NBY. November 2020 – RICHARD BURTON’S HAMLET - 1964 - Broadway.

Legend has it that when Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole were filming “Becket” they each decided they wanted to play “Hamlet”- in either New York or London - under the direction of either John Gielgud or Laurence Olivier. They tossed a coin and O’Toole won London and Olivier, while Burton got Broadway and Gielgud. Burton himself approached producer Alexander H. Cohen about the project that we all now know was a smash hit.

Gielgud, the renowned Shakespearean actor, conceived of this production as a final rehearsal, with the actors appearing in street clothes. This pleased Burton who said he always disliked wearing period costumes. Following in the tradition that Shakespeare himself portrayed the Ghost (Hamlet’s dead father), Gielgud depicted him as a shadow against the back of the stage wall and voiced the character himself on tape. Eileen Herlie repeated her role from Olivier’s 1948 film as Queen Gertrude; Hume Cronyn got a Tony Award as Polonius, and Alfred Drake was King Claudius.

This became the longest run ever on Broadway for “Hamlet” with 137 performances and a number of Tony Awards. However, the shows popularity was also due to the public’s fascination with the romance between Burton and superstar Elizabeth Taylor that started during “Cleopatra.” While the Hamlet production was in Toronto, on its pre-Broadway tour, they married, and every night huge crowds gathered outside the Lunt Fontanne Theatre to catch a glimpse of Burton and Taylor, after the show.

The filmed record was created using a process called “Electronovision,” that used 15 cameras during three performances, then edited the footage into a single b/w 191-minute film. Now on DVD at your local public library.

MORNA MURPHY ON BROADWAY - 1964

In 1964 I was a NYC actress with two Broadway shows accomplished (“A Taste of Honey” and “Semi-Detached”) and a passion for live theater that has never left me. So, of course, I went to see Richard Burton in “Hamlet” and bought a seat in the orchestra right in the center of the tenth row. I had never seen Burton perform onstage and I’ll never forget how sublime I found the first half of his Hamlet. The following is my explanation of why I dared not go back in after intermission.

I see a lot of shows and have a tendency, when I’m in the theatre, to get quite emotional and a tickle starts in my throat that can grow into a cough. I usually have a bottle of water and some cough drops in my purse to quell this before it can erupt. However, unfortunately, on this occasion I had neither. Therefore, when the great Burton began to recite the most famous Shakespeare aria of all – “To be or not to be, that is the question...” a great surge of joy and ecstasy overcame me and I began to cough.

Not a quiet little tickling cough – oh, no – this moment inspired my deepest emotional trauma and I coughed and croaked and gasped loudly and uncontrollably. Hardly able to breathe, I rose to my feet coughing, I clambered along the packed seats, over people’s laps and feet, to the aisle. Coughing, gasping for air, I staggered up the slope, through the doors into the lobby. There I stood, still choking so loudly, I’m sure the entire audience, let alone the star onstage, could still hear me. In retrospect, I’m pretty sure Burton never forgot me and maybe, ever after, he approached that famous soliloquy with a tinge of trepidation.

NBY. October.2020 - JEREMY BRETT AS SHERLOCK HOLMES * DRIVING MISS DAISY * DEATH OF A SALESMAN.

This month I have found two more great stage plays brought to you live, on film, via BroadwayHD. However, I must confess, I am also hooked on the BBC-TV series “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” starring Jeremy Brett, with 41 hour-long episodes available on You Tube for Free!

DRIVING MISS DAISY. – 2014 – Australia 

In 1987, when I was Theater Critic for The Hollywood Reporter, I reviewed this gentle play when it opened Off Broadway, with Dana Ivey and Morgan Freeman, then went on to win The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. There have been countless productions worldwide, and an excellent film with Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman, but this stage production, recorded in Australia, is not to be missed.

Why? Because it stars Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones! Yes, they are what makes this so special. As Lansbury, 88, commented at the time, “The great thing about theatre, you see, is that it’s all about illusion. At my age, I’m too old to play a 72-year old in the movies. But on stage with makeup, I can!” Said Jones, “I have two favorite characters, Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” and the chauffeur in “Driving Miss Daisy.” They’re both men without language: they have to start from scratch when it comes to communicating. As a result, what they say comes from deep within.”

Inspired by the actual long-term relationship between playwright Alfred Uhry’s Jewish grandmother and her African American chauffeur, this classic play is timeless, and an ultimately hopeful meditation on race relations in America. It’s told through the complex relationship between a 72-year old woman, and a 60-year old man, in Atlanta, throughout the Civil Rights Movement. It’s over 30 years since it was written but its examination of issues around race still resonate.

 DEATH OF A SALESMAN – 1966 – CBS

“For a salesman, there is no rock bottom to life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the Law or give you Medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine.” This is dialogue from Arthur Miller’s 1949 Pulitzer Prize winning play, that I have seen with numerous actors in the lead role, and even acted in once in Summer Stock. If you’ve never seen this deeply moving play, now you can see a live performance with the stars from the original Broadway cast.

When CBS presented a filmed adaptation of Miller’s classic drama, they brought back the two original leads: Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman and Mildred Dunnock as his loyal wife Linda. This version of the play was adapted by Miller himself, and runs 100 minutes, with no substance lost in the changes. Directed by Alex Segal, it was filmed live after several weeks of rehearsals and still has the powerful effect of the original.

In the play, Willy, who has been a salesman for 34 years, is forced to face the crushing disappointments of his past, especially the loss of the respect of his son Biff. George Segal gives a strong dramatic performance as this favored son, and James Farentino is his cynical brother Happy. One surprise is young Gene Wilder, comical but sensitive as the goofy Bernard.

This production received 11 Emmy nominations with the result of winning three Primetime Emmys, as well as Director’s Guild of America and Peabody Awards. In addition to being Emmy nominated for their awesome performances, both Cobb and Dunnock were also both nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Spoken Word Drama Recording.”