Carrie Fisher's intoxicating autobiographical tale of her life, Wishful Drinking, is a hit stage production currently being produced as a feature length documentary for HBO, according to an August 17, 2010 press release from HBO. Wishful Drinking is a raucous and raw true story about Carrie Fisher, actress, screenwriter and best selling author. The documentary was filmed in June and will debut in December, 2010 on HBO.
“If my life wasn’t funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.”
Carrie Fisher
WISHFUL DRINKING, Carrie Fisher’s hit stage production of the intoxicating autobiographical tale of her life, is being produced as a feature-length documentary for HBO. Scheduled to debut in December, Wishful Drinking will combine elements of Fisher's one-woman stage performance, taped June 25, 2010 before a live audience, with interviews and archival footage.
As the daughter of Hollywood icons Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher was born into Hollywood royalty. At the ago of 19, Fisher donned a white dress and became Princess Leia in Star Wars, becoming a Hollywood icon in her own right. In spite of her early success, Fishers' life has not been easy, as she details in Wishful Drinking.
Despite growing up with “Hollywood royalty” and experiencing early fame of her own, Fisher’s life had its challenges, as she reveals in this uproarious and sobering account. Fisher combines wry wit and raw facts, revealing the not-so-glittering side of being a celebrity. Carrie Fisher recounts her peaks and valleys with candor and biting humor. Fisher's journey goes from stardom to divorce, re-marriage to the death of a close friend, addiction to mental illness and medication.
Fisher details her complicated and impressive “family” tree in Hollywood 101 at Wishful Drinking University, employing a blackboard and wooden pointer. Fisher and her brother lived through her parents’ multiple marriages and blended families, watching their “white-hot bright star of celebrity slowly dim, cool and fade” while they lived in a house she likened to an air conditioner complete with eight little pink refrigerators. In 1973, at her mother’s urging, the 17-year-old Fisher enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London; two years later, her life changed forever when she donned a white dress as Princess Leia in George Lucas’ “Star Wars.”
Besides making her a star, the movie resulted in Fisher’s image being merchandised as part of a growing “Star Wars” franchise. Among the items she adorned were dolls, shampoo, soap, Mrs. Potato Head and a PEZ dispenser. Fisher hilariously notes that among his many possessions, Lucas owns her likeness, “so every time I look in the mirror, I have to send him a couple of bucks.”
Fisher’s realization of her addiction in her early 20s was followed by periods of sobriety and relapse. With extraordinary candor, she discusses her subsequent bi-polar diagnosis, which took her through a wide range of emotions on any given day. Fisher likens the changeability of her mood to the weather, observing that “the facts of your life remain the same, just the emotional fiction that you’re responding to differs.” She recalls the important decision to have Electric Shock Therapy (ECT) with typical humor, saying, “Have you guys seen ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?’ Wasn’t I great in that?”
In addition to the first “Star Wars” trilogy, Carrie Fisher’s numerous films include “Shampoo” and “When Harry Met Sally.” Her four novels, “Postcards from the Edge,” “Surrender the Pink,” “Delusions of Grandma” and “The Best Awful,” were all New York Times bestsellers. Her memoir “Wishful Drinking” was published in 2008; her next book, “Shockaholic,” will be published in the fall of 2010 by Simon & Schuster.
Fisher’s one-woman stage performance “Wishful Drinking” was taped for the HBO special at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in South Orange, NJ. The play opened in Los Angeles in 2006 and was produced on Broadway in 2009 by Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Jonathan Reinis, Jamie Cesa, Eva Price and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. It will travel to select cities through the end of 2010 and into 2011.
WISHFUL DRINKING producers and directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato are the founders of World of Wonder Productions. Based in Los Angeles and London, World of Wonder has produced a variety of acclaimed nonfiction programming, including 23 documentaries for HBO and CINEMAX, among them “Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal,” “Monica in Black and White” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”
Documentary Films presentation, WISHFUL DRINKING is produced and directed by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey; senior producer, Lisa Heller; executive producer, Sheila Nevin.
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Comments
It is good to know that one can be successfull even though he or she has addictions.
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