This past weekend brought me out to The Williamstown Theatre Festival to see Kander and Ebb's THE VISIT starring Roger Rees and the legendary Chita Rivera. These types of festivals are truly cultural jewels as they give artists the opportunity to both develop exciting new works and revisit the classics. While I was at Williamstown yesterday afternoon, I had to look no further than the program and the stage to be reminded just why I love theater folk.
Theater actors, to put it simply and crudely, work like dogs. Ms. Rivera is a national treasure in the eyes of generations of American theater-goers. At the age of 81 years young and with over sixty years in the business, she is working just as hard as those bright-eyed and bushy-tailed chorus girls and boys who just got off the train from Allentown, PA or any other proverbial American burg you want to name. Anyone who gets to the see THE VISIT will witness an octogenarian who wants to perform, loves to perform, and needs to perform. While her contemporaries in other more 'conventional' industries have retired to Boca, our beloved Chita is performing an eleventh hour pas de deux with a dancer nearly a quarter her age. Chita has been developing this specific work with John Kander, the late Fred Ebb, and book writer Terrence McNally since 2001. While the show has taken 13 years to reach New England, she has embraced the process every step of the way. She recently told The Boston Globe: "Going and working in that room everyday is really what you sign up to do when you say 'I want to be in the theater.' It's art at work, it's exciting in that way." And Ms. Rivera is not alone in her perseverance, discipline, and dedication to the craft. Other stage greats like John Cullum, John McMartin, Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, and the late Elaine Stritch have all tread the boards through their goldenest of years.
Theater actors, to put it simply and crudely, work like dogs. Ms. Rivera is a national treasure in the eyes of generations of American theater-goers. At the age of 81 years young and with over sixty years in the business, she is working just as hard as those bright-eyed and bushy-tailed chorus girls and boys who just got off the train from Allentown, PA or any other proverbial American burg you want to name. Anyone who gets to the see THE VISIT will witness an octogenarian who wants to perform, loves to perform, and needs to perform. While her contemporaries in other more 'conventional' industries have retired to Boca, our beloved Chita is performing an eleventh hour pas de deux with a dancer nearly a quarter her age. Chita has been developing this specific work with John Kander, the late Fred Ebb, and book writer Terrence McNally since 2001. While the show has taken 13 years to reach New England, she has embraced the process every step of the way. She recently told The Boston Globe: "Going and working in that room everyday is really what you sign up to do when you say 'I want to be in the theater.' It's art at work, it's exciting in that way." And Ms. Rivera is not alone in her perseverance, discipline, and dedication to the craft. Other stage greats like John Cullum, John McMartin, Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, and the late Elaine Stritch have all tread the boards through their goldenest of years.
Unlike other professions, age and experience is revered. As I mentioned earlier, Ms. Rivera is joined on this production by John Kander (at 87 years old), Terrence McNally (at 75), and Graciela Daniele (the baby at 74). Together, this team and their star have over 170 years of professional experience behind them. Ebb, McNally, and Daniele are joined by John Doyle as director. I don't know how old Doyle is - but he assuredly is no spring chicken either. While it would be perfectly acceptable for the eldest statesman, Mr. Kander, to be a good sport and just show up ceremoniously at opening night, the composer has been readily attending rehearsals - only taking a break to accept the National Medal of Arts from President Obama last week. Doyle recently described the composer's work ethic: "He's standing at that piano and watching what's going on and rewriting chords and bits of music in relation to what we're doing in that moment in time. That's beyond privilege. Roger [Rees] used the word the other day: That's historic." That's historic, indeed. When I attended yesterday's matinee, Mr. Kander was greeting friends in the theater's lobby. I have seen and met my fair share of celebrities, but I have yet to become more starstruck than when I realized I was standing just a couple feet away from Mr. Kander. I first heard his vamps as a freshman in high school and I haven't been able to get them out of my head since. Over the years, there have been countless road trips, rehearsals, and theatrical viewings filled with his music - and always, falling in love, time after time, with those catchy tunes and beautiful melodies.
While the lights shine bright on the marquee, the theater is not always a glamorous profession. Sure - there are opening night parties and glitzy award ceremonies, but even when you make it to the top, your dressing room may bear a closer resemblance to a monastery cell than a suite at the Ritz. Possibly more than any other profession, there are the highest of the highs followed by the lowest of the lows. One day you're originating a role on Broadway with your face plastered on a billboard in Time Square and a few short months later you are opening a summer production in Pittsfield...literally. At the end of the day, each member of this collaborative sport called theater does it the love of performing, writing, designing, and storytelling. It's the work that's important and it ultimately becomes one's life (whole life's in many cases) work.
Check out THE VISIT this month in Williamstown. You won't want to miss these theater legends doing what they do best.
Check out THE VISIT this month in Williamstown. You won't want to miss these theater legends doing what they do best.
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