Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress (2008), Joan Rivers | JOAN RIVERS In the Los Angeles production of her autobiographical A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress
Image credit: Michael Lamont
JOAN RIVERS In the Los Angeles production of her autobiographical A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress
EW's GRADE
B

Details Opening Date: Feb 05, 2008; Lead Performance: Joan Rivers; Writer: Joan Rivers; Director: Bart DeLorenzo; Genre: Comedy

Joan Rivers clearly didn't know whether to do a solo show or a fully cast autobiographical play — so she did both. The lame framework of Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress puts her backstage at an awards show, where inept flunkies and an ageist network exec thwart her trip to the red carpet. Happily, she repeatedly abandons this setup to regale us with riveting mini-monologues of showbiz survival. Watching a gay assistant run around in a boa? Painful. Hearing her dish on being shut out by Carson, axed by Fox, widowed by Edgar, and relegated to the ribbon-cutting circuit? Priceless. (310-208-5454) B

Originally posted Feb 22, 2008 Published in issue #980 Feb 29, 2008 Order article reprints

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