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A CurtainUp Review
Love Letters
By Elyse Sommer
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This is a play, or rather a sort of play, which needs no theatre, no lengthy rehearsal, no special set, no memorization of lines. It needs no commitment from its two actors beyond the night of performance. It is designed simply to be read aloud by an actor and an actress roughly of the same age, sitting side by side at a table in front of a group of people of any size. — From A. R. Gurney's Author's Note for the script of Love Letters. |
Brian Dennehy & Mia Farrow (Photo: Carol Rosegg)
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Sure, the format is a conceit to test the viability of presenting what's essentially a staged reading as a finished play but with minimal production values and the lines read rather than memorized by the actors. For artistic directors the ease, economy and flexibility for mounting it and the chance to nab actors unavailable for long commitments, is irresistible.
But if Love Letters were merely a stylistic trick, an epistolary journey into A. R. Gurney's affluent WASP world, it would never have achieved its enduring, world-wide popularity. You see, the hand penned communications spanning fifty years in the lives of Andrew Makepeace Ladd 3d and Melissa Gardner don't just tickle your funny bone, but grab hold of your heart strings.
Even though the actors sit side by side and never touch or actually connect their letters, invitations and postcards somehow bring the do-the-right-thing, Andy and the artistic and more emotionally volatile Melissa to full, vivid and ultimately heartbreaking life. You wish that their occasional attempts to have the love they clearly have for each could have a happy ending. But aren't all our lives full of missed opportunities?
Even the first Off-Broadway production was buoyed and extended by casting rotating pairs of well-known actors to capture the moods of Andrew and Melissa as they journey through their very different and never-the-twain-shall-connect paths in life. But ultimately it's A. R. Gurney's way with words that turned this "sort of play" into the real thing.
Without Gurney's deft use of the specialized style these characters and their relationship would be too ordinary and predictable for the audience to care about and identify with them. But as penned by Gurney their letters takes us along with Melissa and Andy through the hilarious as well as troubled road map of their lives — her downward spiral that starts with her parents' divorce, his more secure and satisfying, though also fraught, personal and career trajectory.
The push-pull between Melissa's preference for in-person or phone contact rather than letter writing and Andy's passionate dedication to pen and paper communication is especially touching now that hand-written letters have become as quaint as leather bound books. In a long, passionate ode to this form of communication he explains that he even loves writing to his parents because "I then become the ideal son." But most touching his declaration to Melissa: I love writing to you because it makes him feel like a true lover. . . giving myself to you across a distance, not keeping or retaining any part of it for myself. . ." In a one-line master stroke Mr. Gurney response by Melissa is a master stroke of brevity's power: Oh, boy Andy!. . .Love Melissa.
The producers of this new Broadway production of Love Letters couldn't have picked a more compatible and perfect pair of thespians than Mia Farrow and Brian Dennehy. They walk on stage together with Dennehy true to the gentlemanly Andy, pulling out a chair for Ms. Farrow. They hug each other when the last letter is read, but what happens during the non-interacting ninety minutes in between is a triumph of the actor's art. Farrow, who has the showier role is transcendent. Melissa's spinning out of control, emotional frailty character seems written for her; so much so, that one wonders how subsequent castings can be as sublime even with the terrific actresses slated to follow this run.
Still, with the capable Gregory Mosher at the helm, each new pair of actors is likely to sail through Andy and Melissa's epistolary romance from second grade through middle age with flying colors. The program insert listing the upcoming, all-star casts suggests catching all of them. However, while it would indeed be interesting to see what all these actors bring to the play, this is a bit of a producers' pipe dream.
Charming as Mr. Gurney's script is, seeing it once a month could easily take the shine of its charm. There's also the high price of tickets to consider as well as the many other new show's competing for the theater goer's time and entertainment expenditures.
Though a top tier set of designers have given this production a polished Broadway-worthy look and feel, the only Broadway-ish bells and whistles come from the names on the marque.
Perhaps in a perfect world where anything is possible, this show's run could end with a special performance or set of performances in which each set of actors could come on stage to do an excerpt. Since that's as unlikely to happen as my going back month after month to see the next Andy and Melissa, I hope those Curtainup readers who see any of the upcoming stars, will write and tell us about it. Naturally, by e-mail rather than Gurney's beloved snail mail.
Whether you see Dennehy and Farrow or those following in the footsteps, this is still a tasty nostalgic treat. Gimmicky though it is, it's a poignant story of a genuine love that can't quite make it into happily ever after territory.
For more about the play's background and casts, check out the Love Letter website at http://lovelettersbroadway.com/. It's one of the most attractive and informative website for a Broadway show that I've seen.
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Love Letters by A. R. Gurney Directed by Gregory Mosher Cast: Brian Dennehy & Mia Farrow, from 9/13/14 to 10/10/14 (10/11/14-11/08/14, Carol Burnett & Brian Dennehy; 11/9/14-12/05/14 Alan Alda & Candice Bergen; 12/06/14/ 1/09/15, Stacy Keach & Diana Rigg; 1/10/15-2/01/15, Anjelica Huston & Martin Sheen) Scenic Design:John Lee Beatty Costume Design: Jane Greenwood Lighting Design: Peter Kaczorowski Sound Design: Scott Lehrer Stage Manager: Matthew Farrell Running Time: 90 minutes no intermission Brooks Atkinson West 47th Street From 9/13/14; opening 9/18/14; closing 2/01/15-- moved up during Alda and Bergen's extended run, now closing 12/14/14. Tuesday - Thursday @7pm; Friday and Saturday @8pm; Wednesday and Saturday @2pm; Sunday @3pm. Tickets: $52 tp $127. Reviewed by Elyse sommer at 9/17 press matinee |
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