By Harry Haun
05 Nov 2007
Brian's son, Alan Cox, who made his Broadway debut earlier this year in the role Sewell originated in a Manhattan Theatre Club revival of Translations, made his dad's opening.
Sinead Cusack, as Cox's cancer-doomed first wife, has an emotionally shattering scene in the first act where she rages against her husband's materialism and her ravaged body.
"Yes, it's hard-ISH," Cusack conceded, "but I love doing it. The great thing is that I die in the first act and I'm rejuvenated in the second act. If it were the other way around, it would be quite different, I think."
Conspicuously missing in action was her husband, Jeremy Irons, who won his Tony for an earlier Stoppard (The Real Thing). "He's in Santa Fe filming with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen — which is sad, but there you go . . ."
The also double-cast Mary Bacon, who's married to Primary Stage exec Andrew Leynes, is one of the eight Yanks hired here to complete the cast. It's a smooth Anglo-American blend, accent-wise. "That's because they are so professional and generous," Bacon proffered. "They love what they're doing, and they respect American actors immediately. You felt that the first day, and that was very exciting for us."
The British have done quite well with Stephen Kunken of late — Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon last season, Stoppard this season. "I owe my whole career right now to Brits," he trilled. "Tom's language is like doing a Shakespeare play. It makes those demands. Then, you add on top of that these heightened emotions. It's bigger in scope than most plays. It's not a small living-room play where three or four characters just sorta talk over the course of an evening. This is a big, big undertaking. For an actor, it's like doing a classical piece of work."
Ken Marks is double-cast as a Secret Service man in Act I and a waiter in Act II. "There are people who think, 'Is that the same guy? Did he get knocked down a few pegs so that he comes out as a waiter at the end?'" he hooted. "Actually, they give me a mustache to throw it off a little bit, maybe confuse people some."
His euphoria over the frenetic rehearsal period was characteristic of the American additions: "Tom once sat us down and talked about his play for two-and-a-half hours — just the first act — and it was unbelievable. And, Trevor gave some notes to us the other day that were just inspiring — just thrilling — thoughtful and exciting. We barely had any rehearsals — only about ten rehearsals — but it has been a pretty amazing experience."
The real-life reference-point in attendance at the opening was Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, who had three or four of his songs wash by during the evening. "I saw the play before at the Royal Court in London and loved it," he said. "I think it's very moving. Of course, I lived through that particular bit of Cambridge history. I'd never met Tom until I saw the play. We had dinner afterward, and we have since become good friends."
The platoon of producers glittered up the evening with casts from various shows around town — Curtains (David Hyde Pierce, Karen Ziemba, Jill Paice, Michael McCormick), The Seafarer (Jim Norton, Sean Mahon, Conleth Hill) and Is He Dead? (Patricia Conolly, David Pittu).
There were also an inordinate amount of directors in attendance, two of whom owe their Tonys to Stoppard — Jack O'Brien (the Utopia trilogy and The Invention of Love) and Mike Nichols (The Real Thing) with, of course, Diane Sawyer. Arriving late was David Leveaux, who did the revivals of Stoppard's Jumpers and The Real Thing).
The Seafarer's Conor McPherson and Is He Dead?'s Michael Blakemore bopped by from their previews. Julie Taymor, with Oscar-winning composer-husband Elliot Goldenthal, was bracing for next Sunday's big 10th anniversary bash for her The Lion King and, much farther down the line, her Spider-Man musical.
Taking Sides director David Jones, who got terrific reviews in August for the Williamstown revival of the seldom-seen Lillian Hellman play, The Autumn Garden, has high hopes to redo that for Broadway. "I can hang them all together if I can get the spot," he said of the cast, which includes Allison Janney, Jessica Hecht, John Benjamin Hickey, Mamie Gummer, Brian Kerwin and Maryann Plunkett. Jones just returned to the London stage after a 12-year absence, directing David Suchet in The Last Confession. "I'm going to do that at the Ahmanson in January of '09 — and it may come here after that." It's the play that asks the question: "Was the Pope murdered in 1978?"
Joe Dowling was in from The Guthrie in Minneapolis, basking in some glowing notices he got for directing Brian Friel's most recent play, The Home Place, with Simon Jones. "The reviews were really good," he admitted. "The play should be seen. It's terrific."
Terence Rigby and Ian McShane found themselves on the same floor. Both made their Broadway debuts 40 years ago — McShane in The Promise with Ian McKellen and Eileen Atkins, Rigby in the original Tony-winning version of the play McShane is now reviving: The Homecoming. Rigby just finished a Faye Dunaway flick called "Flick."
Other first-nighters included Betsy Aidem, James Pickens Jr. of "Gray's Anatomy," Liz Callaway (set for the Metropolitan Room Nov. 20-Dec. 2), Claudia Shear (in platform shoes!), Lauren Bacall, David Ives, Eve Best, Kathryn Erbe, Ben Chaplin, Laurie Anderson and The Velvet Underground's Lou Reed.
All three floors of Angus McIndoe's were packed to the gills — sardine-standing for everybody — and some of the crowd spilled out onto the street where tables were set up to accommodate the overflow. Nobody started a revolution, though.
 |
 |
| The cast of Rock 'n' Roll takes their opening night bows.
|
|
| photo by Aubrey Reuben |
| View article on single page | Previous Page 1 | 2 Next Page |
