Let’s hope T.S. Eliot was wrong when he wrote that “April is the cruelest month.…” because I find it difficult to imagine crueler month than January, marred as it has been by the loss of so many artists, friends, mentors and colleagues.
I was so saddened to hear of the passing of Marsha Hanna, Artistic Director of The Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio. I got to know Marsha when she was the Producing Director of The Human Race/Rhythm In Shoes production of BROTHER WOLF. I spent a weekend in Dayton and was blown away by Marsha’s talent and generosity of spirit. She was involved with The Human Race from its founding and led one of those wonderful theaters that proudly connects with its community. She was an inspiration to me. To everyone at The Human race, my thoughts and prayers are with you in this sad time.
I never met Theoni V. Alredge, but I have seen her work and worked and studied with many people who had the privilege of working with her. She was a great costume designer, winning three Tony Awards and an Oscar. Her work influenced so many of the designers I have worked with. She was a real theatrical legend.
The death of Romulus Linney has been particularly hard to accept. Growing up in Boone, I encountered a playwright who was to have enormous impact on my work. As far as I know, he is the only other person to have spent Sundays in the Boone United Methodist Church, earned an MFA in directing from The Yale School of Drama and written plays about the Blue Ridge Mountains. Of course, he also wrote much more than just about the Appalachians. But it is his plays like HOLY GHOSTS and HEATHEN VALLEY that will always move me most deeply because they feel so much like home. I met him several years ago in New York and, thanks to Chris Morris, had the thrill of an hour long conversation with him last fall. We talked about theater, Boone, writing, Yale. I was amazed by his generosity, talent and wisdom. Triad staged his adaptation of A LESSON BEFORE DYING in our second season. I hope there will be many more productions of his work here in the future.
I will never forget the first time I read Reynolds Price. I was studying in Chicago. I was 18 and in a big city alone for the first time. I walked north from DePaul in a snowstorm to a used bookstore where I picked up a copy of KATE VAIDEN. I sat between the shelves and read the first chapter. The winter disappeared as I found myself in Carolina again, embraced by his words. I was a dirt poor college student, but I spent every last dime I had to buy the book. And I haven’t stopped reading him since. When we did AUGUST SNOW in our second season, I was overwhelmed that he not only visited to see the show, but came back again. Meeting him, knowing that he loved the work we had done on his beautiful play was one of the most rewarding moments of my life. Hearing of his death was like losing a part of myself. I cannot imagine a world without Reynolds Price.
When I saw Pete Postlethwaite in THE NAME OF THE FATHER, I was blown away. The performance changed me forever. Oh, what I would give to have seen him on stage.
Charlie Louvin. What can I say? In the horrible world of Top 40 country, a few legends keep the memory of when Nashville made real music alive. With the loss of Mr. Louvin, we have lost one of those legends. As he once sang, “I Think I’ll Go Somewhere and Cry Myself To Sleep.”
I had this dream that I would walk into Café La Blanca in Mexico City and see John Ross where he sat for so many years and over an order of enchiladas and café con leche we would talk Mexico and politics, But by December of last year he was already back in the US. His book EL MONSTRUO is the best book I have read about Mexican history. I just recently got MURDERED BY CAPITALISM and can’t wait to begin another wild ride with a writer I discovered too late.
Though not in the theater, the work of Julia Bonds was a tremendous inspiration. Her fight against mountaintop removal in the Appalachian Mountains was brave. She was one of those people who fought to preserve the Appalachian region.
Ellen Stewart, founder of NYC’s La Mama, E.T.C. was a theatrical legend. It is hard to imagine the American theater without her. Her impact changed the way we view the theater and will continue to be felt as long as there are artists among us who dare to dream of a different kind of way of making theater.
Who didn’t love Anne Francis? FORBIDDEN PLANET, BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, and my personal favorite Don Knotts’ film (not an easy pick, by the way) THE LOVE GOD? were just some of her film and TV work.
A brutal act of terrorism half a world away can suddenly seem closer when you find a sudden connection to one of the victims. The bombing at Moscow’s Domodebovo Airport claimed the life of Anna Yablonskaya, a young playwright on her way to Moscow to receive an award. I hope her work will soon be available in translation so we can get to know this young artist who lost her life too soon.
As January 2011 comes to a close, I pray the rest of the year will be kinder to the dreamers, the artists, the geniuses and the brave few who dare to see the world differently and share their vision with us.
No offense, but if there's a facebook like button, it'll be much easier for me to share.
Posted by: Elliptical reviews | 11/29/2011 at 10:24 PM