Albee Memory - Thoughts on Favorite Plays Ever (including his)

This is a post I did in 2011, which you may or may not have seen.  Since I mention a couple of Albee plays in here, I thought it was a fun way to end the week.  You'll notice I didn't reprint my review of the most recent A Delicate Balance revival.  I guess I didn't feel like reliving my disappointment.

If I think about productions I would add to the below list since I wrote it, I would have to add two Mark Rylance productions: Jerusalem and Twelfth Night.  And the Our Town with Spalding Gray.  Penelope Ann Miller was exquisite as Emily.  Maybe Charles Busch's The Divine Sister - I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a play.  Or maybe Next to Normal - I don't think I've ever cried so much at a musical!  Orphan's Home Cycle?  Gee, there is so much to choose from...



5/20/11:  Changing the subject, I was reading another blog the other day and the author decided to do a list of his favorite productions, just in case The Rapture happens tomorrow and he didn't get the chance to jot his thoughts down.  I thought this sounded like a pretty good idea, so since [Mabou Mines'] Peter and Wendy is on my top experiences list, I'll give some more.  These are in no particular order and certainly not in chronological order (the years are hopefully right, but could be off here and there):

Amadeus, Hilberry Repertory Theatre, 1987:  I think this is the first show I saw as a company member at the Hilberry and I was blown away.  Gordon Reinhart and Tony Dobrowolski were spectacular as Mozart and Salieri.  It's still my favorite version of the stage play, though I did enjoy the NY revival from a few years ago starring David Suchet and Michael Sheen;

A Delicate Balance, Broadway, 1996:  here is the production that made me bow at the altar of George Grizzard.  It was also my first time seeing Elaine Stritch live and in person. We had actually done Delicate Balance at the Hilberry and it was terrific (I saw all sixteen performances in rep), but this one just blew me away.  I think I saw it a total of four times. God, I love Albee;

Seascape, Bonstelle Theater, 1988; Broadway, 2005:  Speaking of loving Albee and bowing at the altar of George Grizzard... after seeing the great production of Delicate Balance at the Hilberry, the WSU undergraduate theater company did Seascape, another Albee play I hadn't known before. BLOWN AWAY.  Loved it, it's so rueful and poignant, filled with gorgeous lyricism.  I was thrilled there was a Broadway revival and I loved seeing it.   George Grizzard was, of course, wonderful, but he could do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned.

Cold Harbor, Porthouse Theater, 1985:  this was a Mabou Mines production--they came to give master classes to KSU students (Porthouse is Kent's summer theater), and then did this absolutely stunning production that had museum curators at an exhibition about Ulysses S Grant and Bill Raymond as Grant in a glass case!  Then he would come to life and talk about the horrors of war.  There were dioramas and tableaux vivant.  It was amazing and so inspiring.  Oh, and I developed a huge crush on Bill Raymond.  Perhaps he was a precursor to all my husbands?

Death of a Salesman, Players Guild of Canton, 1994:  yes, a community theater production of Salesman.  But my friend Rick Lombardo directed a shattering version of this play, and having it done with basically non-actors (at least not professional actors) added a layer of authenticity and poignancy to the whole thing.  Rick is an amazing director--if you ever have a chance to see a show that he's directed, jump on it;

Six Degrees of Separation, Lincoln Center, 1990:  when this was running on Broadway, I was working at Fordham.  Every time they did a cast change, Fordham students would get invited to dress rehearsals--I always tagged along.  I had to have seen this production ten or twelve times (there were a LOT of dress rehearsals).  The Matisse monologue has stayed with me as few non-Shakespearean monologues ever have.  And Stockard Channing's performance is one of the most multi-faceted and layered masterpieces I have ever seen;

Ragtime, Broadway revival, 2009:  few musicals have moved me as much as this one did. This revival, although in a huge Broadway house, seemed so intimate and so personal--it worked on so many levels and broke my heart at each of them.  It was a crime that it closed so quickly;

Journey's End, Broadway, 2007:  this play sort of had the same effect on me that seeing the movie Platoon had--it left me gasping for air, weeping loudly and so glad to be alive. The coup de theatre at the end of the play truly left me speechless and profoundly moved;

Fiddler on the Roof, Porthouse Theater, 1984:  I love Fiddler, always have.  But this production, starring the beloved outgoing chair of the KSU theater department, Bill Zucchero, was beyond spectacular.  His daughters played Tevye's daughters, his friends played his friends, his students played...everyone else.  Bill was such a joy--a mentor and teacher beyond desciption.  Watching him play out his goodbyes to Kent as Tevye saying goodbye to Anatevka was just heartbreaking.  I watched every single moment of every single performance that summer;

Kabuki Macbeth, Detroit tour, 1989:  in my goal to see every production of Macbeth I can, I went to catch a touring company doing a Kabuki version when I lived in Detroit.  It was mesmerizing. The guy playing Macbeth had to have been seven feet tall (at least that's how I remember him), and they were also doing some Suzuki-style acting--it was quite thrilling;

The Normal Heart, Public Theater, 2004:  although I think the current revival is a better production overall, when I saw Normal Heart in 2004, it was the first time I had ever seen the play.  When I say I could not speak afterwards for a good half hour, I am not exaggerating.  Its power and beauty and sadness were overwhelming.  And Raul Esparza was spectacular;

Prayer for my Enemy, Playwrights Horizons, 2008:  I found this play by Craig Lucas to be full of profound truths.  Victoria Clark had one monologue that literally had me re-evaluating my entire life.  I can hardly type this now without crying and recalling the way my breath stopped.  The things she talked about in that speech are aspects of my life I'm still trying to work through.  Gorgeous writing.

Those are the plays that came to mind right off the top of my head.  I'm sure others will find their way into my brain and be angry that they weren't included.  But...I tried.  I have favorite moments, too, like the time I sneezed during Morning, Noon and Night by Spalding Gray and he said 'bless you.'  :)