I WAS BETTER LAST NIGHT

The actor and playwright looks back on his pioneering path.

Born in 1952 in Brooklyn, Fierstein writes that he “always stood out in a crowd.” Whether this was due to his frequent wisecracks or his sneaking off to his parents’ bathroom at age 7 to apply his mother’s makeup, this personal history movingly charts the author’s journey as a playwright and actor. Not content to revel in the success of his most famous roles on Broadway, Fierstein also gives insightful, unflinching glimpses into his artistic development and creative process. Among the strongest sections are the author’s revelations about the evolution of his beloved Torch Song Trilogy, “proof of [the LGBTQ+ community’s] struggle and a road map for how we got here.” Fierstein is a pleasant guide throughout, glossing over his role in countless firsts—“first openly gay actor to play an openly gay lead in a Broadway show” and “first openly gay actor to play an openly gay role on a sitcom”—as he shares his personal, professional, and creative highs and lows. The author is particularly strong when he writes about his feelings of abandonment during the AIDS crisis of the early 1980s. In stark yet passionate sections, he evokes the fear as well as the deep kinship that arose in his community during this time, though he is unsparing in many of his assessments. “I have never been able to shake the feeling that the heterosexual community at large let us die,” he writes. “They wished us well, then turned their backs, issuing sighs of relief that they had nothing to worry about.” Despite Fierstein’s somberness when appropriate, he also excels at showcasing his quick wit. Interspersed with his creative and artistic journeys are hilarious stories of his encounters with celebrities including Matthew Broderick, Estelle Getty, and Robin Williams. It all adds up to an encapsulation of Fierstein’s philosophy that there is “no such thing as having lived too much.”

A poignant, clever, and entertaining look at an impressive, unique career.