In the late 1980s LA Times writer Kenneth Turan began to conduct interviews of over 160 people close to Joeseph Papp to produce a book about his life. This process lasted for over 18 months, and when Papp read the nearly finished manuscript he halted the process by refusing to let the book be published.
Producer/director Joe Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954 with the aim of making Shakespeare's works accessible to the public. In 1957 he was granted the use of Central Park for free productions of Shakespeare's plays. This legacy of Papp's has continued at the open-air Delacorte Theatre every summer in Central Park. Besides this, Papp established The Public Theatre in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York. "The Public," as it was known, had many small theatres within it. There, Papp created a year-round producing home to focus on new creations, both plays and musicals. Among numerous examples of these creations were the works of David Rabe, Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and Papp's production of Michael Bennett's Pulitzer-Prize winning musical, "A Chorus Line." At Papp's death in 1991 The Public Theatre was renamed The Joseph Papp Public Theatre.
Turan contacted Papp's widow asking permission for the book to be published. After several revisions, Turan's book, "Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told,"is being published today, November 3.
This book is now a part of history, as Turan says "Roughly 40 of the voices in this book, to be published this week by Doubleday, have died since I did the interviewing. No one else will be hearing the stories from their lips, and to read this book is to reenter a moment in history ripe for rediscovery and amazement."
To read Turan's full article in the LA Times about "Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told" and "The Championship Season", a pulitzer-prize winning play produced by Papp, click here.
Turan will be at Lincoln Triangle's Barnes and Noble on November 5 at 7:30pm for a book signing. This Barnes and Noble is located on the northeast corner of Broadway and 66th st. For more information on the book signing, click here.
"Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told" can be purchased via www.amazon.com, www.bn.com and in major bookstores.
