WTF marks 50 years of memories, classics

By Ralph HammannPrint Story | Email Story
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series in which Ralph Hammann, The Advocate’s chief theater critic, offers a personal recollection of Williamstown Theatre Festival highlights over the years. Part One focuses on the years in which Nikos Psacharopoulos made his indelible mark on the festival.) The WTF recently had its gala that celebrated the past 50 years from the perspective of theater insiders, who included its founders, staff, artists and board members. It was moving to see Ralph Renzi, Irwin Shainman and Henry Flint (founders) at the beginning of the evening that was sincerely hosted by Richard Thomas and scripted by Steve Lawson. Moving was the opening collage of voices reciting lines from the festival’s playwrights. Moving also were the films allowing us to see and hear Nikos Psacharopoulos in action and reflection — and the many slides of past faces — and the last image of Louis Zorich setting out the ghost light for the last time on the Adams Memorial Theatre’s stage. Even Michael Ritchie was moving in his thanks to his predecessors: David C. Bryant, Nikos, Austin Pendleton, George Morfogen and, particularly, Peter Hunt (who brought Ritchie to the WTF), whose presence received prolonged applause. Receiving prolonged laughter, Lewis Black was on hand to read a congratulatory proclamation from President Bush. It was an evening of diverse treats that culminated with Roger Rees and Dylan Baker celebrating the WTF’s famous early donor, Cole Porter (whom I criticized the season’s opening show for inadequately representing) with “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.” There has, however, been expressed a sentiment that has been bothering me of late. Some seem to believe that the WTF has never been so good as it has been under Michael Ritchie’s leadership. The 2002 Tony Award for Excellence in Regional Theatre is generally pointed to as proof of this sentiment. A theater is recommended for the award by the American Theatre Critics Association, which votes on a list of theaters nominated by its members. As one of nominators of the WTF for this award, I must protest. Strongly. The WTF was given the award for the work done over its lifetime and chiefly under three men: Nikos, Hunt and Ritchie. Ritchie has not set new and higher standards of excellence for the theater. He has, however, maintained many of those set by his predecessors. That is no small accomplishment, and he (and his team) deserves accolades for that. To suggest that he has bettered Nikos and Hunt’s years is to insult the past. Moreover, it is simply not true. It would be like saying that Euripides showed us the way, but Arthur Miller really made tragedy soar. I hope in the following, albeit very personal, recollection as a lifelong student, teacher, practitioner and critic of theater to refresh some memories of the WTF’s legacy and to hint, for those who weren’t a party to it, of its relatively consistent record of success. Although my 40-year association with the WTF began in 1965, I don’t pretend to have seen everything, and I realize that memory, as Tennessee Williams allowed, is not always precise. I have seen a lot of plays here, and my memories of nearly half of those years are supported by my reviews for this paper and/or Metroland. I do, however, reserve the right to disagree with my past estimations. To say that the Williamstown Theatre Festival has played a significant role in my life would be vast understatement. Certainly others who were here from the beginning, like Ralph Renzi, have more valued memories. And those who have spent enormous chunks of their professional lives working here, like Peter Hunt and Austin Pendleton, have life-defining memories. But it was impossible to grow up in Williamstown with an artistic temperament and not be affected by the institution that annually expanded the horizons of the small town. It was here that one learned to develop standards, to appreciate the classics and to be challenged by new works. The WTF regularly shook the provincial world of the protected Berkshires. One week we would be lured into the Southern landscape of the poetic mind of Tennessee Williams; the next week we’d be a party to the quiet lives of desperation led by Chekhov’s characters (and appreciate the universal appeal of the birch tree); the following week we were thrust into the political world of Brecht’s Germany without quite knowing what the alienation effect meant. It has been an exciting ride, a living education. My first great WTF experience was in 1965, when I was a kid in attendance at Williams’ “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.” One grew up fast if one attended shows here. Although I have no idea what it meant to me at the time, I do have a clear memory of seeing my peers (Vicki Piper and Nina Donati) on stage. One learned that the theater included all ages. Big deal? Well maybe it was. As I look at the current WTF’s commitment to youth through new programs like the Greylock Project, I think that the aspect of the involvement of all ages in the community was important. My first vivid memory was in 1966, at Tom Brennan’s production of “Marat/Sade,” which offered riveting interplay between Tony Capodilupo’s Marquis de Sade and Stacy Keach’s Marat (a performance all the more impressive to a young viewer due to the fact that Keach was confined to a bathtub for almost the entire play). Again, I’m sure I was too young to understand the complexities of the play, but the final scene, in which the inmates threatened to attack the audience, was truly frightening and remains the only time I have been so scared in the theater. In 1967, I loved “Luv” — so much so in fact that went back for seconds when Nikos, who directed, brought it back for an encore several weeks after its initial run. It was here that I became truly smitten with theater. The bridge and New York setting captivated, and the three actors were object lessons in live comedy, but it was one of the three who stood out. Tony Capodilupo. Does anyone else remember this mustachioed marvel who so enlivened every play in which he appeared? Broad, burly and brash, Capodilupo commanded the stage — he was our own Zero Mostel. The lasting image I have from “Luv” is of Capodilupo pulling his co-star’s head under his raised arm to smell his expensive cologne. The following year, 1968, Peter Hunt directed a bracing “Wait Until Dark.” Hunt, who was also a lighting designer, delivered the obligatory shock and made the entire audience jump during the famous refrigerator scene that took place with only one light. That same season I saw my first example of Nikos’ epic staging with his seductive “Camino Real.” The play featured Barbette Tweed, who inspired many a crush (Hunt eventually won her). This was also my first memory of the pastoral stagings that Nikos brought us of Chekhov — that year it was “The Sea Gull.” 1969 brought the first of Peter Hunt’s productions of “The Threepenny Opera.” I have seen and enjoyed all four of Hunt’s “Threepennys” — some had elements that were stronger than others, but this one was my introduction to what would become a lifelong love affair with Brecht and Weill’s masterpiece and Hunt’s dynamic stagings of it. I think 1970 was the year that I first started sharpening my incisors when I complained to my Uncle Harry on leaving Sam Shepard’s “Operation Sidewinder” that I didn’t think the actors swore very believably. But that year was marked by the delight of being introduced to live, as opposed to book, Arthur Miller. Paul Weidner’s unforgettable production of “The Price” and Richard Venture’s magnificently realistic portrait of the cop proved an inspiration for years. The first time Frank Langella did “Cyrano de Bergerac” was 1971, and it was one of the most perfect evenings in the theater. A revelation, even. Language, acting, design and direction melded together like a tight fist. Langella, a young man then, parried words and rapiers with like facility and wit. Nikos directed with romantic heroism that matched that of Cyrano. Quickly becoming the talk of the town, it demanded, and received, a return engagement. Postcards of Langella as Cyrano were sold for years later at Renzi’s college bookstore. This year also held the dramatic image of Carrie Nye’s “Hedda Gabler,” dramatic to the end, holding pistol to her head in Nikos’ well-crafted version of the Ibsen play. 1972 brought Peter Hunt’s first staging of “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” and Hunt proved that his facility with Brecht extended well beyond “Threepenny.” as he brought a chilling sense of epic theater to this classic that paralleled the rise of a Chicago gangster to that of Hitler. Donald Madden was a sensation in the lead. Langella was back in 1973 offering another exercise in style in S.N. Berhrman’s “The Second Man.” Few actors could get away with Langella’s flourishes. I still recall his long frame insouciantly draped over a couch. In 1974 came Nikos’ famous and perhaps defining version of “The Sea Gull.” This is the one that was eventually taped by PBS and broadcast on television. With a luminous Blythe Danner opposite Langella, the cast included Lee Grant, Olympia Dukakis, Louis Zorich and Kevin McCarthy — but wait, you can get a glimpse of what it was all about as it is now available on videotape and DVD from Image Entertainment’s Broadway Theatre Archive series. You’ll miss the glorious WTF sets and lighting, however, as it was remounted with two acts filmed outdoors. This was also the year that Hunt directed the best of his Macheaths, when Raul Julia imbued it with a sly charm. Never would Mack the Knife look quite so invitingly lethal as when Julia slipped on the role with as much ease as he did Mack’s white kid gloves. Also memorable in this version of “The Threepenny Opera” were Austin Pendleton’s Street Singer/Filch and John Conklin’s sets and costumes. Peter Hunt began his marvelous trend for revisiting lost and forgotten treasures in 1977, when he gave us the first of his two richly appointed productions of that play. I still vividly recall Langella (a quintessential Holmes) dropping bullets one by one with one hand into a brass tray after he had secretly disarmed the weapon Professor Moriarty would use on him. Langella adroitly arched his arm and hand as he insouciantly executed the business. And there was George Morfogen’s priceless reaction as Moriarty. Did anyone ever blink his eyes so dramatically as Morfogen? Hunt also lit the show with his customary craft and John Lee Beatty designed the sets. The production was later taped (and truncated) for HBO in 1981. Ken Howard brought nudity to the main stage in his heart-felt production of “Equus.” I remember comparing the Broadway version (with Anthony Perkin’s lauded performance) to Howard’s. It didn’t fare as well, and Howard, doing double duty as actor and director, was a far more dimensional psychiatrist. That year also brought Austin Pendleton’s moving and beautifully directed version of Miller’s “After the Fall.” The scene that poignantly stays with me is that of a very subdued, fully natural and vulnerable Langella sitting at the edge of the stage and quietly saying hello to the audience. 1978: another discovery! Nikos introduced us to Robert Sherwood’s unique anti-war play, “Idiot’s Delight” and also brought to Williamstown another terrific actor, Richard Kneeland, as a song and dance man stuck in the Italian Alps with his charmingly stupid troupe, “Les Blondes.” A sumptuous set by Andrew Jackness, costumes by Dunya Ramicova and Carrie Nye in her best performance as the mysterious faux Russian traveler, Irene, transported us. The last moments, as Kneeland and Nye sang at the piano as the world exploded in flames outside the vast hotel window, remain among my most precious theater treasures. The same year, Richard Chamberlain showed us why he had come to be highly regarded as a serious actor (as opposed to Dr. Kildare) when he directed himself in “The Shadow Box.” 1979 marked welcome returns to old friends when Nikos directed “Camino Real” and Hunt returned to “Arturo Ui.” Conklin designed unforgettable worlds for each. The powerhouse cast of “Camino” included Kneeland, Morfogen, Nye, Yusef Bulos, Louis Beachner and Dwight Schultz. Donald Madden was again stunning as “Arturo” and he was well supported by Tom Atkins’ Roma and Morfogen, who did a darkly funny entr’acte song and dance as the club-footed Givola. The new delight this year was Dick Cavett doing a hilarious romp in the farce, “Charley’s Aunt.” In 1980. Nikos and Langella did it again. Langella was an older and more mature Cyrano. And Nikos gave the play a more autumnal look aided by John Conklin’s sets, Peter Hunt’s lights and Jess Goldstein’s costumes. Elliot Norton of the Boston Herald led the host of rave reviews. Then, Austin Pendleton brought his usual care to actors in his direction of Shaw’s “Candida,” which featured a lovely performance by Blythe Danner in the title role. John Badham gave us a preview of what we might expect in his film version of “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” when he staged the play with the terrific cast of Richard Dreyfus, Danner and Morfogen. The rather incredible season concluded with the inestimable Colleen Dewhurst heading the cast “The Cherry Orchard,” but it is Pendleton’s deeply human picture of the perpetual student that remains etched in my mind. Nikos introduced the first of his two-night epics in 1981 with “The Greeks.” An audacious project, it combined the talents of Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. While it had its peaks and valleys, the undertaking in itself was invigorating, and while one was overwhelmed with the magnitude of the cast, I can remember the physical appropriateness of casting Danner as Aphrodite and Christopher Reeve (although not at his best) as Achilles. Danner’s daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, masqueraded as two young boys, a facility she would revive years later in her own triumph. That year gave us the best production I’ve seen of Shaw’s “Arms and the Man,” with a terrific triangle consisting of Danner, Chamberlain and, in his best performance at the WTF, Edward Herrmann as the humorously inept Chocolate Soldier. It was followed by Pendleton’s sublimely directed and cast production of Maxim Gorky’s little-seen masterpiece, “Summerfolk,” which aptly reflected the summer audience in Williamstown, who sat in ironic judgment of the useless lives on stage. The season extended into September when we were allowed to be an audience to HBO’s live taping of Hunt’s revisit of “Sherlock Holmes.” Another milestone in WTF history. Inspired by his Greek-fest, Nikos assembled the richest of tributes to one of his favorite playwrights with the two-part production of “Tennessee Williams: A Celebration” in 1982. Devised with the assistance of Jean Hackett and Steve Lawson, the evenings offered an endless buffet of Williams’ most famous and famously overlooked scenes. The best moments, and there were many, came between Karen Allen and Pendleton as the most touching Laura and Tom I’ve ever seen in “The Glass Menagerie.” On its heels was Maria Tucci in “Suddenly, Last Summer,” which Pendleton persuaded Nikos to include in the final days of rehearsal. And there were Atkins, Morfogen, Laurie Kennedy (so sensitive and vulnerable as Alma in “Summer and Smoke”) and James Naughton (perfectly cast as Brick in “Cat”). I remember attending a rehearsal and watching Williams laugh with delight at and with Carrie Nye, who hadn’t quite mastered her lines for Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The same year saw George Grizzard give a textured performance in David Mamet’s “A Life in the Theatre,” one of the best backstage plays ever written. The season ended with the silly “Trelawny of the Wells.” Sir Arthur Pinero’s comedy may not be a masterpiece, but the cast of WTF family that Nikos assembled for his production was delectable (Danner, Morfogen, Pendleton, Kennedy, Herrmann, Tucci, Beachner, Dwight Schultz, Mary Louise Wilson and William Swetland, etc.), and the dinner feast included hysterical bits of comic business devised by an ensemble of actors who were not about to be outdone by each other but knew how to play together. Sigourney Weaver was the highlight of Alvin Epstein’s direction of Harold Pinter’s “Old Times” in 1983. For me, the highlight of that year was spent in rehearsals with Nikos. who was directing the world premiere of Susan Yankowitz’s “A Knife in the Heart.” While Josef Somer, Laila Robbins and the rest were exceptional from my biased point of view, my real treat was watching Nikos work. Especially memorable was the love that was apparent in his smiles as he watched his young students and journeymen actors ply their trade and struggle toward success. On the Other Stage, Kathleen Tolan’s “Digging to China” was a standout. The year closed with the divine Richard Kneeland staring in Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter.” Rarely has Coward’s dialogue been so thoroughly savored as it was by Kneeland, whose eyes fairly sparkled with wit. Nye was perfectly cast opposite him again, and the chemistry the duo showed in “Idiot’s Delight” was in full attendance. Pendleton gave one of his most hilarious performances as the pain-in-the-neck, Roland Maule. Pendleton returned the following year to play Vanya, the role of his life, in a remarkable “Uncle Vanya.” The image of him devastated at the play’s end as his niece tries to inspire him is trenchant, as it melds pathos to tragedy. Pendleton followed his acting triumph with one in directing as he mounted William’s rarely produced “Vieux Carre” and coached poignant performances from Morfogen and Richard Thomas, who became a wonderful addition to the family. It’s a pity Pendleton wasn’t available in 1985 to play Tom opposite Karen Allen’s Laura again in Nikos’ “The Glass Menagerie.” While John Sayles was not the ideal Tom, the casting of Naughton, Allen and Joanne Woodward as Amanda Wingfield was a small miracle and resulted in a breath-catching production. You can catch the trio in the film that the production inspired Paul Newman to make. Nikos began 1986 with the enormous production of Gorky’s “Barbarians” — I was blown away by the production values of Santo Loquasto, who designed sets and costumes. No less impressive were the likes of Margaret Klenck, Daniel Davis, Thomas, Naughton, Laila Robbins, Maureen O’Sullivan and Tom Brennan. “Summer and Smoke” followed and offered the treat of a matured Christopher Reeve cast opposite Robbins. The two delicately held center stage on Loquasto’s fragile settings as delicately lit by Arden Fingerhut. It was the fourth play that year, however, that remains for me one of the perfect accomplishments in the theater: Pendleton’s expert direction of Sheridan’s difficult period masterpiece, “The School for Scandal.” The exemplary cast included Kneeland, Naughton, Beachner, Morfogen — and it introduced a thrilling quartet of new actors to the Main Stage: Diane Venora, Molly Regan, Laurie Metcalf and Nathan Lane. To watch these actors recreate a period (18th-century England) and style (Restoration comedy) alien to most of their contemporary actors was theatrical time travel. Only Nikos would schedule two Williams’ plays in one season, but it is a good thing he did, or else we would never have had the honor of seeing Blythe Danner’s fragile Blanche DuBois opposite Christopher Walken’s brutish Stanley Kowalski. Danner was as elegant as the pale gossamer material Blanche threw over harsh lamps. Sigourney Weaver may have seemed unusual casting for Stella, but the risk paid off in a performance that sharply contrasted with Danner’s while supporting it. The Other Stage also offered a treat this year with Christine Lahti, Dylan Baker and Carol Kane in Beth Henley’s sharp comedy, “The Lucky Spot.” To be honest, I had never much cared for “The Crucible” before seeing Nikos' production of it in 1987. But that changed forever when Peter Hunt trained his revealing lights on a host of performances that, true to the title, created molten ore on stage. Naughton was a John Proctor for all time, and his performance was ably stoked by the likes of Tucci, Kneeland, Morfogen, Stephen Collins, Emery Battis, Myra Taylor and Jennifer Van Dyck. Louis Zorich, Dwight Schultz, Emery Battis and Stockard Channing found the tense humor in Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming,” and under the direction of James Simpson they exposed the uncomfortable nakedness and silence-sharpened innuendoes of his characters. I loved watching the actors navigate the rule-breaking, perpendicular staircase on James D. Sandefur’s brash set. “The Rover” may not have been brilliant, but it showed the WTF’s willingness to explore and take risks with outré material, this time with Aphra Behn’s almost-never produced Restoration comedy. It was chiefly enjoyable for the high spirited performances of Faye Grant, Kate Burton, Tisha Roth and Ann Reinking opposite the rambunctious likes of Collins, Reeve, Herrmann and Harry Groener. The Other Stage introduced us to Joanne Woodward, who nurtured deeply affecting performances from a classic that I had hitherto written off as dated, Clifford Odets’ “Golden Boy.” It starred Dylan McDermott. Closing the season was “The Three Sisters,” one of my favorite productions by Nikos. It could be that it took me until 1987 to appreciate the supreme artistry of this play and its unexpectedly taut ties to absurdity and existentialism, but this was a production that despite one ill-advised bit of casting (Rob Lowe as Tusenbach) brilliantly achieved the blend of tragedy and comedy that so troubles directors of Chekhov. Walkin, Davis, Zorich, Collins and John Heard were impressive. Conklin’s set shone under Pat Collin’s lighting, and Jess Goldstein wrapped the ladies in inescapable finery. But it was the sisters who were the play: Kate Burton, Roberta Maxwell and, above all, an incandescent Amy Irving as Masha. In undertaking the mammoth “The Legend of Oedipus,” which was done in two parts, Nikos again knocked at the door of Mount Olympus and produced a spectacle to please the gods. With Kneeland as Dionysos, Morfogen as Teiresias, a chorus of 24, sets by John Conklin, music by Adam Guettel — and the texts of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides — all Nikos needed was a regal Oedipus. Thus did Joe Morton make his heroic main stage debut. It was to be Nikos’ last great work. As if to please their mentor in his last season, Pendleton and Hunt followed suit with two epic productions of their own. The excitement at the WTF was palpable, and never have apprentices and the non-Equity company been so busy onstage. Pendleton wound tight Arthur Miller’s “The American Clock,” a complex tapestry of Americana between the years of 1929 and 1936. Timely in 1988 as I expect it is today, the production was another unqualified success for Pendleton and his cast, which included Fisher Stevens, Ron Rifkin, Barbara eda-Young, Bob Morrissey, Paul Giamatti and Pendleton favorites Conrad L. Osborne, Molly Regan and the ubiquitous Morfogen. Hunt’s third “Resistible Rise of Arturto Ui” again proved irresistible, as Daniel Davis stepped with authority into the role Madden had played. Besides directing, Hunt further electrified the proceedings with his lighting. The transfiguration of Arturo from smalltime hood into powerful gang boss still lingers in mind, as does the transformation of downtown Chicago into a fascist rally. Whether directing or mentoring, Nikos had a great run. A perfectionist, he set high standards — some impossibly high — and frequently achieved them. So too, did those who directed for him and who were privileged to work in his cherished temple. For a better look at the man’s achievements, particularly with Chekhov, I recommend the two books on him by Jean Hackett. Next week I’ll look at the years presided over by Hunt and Ritchie.
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Friends of Great Barrington Libraries Holiday Book Sale

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Friends of Great Barrington Libraries invite the community to shop their annual Holiday Good-as-New Book Sale, happening now through the end of the year at the Mason Library, 231 Main Street. 
 
With hundreds of curated gently used books to choose from—fiction, nonfiction, children's favorites, gift-quality selections, cookbooks, and more—it's the perfect local stop for holiday gifting.
 
This year's sale is an addition to the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Stroll on this Saturday, Dec. 13, 3–8 PM. Visitors can swing by the Mason Library for early parking, browse the sale until 3:00 PM, then meet Pete the Cat on the front lawn before heading downtown for the Stroll's shopping, music, and festive eats.
 
Can't make the Holiday Stroll? The book sale is open during regular Mason Library hours throughout December.
 
Proceeds support free library programming and events for all ages.
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