After my early afternoon with Durang, I needed to get to the American Airlines Theater on 42nd Street for the next chapter in my perfect day of theatre. I went head over tea kettle down the stairs trying to catch a downtown 6 train. Everything fell out of my purse…newly signed Durang books, wallet, and my entire purse potpourri. All of these men came out of the subway car, scooped me and my stuff up while another sacrificed his body in the subway door so it could not close. They kept yelling, “Come on sweetheart…you can make it!” It was a glorious moment of chivalry by men who ended up being homeless buskers. It was a true OINK moment.
Since I had gone with John von Soosten to Pygmalion last Friday, he invited me back to the matinee talkback with the cast that he was conducting (XM28 Broadway Satellite Radio). Claire Danes had bailed. The excuse given was that she had to rest her voice between performances. The truth (I discovered) was that some of the reviews about her Broadway debut published over the weekend were less than glowing. She was devastated and hesitant to talk to the public. I hate to admit it, but I am so grateful that she was absent. Had she been there, inevidently the discussion would have revolved around her introduction to the stage and a comparison between stage and screen.
I could listen to Jefferson Mays speak for hours. He not only enlightened an entire audience about Shaw and the Edwardian era (Higgins represented the changes bursting during this time and Pickering represents the man between the Victorian and the Edwardian age), he also gave great insight to the text itself. Here are some of the lessons learned:
· Shaw wrote Pygmalion for Mrs. Patrick Campbell with whom he was in love. He called her Stella. However, later in their life when she asked Shaw if she could publish their love letters, he said, “My dear Stella, at this time in my life, I refuse to be the horse to your Lady Godiva.”
· The character of Eliza was originally cast as a woman in her late 40’s
· Jefferson Mays has never seen the musical My Fair Lady or the movie version of it. However, he says it is first on his Netflicks list after their December 17th close.
· The biggest difference between the musical and the drama (besides the obvious) is that in the straight version, the transformation of Eliza happens offstage. This genre is about the repercussions of the changes.
· This is a feminist play. It digs deep into Shaw’s own relationship with his mother. In Pygmalion there is much more development on Higgins' mother – he find more strength from her and values her opinion. A higher level of respect is observed.
· Mrs. Pierce knows exactly how the plot will end from the beginning.
· Jefferson Mays is a student of Viewpointing. He cited Anne Bogart numerous times. He talks about the responsibility that an actor has. He also talked about the degree of energy and rigor an actor needs just to stand on the stage. Finally he emphasized risk taking as key to interesting stage work.
· Mays claims that the text must be the bible to the process. The problems that need to be solved are in the play, and that is the work of the actor.
· Shaw believed that if one is going to expose people to the truth, one better be prepared to make them laugh.
· Shaw thought that he could get people to think like him through his writing. Where Marx and Lenin thought socialism would happen through revolution. This is a play about social change.
· We still judge people by the way they speak – certainly one’s class and education.
· Transformation is the American way…that is why American’s prefer My Fair Lady to Pygmalion.
· He cited Oscar Wilde who said, “The British has a class system and is proud of it. Americans have a class system and pretends it does not exist. “
· Lerner (half of Lerner and Lowe who wrote the music for My Fair Lady) had said that he was attacked for his work on the musical. People would say, “How dare you do that to Shaw.” Now, people have the opposite reaction. They say, “Where is the music? Where is Freddy, Ascot and 'the rain in Spain?'"
Afterwards, I got Jefferson’s autograph and told him that I was so impressed with deep knowledge and his ability to articulate it to the audience. Also, I told him that my dear friend Peppy Biddy had such great things to say about him when he was at the Sundance lab working on I am My Own Wife. He seemed thrilled by hearing Pep’s name and told me to greet him.
John and I had planned on having dinner before he was to take his colleague’s daughter to Mary Poppins (I was a bit jealous as I saw this amazing musical last March). We went to Angus McIndoe. As we waited for our meal Tom Stoppard walked in and sat two tables away. My day just gets better and better….
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