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The Wrong Side of the Room: A Life in Music Theater
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...
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...
324 pages, Paperback, eBook
Published October 26, 2018
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5 people want to read
About the author
Norman Mathews
1 bookNorman Mathews is a composer, author of books and articles, librettist, playwright, and gastronome. His work has been performed at the Kennedy Center, on radio, and at theatres and concert venues around the world. A recipient of numerous awards, foundation grants, and commissions. Mathews has composed opera, musical theatre, art songs, chamber music, and choral works, which have been performed by Tony-Award winners and major operatic talent. As a journalist, he has been News Editor of Dance Magazine, Managing Editor of Sylvia Porter’s Personal Finance Magazine, and Editorial Director of Merrill Lynch internal publications. His articles have been published in Common Dreams and the Times of Sicily. His music is published by Graphite Publishing.
Personal History
I was born in the wrong town (Rockford, Illinois), the wrong era, and with the wrong name. So what was I to do? With one severely arched eyebrow, my mini-adult self took stock of my uninviting surroundings and imagined a more glamorous future for myself. Though a life in the theatre beckoned, I lacked the self-assurance and discipline to put forth a plan of action. Instead, I floundered. Psychological abuse by a priest left me traumatized and led to absurdly hilarious, yet totally ineffective psychotherapy. A nearly disastrous episode at age twenty engendered a resolve to pull myself together.
Wannabe journalists spend years attaining advanced degrees in hopes of becoming the next Dorothy Parker or Carl Bernstein. I, on the other hand, stumbled unwillingly into the field because as a college dropout I was simply unqualified to do anything else. Ballet classes begun at a late age eventually propelled me into a career as a dancer on Broadway and films, where I worked with Barbra Streisand, Gene Kelly, Dorothy Lamour and Michael Bennett. An untimely injury forced me into a new career path as a pianist and piano teacher, once I earned my master’s degree. A seemingly ridiculous suggestion by my life’s partner to try my hand at composing set me on a whole new adventure. What followed was a career as a composer of serious concert music, opera, and musical theatre, as well as that of a librettist and playwright.
Having once considered a career as a professional chef, I instead turned my love of good food into my avocation. Though I never trained professionally, I’ve worked myself through some of the major cookbooks of my time and experimented with developing recipes all my life. Also, I come from a family of good cooks, my paternal grandmother and grandfather once were restaurant chefs and earned a side living cooking for Italian weddings.
My music can be heard by clicking here: Composer Website.
Once on the site, click on My Store and use the scroll bar to view various works.
Personal History
I was born in the wrong town (Rockford, Illinois), the wrong era, and with the wrong name. So what was I to do? With one severely arched eyebrow, my mini-adult self took stock of my uninviting surroundings and imagined a more glamorous future for myself. Though a life in the theatre beckoned, I lacked the self-assurance and discipline to put forth a plan of action. Instead, I floundered. Psychological abuse by a priest left me traumatized and led to absurdly hilarious, yet totally ineffective psychotherapy. A nearly disastrous episode at age twenty engendered a resolve to pull myself together.
Wannabe journalists spend years attaining advanced degrees in hopes of becoming the next Dorothy Parker or Carl Bernstein. I, on the other hand, stumbled unwillingly into the field because as a college dropout I was simply unqualified to do anything else. Ballet classes begun at a late age eventually propelled me into a career as a dancer on Broadway and films, where I worked with Barbra Streisand, Gene Kelly, Dorothy Lamour and Michael Bennett. An untimely injury forced me into a new career path as a pianist and piano teacher, once I earned my master’s degree. A seemingly ridiculous suggestion by my life’s partner to try my hand at composing set me on a whole new adventure. What followed was a career as a composer of serious concert music, opera, and musical theatre, as well as that of a librettist and playwright.
Having once considered a career as a professional chef, I instead turned my love of good food into my avocation. Though I never trained professionally, I’ve worked myself through some of the major cookbooks of my time and experimented with developing recipes all my life. Also, I come from a family of good cooks, my paternal grandmother and grandfather once were restaurant chefs and earned a side living cooking for Italian weddings.
My music can be heard by clicking here: Composer Website.
Once on the site, click on My Store and use the scroll bar to view various works.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 27, 2018
The Wrong Side of the Room: A Life in Music Theater by Norman Matthews is an autobiography chronicling the author's life as he transitions from a confusing and often abusive childhood, born in a sleet of uncertainty (literally, as it turns out). Masked by imagination and written with a humor that most would not be able to apply to such situations, Matthews is able to harness this creativity and hitch it to his own ambitions as a rising star. When an injury threatens to derail an ascent that defies all odds, Matthews is forced to reinvent and reignite himself once more, and does so amid a whole host of personal and professional turmoil, scandal, and the kind of stories that are all the more shocking – and inspiring – because they are actually true.
Norman Matthews delivers a riveting memoir with The Wrong Side of the Room that opens with a contentious genesis and powerfully surges through to its finale. This is the ultimate tale of a man who is knocked down seven times and gets up eight, except in this case our tenacious narrator is struck to the ground far more than that. But he does continue to rise and appears to have carved out a genuine niche for himself until, “I woke up one morning with a strange pain in my back and running down my right leg. In a few days, it got much worse, and I began limping.” With the support of his partner Todd, he buys a Steinway, dives into formal education, and...well, at first that all implodes too. But Matthews is the consummate Phoenix and, much like he displays in the writing of this book, skillfully maneuvers the trajectory of his life's own narrative into a story that we are fortunate enough to have shared in The Wrong Side of the Room.
Review written for Readers' Favorite.
Norman Matthews delivers a riveting memoir with The Wrong Side of the Room that opens with a contentious genesis and powerfully surges through to its finale. This is the ultimate tale of a man who is knocked down seven times and gets up eight, except in this case our tenacious narrator is struck to the ground far more than that. But he does continue to rise and appears to have carved out a genuine niche for himself until, “I woke up one morning with a strange pain in my back and running down my right leg. In a few days, it got much worse, and I began limping.” With the support of his partner Todd, he buys a Steinway, dives into formal education, and...well, at first that all implodes too. But Matthews is the consummate Phoenix and, much like he displays in the writing of this book, skillfully maneuvers the trajectory of his life's own narrative into a story that we are fortunate enough to have shared in The Wrong Side of the Room.
Review written for Readers' Favorite.
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October 22, 2018The author, now 76, clearly delights in detailing his life story, starting with his Sicilian ancestry and beginning with his grandparents, who arrived in America via Ellis Island. He goes on to present his distinguished life on Broadway with all the glow of center stage and the nerve-wracking thrill of opening night. Overall, he delivers an alluring autobiography of a man “who wore enough hats to fill a millinery shop,” thanks to a highly varied career that included editing, dancing, and musical composition. . .the book’s second half is fully stocked with accounts of stage shows galore—not to mention impressive name-dropping (Barbra Streisand, Betty Grable, Dorothy Lamour, Gene Kelly). These anecdotes from the theater’s social scene glide alongside vivid imagery from the author’s performances and other successes. The book also has a delightful, chatty sense of humor with moments of wry wit that make it exciting to read. In the end, it effectively celebrates a life of artistic inspiration alongside the giddiness and glory of live theater.
—Kirkus Review
Impressively candid, exceptionally informative, deftly written, organized and presented, "The Wrong Side of the Room: A Life in Music Theater" is an extraordinary memoir that will have special and particular appeal for anyone with an interest in show business. While very highly recommended for both community and academic library Contemporary American Biography collections, it should be noted for personal reading list that "The Wrong Side of the Room" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
—Midwest Book Review
—Kirkus Review
Impressively candid, exceptionally informative, deftly written, organized and presented, "The Wrong Side of the Room: A Life in Music Theater" is an extraordinary memoir that will have special and particular appeal for anyone with an interest in show business. While very highly recommended for both community and academic library Contemporary American Biography collections, it should be noted for personal reading list that "The Wrong Side of the Room" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
—Midwest Book Review
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews