Ctrl-V

• The Wall Street Journal has an interview with Jack O'Brien (subscribers only). Here's a taste:
  

  [...] Another with three roles to juggle is Richard Easton, a friend of Mr. O'Brien's for four decades and counting, who in 1969 took direction from Mr. O'Brien in "Cock-A-Doodle Dandy," his first full-fledged Broadway directing job. "Actors trust Jack. So do designers and other technical people. He's always practical. Whatever it is, he knows how to do it, but he doesn't want to do it himself. He's funny, so there's always lots of energy in the room. He's sentimental, and he cries a lot. He's thoughtful. When rehearsals start, he basically sits and listens and watches. He has the confidence that whatever happens, he can deal with it. He uses what you bring. He never thwarts you. He's not in competition with anyone he's working with -- which is more unusual than you think." [...]

• Theatreboy is anti-homework.
  
• Russian review of Voyage and one from Sharky with bonus Stoppard-fangirling in the comments. Patrick of Recursive Bee is critical, while despite misgivings Mike thought it a good play on balance.
• Blogger Jennifer Chang on Shipwreck (she too spotted Sally Field).
• On the LCT site the dramaturg's notes on Salvage are up.
  
• Note from an extra on Alpha Male.
  

Back-blog

Oops, Mon is me. Apologies.

• Martha Plimpton responds to the Isherwood thing, which also caused a kerfuffle on the NY Times' letter to the editor page. (NB. To read Martha Plimpton's blog, you must be a Myspace friend of hers)
  
• Famous names continue flocking to the show, according to Rachel Glickman and usher Jeff Goldstein. They spotted Sally Field, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn and Lauren Bacall.
  
• Broadway Beat has video on Coast of Utopia with clips from Shipwreck and interviewage from Voyage's opening night. Ta for the tip, Pinky & Kate.
• Reminder about the LCT Platform Series Q&A with Tom Stoppard on Feb 14th. Note that the time and date have apparently been changed.

  Lincoln Center Theater’s Platform Series continues its 2006-2007 season on Wednesday, February 14, from 5:00 to 6:15 pm at the Kaplan Penthouse (10th floor of the Rose Building, 165 West 65 Street) with a pre-performance talk with the Tony, Olivier and Oscar winning playwright, Tom Stoppard. Admission is free and open to all; however, seating is limited. Admission passes will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, beginning at 4:00 at the entrance to the Rose Building.
  

• Ricky Patterson has mixed views on Voyage.
  
• Mike at Lunar Gemini reports on the whole trilogy. Quoth he:

  [...] The cast is consistently strong. Not surprisingly, O'Byrne has the gravitas to carry the show, but I would have gladly watched a show that centered on any of the supporting characters as well. Hawke is the perfect blend of angst and obnoxiousness as the moody, pushy Bakunin. Jennifer Ehle creates three great characters but particularly shines as Herzen's wife Natalie in the second part, "Shipwreck." Amy Irving, Martha Plimpton, Richard Easton, Billy Crudup, Patricia Conolly...all superb. [...]

• Michael Giltz of Popsurfing seems to be interviewing some of the Utopians (Tom Stoppard, Ethan Hawke). Watch that space, I guess.
• Bob Martin relates the "censorship > free press" issue from Utopia to the free-for-all internets.
  
• Jesse21 from All That Chat makes mention of Jennifer Ehle in Salvage:

  Yeah, and was not Jennifer Ehle just great when she circled that big stage in Act 1 as her power was being usurped.

  sabra_n is critical but notes that she plays the part with a German accent. Other Utopia discussion at ATC includes some love for Josh Hamilton.
  
• NYCriticsCorner has reviews of all three parts: Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage. Mentions from the latter two respectively:

  [...] It is Bryan F. O'Byrne & Jennifer Ehle (Design for Living, The Real Thing) who deserve all the glory for their performances here. Much like Billy Crudup's (who is completely underused in this second installment) tour de force in VOYAGE; O'Byrne navigates through Stoppard's words as if he just passed the S.A.T.'s with a perfect score and knows it! Matching him bit for bit is Tony winner Jennifer Ehle as Herzen's wife. Any actress who is comfortable being fully naked on stage for ten minutes, automatically scores points - but this one is breathtaking and beguiling! [...]

  [...] And Jennifer Ehle and Martha Plimpton never ever disappoint as the trilogies female standouts. [...]

• At BroadwayWorld Yankeefan007 agrees:

  [...] Glad you liked them. I concurr whole-heartedly about the 1st 2 parts (seeing the 3rd in a week). O'Byrne and Ehle are delivering tour-de-force performances, as are Crudup and Hawke. I wonder how the actors will be ruled at the Tony Awards. They all seem like sure-shots. [...]

• Lastly and randomly, shoutout to us from The Beef. Merci!
  

You may have noticed that "bi-daily" has been dropped from the sub-heading. With three of us now on the job, in theory there should be posts every day except Tues, but we get muddled. Expect more scheduling changes later.

PS. There are cheap ($40-65) Salvage tix at All That Chat's Shoppin' section for Feb 14, 16 and 22.

"Exhilarating ride in Russian history"

Here are some excerpts from the Boston Globe:

In case you've missed the claps of thunder, there's been a storm crackling on the stage of Lincoln Center Theater this season. Passionate Russians debating the future of their country, its enslaved masses, its relationship to the West, the merits of free love, the infinite varieties of socialism. Yes, yes, we know how it all turns out, but don't say it too loudly. The year is still 1833, and the history of the 20th century has not yet been written.

Or so we begin when the curtain goes up on "The Coast of Utopia," Tom Stoppard's sweeping trilogy about a generation of brilliant Russian intellectuals, philosophers, anarchists, poets, novelists, and critics, their lives, their families, their tumultuous romances, and their fumbling through the darkness as the utopian future they're sure is around the corner shows its face far too slowly, and the present in which they live is one of failed revolution abroad and brutal dictatorship at home.

I have seen Parts I and II so far, and they have been, by and large, an exhilarating ride. These plays course with an intellectual vigor not often found in Broadway theater, and they manage, through Stoppard's particular brand of alchemy, and O'Brien's fluid direction, to turn the stuff of intellectual history seminars into a vibrant theater of ideas, to take the words and arguments of these men and women seriously, but at the same time, to wonder if any of their cultivated banter or their fusillades of political insight made one iota of difference as the gears of history ground forward.

But beyond that, "Utopia" does not entirely forget to be a human drama, and there is a deep poignancy to the plight of its genial, broad-spirited central character, the writer and theorist of revolution Alexander Herzen (played superbly by Brian O'Byrne) . Herzen is a fascinating if largely forgotten figure in Russian history, but there is an abiding resonance to his guiding ideas, his relentless optimism, and the generosity of his stance toward a broken world he was trying so desperately to fix.

It all adds up to a theatrical experience with more relevance than you might otherwise expect from 19th-century Russian history, and a sense that the stories of these figures, the contours of their unrealized visions, are worth recalling, if only for a few hours in the darkened theater. Or maybe, as was the case for me in Parts I and II, you'll find a particular line lingering in the mind long after the house lights have come up. And then there's always a chance that, despite the loud chorus of critical raves, you'll be part of the small but vocal minority for whom this play seems like one tediously long string of chatter without the trappings of a vital drama, a view voiced recently by Charles Isherwood in the New York Times.

The Oprah of the Intelligentsia

Tom Stoppard's Charlie Rose interview was a little more historical than was perhaps expected, but it nonetheless included an enthralling theorization of the art of theatre. And I can't deny it's interesting to learn about the real figures that inspired these plays in the first place.

When Rose asked about the transition of a play from a story to a piece of art, Mr Stoppard pleaded with the audience not to take any notice of what he was about to say because he didn't know what he was talking about. But I don't think we should give much credence to that now, should we?! So here's what he said...

It's about the control of information from the stage to the audience. The art of it is to tell the audience so much and no more, at this moment and at no other, and in the following order and not a different order.

Much of the interview was related to discussion about the real men behind the male leads. When asked which of the characters he most liked, there was an amicable split:

I'm extremely fond of Bakunin, I always have been...and Herzen responds to the main things that I respond to.

About Bakunin specifically, Stoppard made several comments: (I like the first one...)

Bakunin went around everywhere as if he had a firework attached to the back of his trousers...he was a force of nature. He had a fantastic mixture of emotion and intellect. He was physically brave.

Herzen got similar attention:

Herzen is the moral centre of the play. I love his mind and his prose. I love what he had to say about society. I love his honesty, and his honesty about himself. ... His spirit and his heart were huge, and he was a kind man.

Stoppard also mentioned lots of (very recent!) script changes that he's made in Salvage. Most notably, he talks about one of his favourite lines, spoken by (the original) Herzen about Bakunin:

He incubated the germ of a colossal activity for which there is no demand

Stoppard describes how he took this line out of the play just the day before the interview after realising it didn't really fit the speech in which it had been located. He had just loved it so much he'd wanted to include it somewhere in the play!

Lastly, reflecting on the unparalleled demand for Isaiah Berlin's Russian Thinkers as a result of Utopia, Stoppard joked that he himself is like "the Oprah of the Intelligentsia". An apt and amusing analogy!

No clip unfortunately, but on the whole, another great Stoppard / Rose collaboration. The sixth, if I am not mistaken. Hopefully there'll be a number seven...

Meanwhile, today's New York Times has a nice little word for the trilogy. Describing the first two installments as 'exhilarating' it notes:

...these productions pulse with the dizzy, spring-green arrogance and anxiety of a new generation moving as fast as it can towards the future.

Also, YouTube has a brief Two on the Aisle video in which hosts Charles Gross and Jeff Goodman discuss Voyage. Not even remotely of Charlie Rose's calibre, but (marginally!) worth watching anyway.

More Malwida wanted

Praise at Stagestruck:

Also, I was really drawn to Jennifer Ehle's character (the German governess employed to bring up Herzen's children, and who tries vainly to manage Herzen's untidy household and domestic life); the play lost some liveliness later on due to the fact that Ehle appears only once in Act II.

Stoppard in the Game of Love

Going back seven years this April, here is what Logan Hill of NY Magazine had to say at the time of The Real Thing's opening on Broadway:

...the downright passionate The Real Thing explodes some myths about the inner lives of outwardly brilliant people. The 'real thing' of this ferociously written play is, of course, that thing called love, and Henry (Stephen Dillane), the play's sarcastic protagonist, just happens to be an exceptionally witty and erudite playwright. Henry divorces his wife when he falls in love with a younger actress, Annie (Jennifer Ehle), who summarily dumps her overeager chump of a husband. As the play tracks Henry's life with Annie, the most insincere and ironic characters - especially Henry - somehow seem to be the most in touch with their feelings. In a way, Stoppard rips romance right out of the dopey clutches of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and posts a valentine for the brainiacs. "Intellectuals are notorious for their untidy lives," Stoppard says. ... But don't look for more moonstruck Bards. Stoppard explains,"I never subscribed to the theory that plays become better as they become more emotional".

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Charlie Rose interview with Mr Stoppard should be airing at 22.30 tonight (ET). Utopia is the topic!

Zig and zag

• Tune into Charlie Rose tonight (Wed 7) to catch his interview with Tom Stoppard. Thanks to Paula for the tip!
• At ATC there's a review-count for Shipwreck:

  12 pro
  New Yorker, Post, Times, Time Out, Daily News, USA Today, AP, New York Mag., Newhouse, WSJ, NY1, Newsday
  4 mixed
  Village Voice, Bergen Record, Gannett, Bloomberg

• Brendan Lemon at the LCT blog responds to the Isherwood-lead backlash (eg. at the Washington Theatre Review blog and Amy Ettinger's).
  
• Eccentric Iguana reflects on completing Utopia - and is eager to come back for more!

  Second in theater news, I finished The Coast of Utopia Trilogy. Each play stands out on it's own. Voyage was a Chekhov-esque drama, with many characters to be introduced and each scene moving by the year. What Stoppard did that was brilliant was how he lead you into the mood of the show through a character who in fact wasn't the main character of the series. It was like giving the audience exposition, but first hand.
  
  Shipwreck soon showed you who the next two plays would revolve around. Of the three I enjoyed this one the most. It started off with the same grandeur as Voyage, but in the second act soon became much more human and intriguing to watch. As well as heartbreaking.
  
  The final, Salvage, brought the series to a close, or did it? Do we forget that after 1866, Russia still went through much more historical events.
  
  Hello Lenin.
  
  But for the final piece I have to say it combined the complexity of the first part with the enjoyability of the second. It was great. So after the show naturally I bought a ticket to a marathon day...
  
  Yes that's one day, ALL THREE plays. It's a 12 hour day kids. Starting at 11 am, and ending at 11pm. Granted I get a lunch and dinner break. It's going to be intense!!! I can NOT wait. To see it all together.

• More love for Salvage at ATC from WilliamHacker, concluding:

  [...] But after seeing the conclusion, it just felt immensely moving and satisfying seeing the story of such an influential, important figure, who is yet almost unknown in this country, brought to such complete and rich life on stage.
  
  Obviously this type of work isn't for everyone, but for me, I found it to be one of the best things I've seen in thirty years of seeing theatre in NYC.

  Also from jesse21:
  

  [...] However, inside the theatre, I sat among as savvy an audience one is likely to encounter in this city. Our attention was riveted on the stage as "The Coast of Utopia" roared to its conclusion, magnificently rewarding us with one of the most memorable experiences of, not just this, but any season.

• Film blogger Emma, who's raved about Jennifer Ehle in Alpha Male in the past, gives one more special mention:

  [...] It’s been over 10 years since Jennifer Ehle showed graced our TV screens as the wonderfully sweet Lizzie Bennet, and Alpha Male is probably her best performance since. Her portrayal of the put-upon mother who loses a husband and slowly loses her family is wonderfully realistic and sweet. She steals every scene she’s in, and provides the basis for a potentially dull film, making it totally watchable. [...]

• Sunshine shoutout from funky_cowgirl:

  [...] It seems that the love stories are used as a breathing space, because those do take up a bit of time (busy filming schedule for Fiennes, love scene wise! ;-) ) but I didn't find it problematic. The relationships with the women do make the story flow. Especially Jennifer Ehle and her real life mum (as her older version) are amazing...She's as much in love with life as her character in Pride & Prejudice. [...]
  

• There's constant baseline squeeing for Pride and Prejudice on blogs which we largely ignore, but Adam's is notable because c'mon, he's a he (and wants to be Darcy) and also somehow finds a connection with CS Lewis' biography.
  

  Beth and I sat down to watch our newly acquired 1995 BBC/A&E 5 1/2 hour version of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" on Sunday afternoon. I was expecting to appreciate it, even enjoy it. Instead, I craved it and hated stopping. We watched half Sunday and finished it Monday. I dreamt about it both nights.
  
  Part of it was the ridiculously talented interpretive acting of Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth in the main roles. I loved the commitment in their eyes at all times. Ehle in particular connected her words with body language that fit the character perfectly and often resulted in movements that I had never seen on film before. So, anyway, point A: I'm very much in love with those two actors right now...but mostly Ehle...because she's a girl...and looks strikingly like Beth (but she'd heard that already). [...]
  

"Inimitable bellow"?!

• Charles Isherwood of the NY Times dares to think Utopia was a bore. BroadwayWorld and All That Chat (twice) discuss.
• LCT blog updated.
• Disappointment with Salvage at Theater Snobbery and The Beef although...

  After watching all three plays, I’m surprised to say that I’ll miss the duh-dun-dun-dun music, Brían F. O’Byrne’s (Herzen) acting and — OK, Jennifer Ehle fans, you’ve convinced me, I’m a believer — Ehle’s presence and, I guess, her inimitable bellow.

  We'll take that.
  
• Out of left field, a thread about Jennifer Ehle with photos of her at a foreign-language forum. They link us.
  

Salvage stuff

Salvage Review from Leonard Link:

"Anyway, I enjoyed it, but not as much as Part II - Shipwreck. To this extent I agree with the Times piece - this is not, on the whole, a deeply theatrical play in the sense of lots of plot and action, apart from the second act of Shipwreck. It is, mainly, talk, provided with an extraordinary collection of settings and well-clothed actors in 19th century garb. If you find the talk diverting, thought-provoking, entertaining, then you'll like it. If you want more in the way of action and character development, you'll probably find it boring.

Part III focuses on the declining years of Alexander Herzen and his shrinking intellectual circle. It takes place in England, where he lives in exile because his agitation against serfdom and the worst abuses of the state in Russia would subject him to arrest and punishment were he to return home. His wife died in Part II, so he is left to raise the kids with a housekeeper (played by the actress who played his wife in the previous play, Jennifer Ehle - although there is clearly nothing sexual between them in this play). The old man is randy and manages to concieve children with his best friend's wife. My sympathies are all with the best friend, Nicholas Ogarev, whose alcoholism and frightening fits have apparently rendered him sterile - actor Josh Hamilton steals every scene he is in, as far as I am concerned. But the central figure this time around is Herzen, and Brian F. O'Byrne's work throughout the cycle has been stellar, although one does tire at times of his didactic lectures, which are of course the fault of Stoppard (and perhaps the real Herzen) - O'Byrne does very well with what he's given, and whoever does his make-up achieves an extraordinary aging effect through the play."

Not very nice from Doug Marino.

Not that positive stuff on All That Chat either.

"A Huge Human Spectacle"

As we eagerly await the official opening of Salvage, here's an oldie to tide us over...

New York magazine's December review of Voyage was a tad overdue, but better late than never as the phrase goes!

Jeremy McCarter's opinion is mixed, but as his title So Far, So Good indicates, it contains more praise than negativity.

Despite initially stating that "the incompleteness of the story makes responding to it a bit tricky", he concurrently applauds "the beautiful vastness of the thing", concluding that "this huge human spectacle is its own reward, no matter what comes next".

He also has minor criticisms of the transition from page to stage, noting that "plenty of jokes are clearer in the script than onstage". When remarking on Stoppard's delve into the romantic troubles of the Bakunin girls, he again expresses uncertainty, saying "it's never clear why we ought to care about their heartache, despite the best efforts of Jennifer Ehle and Martha Plimpton to persuade us".

This considered, he seems to reserve largely positive judgment for all the individual actors, most notably Billy Crudup and Ethan Hawke, whom he describes as having "charisma to spare", although he does posit the intriguing, if somewhat strange, idea of them switching roles.

Thankfully, his final summing up has a distinctly positive tone:

Still, it's a testament to what Stoppard is achieving that in spite of the occasional missed joke...if they'd told me I could have stuck around after the final curtain for the start of Part Two, I'd have been delighted to make it an all-night affair.

I look forward to hearing New York's opinion on Shipwreck, which with all due respect I'm guessing we can expect in about April?!

Salvage and Something Different

For a change, here's a blog review on Bedrooms and Hallways:

This is another of our films, which I finally got around to watching yesterday. And I loved it! It's a very witty, if altogether implausible, romantic comedy about a group of tangled-up thirtysomethings in London, from director Rose Trouch (who also did Go Fish). It's definitely worth checking out (if you're willing to overlook the far-fetched boy-meets-girl-meets-boy-meets-boy pansexuality of the whole thing).

And the cast - oh my, check out this ensemble: curly-haired cutie Kevin McKidd, who was in Trainspotting, among a million other films, and now stars in the HBO series Rome; pretty boy James Purefoy, from Mansfield Park and Vanity Fair, who ALSO now stars in Rome; the unbelievably adorable Tom Hollander, better known as the loathsome Lord Beckett in Pirates of the Caribbean - or the equally loathsome Mr. Collins in the most recent Pride & Prejudice...(though he's the cutest little queen in this film!); a shockingly hunky Hugo Weaving (who plays this sex-crazed real estate agent who runs around town getting it on with the aforementioned Lord Beckett/Mr. Collins in his clients' houses); and a BLONDE Jennifer Ehle, who we all know and love as Elizabeth Bennet from the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice (and who looks upsettingly like Meryl Streep as a blonde)

But back to the usual, Salvage review at Little Miss Nomad, though, it's not very nice about the entire trilogy.

Utopia misc

• Confirmation of the February 14 Platform Series event with Tom Stoppard.
• Picture from Salvage in Playbill's announcement of the start of previews on January 31. Playbill also confirms the postponement mentioned earlier.
  
• Need The Coast of Utopia be effective only on the stage? asks Don Hall.
• Elizabeth Maupin and Lyn Gardner on why there's more Utopia buzz in NYC than there was in London.
• El schism has some excerpts from the text of Voyage.
• Zachary Pincus-Roth names Voyage in his 2006 top 10 shows list.
• All That Chat on where to eat round the LCT. The official site also has tips.
• Some love at Austen-tatious.

Words of wisdom

To continue the theme of Ms Ehle's ATW seminar mentioned last week, here are excerpts from seminars involving Rosemary Harris and Utopia cast members:

Rosemary Harris emphasises the importance of stamina:

I was going to quote Sir Laurence Olivier because he said the most important attribute an actor could have is stamina. He said, "You can have all the talent in the world, but unless you have stamina you can't survive the great roles." You cannot play Coriolanus unless you've got stamina. You can't play Othello unless you've got stamina. You can't play any of the great parts.

(To view Rosemary Harris' other seminar, from April 1985, click here)


We are used to seeing Martha Plimpton on the stage, but she lets us know what she expects when on the receiving end at the theatre:

I go for a sense that my mind is being respected, number one. That my intelligence is being respected and that I am being drawn into a world. That I am having the experience, not just watching someone feel something. That's not terribly interesting to me. I want to feel it.

She also clearly defines the roles of actor, director and playwright:

No actor, I think, wants to belittle or insult a playwright by assuming that she could tell him what the play is about. And no director or actor should expect a playwright to be his own dramaturge. That's incredibly unfair. A playwright is there to put words on the page. It's the director's job to find the ways to articulate that theatrically.

On a similar note, Billy Crudup shares his views on the job of the director:

That's what a good director does - he tells you how you can function in a safe space. He says, "This is what we're doing. This is how the play is focused." You as an actor and interpreter of the craft then understand intuitively or logically what space you have to grow in - so as not to divert the story, so as not to divert the style and the form. ... A good director will do that because then, you can take it further than he could imagine.

(To see Billy Crudup's other seminar, from September 1998, click here)


Richard Easton praises the recent demolition of boundaries between mediums:

One of the things that is wonderful now...is that actors can wander between media. In the 50s, if you were a film actor, you did film. And if you suddenly did a play, it was thought that your career must be on the skids. ... But now, all the actors do everything.

Brian F. O'Byrne reveals how he deals with the mid-run dip in morale:

Baseball. I watch it, I watch obsessively. On Mondays I go, I travel - this year I managed to go to Chicago and Boston on my Mondays.

In addition to the seminars, the American Theatre Wing has also conducted radio interviews for the past few years. We have in the past mentioned those of Rosemary Harris and Liev Schreiber, and there is now also an interview with Martha Plimpton from June 2006. Billy Crudup will be on the next round of interviews, so watch this space!

Salvage first preview cancelled?

Martha Plimpton's blog says the Jan 30 first preview of Salvage is off, but can't find confirmation elsewhere yet.

Utopia booze and books

• Update on the LCT blog that mentions the spiffy Coast of Utopia calendar featuring photos of the leading ladies and signed by them. It's in support of Broadway Cares and copies can be bought online or in the lobby from March, for $50 a pop.
  
• The NY Times and Guardian report that Utopia has increased demand for Isaiah Berlin's Russian Thinkers book. It has sold out at bookshops online and off, prompting a reprint. This news is being widely reported in the blogosphere as well.
  
• Coast of Utopia distilled - another NY Times article about the guy who designs cocktails for plays, including a recipe for the Voyage one.
• And yet another Times article, on how Utopian blokes spend their days off - in helicopters apparently.
  
• Reminder in the Post-Gazette about their Utopia tour.
• Word from the LCT is that there will be a Platform Series Q&A discussion with Tom Stoppard on February 14th. Details aren't up on the site yet.
• Quotage from the man at the recent Drama Desk "Conversation with Tom Stoppard" event. On swotting:

  [...] “You don’t need to read tons of research to enjoy the plays,” he explained. “It’s all there onstage and quite accessible.” [...]
  

• Review of Shipwreck at Stories of a Future Librarian and another at The Beef:

  [...] Again, the stagecraft wows. Who wouldn’t be delighted to watch the Place de la Concorde materialize in a moment? Yet the acting is even more impressive, as some players slip seamlessly into new roles while others gradually expand the characters we met last time. Alexander Herzen comes to the fore, allowing Brian F. O’Byrne to prove himself as the star of the show. As Herzen’s wife, Jennifer Ehle shines in a role with much more nuance than her tragically lovestruck Luibov of Part One. [...]

• Discussion on Tony categories for Utopia at Full Force Theater Musings.

Craft or no craft - that is the question....

As you may already know, the American Theatre Wing has been conducting a round of seminars annually since 1980. All the panellists that contribute are distinguished in their field, resulting in several hours of wonderful, invaluable discussion of many different subjects under the theatre umbrella.

Videos of all seminars are available on the ATW website, but in case you prefer literary to visual material, here are a few excerpts from the seminar Ms Ehle took part in back in Spring 2000. For the video itself, click here.

Ms Ehle discussing the concept of 'craft':

I think it has come about through doing things. And I think it shifts
from part to part. Its a bit like what Cherry [Jones] was saying about absolving yourself into a character. I think the part teaches you, and the play teaches you.

Ms Ehle talking about craft in relation to The Real Thing:

With what I'm doing at the moment, you feel really awful if you bring any craft on stage...and so we don't really. And that has become the craft of this particular piece - that there isn't any. So there's no blocking...we just kind of do what we want to do. ... The freedom of that is a craft in itself - to stay that open.

Patrick Stewart is full of praise for The Real Thing and the way in which it is performed:

It is extraordinary, because when the play began, I had the feeling that I shouldn't be there watching. There was something so private and exclusive about it...you drew us into your experience. I don't think I've seen a company working in quite the way that this company works. It is as though you're permitted to be a little fly on the wall, observing what is happening inside these rooms. It is thrilling.

A book has also been published, called Acting: Working in the Theatre, edited by Robert Emmet Long. It is a fabulous compilation of quotes from ATW seminar participants. It includes two quotes from Ms Ehle.

And then there were three...

Greetings everyone!

My name is Abi, and T has very kindly invited me to make regular contributions to this fantastic site. I am in America at the moment but I'm normally in sunny(!) England, where I live about an hour away from London.

I have considered Ms Ehle one of our finest actresses for a great many months now and my admiration shows no sign of abating. My favourites of her works (apart from the obvious) are Sunshine, Melissa, Wilde and Possession, all of which I think are brilliant in their own unique way. I currently spend the vast majority of my limited student financial resources travelling between Vermont and Lincoln Center, where I have been lucky enough to see Voyage once and Shipwreck twice, with a visit to Salvage planned for March. The Coast of Utopia is a stunning production and I urge all of you to see it (in any way feasible) if you have not yet done so. I have unintentionally become a walking Utopia quote bank! (Ok, well maybe partly intentionally...)

I am somewhat challenged in the technological department, but I will do my best to be worthy of my new position. As soon as I get the hang of it, I look forward to giving website-extraordinaires T and Chelsea a (little) less work to do!

Love, Abi xxx

Unordered list

• For Ruskophones in the audience, here's a Russian translation of English Coast of Utopia dialogue that is meant to be Russian at jakovlev's LJ, a review of the plays at good-boy's and discussion on the pronunciation of "Ehle" at an Austen LJ community. Babelfish em.
• At eBay, you can bid for a The Maitlands DVD and the Design for Living stagebill.
• Post-Tonys encounter.
• Reviewlets of Voyage and Shipwreck at OffTheStem by Barry, both given B's. Voyage is also reviewed by Jennifer who particularly dug her namesake:

  I saw The Coast of Utopia: Part 1, the Voyage this weekend at Lincoln Center. The rare cast consisting of Billy Crudup, Richard Easton, Jennifer Ehle (<-- my personal fave: Elizabeth Bennett from BBC's "Pride and Prejudice"), Ethan Hawke, Martha Plimpton , Brian F. O'Byrne (the priest in "Doubt"), and many others. The standouts in the cast were Billy Crudup (with the most ridiculous hairstyle), Jennifer Ehle, and Richard Easton. Richard Easton became infamous as he suffered a heart attack early on in the run during the play when he was offstage. Glad to see he's back in fine shape. [...]

• Voyage and Shipwreck reviews from the Epoch Times. From the latter:

  [...] After a shaky start with Voyage, Stoppard and director Jack O'Brien do a much better job here, thanks to a strong, through-narrative and wonderful performances by the two central characters; Alexander Herzen (Brian F. O'Byrne) and his wife Natalie (Jennifer Ehle). [...] In addition to the excellent Byrne and Ehle, the latter exuding sexuality, other standouts include Amy Irving, Bianca Amato and Jason Butler Harner. Another happy surprise is that the eternal believer Michael Bakunin (Ethan Hawke), one man who does accept responsibility for his deeds, is used to much better effect here than in "Voyage." [...]

  Couple of new reader reviews on Voyage at the NY Times, and another's up at Swarthmore's Phoenix student paper critiquing the play more than the staging.
  

• Possession music video of Christabel and Ash set to "I love you" by Fisher.
  
• Variety reports that while there's been a general post-holidays slump in Broadway box office sales, Utopia is an exception, still selling well.
• Wilde trivia from SX News:

  Jennifer Ehle won the part of Wilde’s wife Constance from Theresa Russell. Ehle was enjoying the recent popularity of her role as Elizabeth Bennet in TV’s Pride and Prejudice.

• From ICM the latest is that "as it stands" Ms Ehle will not be in Michael Clayton. Endeavor people explain that "the film was too long and they had to cut out her 2 scenes". So rend your garments, but praps not your Sunday best.
  

Excuse us while we change

Moved to new upgraded format which allows for labels, collapsable archives and other geeky coolness which hopefully will make this monster a little more navigable. Only halfway through back-labelling now, all of 2005 to go. But scroll down and look at the labels on the right sidebar to browse through what's already been categorised. The money is in multimedia (video and audio), photos and interviews (a loosely defined term comprising any direct quotage).

Apparently the new format looks a bit weird in some browsers? Please comment with specific probs, we'll try to fix.

More reviews and photos

Remember Bruce who we linked two posts ago? He's done another great review- of Shipwreck. The pictures below are from his blog.

"Jennifer Ehle (who played Ethan Hawke's sister Liubov in part One) proves even a greater actress than I thought of her in Part One!"
"So THE COAST OF UTOPIA is not for everyone but for those who think Tom Stoppard is perhaps the world's premiere playwright, this is one of his best, spilling out ideas and visual brilliance to fill the mind up to the brim (and to some perhaps overflow it!)"

And from Anni In NYC:

And my current obsession is to see theatre, not just any piece but Coast of Utopia, Tom Stoppard's play about Russian intellectuals and their philosophical debates in pre-revolution Russia. Actually it's series: it consists of three plays, each about three hours long with over 70 actors including Ethan 'Before Sunrise/set' Hawke.

I absolutely want to see Coast of Utopia marathon, meaning seeing all three plays in one day during 12 hours. I can only imagine the amount of knowledge and ideas one is exposed to during this marathon. I imagine being a walking and talking Russian pre-revolution dictionary after those 12 hours. I want to go! I need to go! But I'm not the only one and the tickets are gone, gone, gone, even with the price of 200-400 dollars. I'll keep on hunting. It has become a mission. Hopefully not an impossible one.

Evidence against Michael Clayton

Asked on IMDB whether anyone knew why Ms Ehle was no longer listed, and got this reply:

Saw the screening a couple of months back. Although the comments card listed out her character as one of the ones to give comments on, I didn't actually notice her in the movie at all. I reckon her part has been cut out??

Say it isn't true! Further investigations are underway. Are any insiders still following us? Tips (anon or otherwise) would be most welcome.

Alpha Male DVD covers

The newer one with grey font comes from DVD Times. The DVD is out Jan 22nd which is...tomorrow/todayish.

There's a wee review of Voyage at Bruce's blog:

Now, Stoppard tends to be not very emotional and very philosophical and intellectual. And it is true, this play is about 30 years of Russian history, starting in 1846 - all pre-Revolution. It tells the tale of the Russian upperclass land owners and their children and their fascination with the philosophies of the day, lead by philosopher Alexander Herzen (O'Byrne). Not exactly an easy sit-thru in a way, but the 2 hours and 45 minutes sped by, I thought. Billy Crudup and Ethan Hawke take command of this Part One and are mezmerizing. Jennifer Ehle is luminous.

LIGHTBULB!

BroadwayWorld people are discussing whether it's ok to see parts of Coast of Utopia out of order.

Coast Review

Here's a blog review (Well not quite a review) from "Snarl"

I don’t often go to the theater expecting a seminar on literary and philosophical history. But that’s exactly what we got this evening with part one, “Voyage,” of Tom Stoppard’s “The Coast of Utopia” -- easily the standout activity in a day that also included a tour of Lincoln Center’s performing arts library, a lecture on ballet history, and a viewing of a “Sleeping Beauty” rehearsal by the New York City Ballet.

I’m not going to actually review “The Coast of Utopia”: here’s just too much “there” there to soak up in one viewing, and it requires a great deal of concentration just to keep up with the plot and to follow the jokes. (For a show about the Russian intelligentsia in the 1800s, it was surprisingly funny.) Mini-treatises on Hegel, Schilling, Pushkin, and other literary giants are scattered throughout, but this chapter of the play does a great deal to put its own knowledge of these thinkers in perspective. A recurring theme is that intellectual pursuits do not necessarily lead to a full life.

For instance, Ethan Hawke’s character, Michael Bakunin, is portrayed as something of an intellectual buffoon and unrepentant mooch: he skips fashionably from philosophy to philosophy, each time convinced that this penseur du jour will show him where he was going wrong. As he borrows and scams money to finance the life of his mind, his lifestyle is clearly depicted as indulgent and wasteful, never more so than in the dire consequences he incurs for the family estate at the close of part one. Other characters use an affected intellectualism as a defense against messy emotional entanglements.

So I watched the play with a delighted ambivalence: I could follow the action and laugh at the in-jokes that require a background knowledge of, say, the Hegelian dialectic. Yet I also recognized that the play was critiquing my -- the audience's -- very ability to understand it. I could make some awful metaphor about boats held in thrall to a sublime and capricious sea, but that would just be silly, now, wouldn’t it?

Bah!

We shake our fist at you, Hollywood/fates/deities! Argh. Wrote to the LCT publicity folks asking about the discrepancy between the official site biography (which includes Michael Clayton) and the Playbill biography (which does not)...the reply was that the Playbill biography is what Ms Ehle had wanted. So, who knows what that means, but it doesn't look good.

As some small consolation, we scored a handful of shots from Shipwreck. Some you will have seen before, but these are big and pretty, not to mention legal. Click to enlarge.

Blanchett and Bellini

Cate Blanchett quotes Rosemary Harris in this Observer interview with Mark Salisbury in December:

Men are boys for such a long time and really don't start getting the great roles until they're in their mid-thirties. But then they've got a long time to do them, whereas for women, it's all about playing younger and younger and younger. They start when they're 18 and go till they're 28, maybe 35 if they're lucky. I remember [veteran actress] Rosemary Harris saying to me that, in her sixties, she was coming into a whole swathe of work because she was one of the few women who hadn't had anything done, who actually looked her age, because when people try to find a 60-year-old now, there are none. I'm in it for the long haul.

Ali Rohrs reviews the first two parts of Coast of Utopia for the Columbia Spectator:

In Shipwreck, Stoppard marries debates of philosophy and romance in the marriage of Herzen (Brían F. O'Byrne) and his wife Natalie (Jennifer Ehle, who won a 2000 Tony for another Stoppard play, The Real Thing). O'Byrne grounds the show with his even and steady portrayal of the logical Herzen, while Ehle adds momentum to each scene by fluctuating between Natalie's sharp intelligence and her unrestrained passion.

John Heilpern of the NY Observer is critical, head-but-no-heart same-old.

All That Chat peoples are discussing the difficulty of scoring seats and there's a reminder about Salvage previews opening on January 30th at BroadwayWorld. Get your tix quick! Brendan Lemon has TWO updates at the LCT blog - one on Herzen's rising star and the other on the music of the plays (= gorgeous). Damned enormous Pacific Ocean.

For something completely different, found via Veritas' LJ is this YouTube video comparing the BBC and film versions of Pride and Prejudice in splitscreen.

PS. Ok, so Else from the tagboard tipped us off to the fact that Ms Ehle is no longer listed under Michael Clayton in IMDB. Well we thought to check in the Coast of Utopia Playbill...and alas, although other upcomings such as Pride and Glory and Road to the Sky are mentioned, there's nix on Michael Clayton (but on the Utopia trilogy's official site, it is still there). We're looking into it, but for now perhaps it should be considered in doubt. Sad day.

Reviews + Post Gazette Offer

Post Gazette gives a review on the Coast of Utopia:

It's a cunning and poignant title, since giving utopia a coast makes it seem like an actual place -- which I guess reformers do believe -- while also suggesting its difficulty of attainment. A coast isn't the thing itself, just its approaches. It may also be a cruel mirage distantly glimpsed, or it may be the site of a shipwreck. To extend this metaphor, Stoppard names the three plays "Voyage," "Shipwreck" and "Salvage" -- a perfect arc of hope, catastrophe and tentative rebirth.

They also mention their offer:

"to see Tom Stoppard's epic, theatrical "Coast of Utopia" trilogy at Lincoln Center, April 13-15.

The group travels Friday morning and returns late Sunday; the three plays are scheduled for Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday afternoon. Included in the package price of $1,379 per person, double occupancy, are round-trip air fare from Pittsburgh, New York airport transfers and porterage, two nights at a convenient hotel, three theater tickets, dinner and discussion Saturday between shows and taxes and gratuities.

For more information or to book space, phone Gulliver's Travels at 412-441-3131 (long-distance, 1-800-848-4084) or e-mail jackie@gulliverstvls.com. A deposit of $500 per person is required for confirmation; mail to Gulliver's Travels, 460 S. Graham St., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15232-1210. Space is very limited, and the deadline is Jan. 31 or until space sells out."

There's a Review of Voyage from Sincere Syllables

And, Coleslaw blog compares The Coast of Utopia to Idiocracy

Fan reportage and free stuff

Removed as requested.

Bits

• Another Tony prediction for Ms Ehle at BroadwayWorld.
• A review of Coast of Utopia in Cleveland's Plain Dealer.
• Masha Lipman of the New Yorker interviewed Tom Stoppard on Utopia in December (hope this isn't a doublepost).
• Some release dates for Pride and Glory are up at IMDB. Looks like it'll be around September 19.
  
• And a reminder, the Alpha Male DVD is coming out January 22.
• From, er, Пропавший · без · вести, a Voyage review.

Nicholas Stankevich (David Harbour) and Liubov Bakunin (Jennifer Ehle) play a notably endearing young couple and their lost relationship fills the play with a sense of quiet tragedy. Their love is cast aside in Stankevich’s pursuit of higher thought, and both of them die alone and separated without ever acting upon their feelings. Their loss – which goes unspoken by the other characters – is the play’s lasting statement: when human feeling is ignored, what is the meaning of revolution?

Twingomatic also has a positive mention of Voyage.

• A LCT usher catalogues the famous faces seen in the audience (Rosemary Harris, Bette Midler, Rachel Griffiths, etc) and also recounts a nasty encounter with a critic.
• Kez writes about accidentally bumping into a fellow fan and Utopia-goer on a delayed flight. We're everywhere! That makes...9.
  

By the way, although the StudenTix ship has sailed, we did witness firsthand people rocking up to the LCT box office at the last minute with their student ID and getting $30 rush tix. And another thing, from the Lincoln Center Plaza, enter the New York Library for the Performing Arts next door to the Vivian Beaumont lobby for a glimpse of Rosemary Harris.

"Tom Stoppard on Literary Criticism"

From the blog, Critical Mass:

"Tom Soppard's dying literary critic, Vissarion Belinsky, has this to say about his--and our--chosen calling, in "Shipwreck," Part II of "The Coast of Utopia" trilogy:"I fell in love with literature and stayed lovesick all my life. No woman had a more fervent or steadfast adorer. I picked up every handkerchief she let fall, lace, linen, snot rag, it made no difference. Every writer dead or alive was writing for me personally, to transport me, insult me, make me shout for joy or tear my hair out, and I wasn't fooled often."That's a loftier view of the profession than that of his philosopher Nicholas Stankevich, who in Part I, "Voyage," calls literary criticism "a job for people whose second book didn't come up to expectations."-Heller McAlpin, NBCC member and current board candidate"

An Actor Repairs comments on their experience getting free tickets to Shipwreck, and the difference between American actors and Russian actors.

Lightbulb

"Shines", "brilliance", "luminous" (x2), "electric"...all point to one thing!

Anyway. Just uploaded a bunch of Coast of Utopia images onto our Photobucket album, borrowed from the LCT's multimedia section, Playbill multimedia, the NY Times Shipwreck slideshow, as well as Newsday's. There are four random scans from the clippings package as well. That one there is from the Utopia Playbill. Familiar photo, no?

On with the bread and butter. Leonard Jacobs of Backstage:

[...] Beyond Jack O'Brien's staging (far less obstreperous than in Voyage), beyond Stoppard's dense-as-a-thicket dialogue (where a dispute about coffee might naturally precede a debate about censorship), what's increasingly admirable is how beautifully the actors zero in on the key qualities each scene must convey. If Stoppard gives himself barely any time to convey truth, story, and character, the actors have even less of it. In this sense, O'Byrne is a dynamo. His Herzen has a stark freshness, while Ehle's voice revels in the musicality of Stoppard's words, riding them, one and all, with consummate breath and meaning. Shipwreck is, in the end, as much Natalie's story as Alexander's, as much that of any of those men of mid-19th-century Europe and Russia. All in all, it's a compelling midpoint in Stoppard's audacious historical voyage.

And a Shipwreck article by NY Magazine's Jeremy McCarter:

[...] It’s gratifying when actors ease into their roles this way, but sometimes the reverse occurs, and a role begins to better suit its performer. In Part One, Brían F. O’Byrne, usually the most mesmerizing actor on whatever stage he inhabits, seemed oddly muted as the patrician revolutionary Alexander Herzen; the philosophical speeches, even when impassioned, felt distant, abstract. In the second act here, when Stoppard shifts from historical fanfare to domestic ballad, O’Byrne’s old allure returns. Herzen and his wife (exquisite Jennifer Ehle) set up a household with his best friend, the German poet Herwegh (David Harbour), who’s been cuckolding him. The inevitable confrontation may just be old-fashioned melodrama, but Herzen’s bitterness and fury help us see what makes O’Byrne great. Though some actors lean on a rich voice or effortless poise, his most valuable asset may be his tenacity—the ability to grip a role and not let go. Here, finally, are scenes he can dig his nails into; I hope they’re not the last. [...]

A new NY Times reader review is up as well.

[...] Jennifer Ehle is luminous throughout, and David Harbour and Jason Butler Harner also give excellent performances. Amy Irving and Richard Easton also give very entertaining cameo performances. And Ethan Hawke and Billy Crudup (the terrific rightful star of part one) make shorter appearances in their respective roles. Still on display, of course, is the sumptuous physical production of the show, which remains memorable in all respects. I must confess to feeling a little disappointed at the end of The Voyage, but Shipwreck has renewed my excitement and anticipation for the final part of the triology.

Also here's an audio review by Matt Windman for AM NY, and critical ones by Aaron Riccio and Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck. There's love from Luanne Rice though:

[...] there's one scene in "shipwreck" between jennifer ehle and martha plimpton that's so electric and emotional and delightful, really alive. the only problem is that stoppard is such an intellectual writer--he writes in ideas, and i think in emotions. it's my blessing/it's my curse, especially while watching stoppard. [...]

Likewise from William Wolf:

[...] The play delves into the relationship between the exiled Herzen and his wife, Natalie, portrayed with further brilliance by Jennifer Ehle. Natalie falls in love with family friend George Herwegh, a German poet who is smitten by her. Even in this atmosphere of being free spirits, the entanglement devastates Herzen, and it is fascinating to watch the pain come over O’Bryne’s face as he absorbs the shock of finding out what has been going on. [...]

and Lesley Alexander at CitiTour:

[...] Director Jack O’Brien has deftly adds touches of ambience through the use of the ever present servants and he contributes greatly to crafting the emotional touches performed with élan by Jennifer Ehle as Herzen’s frustrated wife. Brian F. O’Byrne gives a splendid performance as the wealthy landowner and the technical aspects add magnificent flourishes to the senses. [...]

Vince's Broadway Blog toes the lightbulb line:

[...] The production also benefits by getting away from the Bakunin household to tell the much more poignant story of Herzen, Herzen's wife Natalie (a luminous Jennifer Ehle), and his deaf son. For while there is a good deal to admire and enjoy in Stoppard’s witty exchanges, the piece finds its emotional depth in what happens to the individual characters. It is in part two that we not only learn of the tragedies that befall Herzin, but also of the imprisonment of Bakunin, and the death of Billy Crudup’s compelling Belinsky, who figured so centrally in the latter half of The Voyage. [...]

NY Theater Thoughts too:

[...] Some of the previous characters drop in to share their sentiments. We see a much older Belinsky (Billy Crudup) and a still rebellious Michael Bakunin (Ethan Hawke, seen waiving the flag in the picture to the left) as well as several others. The focus also shifts to the women, whereas in the Voyage they had too little of a part to play. Jennifer Ehle shines as Natalie Herzen who is exploring the idea utopian love through her marriage and an affair with a German poet, George Herwegh. Amy Irving also shows a different side as Maria, the estranged wife to Nicholas Ogarev (Josh Hamilton). [...]

Victoria Sullivan at Culture Catch writes a thematic review of the show, and CS Monitor's Iris Fanger gives it an A.

Finally, on January 8th there was a discussion with Tom Stoppard run by Drama Desk. Wee writeup at CurtainUp and photos at BroadwayWorld.

PS. Jerry rocks.

"Steals the show"

David Cote of Time Out NY reviews Shipwreck.

Apparently the law of trilogies is as true for Tom Stoppard as it was for George Lucas and Peter Jackson: Second parts kick butt. [...]

The febrile, talky caricatures that Stoppard and director Jack O’Brien piled onstage in Voyage are finally standing up and demanding attention. The marital woes of Herzen and his metaphysically unhappy wife (Jennifer Ehle, shrewd and glowing) are quite compelling, as are the political and cultural agendas of playboy-anarchist Michael Bakunin (the perfectly cast Ethan Hawke), Slavophilic literary critic Vissarion Belinsky (Billy Crudup, unrecognizably homely) and moderate novelist Ivan Turgenev (delicately touching Jason Butler Harner). Their heated arguments, which Stoppard renders with singular grace, humor and poignancy, continue Utopia’s grand, sympathetic critique of 19th-century philosophical reform.

Leonard Link adored Ms Ehle's Natalie:

[...] But the stars of Part II are Brian F. O'Byrne as Alexander Herzen and Jennifer Ehle as his wife Natalie, and for me Ehle really steals the show - this is a prize-worthy performance, showing an emotional range and depth that takes the breath away. Stoppard's work has a reputation for pretentious talkiness, and in truth there are some places along the way here where the characters make speeches that are a bit too didactic, but somehow the pace is not broken. By comparison to Part I, it seems that the scenes are more extended, there is more time for the pace to develop naturally. Or it may just be that, having seen Part I, one does not need as much exposition in Part II to get "into" the characters and be carried along by the story.

As before, the entire cast is wonderful, although Ms. Ehle really stands out in a special way here, and Mr. O'Byrne as Herzen really commands the stage as well. I wish there were more for Ethan Hawke to do in Part II - Bakunin is definitely an unforgettably crazy character and he plays him to the hilt, but it is largely a walk-on part in this chapter of the saga.

Anxiously awaiting Part III....

Less love chez Plum. There are also podcast audio reviews at the Journal News by Jacques le Sourd. The Wall Street Journal has a subscription-only review of Shipwreck by Terry Teachout. Here's the quotey bit.

[...] The central figure of "Shipwreck" is Alexander Herzen, commandingly played by Brian F. O'Byrne, the superlative Irish actor who created the role of Father Flynn in "Doubt." All but unknown in this country save to students of Russian literature, Herzen was that most paradoxical of figures, a skeptical revolutionary. A wealthy, well-bred intellectual who fled to Western Europe to escape the czar's censors, he arrived just in time to witness the ill-fated revolution of 1848, on whose outcome he pinned all his romantic hopes. Not only did the resulting debacle cure Herzen (temporarily) of his utopian delusions, but so did his marriage to his first cousin Natalie (played by Jennifer Ehle, who's never been better). Drunk on the same witches' brew of idealism, Natalie threw herself into an affair with Herzen's best friend, justifying it with high-minded rationalizations: "All my actions spring from the divine spirit of love, which I feel for all creation."
[...]
Jack O'Brien, the director of "The Coast of Utopia," has turned Mr. Stoppard's idea-dense play into a breathtaking cavalcade of stage pictures, all of them framed with the utmost vividness by the spare yet boldly designed sets of Bob Crowley and Scott Pask. I can imagine a simpler production, but I doubt there'll be a better one.

If we've missed anything, American Theatre Web has massive roundups for both Voyage and Shipwreck.

Give a hand to Abigail, our newest recruit! Currently in training. She's already been flying the flag at Facebook, where she started the Jennifer Ehle Appreciation Society (some photos from Jerryboree '06 there). There's also a tiny Coast of Utopia community you can join. On Myspace the Cast of Utopia group has eight cast members from the show (nope not her).

Couple more things: BWW's Katurian has a stage door photo (think we were there when this was taken), and there's a good notice for Ms Ehle's Natalie on IMDB.

PS. Forgive any double posting. Month of exile and all.

Scannage

In order: 1) 10+ years' worth of clippings, massive thanks to Agent E; 2) scan of NY Times Shipwreck review cos hard copy is nerdily exciting, 3) photo of said review, 4) photo from the New Yorker, 5) photo from scholarship article below.







Meanwhile Coast of Utopia caster Bianca Amato is interviewed by Broadway.com. Relevant quotage:

Oh, My Man, I Love Him So: Cast in "Shipwreck" as the outsider in a romantic triangle of Brian F. O'Byrne, Jennifer Ehle and Harbour, Amato says with a laugh, "The songs that are appropriate for Emma are 'Stand By Your Man' and 'As Long As He Needs Me.' Her idea of a relationship is that she will stick with her husband through thick and thin. You could look at her as a masochist, but I feel a real affinity with her strength and pride." The actress participates in one of the production's most talked about tableaus, when Ehle disrobes in a manner that suggests Manet's painting "Dejeuner sur l'Herbe." Notes Amato, "It was fascinating to rehearse, because it's two locations mixed into one and everyone onstage has a massive agenda. The climax of the love triangle is so shattering; it's very special to be part of that scene with Brian and Jennifer."

Note photo 2) over yonder is from aforementioned shattering scene.

Broadway.com also has their Word of Mouth video review of Shipwreck up. There's a special mention for Ms Ehle from BroadwayWorld's Margo Channing and in another thread as well, plus discussion of Tony categories for the Utopia boys. Michael Berry has a mini roundup which includes an audio interview with Sir Tom. Tom Bestor of Rational Feast reviews Voyage and Shipwreck. The News & Observer reminds us to keep an eye out for certain North Carolinan actors come June 10. Also have a look at Martha Plimpton's blog and the LCT blog with updates from starting Salvage.

By the way, you might notice we've got a new labels feature since we upgraded to the new Blogger. Bear with us while we catalogue our 1100-odd posts (owch).

Frustrated shepherdess?

Back! The writeup from the front lines will come soonish, one day, maybe, but for now here's something from the incredible package of clippings Agent E was kind enough to send me. There's also a photo which is coming later. Square bracket bits are words that were cut off and guessed. Note the date!

Jennifer Ehle wins KLT's Campbell Scholarship
By Lee Hope
Kernersville News
September 17, 1987

For the second year the Herbert Alan Campbell Memorial Scholarship has been awarded at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

This year's recipient is Jennifer Anne Ehle, a 17-year-old Winston-Salem girl who enters the school this fall as a freshman to study drama.

The scholarship was established by members of the Kernersville Little Theatre two years ago in honor of one of their members, Herbert Alan Campbell. Campbell was killled in a tragic automobile accident just days after the theatre's final performance of "Dracula".

The award provides tuition and fees to the winner for the freshman year. It is awarded strictly on merit to a young student who aspires to a career in drama.

Selections are made by the faculty of the School for the Arts. They are announced late each summer, the only caveat placed on the award by the fund's board is that the recipient be from the State of North Carolina and, if possible, from the Triad area.

Funding for the scholarship comes from private donations and from a continuing donation by the Kernersville Little Theatre of 5% of their gross receipts for the preceding year. This year's check from the theatre came to $858. It was presented to the fund last month at the annual awards social.

The 1987 scholarship winner, Jennifer Ehle, is the daughter of actress Rosemary Harris and novelist John Ehle. Not surprising, she has had a long-standing interest in the theatre and has had parts in school plays since the 9th grade. She says that the only other career she thought of was as a young girl when her wish was to be a shepherdess. Unfortunately, the only sheep she had to care for was a tabby named "Buttercup".

The academic career on which Jennifer has embarked is demanding. In addition to studying drama and all other aspects of the theatre, she will be expected to maintain a [stiff?] academic schedule.

According to Alan Rust, dean of the drama department, she can look forward to [long?] days and not a few long [nights?] of work and study.

As a member of the North Carolina University system, the School of the Arts ranks second only to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in average SAT scores of entering freshman. When asked which of her mother's plays and which of her father's books she liked the best, Jennifer Ehle first commented that many of her mother's best works were done before she was born, but that her personal favourite was "Pack of Lies." That play, originally staged in New York with Harris in the lead, was recently made into a movie for television with Ellen Burstyn taking the lead part. Of her father's novels, "Last One Home" is her choice.

What is it like to be the daughter of two famous people? According to Jennifer not much different than being the daughter of anyone else. However, she says that when your father is a writer you wake every morning to the sound of a typewriter.

Donations to the Herbert Alan Campbell Memorial Scholarship Fund may be [...] -tions to Box 26, Kernersville, NC 27284 or in the lobby a any Kernersville Little Theatre performance.

And thanks a mill to Chelsea for solo-blogging for more than a month on her lonesome!

"Masterpiece in the making"

Terry Teachout raves about Voyage in the subscription-only Wall Street Journal. Luckily there's an extract of his review at his blog, About Last Night. The relevant bit isn't extracted but here it is from the print version:

The actors are uniformly fine, with Mr. Crudup and Jennifer Ehle taking top honors. Mark Bennett's incidental music adds considerably to the total effect of the production ... but I'm out of room! I'll have more to tell you in a few weeks, but so far, "The Coast of Utopia" shows every sign of being a masterpiece in the making.

The Hartford Courant has a spoilery blow-by-blow writeup of the show by Malcolm Johnson. Mentions:

As acted by Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton, Kellie Overbey and Annie Purcell, they are a bright, winsome and innocent gaggle of tutored goslings, much in awe of their brother, Michael. Ethan Hawke, dashing in a red-and-blue infantry officer's uniform, endows the younger Bakunin with a cocky charm, and endless intellectual pretensions.
[...]
The headstrong Michael manages to head off the marriage of Ehle's sweet, thoughtful Liubov to Baron Renne (Andrew McGinn), a young, rich cavalry officer. But by the spring of 1835, Plimpton's more sour and tough-minded Varenka has wed her Dyakov and become pregnant. Soon, Varenka rejects her dull husband.

Link found via American Theater Web's comprehensive roundup. At Talkin' Broadway two orchestra tix to Shipwreck and Salvage are being sold for merely $30 apiece, a bargain.

Point and counterpoint: Scene 4's Michael Bettencourt vs reader Jerrod Bogard on the political impact of Voyage. Chris Nakimasha-Brown is "puzzled by the well-coordinated establishment media plugging" of Utopia. Blogger Greg found it went over his head.

Playbill summarizes the critical reception of Voyage:

The reception of The Coast of Utopia - Voyage was something of a happy surprise. The trilogy got mixed marks in London, but a winnowing of the text seemed to do the trick and the critics all sounded downright surprised that that they like the show so much. Calling it involving, exciting, expertly staged and acted, and declaring their appetite well-whetted for Part Two, they did prose back flips to convince their readers the show was more than just the snob hit of the season. An extension is expected. There's still Shipwreck and Salvage to come, and anything could happen, but for now Lincoln Center Theatre must be feeling that its millions were spent well.

Remember Shipwreck previews open on Weds Dec 6, with Ms Ehle in the lead female role of Natalie Herzen.

PS. From tomorrow morning I'm on furlough...with a stop at the front lines on Dec 9-10, when a group of us are going to see Utopia. Yay! Come say hi if you're there - look for hyperventilating females. Depending on time and net availability there may be reportage from the trenches. Otherwise, til Jan 5, Chelsea's holding the fort solo (owe ya!). I'll be checking the jenniferehle@gmail.com inbox when possible, but if you have anything important forward it to jenniferehle2@hotmail.com, Chels' "work" address. Reports and tips etc would be great. She is going on a short trip next weekend as well, so you'll have to fend for yourselves for a few days.

Voyage continued, continued

Rumour has it that an extension of The Coast of Utopia is being announced tomorrow, as well as more marathon dates.

Blogger Moxie the Maven reviews Voyage, as does Karl:

I certainly enjoyed the first section. I had expected excellent performances by Richard Easton, Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton and Brian F. O'Byrne .. and they did not disappoint. But Ethan Hawke and Billy Crudup were revelations.

David Cote blogs about his Time Out NY review.

Here's a Theatermania photo feature we forgot to post earlier. There's one photo of Ms Ehle.

BroadwayWorld is already announcing the start of Shipwreck previews on Dec 6.

Someone's Tony nomination predictions features Utopia and Utopians prominently (check out the bottom category).

Voyage, continued

Francis X. Clines of the NY Times is as amused by the action in the audience as on the stage. In Time Out NY David Cote gives a 4/6 review. There's also video: go to "This Week in NYC" then "Theater: Week of 11/30/06" (dialup unfriendly). Polly Wittenberg of NY Theatre Guide quotes press reviews and gives the show a thumbs up.

The large cast is full interesting actors but the star of Part 1 is an almost unrecognizable Billy Crudup playing the defiantly working class critic Belinsky, making his way in a world of social though not intellectual betters. Also memorable are the sincere Jennifer Ehle and the sparky Martha Plimpton as the Bakunin sisters Liubov and Varenka respectively. Making rather brief appearances here are the estimable Brian F. O’Byrne as Herzen and Josh Hamilton as Ogarev who play larger parts in Parts 2 and 3 of the epic. So much to look forward to.

Don’t miss it.

Joseph Hurley of the Irish Echo also covers the show, and Slate has a brief roundup.