Broadway Blog - WISHFUL DRINKING Reviews

In Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher recounts the true and intoxicating tale of her life as a Hollywood legend, told with the same wry wit she poured into bestsellers like Postcards from The Edge. The daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher became a cultural icon when she starred as "Princess Leia" in the first Star Wars trilogy at 19 years old. Forever changed, Carrie's life did not stay picture perfect. Fisher is the life of the party in this uproarious and sobering look at her Hollywood hangover.

Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "Fisher is a raconteur in the best sense of the word. She knows how to tell a story. And "Wishful Drinking," her hilariously perceptive journey through a world of celebrity and self-destruction, is chock-full of funny, fascinating tales."

David Rooney, Variety: "Helen Lawson brayed in "Valley of the Dolls" that "Broadway doesn't go for boo-ooze and dope." Too bad Carrie Fisher appears to have taken that edict seriously, because her otherwise winning and frequently hilarious solo show, "Wishful Drinking," could use a little more time at self-sabotaging rock bottom. Instead, she delivers selective candor without vulnerability. Fisher is likable, acerbic, clever and wryly forthcoming about the warped reality of life in the celebrity bubble, but her stage memoir is a journey to self-knowledge that rushes through the bumpiest part of the trip -- the addiction years -- always en route to the punchline."

Ben Brantley, NY Times: "Ms. Fisher knows herself - or the work of fiction she admits she partly is - and the myriad ways she might be perceived. This is essential if you are going to be turned into a sex doll, a Pez dispenser and an illustration in a book of abnormal psychology. After the show, you'll probably start to think that Ms. Fisher didn't really tell you everything. But as long as you're watching her, you experience the illusion of extremely funny, subliminally sad full-frontal confession."

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "In Drinking (2½ out of four), which opened Sunday at Roundabout Theatre Company's Studio 54, those talents are stretched, sometimes to the breaking point. Two hours and change is a long time for any autobiographical performance piece, let alone one whose subject's personal and professional history has been, as she acknowledges, tabloid fodder. But Fisher solicits attention with such brazen vitality and earthy, self-deprecating humor that she never loses us completely."

David Sheward, Backstage.com "The tone is set with her opening as she warbles "Happy Days Are Here Again" while unflattering tabloid headlines about her flash across the screen. Fasten your seat belts, she seems to be saying, you're in for a bumpy night."

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