"Welcome to Lilyville, where my mother Lily reigns," says Tovah Feldshuh in the "overture" of Lilyville: Mother, Daughter, and Other Roles I’ve Played, her new memoir out April 13 from Hatchette Books.
The four-time Tony nominee explores her relationship with her mother, the epitome of a 1950s housewife who expected perfection from her headstrong, tomboy daughter.
Feldshuh takes readers behind the scenes of her Broadway (Yentl, Golda's Balcony, Lend Me a Tenor) and television (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Walking Dead) roles, and also tells of celebrity encounters with Barbra Streisand, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and more—all while constantly seeking approval from her mother.
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Listen to the exclusive clip from the audiobook, read by Feldshuh herself, above. Feldshuh is no stranger to the audiobook realm, having won an Audie Award earlier this year for recording Dr. Edith Eva Eger's The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save Your Life.
In the excerpt, she recounts bringing her mother to see the Tony-winning 2015 revival of Pippin, when she played a replacement stint as Berthe, "Tovah, that you should still have to earn a living like this. And on a trapeze, yet!" That's just one of the "Lilyisms”—bits of wisdom and memorable quotes from Tovah’s hilariously opinionated mother.
Hardback, digital, and audio versions are all available April 13 at HatchetteBooks.com.
