"Shakespeare
in Hollywood”
Columbus
Day Weekend
Friday-Sunday, October 10-12,2003
October
10 - Prelude
In late summer when Holly Kim sent round an email about Casey at
Arena Stage, at first glance I thought it must concern a sale of
memorabilia of some previous appearance. Then I read the entire
email. Casey was doing a play in September-October, right here in
DC! I could hardly believe my luck.
Mimi and Babs planned to come to DC, so once they decided on an
hotel, I booked a room too. You see, I commute to DC five days a
week, and that’s enough commuting, thank you very much! I
also promised them dinner - after all, they had to pay for hotel
and flights, and I, only hotel.
My manager let me off work early so I could check into Loew’s
L’Enfant Plaza before evening rush hour. I knew I wouldn’t
be able to eat much on the morrow, so Friday evening was a big meal.
It was top-grade room service, a thick New York strip steak, cooked
to perfection. Nice to have a truly good meal at least once a year!
(I’m a terrible cook.) Friday evening and Saturday morning
were quiet and relaxing.
October 11 - Saturday Matinee, “Proof”
Arena Stage has two theatres, so I had purchased tickets for both
plays, the first being a matinee of “Proof”, a drama
- my first trip ever to Arena Stage. “Proof” was at
the smaller theatre, the Kreeger. It is a four-character drama about
a 25-year-old woman who is caregiver for her ailing father, who
dies. Both are mathematical geniuses, which is where the title “Proof”
comes in. The woman mourns for her father, but she also wonders
if in time the mental illness that affected him will affect her
as well. I am no mathematician, but I could relate to the character
development and character interaction. Good play. I learned later
that it will be filmed with Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Hello, Fellow C.B. Fans
Upon my return to the hotel, I found a message waiting from Mimi
& Babs. “Come on up to our room,” they invited,
and so I did (I was on the 11th floor, they on the 12th). I’ve
known Babs & Mimi through email for a few years, and it was
just wonderful to meet them in person! We chatted for a bit, then
I returned to my room to get ready for the evening.
We took different elevators, which caused us to wait at opposite
ends of the lobby for 20 minutes before we began to look for each
other! We met Carol Duffy, her husband, and one of her daughters
- they drove from NYC for the play. It took two vehicles to transport
all of us. At the theatre, Babs & Mimi sat together, I was two
rows above and to the right of them, and I’m not sure where
the Duffys sat. But I can assure you we all enjoyed the play.
Saturday
evening
"Shakespeare
in Hollywood”
The Fichandler Theatre is in the round. There are four sections
of stadium seating that look down on a central stage. The stage
is nothing more than a concrete floor. Before the play, the stage’s
only prop was - sorry, I don’t know the technical term -
a moveable scaffold with a large spotlight at the top.
Scene changes were made by the bit-part actors. The scenery was
not elaborate: a red carpet to suggest a Hollywood premiere; a desk,
chair, and telephone to suggest Jack Warner’s office; etc.
Quite effective, I thought.
Casey’s kingly robe was a voluminous black fabric liberally
striped with shimmery silver threads. Beautiful. It could also render
him invisible to mere mortals. Plus, whenever Oberon was angry,
there was the rumble of thunder.
"A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is in fact a 1934
film. Once upon a time when I was channel-surfing, I stopped momentarily
at a cable movie channel and saw Mickey Rooney as Puck. I was astonished
that he had ever done Shakespeare. Perhaps even more astonishing
is the fact that several years later I would see a play related
to this film.
In “Shakespeare in Hollywood”, actor Victor Jory (Oberon)
has temporarily decided not to do the film and Mickey Rooney has
broken an ankle. Meanwhile, the “real” Oberon and
Puck are enroute back to Athens. Puck utters an incorrect spell,
and he and Oberon wind up on the Hollywood set of “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream”. They are mistaken for actors and,
after an audition, Oberon & Puck are hired to play themselves.
The play is full of one-liners, puns, and crazy situations. Oberon
refers to the Bard as “that cowardly Indian, Shaky Spear”
and to sunglasses as “eye shadow”. Because of spells,
nearly everybody falls in love with everybody else, one person falls
in love with his own self, and another falls in love with, er, somebody
else’s backside. Aw c’mon, it was the spell; the guy
fell in love with the first thing he saw upon awaking.
There was also a love story between Oberon and Olivia, the film’s
female lead. Though most people will probably remember the play
as funny (which it was), I remember it first for the poignancy of
the love story. You see, Oberon and Puck begin to lose physical
substance. That is when they realize their stay in Hollywood is
only temporary and that they will soon re-materalize in their own
world.
The final spell that Oberon casts is upon Olivia, that she will
fall in love with Dick Powell and that her only memory of Oberon
will be as “a distant dream”.
And so it ends. Olivia cannot see the invisibility-cloaked Oberon
but, as she exits the stage, something makes her say “Good-bye”.
Now only Oberon is onstage. A single spotlight shines on him. He
pulls his robe majestically around him. He utters a sad, heart-rending
“Good-bye.”
The stage goes dark. End of play. Excellently done!
After-Theatre Supper
Casey knew we were at the evening performance, so after the play,
we were allowed to go “backstage”, actually through
a door and down some stairs, where some of the actors, including
Casey, had already changed to street clothes. Casey greeted us all,
introduced us to two more friends, Christine & Zack, and the
nine of us headed - this time in three vehicles - for Bistro Français
in the Georgetown section of DC.
That whole day I had had only half a bagel - too excited to eat
any more - so I ordered a turkey sandwich. It was huge, but I could
eat only a small portion of it. At any one time, there were three
conversations going. For example, Casey and the Duffys discussed
NY and CA politics - Arnold Schwarzenegger had just been (or was
about to be) elected Governor of California. Mimi told us about
her new job. Zack said that he was born in DC - a rarity - I rather
felt I had met a second celebrity that evening.
After supper, Zack & Christine headed home. The Duffys would
take Casey back to his quarters (where do actors stay when they
are on the road?). While Mimi, Babs, and I were exiting the restaurant,
Casey was already outside, had hailed a cab, told the driver where
we three ladies were going, and he paid the driver! Casey gave each
of us another hug, and then it was back to the hotel. When we told
the driver who had paid him, the driver said, “Why didn’t
you tell me that before? I would have asked him for his autograph!”
I got back to my hotel room at 1:30 AM! It has been YEARS since
I have been up that late.
October 12 - Sunday Morning - Breakfast and, alas, Good-bye
I got only a few hours sleep, because at 8:30 AM Mimi, Babs, Carol,
and I met in the hotel restaurant for breakfast (my treat, as promised).
There was too long a wait and, worse, it was too short a meal. Poor
Mimi had to almost eat and run in order to get to the airport on
time. I returned to my room, let breakfast settle, checked out of
the hotel, and caught a taxi home. And Monday was a day off, too!
October
18 - Postscript
That’s not quite the end of the story. After a couple of
days of thinking “When will I get another chance to see Casey
in a play” and because October is my birthday month, I phoned
for a ticket for the 10/18 matinee. Just making small talk, I told
the ticket agent that I was giving myself a birthday present. He
said the ticket would cost me $26. “It should be twice that,”
I said. “Nope,” said the man. “$26 is correct.
Happy Birthday!”
Though I thought about announcing my attendance to Casey - Mimi
told me to contact the House Manager - I was just too shy to do
so. Still, I did enjoy the play a second time. And although I knew
how it ended, Oberon’s “Good-bye” again put
tears in my eyes.
~~~Gianna
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