The way I was

Marvin Hamlisch and Gerald Gardner

New York : Toronto : New York, 1992

Abstract

A Viennese immigrant’s son, enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music at age six, navigated a high-pressure classical education while secretly aspiring to be a popular composer. This duality defined an early career that included working as a rehearsal pianist for Barbra Streisand and writing for Liza Minnelli. A subsequent move to Hollywood culminated in winning three Academy Awards in one evening for the scores to The Way We Were and The Sting, followed by the creation of the landmark Broadway musical A Chorus Line. This precipitous success, however, was followed by professional failures and a period of intense personal crisis marked by depression and loneliness. The narrative chronicles this journey, arguing that a life driven by external validation is ultimately unfulfilling. The subject concludes that a meaningful existence requires a fundamental shift in focus from achieving success to impress others toward a life centered on authentic self-expression and personal growth. – AI-generated abstract.

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Quotes from this work

I know there are more gifted people than me out there. But they may not make it in the music world even if they have the talent, because they don’t have the desire and the ego to drive themselves as hard as they can. Or because they’ve gotten derailed along the line and can’t find their way back to their real goals. Or because they didn’t have the parents I had to foster their talents.

p. 23

I’m one of the few people who goes to a movie and hears the music instead of the dialogue.

p. 38