Glenda Jackson & Robert Gottlieb RIP

This week two titans of their respective crafts -- the legendary book editor Robert Gottlieb and the famous actress/British politician Glenda Jackson -- passed away at the ages of 92 and 87, respectively. 

Just a few months ago I blogged about the wonderful documentary Turn Every Page about the career of Robert Gottlieb -- and the countless great authors he worked with and their books that he published, especially his special working relationship with Robert Caro. A New Yorker to the core, Gottlieb not only edited books but also fundraised and helped run the New York City Ballet and was a huge part of the cultural life of this city. RIP

Glenda Jackson was not a New Yorker -- she was English and acted in movies, theater, and TV for decades except for when she took a 23-year break from acting to serve in the British House of Commons as a Labour MP (she even served as a minister in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government). She won two Oscars and many other awards and, if you've ever seen it, the 1971 mini-series where she plays Queen Elizabeth I is one of the best things I've ever seen. Fortunately I got to see her on Broadway -- twice -- in Three Tall Women in 2018 and King Lear in 2019. You can read my reviews of them here. She was a giant of acting and politics. RIP.

Review: "King Lear" on Broadway

Shakespeare plays are always challenging to consume -- they are both thrilling for their gorgeous language and wonderful characters, and sometimes frustrating because the plots can be hard to follow. Not for nothing you watch or read these plays and say to yourself, "This is amazing! I have no idea what's going on!"

This is certainly true for Shakespeare's King Lear.

Unlike the history plays, King Lear is based on a mythical pre-Roman King named Leir i.e. it's basically fiction. The plot revolves around an aging King Lear deciding to divide his kingdom amongst this three daughters -- Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. He demands that they tell him how much they love him and, based on their answers, he will give them what he thinks they deserve of his kingdom. Goneril and Regan go overboard in telling the old man how much they love him but Cordelia says she cannot describe her love to him in mere words. Enraged, the King banishes her from the kingdom and divides the kingdom amongst her sisters. 

Political intrigue ensues. Goneril and Regan's husbands scheme to oust Lear from the throne, other Dukes get in on the act, the king descends into madness accompanied only by his Fool, there is a French invasion and war, there's eye-gouging, suicide, lots of death and betrayal, all sorts of mean nasty stuff -- honestly, the plot is so exhausting you reach the "I have no idea what's going on!" stage pretty soon. Safe to say, this play is as complete a tragedy as Shakespeare ever wrote. 

King Lear is one of his most challenging plays -- the complicated plot, the numerous characters, as well as its length make it a slog (with intermission, it lasts 3 1/2 hours). That's why, if a production is going to be mounted of this, it needs to be first rate.

The version currently in previews on Broadway mostly is first rate -- you don't get more first-rater than Glenda Jackson playing Lear. She is such a volcanic force, such a massive presences on stage that you almost wish King Lear was a one man (or one woman) show. Her near-equal is Ruth Wilson who alternates as Cordelia and the Fool. Wilson was great on that show The Affair but, in this play, you see that she's an actress of tremendous range. Also good is Pedro Pascal as a scheming Duke -- he's like the character he played on Game of Thrones, a sort of noble playboy, but he has better lines. Finally, Elizabeth Marvel from Homeland plays one of the daughters and, while she's good, it's clear that she's not quite 100% doing Shakespeare. 

This production has, in my opinion, two main weaknesses:

1) The supporting cast, many of whom are making their Broadway debuts, is not that strong. Many of the actors almost seem like they're in another play, you get the sense that they're consciously underplaying their parts, and this is not a play that rewards underplaying. 

2) The production itself is a bit off. Instead making it historical, the set and costumes make it appear that this play is not taking place in pre-Roman Britain or even Shakespearean Britain but in some kind of neo-Fascist future. The set is a garish tinted gold and looks like something between a Scientology Center or Trump Tower. The costumes look like something that might be worn by characters in either The Hunger Games movies or aliens from episodes of Star Trek. I'm sure that the intention is to make the production look as nightmarish as the plot (like the times we're living in) but it just seemed like a distraction. 

Still, if you love Shakespeare and Glenda Jackson, you should go see this production of King Lear -- it's a once in a lifetime experience to see a great actor and cast in one of the great plays. 

Give My Regards to Broadway (On and Off) in 2019

2019 is shaping up to be a big year in NYC theater. After the ball drops and the champagne bottles pop, the stages of this city will be the real New Year's party. 

On and off Broadway, we'll see the likes of Glenda Jackson (again), Annette Bening, Hugh Jackman, Adam Driver, Jake Gyllenthal, Daveed Diggs, Alan Cumming, Isabelle Huppert, Kelli O'Hara -- even John Larroquette! -- and so many more in a variety new plays and musicals and revivals. 

I already have tickets for Glenda Jackson's King Lear in March and cannot wait! Needless to say, a review will follow on this blog, so stay tuned. 

I love movies, including many old ones, but there's nothing like seeing great live theater. The emotional impact of brilliant dramaturgy is searing. This is especially the case when it comes to seeing legendary actors on stage -- unlike movies, where you can see the likes of Gary Cooper or Spender Tracey or Katherine Hepburn giving classic performances decades after their deaths -- you can only see, say Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan, on stage only a few times in a lifetime. Great actors, like all human beings, won't live forever and, one day, you won't be able to see them on stage ever again. (My mom once saw Vivian Leigh on stage!).

That's why I was touched to read this obituary of a Japanese-American dancer who was in the original Broadway version of On the Town -- during WWII no less. She lived an amazing, trailblazing life, ending at the age of 99. Her life, her story, have an "only in America" theme -- and it's a reminder that great talents' appearances on the stage are fleeting, and should be appreciated when they are.  

Review: "Three Tall Women"

The playwright Edward Albee shot to fame in the early 1960s with his masterpiece Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? He followed that up with other successful plays, including the Pulitzer Prize-winners Seascape and A Delicate Balance (oft revived on Broadway). But in the 1980s and early 1990s, his plays fell into critical disfavor, and Albee was viewed as a once-great, now mediocre talent. 

Three Tall Women in 1994 marked his comeback, snagging Albee a third Pulitzer Prize.

A very "meta" play featuring three women simply named A, B, and C, it's an examination of aging and the pain of life. In the first act, A is an old women being looked after by B and working with C, a lawyer, on her legal and financial matters. A is a loud, crass woman, torturing B with her bad behavior and largely ignoring C's concerns. Then A has a stroke -- and we literally go inside her head as B and C become A at earlier times in her life, and we learn more about the story of A's background and her broken relationship with her son. It is, in some ways, a nihilistic play as we learn that the happiest moment in any person's life is death -- but that we should always remember what joy (no matter how little) we have had.

The production of Three Tall Women currently on Broadway has become the event of the season as it marks the return of Glenda Jackson, the brilliant British actress, to the New York stage after 30 years (she spent 23 of those last 30 years as a member of the British parliament). Jackson plays A, and commands the stage as only a monster talent like she can. She is loud, vulgar, funny, narcissistic and, ultimately, sympathetic. Jackson blasts humanity into A, making us rattle her wake, and her performance is both a tour-de-force and a gale force of great acting. Seeing her on the stage was something I'll never forget. It's her show all the way. 

 The other two actresses, Laurie Metcalf (from Roseanne and the wonderful film Lady Bird) as B, and Allison Pill (from The Newsroom) as C, support her well. While A is the star part, B and C are vital in reflecting her, both as separate characters and as part of her. Metcalf brings her easy charm to B, making us remember why she won two Emmys for Roseanne -- she's naturally funny, comfortable and confident in both her parts. Pill has always been a good screen actress but she's even better on the stage -- her part, and her performance, have a mystery that makes you almost wish the play was about her, although it would be a very different play. 

 All of the parts are well written. Albee's plays are always rather over the top with people yelling at each other at top volume but he strikes at what makes people tick and, in Three Tall Women, he does it very well. Go see this if you can, you won't forget it.