Enter Laughing: Review and pics

Carl Reiner as a young man

Comedian Carl Reiner called his comic novel Enter Laughing, because that is the first stage direction that his 17-year-old main character is given, at his first ever-audition, and he makes a hilarious hash of it.

Reiner wrote his semi-autobiographical novel at the peak of his popularity in the 1950s, recalling his frustrating and sidesplitting effort to break into show business as a teenager from the Bronx in the 1930s.

Reiner is now 97 – even his son Rob Reiner is now a name for nostalgists — so it shouldn’t be too surprising that there is an old-fashioned feel to the musical comedy adapted from Reiner’s novel. Still, it makes sense that the York Theatre Company is reviving Enter Laughing, in a well-directed production with a solid cast of pros, as the first show in its 50th anniversary season. Part of their mission is to rediscover old musicals.

Full review on DC Theatre Scene

Author: New York Theater

Jonathan Mandell is a 3rd generation NYC journalist, who sees shows, reads plays, writes reviews and sometimes talks with people.

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