On the Boardwalk
Published on 25. September 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
278 pages
978-1-912620-35-7 (ISBN)
Description
A memoir from the writer of BENT with a foreword by Ian McKellen
Sherman takes us on a journey through America in the mid twentieth century, starting in New Jersey - where he was born in the 1930s to a Jewish immigrant family - ending on Broadway with the premier of his seminal play Bent starring Richard Gere. On route, we encounter other famous performers including Meryl Streep, Bee Gees, Joan Baez, but the scene-stealing character is always his father - a charismatic narcissist who might have given Trump a run for his money. We stop off in Woodstock, Los Angeles and London - a city Martin would eventually make home; he relays his story with self-depreciating humour as he struggles to make it in theatre, with his sexuality, and under the shadow of the inheritable disease that killed his mother tragically early - a disease from which he finds himself finally free, as he turns forty in the book's closing pages.
Editor Nathan Evans says, 'It's an honour to be working with Martin on his memoir: he's such an important cultural figure, and a mentor for me, personally. I remember being nineteen, sat in the back of my parents' car surrounded by boxes: I was on my way back to university, learning lines for a play I was in later that term. Mum turned around and asked what it was about; I didn't need to answer: I simply showed her the cover, with those four bold letters. Although it would take her some more months to ask the next question, she knew then; I am just one of the many, many young men - from 1979 right through to the present - who've been so emboldened by Bent. This is the story of the man who had the honesty, and the bravery to write it.'
Sherman takes us on a journey through America in the mid twentieth century, starting in New Jersey - where he was born in the 1930s to a Jewish immigrant family - ending on Broadway with the premier of his seminal play Bent starring Richard Gere. On route, we encounter other famous performers including Meryl Streep, Bee Gees, Joan Baez, but the scene-stealing character is always his father - a charismatic narcissist who might have given Trump a run for his money. We stop off in Woodstock, Los Angeles and London - a city Martin would eventually make home; he relays his story with self-depreciating humour as he struggles to make it in theatre, with his sexuality, and under the shadow of the inheritable disease that killed his mother tragically early - a disease from which he finds himself finally free, as he turns forty in the book's closing pages.
Editor Nathan Evans says, 'It's an honour to be working with Martin on his memoir: he's such an important cultural figure, and a mentor for me, personally. I remember being nineteen, sat in the back of my parents' car surrounded by boxes: I was on my way back to university, learning lines for a play I was in later that term. Mum turned around and asked what it was about; I didn't need to answer: I simply showed her the cover, with those four bold letters. Although it would take her some more months to ask the next question, she knew then; I am just one of the many, many young men - from 1979 right through to the present - who've been so emboldened by Bent. This is the story of the man who had the honesty, and the bravery to write it.'
Reviews / Votes
"A master of the telling phrase and the unforgettable image" -- The Times 'He writes like Philip Roth-but even funnier.' -- Ruby Wax 'One Hell of a ride. Profound, witty, beautifully written and difficult to forget.' -- Hugh Jackman "Most shove childhood memories into the recesses of forgetfulness, while others gather each detail like colours in a paint box and use them to create. We call those folks artists. Martin Sherman is such a creature. Within these pages you will find his painterly application of memories, fashioning a masterwork of experiences for us to enjoy." -- Harvey Fierstein "On the Boardwalk is full of audacity and joyfulness, jokes and tears, it blew my mind, as it will blow yours." -- Pete Townshend "A volume filled with moving, entertaining and fascinating memories, by one of our great stage and screen writers." -- Peter Tatchell "As in his plays, Martin Sherman writes here of complexity with simplicity, of the hidden with utter candour. A fascinating and brilliant example of what a memoir ought to be." -- Alan Cumming 'Absolutely mesmerising and so fantastically well written that I wish Martin Sherman had written novels as well as plays and screenplays' -- Stephen Fry 'I've had the privilege of acting three women imagined by Martin Sherman. His memoir is outstanding. I'm reading it a second time; I've cast away other books.' -- Vanessa RedgraveMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
441 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-912620-35-7 (9781912620357)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Martin Sherman was born in Philadelphia, raised in New Jersey and educated at Boston University. He has lived in London for over forty years. He was a resident playwright at Playwrights Horizons in New York and a member of the groundbreaking theatre company Gay Sweatshop in London. His plays have been produced in over sixty countries and include Bent (twice in London with Ian McKellen and once with Alan Cumming, on Broadway with Richard Gere), Messiah (West End, with Maureen Lipman), When She Danced and A Mad House in Goa (both West End, with Vanessa Redgrave), Some Sunny Day *(Hampstead Theatre, with Rupert Everett), *Rose (National Theatre and Broadway, with Olympia Dukakis) and Onassis (West End, with Robert Lindsay). His stage adaptations include E.M. Forster's A Passage to India, a new version of a Pirandello play, Absolutely (Perhaps!) (directed by Franco Zeffirelli, with Joan Plowright), and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (Los Angeles, with Annette Benning and Alfred Molina, and Windsor, with Ian McKellen and Francesa Annis). He wrote the musical The Boy From Oz (Broadway, with Hugh Jackman). His latest play Gently Down the Stream premiered in New York at the Public Theatre. Rose was revived recently in the West End with Maureen Lipman. Martin's screenplays include The Clothes in the Wardrobe with Jeanne Moreau, Joan Plowright and Julie Walters; Alive and Kicking with Jason Flemyng, Anthony Sher and Bill Nighy; the film version of Bent with Clive Owen, Mick Jagger and Ian McKellen; Franco Zeffirelli's Callas Forever with Fanny Ardant and Jeremy Irons; The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone with Helen Mirren and Anne Bancroft; Mrs Henderson Presents, directed by Stephen Frears, with Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. He has been nominated for two Tonys, two BAFTAS and two Oliviers.