Hello from Osage
Posted by Jeff Perry on 6/09/2008
Goodness, it has been a loooong time since my last blog, so I’ll do my best to relay some of the fabric of our lives here in NY since then……
DENNIS LETTS
We lost our cast mate to cancer a while back. I can’t properly capture how important this man became to all of us. To witness his spirit and humor as he faced his mortality was a priviledge none of us will forget. His contribution to his son’s play was a nightly artistic lesson–as he and Kim, our native Oklahomans, began our story every night August: Osage was graced with the authenticity of a documentary– the father, husband and poet the rest of us had gathered to look for, miss and mourn was made indelibly real on a nightly basis by Mr. Dennis Letts.
We are proud to have shared the boards with him.
BACKSTAGE
Just about every Steppenwolf ensemble member has been able to see Osage, but I’ll relay an appreciation John Malkovich had after seeing it his first time (he’s coming to the show for a third time next week)… John said “Tracy does something quite rare and beautiful with this…and it’s what I love most about our work when it’s really good…there is no demarcation between what’s funnny and what’s sad…it is so moving it’s funny and it’s so funny that it’s moving.” And one more backstage memory– a few weeks ago Helen Mirren and her filmmaker husband Taylor Hackford came backstage after seeing the show and Ms. Mirren left us with a comment we treasure–she said that in her youth she saw the Moscow Art Theatre Company perform and that she had not witnessed that level of ensemble work again until she saw Osage that evening…
AWARDS MOMENTS
Well us boys in the ensemble always knew that the girls were without peer and the world continues to catch up with that reality…Anna, Amy, Rondi, and our amazing guest artist Deanna all up for every award NY has to offer…not to mention our dear Ms. Metcalf and Ms. Plimpton nominated for Tonys for their respective shows…
My favorite awards moment might have been at the Algonquin Hotel as Tracy received the best play award from the NY Drama Critics Circle–Mr. Edward Albee made the presentation and made sure Tracy knew that he thought all the Virginia Woolfe and Long Days Journey comparisons Osage had been showered with were ‘odious’–that Tracy had written a play that would stand perfectly well on it’s own–and then our Tracy got to relate his gratitude that as a bored 12 year old in Oklahoma he began learning the part of George from Virginia Woolfe because his pop taught that play in school and luckily had the script lying around…
DOING A LONG RUN
I miss my wife and girls like crazy, I’m only a partial fan of NY as a place to live, too many rats in this size cage for my taste, but the trade off has been artistically unique for me…what’s toughest about a long run–I grew up doing plays in 3 month increments and I LOVE ‘changing the record on the phonograph’, ya know? But the rewards in a long run are pretty sublime…you revisit your story so many times that, ironically, you have to make a greater contract with the ‘present’ to remain fresh…You lean even more into the jazz ethic that we love anyway, ie, ‘if we’re playing ‘Misty‘ for the seven thousandth time, let’s play it like we never heard it before’…what also happens is that as you get to know the piece backwards and forwards you start to ‘de-emphazise’ the execution of acting and get closer to just ‘being’, just ‘living in the story’…that is sweet…
Okay, that’s it for now, until next time ! …
June 16th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Congratulations seems not to be enough of a word, to applaude my praise for the Steppenwolfians in NY, living their passion and winning - Tony’s. Is that short for Anthony’s??
I’ll speak collectively when I say, “We, those of us who were given the sublime theatrical experience back in August, 2007 - how appropriate a month to witness the miracle of Great Art, arising from the rehearsal halls at North and Halsted - will jot it down in our where were you’s book of memories and are proud to have been members of the audience and share in the spirit of something special happening at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre!”
Back to first person: My only sadness lies in the fact it will even be more futile, auditioning for the summer school program when I seem to be destined to sit in the audience instead of act on the stage. Sigh.
But thank you, for such a wonderful evening of Tony watching! Congratulations!
Now - go Cubs…..that would top the year off with a great big cherry.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
When I moved to CA for a job some ten years ago (can’t wait to get back to Chicago) I kept my subscription tickets because 1) Steppenwolf is always a theatrical treat, and 2) it gave me a good excuse to come home and helped me feel connected. I rarely miss a play and was blown away by “August” last summer. I watched the Tonys and felt like I had won! Happy congratulations on the impressive collection of awards this play has so rightly earned. Really looking forward to “Superior Donuts” even more so now!