of Joel Grey and less of them. There is a little repetition: On page 123, he names the couple whose lent their apartment at the Dakota for his and Jo’s wedding. On page 150, he repeats the information.
He also talks about going horseback riding one afternoon with his synagogue’s cantor at Will Rogers Park. On page 139, while getting a part in Billy the Kid on television, he writes “I never mentioned that I’d never ridden a horse before–...I was scared of horses.”
MASTER OF CEREMONIES kept moving and including some important information about Joel Grey, the entertainment industry, and homosexuality. It could have been better with some cutting.

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