Give My Regards to Nowhere: A Director's Tale
Description
Chicago director Dwayne Finnegan has a long shot at the big time and only two obstacles: himself and everyone he knows.
Dwayne's got an idea of how to direct Shakespeare's least-favorite play that could set him on the road to Broadway. We're talking Bob Fosse choreography, Jimi Hendrix guitars, and the hottest cast in the city of Chicago. But when the show's producer cuts out with the cash, Dwayne decides to produce the show himself, putting his marriage and his meager finances at risk. What could go wrong?
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About the Author
Reviews
"Richard Engling knows Chicago's famously chaotic and glorious storefront theater scene like the back of his hand. It's the perfect setting for absurd comic hi-jinx."
- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, author of Rise Up! and Bigger, Brighter, Louder
"Engling's satire on storefront theatre is thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. His characters sparkle, his knowledge of the backstage issues of the medium is elucidated with keen insight and comic verve, and he is somehow able to make even the most seemingly unsympathetic characters...into people it's fun to get to know."
- Karen Topham, ChicagoOnStage.com and author of The Cooper Boy
"The rollicking ride through the underbelly of the acting world and the determination of a man who sees this world fall apart and come back together in a new way as the show goes on will attract anyone interested in drama, theater, Chicago backdrops, or a drive to succeed against all odds."
- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
"A scrappy, big-hearted backstage comedy layered with mordant wit and full of a deep, abiding love for its characters..."
- Adam Langer, author of Cyclorama
"Hilarious, witty, touching, intelligent, and spot-on. Engling's novel about the many joys and incessant headaches of running a storefront Chicago theater is truth that could only be told as believably as it is, as fiction. The characters pulse with life, conflict, tons of drama, and humanity. Entire chapters are laugh-out-loud funny, and issues of marriage, friendship, loyalty, and the nature of theater and art flow through every sentence. A one-sit read, I promise!"
- Nadeem Zaman, author of The Inheritors and Up in the Main House and Other Stories
"Richard Engling is undoubtedly a writer's writer. It's hard not to read him without marveling at the skill of construction. But the technical virtuosity of Give My Regards to Nowhere is performed like prestidigitation: it's a magic trick performed in plain view. The novel is comic, wise, and riveting. It gives us the theatrical world, but also the world of anyone whose ever struggled against the odds. But Engling is also a reader's writer, those who read him without fretting about how these marvels are executed will turn each page with the thrill of discovery and immersion in this richly entertaining novel."
- Liam Heneghan, author of Beasts at Bedtime
"...Engling vividly captures the disparity between grand artistic ambition and what reality has to offer in this very funny, briskly written, and often touching book. Fans and inhabitants of Chicago's (or any city's) theater scene will feel right at home..."
- Mark Larson, author of Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater
"Without a doubt, the best examination of the theatre trade I've ever read. Insightful, satirical, painful, but joyous. Richard Engling brings a wonderful cast of characters together in a way theatre kids and non-theatre kids can thoroughly enjoy."
- Darren Callahan, dramatist for the BBC, SyFy, and author of City of Human Remains and The Audrey Green Chronicles
"...immensely readable..."
- Vicki Quade, Chicago playwright/producer, author of Late Nite Catechism and Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind
