This is an original audio drama from Barrie Kreinik originally released by Hachette Audio on June 4, 2024. Barrie Kreinik is an actor, singer, writer, audiobook narrator, and dialect coach based in New York City.
New York City, 1932: Eva Le Gallienne is trying to save her theatre company from the jaws of the Depression by mounting an innovative new production of Alice in Wonderland. She agrees to give a radio interview for the sake of publicity, but while revisiting the moments that shaped her career, she struggles with the need to keep a significant secret: she and her leading lady are in love. As Eva’s work careens toward catastrophe, she fights to preserve her dream of a people’s theatre-but will she destroy the people she loves in the process? The true story of one of the 20th century’s most remarkable artists, The Queen of Fourteenth Street reverberates powerfully today, as the American theatre faces an uncertain future and LGBTQ rights are once again under attack.
The Queen Of Fourteenth Street is an immersive and compelling audiobook drama. The audiobook is a fantastic production filled with small musical interludes and background effects that transport listeners back to the 1920s era of radio shows and grand theatre productions. At just under two hours, the audiobook is a perfect option for pure entertainment in a single sitting or during your daily commute!
The audiobook details the true life story of Eva Le Gallienne, a British-American theatre pioneer who, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, dedicated her life to making theatre accessible to all by running a repertory theatre. Her stubbornness and perseverance are wonderfully illustrated in the story, as she struggles to keep her theatre company afloat during the Great Depression, often at the expense of her personal relationships. Her story is quite remarkable, having been born in the UK to a challenging childhood and later moving to NYC to hustle her way into stardom on the Broadway scene. Her trailblazing role as owner of a successful repertory theatre company made her a prominent figure in the NYC theatre society.
The story also features some queer history, highlighting the sapphic women of the theatre world who rarely get attention in literature, making this story even more important and compelling. Eva’s relationship with the love of her life, Josephine, is depicted as both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The extreme challenges of having a queer relationship in that era, along with their conflicting personalities, make for a very captivating story.
Narrators Barrie Kreinik, Orlagh Cassidy, Imani Jade Powers, Elisabeth Rodgers, and James Fouhey all do a phenomenal job bringing the characters and the era authentically to life. The pacing of the narration is quick, and the scenes jump around as you’re in fact listening to the audio of a play, making for a very unique and engrossing audio experience. If you listen to any real-life interviews of Eva Le Gallienne from her later years, it becomes very apparent that Barrie Kreinik did her research in portraying Eva’s voice and persona—the performance is spot on!
Overall, this audiobook is a real joy to listen to. From the captivating real-life storyline to the wonderful multicast immersive audiobook experience to the glimpse of groundbreaking 1920s theatre productions, this audiobook punches a lot into a very short time. With such an impressive debut from an already accomplished audiobook narrator, it’ll be very exciting to see what Barrie Krenik comes up with next!
