Remembering Jill Haworth

I have to say a few words about British actress Jill Haworth, who died Monday in Manhattan at age 65.

The New York Times obituary noted that she was the original Sally Bowles in Cabaret, which I didn't realize until I watched the PBS documentary Broadway: The American Musical. I knew her as Karen Hansen from the 1960 movie Exodus, based on the Leon Uris novel about the birth of Israel. (That's her with costars Eva Marie Saint and Paul Newman.)

In fact, I was surprised when Haworth's name came up in the documentary and wondered if it was even the same person but it was, her blond hair covered by a dark wig. To me, Sally Bowles was Liza Minnelli from the movie. It never occurred to me that someone else originated the role on Broadway.

It's interesting that Haworth's two biggest performances serve as historical bookends - a bohemian nightclub singer in Germany as the Nazis are rising to power and a young Jewish girl trying to build a new life after World War II.

I watched Exodus more than once before visiting Israel for the first time in 1995. That was a time in my life when I pretty much ate, slept and breathed anything to do with the place, which culminated in my moving to Tel Aviv for a year. Today, it's hard to believe I was so obsessed.

I realize the movie is long and overly sentimental but Haworth was so sweet and self-assured. My Israeli tour guide dismissed Exodus with some embarrassment, saying of Paul Newman's character, nobody could be that perfect.

I still find the film incredibly moving, especially when the refugees are being held on Cyprus and later, on board the Exdous, desperate to break the British blockade of Palestine. In his review for the Times, Bosley Crowther called Haworth's performance "fresh and deeply poignant."

The Times obituary says information about her family and survivors wasn't available. But she leaves a performance that has stayed with me.

For your reading and viewing pleasure

I'm not usually into mob stories but I loved The Sopranos. It's so hard for me to separate James Gandolfini from Tony Soprano that I can't imagine what it would be like to see him on stage.

Gandolfini is currently starring on Broadway in God of Carnage and there's a good, short interview with him by John Heilpern in Vanity Fair. Part of the interview is conducted in Gandolfini's Toyota hybrid SUV, as the pair drive around Manhattan looking for a quiet spot for lunch on a Saturday.

In 1995, Gandolfini appeared on Broadway in a very short-lived production of On the Waterfront. He tells Heilpern that he was fired for "being too mouthy." In 1992, he was an understudy in A Streetcar Named Desire that also featured his Sopranos sister, Aida Turturro.

But he says he's had a lot of experience playing small roles in small theatres. “Standing in public in other people’s clothes, pretending to be someone else. It’s a strange way for a grown man to make a living.”

Then in Variety, Gordon Cox wonders whether nonmusicals can give Broadway a boost. I like this quote from Geoffrey Rush, who's starring in Eugene Ionesco's absurdist drama Exit the King, which Cox says some theatergoers might consider a "gloomy existentialist downer."

The youngest theatergoers might be the ones with the fewest preconceptions, Rush theorizes. "Anyone under 25 has no problem with Ionesco," he says. "They all grew up with Ren and Stimpy and SpongeBob SquarePants."

Okay, I never connected Ionesco with those two television shows but maybe I should check them out.

And finally, Sheila O'Malley, at The House Next Door, writes a very moving tribute to Natasha Richardson. She remembers what it was like to see her on Broadway in 1998 as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. "It was one of the most exciting nights of theater of my life."

It was really interesting to read how Richardson took a role that had been so inextricably linked to one actress - Liza Minnelli - and made it her own. O'Malley gives you a great sense of what it was like to see that memorable, Tony-winning performance.

Also, while she was doing Cabaret, Richardson took part in an American Theatre Wing Working in the Theatre panel discussion, which you can watch here. She also participated in an ATW panel in 2005 on interpreting Tennessee Williams and in a 1993 program on Anna Christie, with her soon-to-be husband, Liam Neeson, among others.

Trinity Rep's new season: second chances

I love this time of year, when regional theatres announce their shows for the upcoming season. I can only imagine how difficult it must be in this economy to put together a mix of crowd-pleasers and new works that you hope will draw an audience.

Trinity Repertory Company unveiled it's 2009-2010 lineup this week. The theme for the season, according to artistic director Curt Columbus and associate director Craig Watson, is second chances.

Here's what they have to say:

“Starting over and taking up the challenge is something we’re all facing, regardless of ideology,” Watson says. “We wanted a season that people would have fun with – giving us all a second chance, a second wind, with music and laughter,” adds Columbus.

Trinity Rep doesn't usually tackle a lot of musicals, so I'm really looking forward to Kander and Ebb's classic Cabaret. And The Odd Couple, wow. I've seen so many of the movies made from Neil Simon's plays but I've never had a chance to see one on stage. In fact, I only know either of those shows from their film and television incarnations.

I saw Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. She has a good ear for witty dialog and creates some great, quirky characters. I'm hoping Dead Man's Cell Phone will be another insightful look at modern life.

I have to admit that I've never heard of Shooting Star or its playwright, Steven Deitz. But I do love romantic comedies. Likewise, I'm not familiar with Pamela Gien, but the Syringa Tree sounds like a very moving personal story.

As for Twelfth Night, well, after seeing a few of Shakespeare's tragedies in a row, it'll be nice change of pace.

Here's the lineup: (And of course, A Christmas Carol is returning, from Nov. 20 to Dec. 27.)

Cabaret book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb
September 11 – October 11 in the Chace Theater
Berlin, 1931: music, money, and love are there for the taking. Cliff seeks inspiration for his novel. He finds it in Sally Bowles, the Kit Kat Klub’s chanteuse, who charms him into sharing his apartment. The emcee has not one but two ladies to keep him company. The landlady’s found new love with the grocer. Yet outside the cabaret the world is changing: what's in store for Sally and her friends? Cabaret celebrates the indomitable human spirit.

Shooting Star by Steven Dietz
October 16 – November 22 in the Dowling Theater
A young man and woman fell in love in college, and promised each other they’d change the world. Twenty years later, they meet unexpectedly in a snow-bound airport. Sharing stories deep into the night, they discover who they’ve become as they recall who they were. When morning comes, all flights are cleared for departure – what’s the final destination for these two? The author of God’s Country and Lonely Planet gives us that rare thing: a truly smart romantic comedy.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
January 29 – March 7 in the Chace Theater
Shipwrecked, orphaned, separated from her twin brother, disguised as a boy in a hostile country – when Viola thinks things can’t get worse, she falls for her new boss, the Duke. He pines for Olivia, who’s sworn off men – till she met Viola’s male alter-ego. Spurned suitors, servants with delusions of grandeur, and Viola’s big, big love for the Duke – it’s a giddy mess that’ll put someone in the madhouse. Shakespeare’s meditation on love and identity is one of his most nuanced – and funniest – comedies.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl
February 19 – March 28 in the Dowling Theater
Why doesn’t he answer that phone?! Jean picks it up, and finds herself holding his legacy in her hand, along with the phone. Think about it: when we leave our bodies, do we live on in our cell phones, iPods, GPS’s, and PDA’s? Do these indispensable tools, these grown-up toys, hold the secrets to the afterlife? From the author of The Clean House, another whimsical comedy about life, death, and love in these modern times – and the connections, real and virtual, holding them together.

The Odd Couple by Neil Simon
April 9 – May 9 in the Chace Theater
Oscar’s wife has left him. Alone in his big apartment on Riverside Drive, his slovenly ways run happily amok. Then, Felix’s wife kicks him out. Concerned about his poker buddy, Oscar takes Felix in, but there’s a problem: Felix is a neat-freak, and his compulsive cleanliness drives Oscar to distraction. What will these woefully, wonderfully mismatched roommates learn from each other? Can they stay together, or is their living situation hopeless? Hilarity ensues in Neil Simon’s beloved touchstone of American comedy.

The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien
April 30 – May 30 in the Dowling Theater
Growing up under Apartheid, six-year-old Lizzie confronts rules she cannot understand. Why must her nanny keep her daughter hidden? Among twenty-eight characters capturing four generations, she paints an evocative portrait of the abiding love between two families – one black, one white. History’s shocking events unravel, mingled with the resonant rites of passage all families share. As Lizzie comes of age, we experience her sacrifice and liberation, and the bonds which cannot be broken.

Theatre trivia

I was doing research on the Internet Broadway Database for another blog post and I came across some interesting trivia.

1.) Apparently, there's never been a Broadway revival of Evita, which really surprised me. The Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice tuner was pretty popular in its day, playing 1,567 performances from 1979 to 1983. Since then, nothing. Maybe the musical has simply toured too often, or it's considered too dated to attract theatregoers who most likely have never heard of Eva Peron? I know there was talk about bringing the 2007 London revival, starring Elena Roger, to Broadway, but that fell through. I can't believe there weren't earlier attempts. I've only seen the 1996 movie, but I love the story and the score. So I'm waiting.

2.) The revival of Cabaret played longer than the original Broadway production of the Kander and Ebb musical. The original began previews on Nov. 2, 1966 and played for 1,165 performances before closing on Sept. 6, 1969. The revival began previews on Feb. 13, 1998 and played for 2,377 performances before closing on Jan. 4, 2004. I'm not sure how uncommon it is for a revival to exceed the run of the original. The original production of Oklahoma, for example, played for 2,212 performances between 1943 and 1948. Since then, there have been four revivals, and not one has come close to lasting as long on Broadway as the original.

3.) Finally, why wasn't 1776, a musical about the writing of the Declaration of Independence, produced on Broadway in 1976? It seems to me that the Bicentennial would have been a perfect time for it. The original opened on March 16, 1969 and played for 1,217 performances, closing on Feb. 13, 1972. A revival began previews on July 16, 1997 and played for 333 performances, closing on June 14, 1998. What took them so long? If someone comes across this post in 2074 or so, don't say I didn't warn you.