On The Trail of a Notorious Party Animal

OK, what do party animals have to do with Theater Talk? A lot, when one of them was the producer of the original production of La Cage Aux Folles. Let’s face it – fascination with sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll never ends. Even if fewer and fewer of us are up at all hours indulging in them, the stories sure make for great reading!

Fitting perfectly into the groove of “if you made this stuff up, no one would believe you” is Robert Hofler’s new book, Party Animals: A Hollywood Tale of Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll Starring the Fabulous Allan Carr, just out in trade paperback. While the juiciest stuff takes place in LA-LA land, those of us old enough to remember can recall celebrity mega-manager Carr’s publicity-hogging after-party for the premiere of Tommy the movie – held in the Sixth Avenue @ 57th Street subway station.

Hofler told Michael and Susan in the Greenroom, “I wrote the book because I was never at these kinds of parties!” In his interview, he says that – beginning in the early 1970s – Carr was the first to throw lavish parties that were a mix of old and new Hollywood (Mae West and Jack Benny, John Travolta and Ann-Margret) with rock stars (Elton John and Rod Stewart). And wait till you hear the stories about Allan’s $100,000 Egyptian disco (with spy cameras) and the famous Rudolf Nureyev “mattress party.”

Carr’s highest pinnacle, and biggest fall from grace, had to do with producing the 1989 Academy Awards telecast – with Hollywood Babylon director Steve Silver creating the infamous opening, featuring Rob Lowe singing “Proud Mary” to Snow White (among other oddities). It raised a furor. The next day, Carr had to endure the worst of Hollywood snubs – nobody talked to him when he went to lunch.

The book is a juicy read about a particular time in Hollywood and New York culture and makes for a great episode of Theater Talk.