My Life at the Theater: Contact

Gosh, I will never forget this number-the girl with the yellow dress. CONTACT was put together by Susan Stroman and John Weidman and won the Tony for best musical in 2000. I saw it at the Fisher Theater in Detroit in 2001. It was fantastic. I still get chills.

My Life at the Theater, All My Sons

Arthur Miller wrote this, his second, play in 1947. He was 32. I have seen more plays by Arthur Miller than any other playwright with the exception of Shakespeare. I have seen this play at least twice.



We aw ALL MY SONS at the Meadow Brook Theater at Oakland University (Michigan) in 2000.

My Life at the Theater, Oleanna

WARNING: This is a tough final scene and it does not always end like this.



I saw this David Mamet play at the Library Theater Company in Manchester, England in 1995. At that time I felt the conflict over sexual harassment was interesting and it was a well done production starring Melanie Hudson and Robert Jezek. It concerns accusations of improper behavior between a professor and a student. It was a nerve-wracking play to watch with a particularly difficult second act. It is said Mamet wrote it in response to the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings.



I have seen it again in a local production and as a movie. The ending of this play and audience response to it has changed over the years. Who comes out on top and what we think of it has changed, in other words.



It has become clear that Mamet never intended this to be a fair-minded look at sexual harassment. At the time, we knew less about him and his views.



I wouldn't see it again.

My Life at the Theater, The Gin Game

I saw THE GIN GAME (D.L. Coburn) in 1999 at the Music Hall Theater in Detroit. It starred Julie Harris and Charles Durning and these two great actors made for an exciting evening. It played on Broadway with the same cast in 1997 and was nominated for three Tony Awards including Best Revival.



Julie Harris came from this area and was always a real favorite here. An enjoyable evening for sure.

My Life at the Theater: The Heidi Chronicles

I first saw The Heidi Chronicles, written by Wendy Wasserstein, in New York at the Plymouth Theater in 1989. It starred the amazing Joan Allen. It co-starred Broadway fixtures Boyd Gaines and Peter Friedman. It knocked me off my feet. It perfectly encapsulated the past two decades--from 1970-1988.



Funny thing though, I saw it again in 1994, just five years later, at a local theater. Already it seemed dated, naive. Cliched.



And then my book group read it as a play two years ago in 2009. It seemed as anachronistic as any dusty nineteenth century play. It was also depressing to think that societal changes of two decades past were either taken for granted by a new generation of discarded altogether.



I guess plays or novels or movies that take on "issues" are likely to suffer from this. Oleana, by Mamet is another play that seems too shrill today.



Anyone else notice this?