Play Audiobook Sample
At 33 Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(0.00) - 0 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
At 33 is the first of two autobiographies by Eva Le Gallienne, one of the 20th century’s most prolifically accomplished theatre artists. From her charmed childhood in England, Paris, and Copenhagen, to her smash debut on the London stage at age 16, Le Gallienne weaves the tale of her adventurous early life with humor, wit, and insight. She reveals the incentive behind her risky decision to move from London to New York, the tribulations of her struggle to find rewarding and remunerative acting work, and the satisfaction of her ultimate triumph in the “Battle of Broadway,” where she became a shining star at age 21. Mentored by such legendary actors as Sarah Bernhardt, Constance Collier, Ethel Barrymore, and Eleonora Duse, Le Gallienne elucidates her passion for the craft of acting and her belief in the importance of theatre as not only a form of entertainment, but a cultural necessity. Inspired by her passionate affection for the repertory theatres of Europe and her belief that theatre should be accessible to people at all levels of society, Le Gallienne left Broadway behind in 1926 to establish the Civic Repertory Theatre on Fourteenth Street. The tale of how she founded and operated the company as producer, director, and lead actor occupies the latter part of the book, taking readers on a roller coaster ride through the victories, disasters, and everyday challenges that characterized her seven years as a pioneer of what would later become known as “Off Broadway.” Le Gallienne concludes with a vision for the future of American theatre that continues to inspire artists and enthusiasts nearly a century after her book was first published.
Download and start listening now!
“A charming autobiography is At 33 by Eva Le Gallienne, the brief, but none the less interesting, account of the life of a young woman who has known excitement almost from her birth, and who has seen one of her great dreams come to fruition…[S]he writes with modesty and simplicity of a career that has been full of color and violent ups-and-downs.”
— Herschel Brickell, “The Literary Landscape” in The North American Review, Vol. 237, No. 3
Quotes
-
“This brilliantly premature autobiography is Miss Le Gallienne’s critical appraisal of her most turbulent role…The American theatre has never been the same since Miss Le Gallienne struck it.”
— New York Times
At 33 Listener Reviews
Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
About Eva Le Gallienne
Eva Le Gallienne (1899–1991) was an actor, director, producer, writer, translator, and the founding manager of the Civic Repertory Theatre, New York’s first nonprofit classical repertory company. Born in London, raised in Paris and Copenhagen, she became a star of the West End at age sixteen, then moved to New York and took Broadway by storm, earning celebrity status by the time she was twenty-one. In 1926, she established the Civic Repertory Theatre on Fourteenth Street, an ambitious venture that flourished until 1933, when the privations of the Depression caused its demise. Le Gallienne continued her multifaceted career for a further five decades, performing on and off Broadway, founding and supporting noncommercial theatre companies, and earning Tony and Emmy Awards, an Oscar nomination, and the National Medal of Arts. She was the author of two autobiographies, At 33 and With a Quiet Heart; a biography of Eleonora Duse, The Mystic in the Theatre; a children’s book, Flossie and Bossie; and numerous translations of Ibsen, Chekhov, and Hans Christian Andersen. Though she kept her personal life out of the spotlight, Le Gallienne was an LGBTQ pioneer, living openly with a series of female partners. She died at her home in Weston, CT in 1991, aged 92.
About Barrie Kreinik
Barrie Kreinik is an actor, singer, playwright, and voice-dialect coach based in New York City. Her audiobook narrations have earned an AudioFile Earphones Award. A graduate of the Brown/Trinity MFA acting program, she is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.