"There’s a resonance here that is very powerful," said Brian Dennehy who plays the patriarch James Tyrone in the play. Joining Dennehy were director Robert Falls and castmates Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Sean Leonard and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who quipped "It’s great to see the house because it reminds you they were just another family.” Currently in rehearsal, Long Day’s Journey Into Night is set to begin previews at Broadway's Plymouth Theatre April 26 for an opening of May 6. The play is based upon O'Neill's real life and was set in the Tyrone family's summer home. The cast also took in the porch which looks out onto the Thames River and the cottage's surroundings.
"It’s incredible how oppressive the [upstairs] ceiling is," noted Leonard. "I can see how they would want to stay [downstairs] playing cards all night."
O'Neill wrote Long Day’s Journey Into Night during the years 1939-41. Though he wished the play not be performed for 25 years after his death (which occurred in 1953), the American premiere came in 1956, directed by Jose Quintero. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1957 — O'Neill's fourth following wins for Beyond the Horizon, Anna Christie and Strange Interlude.
The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center was founded in 1964 and is based in Waterford CT. They are located on the web at www.theoneill.org.
For tickets to Long Day’s Journey Into Night, call (212) 239-6200 or click here.