Mockingbird Hill Cottage

My goodness, the pansies are so lovely this year.

We’ve had rain for 3 days and we’re finally going to get a break today. Don has a gig tonight and we’re still tired from our trek into the city on Wednesday, so I have ordered him to take it easy until he has to head on out this evening.

We had a major delay on the trip into the city on Wednesday. Something was happening on the George Washington Bridge which impacted the tunnel, so there were three times as many cars and buses heading into the tunnel. Traffic was backed up for miles. In the end, the trip took 3 hours instead of 1 1/2. Since we planned our departure to allow enough time for lunch, we were okay in terms of a 2 pm curtain, but we didn’t have time for lunch and made do with 2 old fashioned donuts from Dunkin Donuts. And some water. (We did have time for dinner before we left, though, so everything worked out in the end.)

We had great seats, courtesy of Jim, and the theater itself is very intimate. It’s the smallest house of all the official Broadway theaters and it was perfect for this play.

What can I say? Words seem to be inadequate. It’s a three-hander (3 actors in the cast.) A true ensemble piece. It’s the story of a mother and her two children that takes place over the course of many years, as they move from apartment to apartment. The play is subtitled “a play in five evictions.” All three actors: Jessica Lange, Jim, and Celia Keenan-Bolger were brilliant. The play was written by Paula Vogel, and directed by Tina Landau. Two women who are 72 and 62, respectively, creating magic on Broadway. I love this play that Vogel has written (much of it autobiographical) and the way in which Landau has staged it.

Jessica Lange. My god, she gives a performance that is beyond words! She is magical, luminous, heartbreaking, moving (the same words can be used for the entire experience.) I’ve never seen her on stage before. I was stunned by her performance. (She just turned 75, by the way.) Three women over 60!

Celia and Jim gave gut-wrenching, touching, funny, beautiful performances. They were freaking amazing. (I’d never met Celia before, but I’d worked with her husband a couple of times out at the Old Globe.)

At the end of the play, the audience surged to their feet. In this case, it was a extremely well-deserved standing ovation, with cheers erupting spontaneously. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in a very long time. It is ensemble work at its finest; three actors working at the top of their game. Each of them has been nominated for a Tony Award this year.

I am so grateful we went. The entire experience in that theater was a gift that I will never forget. I am still thinking about it and suspect I will be thinking about it for a long time.

We went backstage afterward and met Jim in a reception room. The three of us had a great conversation about the play, and Jessica, and time, and the process of working on the play, and what did Jim do for his audition piece when he auditioned for the grad program at USD because I couldn’t remember, and his wedding anniversary, and how much we adore each other, etc. I choked up when I talked about his growth as an actor since those days in grad school. He is simply marvelous in this show. I am so proud of him, of the person he has always been and remains to this day. We did get to meet Celia (who also had a friend at the performance.) But I think Jessica stayed in her dressing room. And I know Jim was headed to his as we left – it was a 2 show day and he was going to take a nap. This play is gut wrenching, as well as life affirming, and I imagine doing it twice in one day takes a toll.

Here we are. I love this guy.

I have seen and worked on countless plays in my lifetime. The occasions when I walk away from a performance feeling stunned and shaken and moved are truly rare. That happened with this play. A gift I will not soon forget.

Mother Play  has a limited run and it closes on June 16th. If you can see it, do. It’s extraordinary.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.