I Was Better Last Night: A Memoir

I almost stopped reading I Was Better Last Night part way through. It was getting too heavy for me, which makes me sound like I have watched far too much Back to the Future. Although, I probably have. I watch a lot of Back to the Future.

After deciding I was going to stop reading, I looked at the index to see if there was any topic I still wanted to read about before I returned the book to the library. What I found was “AIDS Memorial Quilt.” A quilter myself, I was curious how the author, Harvey Fierstein, was connected to the quilt.

As I tried to find the page about the quilt, I came across the stage musical Kinky Boots. I wanted to see this show in its Chicago previews (having loved the movie) but did not get the chance.

Even with this Kinky Boots memory, I kept moving to the page about the quilt. What I discovered when I found the page was the fact Mr. Fierstein himself is a quilter. Between that and Kinky Boots, I decided I had to continue with the book.

I Was Better Last Night
Harvey Fierstein

Who is Harvey Fierstein?

Harvey Fierstein has been part of the theatre scene for decades. Until this memoir, I didn’t know how much of a part of it he was. This goes to show how little I knew about the man.

Most of my experience with Mr. Fierstein has been with Mrs. Doubtfire and a Murder, She Wrote episode I have seen far too many times. As an adult I discovered his film Torch Song Trilogy, a film I only discovered because of Turner Classic Movies. His theatre career I did not know about, or at least did not fully remember. I’m sure I heard about his being part of Kinky Boots, but it was not something in the forefront of my mind. I Was Better Last Night taught me a lot about Mr. Fierstein I never knew.

On the stage

Mr. Fierstein started his career in the New York theatre scene at a very young age. And I mean very young. He was still a teenager. Starting out in what I would call small experimental theatres, it was not long before Mr. Fierstein went from performing to writing, directing, and producing. The writing came before the directing and producing, but through his career he has been able to add both to his experience.

A lot of what Mr. Fierstein wrote about early in his career was inspired by pieces of his life. Torch Song Trilogy is one such work in particular. One element of his life struck Mr. Fierstein, and he ended up writing a trilogy of plays with the encouragement of those around him.

His writing became so well known, people started to call Mr. Fierstein and ask him to write something new for them (this is where Kinky Boots comes in) or help with an existing script . This is only part of the reason why he has been so fully a part of the theatre for so long. Acting is another big reason.

Along with writing, Mr. Fierstein continues to perform. Sometimes he performs as a male character, as in Fiddler on the Roof, sometimes he plays a female character, like he did in Hairspray. No matter the gender of the character, Mr. Fierstein puts his all into the role. This cannot be said about all actors, which was very clearly mentioned in the book. Some, while willing to play a gay man, were unwilling to kiss the man they were supposed to be in love with. This does not make sense to me.

Behind the scenes

Aside from his career, this book also deals a lot with Mr. Fierstein’s personal life. It discusses his experience with substance abuse and sexual activity, all which started at a very young age. He also gets into how his views and decisions about those activities have changed through the years.

Another topic frequently talked about is Mr. Fierstein’s sexual orientation. He grew up in a time where homosexuality was not accepted. Many gay men were afraid to come out and live freely in their relationships. One of his friends was even sent to conversion therapy to change his sexual orientation. It is a practice that is—horrifically—still legal today.

The sad thing is, with the laws being put in place against transgender people, and rights being taken away by judges and lawmakers simply because they can, I would not be surprised if people in the LGBTQ+ community would feel forced to live their lives in secret again. It is a horrible thought, but one I greatly fear is coming true.

Hope for a revival

As so many experienced because of COVID, especially those in the arts, Mr. Fierstein was forced to end a project he was working on when the pandemic hit. The project was a play about Bella Abzug’s run for the U.S. Senate in the 1970s. To help with the project, Mr. Fierstein consulted with Gloria Steinem, one of many well-known people he has worked with throughout his career. The show was Bella Bella and was supposed to serve as a benefit for females running for political office. It was put a stop to because of the virus, but I really hope it gets revived this year.

Time to stand up

One of the things Ms. Steinem taught Mr. Fierstein was that women do not vote as a group. Instead, white women vote for their husband’s interests, not their own. I do not doubt this for a minute. I know of a woman who only voted for whom her husband told her to.

Today, we are seeing the fault with this logic. A woman’s right to choose is on the brink of falling. While there are some women who will see this as a victory, there is a failing to see the repercussions. The removal of one right can mean the removal of others. Soon the same argument for removing a woman’s right to choose will be used to remove right to contraception, and any other medical procedure deemed unacceptable. Because of this, not only will insurance companies determine a woman’s healthcare—which is irritating enough—but so will the government. The least powerful person in those exam rooms will be the female patients themselves.

And the atrocities will not stop there. I already mentioned the laws against transgender people. More will come, and more will come against the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. Arguments used for removing a woman’s right to choose, such as it was once a crime and not specifically in the constitution, could be used to remove other rights, as many were at one time illegal. Rights such as same-sex marriage, homosexuality, interracial marriage, and female contraception were all illegal at one time. As none of these rights are specifically stated in the constitution (a document mostly written by men hundreds of years before we were born), which is the justification put forth as the reason to remove women’s rights, it is not a leap to think this same reasoning could one day be used to eliminate other rights as well.

Which is why people need to educate themselves and vote for their own interests. Relying on “it will all turn out for the best” and “that would never happen” does not work anymore. In order to keep our rights, we must vote for people who support them. And we must vote for people willing to support the rights of others at risk of losing theirs too.

Crossroads
Kate Dorsey

Remember the Past

Some may wonder why I went on this political road with I Was Better Last Night when it is a memoir by a man from the theatre world. I did because Mr. Fierstein himself frequently wrote about the people in the gay community who were, and still are, affected by political decisions. Mr. Fierstein lived through the early years of AIDS and how people, including the politicians, didn’t handle it. He saw what people went through to live their lives true to themselves. He makes a comparison between how the audience reacted to the original staging of Torch Song Trilogy and its revival. There was a freedom in the gay community audience with the revival that was not there before. But it is a freedom that may be lost. And while I don’t know if Mr. Fierstein himself would consider his memoir a political book, I would at least call it a political awareness. A book people need to read not only to celebrate Mr. Fierstein’s accomplishments, but also to learn how life was for some people and to be aware how quickly it can become that life again.

With all that is going on right now, I would not be surprised if Mr. Fierstein turned his observations into another theatrical work. Or he may create something completely unrelated. As much as Mr. Fierstein works, I’m sure there is something in progress. Whatever that something is, I look forward to finding out about it.