Happy Birthday to fellow Capricorn, Maya!
Most of my top ten theatre experiences happened in London which is where I see most of my theatre. In no particular order, they'd be:
1) Trevor Nunn's last show as head of the National...an incandescent production of Love's Labour's Lost in the Olivier Theatre, starring Joseph Fiennes and Olivia Williams.
2) Derek Jacobi's TEMPEST at the Old Vic. Not the best production of the play, but maybe the best Prospero I've ever seen. An angry, bitter, unforgiving Prospero despite all his chatter about forgiveness.
3) The RSC's staging in Shaftsbury Avenue's West End of what they called Jacobethan plays...obscure and rarely performed late Elizabethan/early Jacobean plays. Of the five, we saw three: THE ROMAN ACTOR with the wondeful Anthony Sher; EASTWARD HO! and THE ISLAND PRINCESS. As something of a theatrical archeologist, I loved seeing things like this.
4) The National also did an interesting coupling of plays THE COUNTRY WIFE by Goldsmith and a new play, LAUGHING MATTERS, about the first production of THE COUNTRY WIFE.
5) Tom Courtenay was delightful in a one-man show about poet Philip Larkin called PRETENDING TO BE ME.
6) Ian McKellen is always a delight onstage. I've probably seen him about five times in different things. Though I found his production of DANCE OF DEATH disappointing to my memory of Olivier's version (only seen on tape)...It was still intriguing and he had the always-good Frances De LaTour playing opposite him.
7) I had an interesting theatrical experience this fall, when I was back in Kentucky at my alma mater, University of Kentucky, and spent two days giving my oral history of my years in the theatre there. I also had a chance to do my dog and pony show of local boy makes good with the students.
Discovering the Broadway Archive Collection on DVD was another joyful theatre experience, reliving such productions as Ceremony of Innocence, ACT's Taming of the Shrew, and seeing our own Bruce Kimmel in Forget-Me-Not-Lane when he were but a wee twig of a sprig of a lad...
10) Likewise, discovering the American Film Theatre Productions out on DVD. Last night to commemorate the astonishing career of Sir Alan Bates, we watch his astonishing performance in BUTLEY. Thank the theatre gods it has been perserved for posterity.
My happiest theatre CD moments have come through the auspices of Mr. BK, who has provided me with some wonderful tapes I was unaware of or had slipped under my radar and the playing of which has brought some new songs to my attention. The recordings of Guy Haines have helped in this regard...Just on Haines His Way, songs like You Must Believe In Spring; I'm Glad to See You Got What You Want; The Sweetest of Nights and The Finest of Days; and Gettin' Nowhere Fast (though I don't believe this last is from any show) are now a part of my life.
I do suggest that Mr. Haines or his producer should perhaps send a packet of stuff to KSURF 1260 or 570, the two standard stations in town and maybe try to get some air time for these various and sundried collections. Given that Mr. Kimmel's pal Gary Owens dj's for 570, this shouldn't be too hard.
