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A CurtainUp
Feature
Holden Caulfield, Theater
Aficionado
by Elyse Sommer
Close to half a century after its
1951 debut The Catcher in the Rye continues to resonate with high school and
college students. He's also continues to hold a place in the heart of the people in their 50s and 60s
who are
Holden's contemporaries--or at least they would be if he were a real
person instead of frozen in
time as an icon and favorite allusion for the disenchanted young everywhere.
Not the least of the institutions which Holden examines with less than unqualified
admiration is the
theater. While he admits that his father can't be blamed for being upset at his carelessness about
money, he quickly points out that dad makes enough money as a corporate lawyer to invest in
Broadway shows that invariably flop. Later, in the same chapter, he strikes up a
conversation with two nuns. When one, a high school English teacher, expresses her
admiration for Romeo and Juliet, he agrees but with typical Holden-esque
reservations. Because he likes Mercutio and finds him "very smart" and more sympathetic than
Romeo, his killing bothers him. He's also a little embarassed to discuss a play which "gets pretty
sexy in parts" with a nun.
In chapter 16 Holden walks over to "mobbed
and messy" Broadway to buy theater tickets for his Sunday afternoon date with Sally Hayes.
He heads right for the box office since this was pre-TKTs discount booth and prices were not yet
beyond the reach of even a well-heeled preppie. And so he buys two
orchestra seats for I Know My Love by S. N. Berhrman, starring Alfred Lunt
and
Lynn Fontanne.
Since he considers Sally "the
queen of the phonies" (phoniness being the quality that Holden disdains most in people), he
knows
she will be thrilled to see a show with these luminaries of the stage. His own take on the show is
that it isn't as bad as some he's seen but that it was nevertheless "on the crappy side." And while
he did like the Lunts he thought they were "too good."
Besides his amusing analysis of the play and performances, he also has a few well chosen words
for the many "phonies" in the audience.
Theater enthusiasts who've never read The Catcher in the Rye or haven't read it
since high school,
should take a first or second look at it if only for these idiosynchratic comments on the theater in
chapters 15-17.
Since Catcher is still on many required school reading lists, you should find a
copy of the book in your library. If you can't find it there or in your local book store, log over
to the Amazon internet store.
On Line Book Store for Catcher On The Rye
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