On the sad occasion of Jill Clayburgh’s death from leukemia at age 66, I’m reminded of the one time I went to her house. She wasn’t there. I went to interview her husband, the playwright David Rabe (above, with Jill and their daughter Lily), for the Soho News when he was directing his own play Goose and Tom-Tom at the Public Theater. That production never opened, though the Public did later finally put up a different version. This interview catches Rabe before Robert Altman did his excellent film version of Streamers and before Hurlyburly brought Rabe back into mainstream attention, first with the star-studded stage production, then with the Hollywood movie version, and eventually with the revival by the New Group just a couple of years ago. You can read my story online here.
Archive for November, 2010
From the deep archives: DAVID RABE
November 9, 2010Photo diary: one August day in Reno
November 6, 2010
On our way to Burning Man, Andy and I stopped and visited his mother and stepfather, who live in Reno
I'd met Brooke once before in New York -- very nice and funny
This was my first time meeting Tony -- I liked him a lot, especially because he has a close personal relationship with the birds who hang out in the trees in their yard
They were very gracious and hospitable both before and after Burning Man
They loaned us tools, fed us great meals, and sent us on our merry way
RIP: Jill Clayburgh
November 6, 2010
Sad news this morning that Jill Clayburgh has died of leukemia at age 66. I always admired her as an actress — she was beautiful and intelligent and talented and able to play awkwardness with such humanity and nuance. Condolences to her husband, the playwright David Rabe, her daughter, Lily (currently playing Portia on Broadway in The Merchant of Venice), and her brother Jim, who was the genius set designer for much of the Wooster Group’s early work.
Theater review: IN THE WAKE
November 4, 2010
My review of Lisa Kron’s IN THE WAKE has just been published on CultureVulture.net. I liked the play a lot.
“It’s stuffed with so many ideas about so many subjects that you can’t believe the author can pull it off, and yet she does, with the help of an able cast smartly directed by Leigh Silverman.
It helps that Kron situates her play in the midst of hyperarticulate characters who feast on ideas, starting with Ellen, a writer and political junkie (played by Marin Ireland) who opens the show with a howl of outrage: ‘I cannot believe the ruthlessness of the Republicans!’ It’s Thanksgiving 2000, and the as-yet unsettled presidential race between Gore and Bush clouds the dinner party assembling in Ellen’s living room: her schoolteacher boyfriend, Danny (Michael Chernus), his sister Kayla (Susan Pourfar) and her wife, Laurie (Danielle Skraastad), who live downstairs, and Ellen’s old friend Judy (Deidre O’Connell), an older woman who does humanitarian relief work in Africa and is on her way to her mother’s funeral in Kentucky.
You may think you know what’s going to come out of these characters’ mouths as they hurtle through Bush’s inauguration, 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, and W’s re-election. Trust me — you don’t. Kron spares us generic characters spouting pre-digested social commentary safely distributed along the political spectrum.”
You can read the complete review online here.
Good stuff online: IT GETS BETTER
November 4, 2010
It’s hard not to admire every one of the zillions of “It Gets Better” videos that have been created in response to the rash of suicides by kids who’ve been bullied and bashed for being gay or just different but the best one I’ve seen so far is this one by the Broadway theater community. Instigated by the [title of show] wunderkinder Heidi Blickenstiff, Hunter Bell, and Susan Blackwell, it’s simple and smart. You would think it’s easy for Broadway actors and theater people to come out and be open but really? It’s never happened before on this scale.
Bryan Batt, Charles Busch, Kevin Chamberlain, Wilson Cruz, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Joanna Gleason, Judy Gold, Robyn Goodman and Anna Louizos, Cherry Jones (top of post), Moisés Kaufman, Zoe Kazan, Nathan Lane, Tyler Maynard, Audra McDonald, Michael McElroy, Terrence McNally and Tom Kirdahy (above), Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jerry Mitchell, Julia Murney, Denis O’Hare, Karen Olivo, Anika Noni Rose, Seth Rudetsky, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Christopher Sieber, John Tartaglia, and Lucy Thurber are just some of the people who show up in the video. It’s 12 minutes long and takes a while to load, but definitely worth watching. Get out your Kleenex. I like that it’s not just platitudes about how tough it was and it’ll get better. They also point out that what made you different as a kid makes you exceptional as an adult. They urge adults to teach acceptance, kindness, and respect. And they talk about what they lived to accomplish and what made it worth hanging in there for. Denis O’Hare (below) says, “I’m skinnier and better-looking than anyone I went to high school with.”
another eye opens 