Downstage Center hits 300

Today marks another milestone for my favorite podcast, the American Theatre Wing's Downstage Center. This week's interview, with composer John Kander, is number 300.

Congratulations!

At the time of my first trip to Broadway, in 2007, I was pretty much a blank slate when it came to theatre. Four-time Tony winner Audra McDonald? I would have shrugged. But somehow I found my way to Downstage Center, then a co-production of the Wing and XM Satellite Radio.

The interviews with actors, directors, playwrights and designers were my ticket to the world of theatre on Broadway and beyond. I'd download the podcast from iTunes and listen at the gym or in the car.

The hosts, XM Satellite's John von Soosten and the Wing's executive director, Howard Sherman, were great at making the shows relaxed and conversational. Their questions were insightful and the guests weren't rushed - they were given plenty of time to talk about their lives and careers.

For example, I now know that at age 16, McDonald played Eva Peron in a Fresno, Calif., dinner-theatre production of Evita. One of Nathan Lane's first professional acting jobs was in a musical about the history of New Jersey, called Jerz. And Jan Maxwell got her Equity card after being cast as the understudy for the role of Lily St. Regis in a bus-and-truck tour of Annie.

It's been great to find an interview with someone whose work I've just seen onstage. I can't pick a favorite - every program has an anecdote or a quote that sticks with me, and I've shared a few of them on my blog. But the one with Marian Seldes is a gem. I even had a chance to tell her how much I enjoyed it.

Since August 2009 Downstage Center has been solely a Wing production, with Sherman handling the interviewing. (On the Wing's blog, he writes about the program's history.) I hope it'll continue, with his participation, after he steps down as executive director next year.

Patti LuPone: A Memoir

People write memoirs to talk about their difficult childhoods, tout their accomplishments, describe the obstacles they've overcome in life. I think Patti LuPone wrote Patti LuPone: A Memoir to settle some scores.

The book was penned "with" Digby Diehl, who's worked on several celebrity autobiographies. But I've listened to a few lengthy interviews with LuPone and the tone is all hers. If you're interested in theatre, it's a brisk and entertaining read.

LuPone makes it clear that she hasn't had it easy - from the time she put on tap shoes to make her stage debut at age 4 in Northport, Long Island, in 1953 to winning her second Tony, for Best Actress in a Musical for Gypsy, in 2008.

It's all interesting, from being part of the first class in the Juilliard School's Drama Division, run by the imperious John Houseman, crisscrossing the country with The Acting Company, her long relationship with Kevin Kline, her triumph in Evita, the epic battle with Andrew Lloyd Webber during Sunset Boulevard, and her most recent Broadway runs.

Frankly, I was kind of shocked that she even got cast in Evita. LuPone admits that she was vocally unprepared for the role. Luckily, a member of the chorus helped her with her technique so she could actually sing it. Yikes!

You get a sense from the memoir of the vagabond life of a performer, especially one who's focused her career on the stage. But I have to say, despite having spent her entire adult life as an actress, she hasn't seemed to enjoy it very much.

With the exception of Sweeney Todd and Gypsy, it appears that LuPone has had to put up with incompetent directors, boorish costars or devious producers just about every time she's been on stage, on TV or in a movie.

Now, I love LuPone as a performer - I was a big fan of the TV series Life Goes On, which is where I became aware of her. And seeing her in Gypsy - first at Encores and then on Broadway - was unforgettable. I also got her autograph at the stage door at City Center, so she gets high marks for that.

But I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. She comes across as loyal to her friends and brutal toward anyone who rubs her the wrong way, anyone she feels has slighted her. Sometimes, it's probably justified. But other times, I don't know.

For example, John Berry, director of The Baker's Wife: "was an obnoxious human being with absolutely revolting personal hygiene." As for Bill Smitrovich, who played her husband in Life Goes On: "I faced a seven-year sentence with a thoroughly distasteful man."

Still, there are plenty of people she adores, including Marian Seldes, her Juilliard teacher, who "had an unfailing confidence in my ability. She was also my biggest defender." And Evita costar Mandy Patinkin "is an angel for me; he was heaven-sent. I will love him forever." She also has nice things to say about her husband and son.

Amid all the kvetching (and there's a lot of it) LuPone's love for the theatre, for Broadway, does come through. She's very much taken with the traditions, the rituals of the stage. I like this quote: "What is theatre if it doesn't incite, doesn't move, doesn't change us in some way?"

But here's the most interesting thing I learned from reading her memoir:

When I saw Gypsy at Encores in 2007, Marian Seldes was sitting across the aisle from me. At intermission, I told her how much I'd enjoyed seeing her on Broadway in Deuce.

We talked for a moment about LuPone. Like me, Miss Seldes was enthralled with her performance. At the time, I thought it was simply one actress admiring the work of another. I didn't realize that it was a beloved teacher watching her former student in the role of a lifetime.

Now, I know the rest of the story.

It's Tony night 2010!

The 64th annual Tony Awards, recognizing the best of Broadway, are tonight!

Despite the exclamation mark, my anticipation level is a little lower this year since I haven't seen any of the shows that opened on Broadway in 2010.

Still, I'll be looking forward to a glimpse of the ones I haven't seen and rooting for the nominees from the first half of the 2009-2010 season.

I enjoyed them all but I'd be especially delighted if Jon Michael Hill wins for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Superior Donuts and Montego Glover for Best Actress in a Musical for Memphis.

And hearing Angela Lansbury sing in A Little Night Music was such a thrill, I'll be cheering if she raises one of those new taller, heavier Tonys over her head in triumph.

What's amazed me in the run-up to the Tonys this year is the coverage - in print and from online sites, in blogs and on Twitter.

While it's been tough to keep up with all of the interviews and predictions and looks back at the Broadway season, what a great feast from which to pick and choose.

Among the absolute best pieces I've read is today's New York Times interview with Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Marian Seldes. I had the great honor of seeing her and Angela Lansbury on Broadway in Deuce in 2007.

Finally, I want to send my congratulations to David Hyde Pierce, recipient of the Isabelle Stevenson Award in recognition of his work with the Alzheimers Association.

One of my favorite Tony moments was jumping up from the couch and cheering three years ago when he won for Best Actor in a Musical for Curtains, the very first musical I saw on Broadway.

The non-televised portion of the Tonys - where awards for design, book of a musical, score and choreography are handed out - will be at 7 p.m. You can watch online at Broadway.com. The prime-time portion, hosted by Promises, Promises nominee Sean Hayes, begins at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Three extra special 2010 Tony Awards

Awards season on Broadway is kicking into high gear and I'm thrilled with three that were announced today. Congratulations to Alan Ayckbourn and Marian Seldes, who will receive 2010 Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre and to David Hyde Pierce, this year's recipient of the Isabelle Stevenson Award.

The Isabelle Stevenson Award recognizes an individual from the theatre community who has volunteered time and effort on behalf of a charitable, humanitarian or social service organization.

I've enjoyed the work of all three on Broadway: British playwright Ayckbourn for his hilarious trilogy The Norman Conquests, Seldes as a retired tennis pro in Deuce, and Hyde Pierce in his Tony-winning performance in the musical Curtains.

I've also had a chance to meet Seldes and Hyde Pierce and they are incredibly gracious and generous with their time.

Hyde Pierce is being honored for his work in the fight against Alzheimer's disease, which claimed the lives of his father and grandfather. He's a board member of the Alzheimer's Association and has worked on the local and national level advocating for additional funding for research and care programs.

Ayckbourn, Seldes and Hyde Pierce have all been guests on the American Theatre Wing's Downstage Center program. If you'd like to learn more about their lives and their contributions to the theatre, those interviews are a great place to start.

The Visitor

I was sitting on the couch watching a dvd, laptop on my lap so I could multitask, when I spotted a familiar face in the first few minutes of The Visitor. It was a cameo by none other than Marian Seldes! I knew I had to stop surfing the 'net and give this movie my undivided attention.

And I'm glad I did. The Visitor is well-acted and such an interesting look at contemporary New York City. Richard Jenkins, who for years was a member of Trinity Repertory Company, and also played the father in Six Feet Under, is an economics professor named Walter Vale who befriends with an illegal immigrant couple.

Walter returns to his Manhattan apartment and finds the couple, a Syrian named Tarek (played by Haaz Sleiman) and his girlfriend, Zainab, from Senegal, (played by Danai Gurira) squatting there. Realizing that they have no place else to go, and perhaps, also, because he's a bit lonely after the death of his wife, he invites them to stay. (Personally, since Tarek reacts so violently at being surprised by Walter, I would have called the police. But that would have been the end of the movie.)

He's soon caught up in their lives and seems invigorated by the pair. And they're so recognizable to anyone who's spent any time in New York City. Tarek plays the djembe, an African drum, and Zainab has a sidewalk table where she sells jewelry that she makes herself. Tarek is the friendlier of the two, inviting Walter along to clubs and teaching him to play the drums. Zainab is more distant and wary at first.

What struck me about The Visitor is that all of the characters are so wonderfully drawn and the performances are so understated. Writer and director Thomas McCarthy was also responsible for The Station Agent, another great movie about a group of unlikely friends. Here, he lets the story unfold bit by bit, with a fact revealed here or there.

When Tarek is arrested and held for being in the country illegally, Walter has to navigate this totally unfamiliar world of immigration laws and detention centers to try and help him. When Tarek's mother, Mouna (Hiam Abbass) arrives from Michigan to find out what happened to her son, Walter befriends her, too. He even takes her to The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, a show she's longed to see.

McCarthy does lay the symbolism on a bit thick at times - at one point, Walter, Mouna and Zainab pass the Statue of Liberty as they take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry. And there seem to be a lot of strategically placed American flags in shots.

But without being too preachy, the movie does a good job of showing how the detention process works and McCarthy makes a good case for a more sane and humane policy toward illegal immigrants. This is a thought-provoking movie that shows a side of life in New York City we don't often get to see up close. And Jenkins is great. I really hope he gets an Oscar nomination.

Happy birthday Marian Seldes!

Thanks to Sarah at Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment, I know that Marian Seldes turns 80 today. (Sarah's created a great photo montage of Seldes' career and her lengthy list of stage credits.) Of course, I can't let the day go by without paying my own tribute to this legendary and gracious actress.

Before I made my first trip to Broadway last year, I was vaguely familiar with her name. I knew that her father, Gilbert Seldes, had been a famous literary critic and Kevin Spacey had mentioned in an interview that she was one of his teachers at Juilliard. But when I decided to see Deuce, I was much more excited about Angela Lansbury, who was making her return to Broadway after an absence of 25 years.

I know a lot of people felt that Terrence McNally's Deuce was sort of thin as a play, but I have to disagree. I enjoyed it so much that I wish it had lasted twice as long as its 90-minute running time. I was enthralled the entire time listening to Seldes' and Lansbury's characters, former tennis professionals who hadn't seen each other in decades.

Granted, there isn't much action. At one point, each of them stands up. But they're mostly just sitting in chairs, in a stadium, reacting to imaginary tennis balls whizzing back and forth as they watch a match at the U.S. Open. Occasionally, the play-by-play announcers chime in and an adoring fan stops by.

But most of the play is simply the two women - former doubles partners - sitting and talking, reminiscing about their lives. And I think that's what made it memorable for me. It's so basic - two people telling a story in front of an audience. It's the world they create with their words that's important, not car chases or special effects. And it's probably one of the most difficult acting jobs because all you have is language, in all of its nuances.

I felt so privileged to be in the company of these two great actresses. I was immediately caught up in their characters. It could easily have ventured into Grumpy Old Men territory and been completely jokey, but it didn't. It was sweet and funny. I liked hearing them talk about the old days, about how things had changed for women, for female athletes, about their hopes and disappointments.

I saw the play on a chilly April evening, and of course I waited at the stage door afterward. Despite the cold, both women were incredibly gracious and accommodating to the crowd that was waiting for them. They signed Playbills and Seldes went down the line, talking to people. They are troupers in every sense of the word.

While Lansbury signed her name in bold strokes, I was especially struck by the fact that Seldes, such a strong figure on stage, has such tiny, delicate handwriting. She signed her name using a blue ballpoint pen and when someone offered her a thick, black marker, she politely declined, saying that she couldn't possibly use it.

Three months later, when I was back in New York, I went to City Center to see Gypsy, and who should come down the aisle, taking a seat almost across from me, but Marian Seldes! I was a little hesitant about approaching her. I mean, yeah, I know you're supposed to leave actors alone when they're on their own time. But what can I say? I'm starstruck! I'm a fangirl!

People kept coming up to her before the show, at intermission, some of them staying way too long in my estimation. The woman barely had a moment to herself. But finally, I saw an opening. I figured, I'll go over for a quick hello and tell her how much I loved Deuce. What could it hurt, right?

I had just listened to a wonderful interview with Seldes on the American Theatre Wing's Downstage Center program. So I went over to where she was sitting, bent down, told her how much I'd enjoyed the interview and how much I loved her in Deuce. She smiled so sweetly, thanked me, and told me how much she loved being in Deuce. She started to talk about Gypsy, saying "Isn't it wonderful," and then she nuzzled my cheek. How awesome is that!

What I admire most about Seldes is that she has maintained such a deep commitment to the theatre over the decades and is so passionate and eloquent when she talks about her craft. At the same time, she's so gracious. And talk about a trouper - she was in Deathtrap during its entire Broadway run and never missed a performance in four years. That's 1,793 performances!

So, a very happy 80th birthday to Marian Seldes. Thank-you for a memorable performance on stage and being so welcoming off stage.

From stage to screen - and back

Last night I watched "Private Practice," the spinoff of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." I've never seen "Grey's Anatomy." I'm not terribly interested in medical shows. And it turns out that this one is pretty forgettable. But Audra McDonald is in it, and that's a big attraction for me.

I saw the four-time Tony winner on Broadway in July in "110 in the Shade." Wow. What an incredible, rich, operatic voice. (Ok, I've never actually been to an opera, but her voice is what I imagine an opera singer's would sound like).

Plus, she's just a great actress. She's a beautiful, confident woman who makes us believe through sheer force of her acting skills that she's awkward, unattractive and insecure. I'd never seen her in anything before, and she totally won me over. Unfortunately, I don't think your average TV-show dialogue really demonstrates the full extent of her talent.

Audra McDonald isn't the only theater veteran I've watched on television this week. I'm at the beginning of a "Sex and the City" marathon, and it was a wonderful surprise to see Marian Seldes playing Mr. Big's mother.

I've seen a few movie and television actors on stage so far. The ever-growing list includes Kevin Spacey, Colm Meaney, David Hyde Pierce and Angela Lansbury. Next month, I'll add Kevin Kline in "Cyrano" to the roster. (Jennifer Garner's in it, too, but I never watched "Alias.")

I have to admit that for me, that's one of the thrills of going to a Broadway show. I enjoy watching an actor whose work I've admired on television or in the movies perform on stage. Now, I'm realizing it works the other way around as well - I enjoy watching an actor I've liked on stage perform on TV or in a movie.

To hear a terrific interview with Audra McDonald, check out this Downstage Center program from 2005. In it, she discusses getting her start at a dinner theater in Fresno, Calif., when she was 16, playing Eva Peron in "Evita," and the relief she felt at finally not winning a Tony Award.