A sweet New York Times free association: I was reminding my Mom how she started explaining things to me about "men and women" when we saw "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" at the Kent Theater on Coney Island Avenue when the movie was new. Mom (who's 90) said she was just reading Jane Brody in the Times the other day, and remembered that the Times' Jane Brody's late husband Richard was my teacher many years ago, and she remembered meeting him and Jane Brody at a student showcase. This led to trying to figure out who had her name first, Jean Brodie or Jane Brody.
I'd say I hope to have that sharp a memory as Mom when I'm 90, but (as the joke goes) my memory isn't that sharp now!
Maggie Smith gave one of the most brilliant, Oscar winning, performances in our lifetime starring in the film, The Prime of Miss Jean Brody. I cannot watch any other actress - no matter how talented - play this role on stage, screen or television. It would be as sacrilegious as watching the movie, Ben Hur without the magnificent Charlton Heston.
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To Bruce Savin, after being sure nothing would equal the memory of Richard Burbage as Hamlet, since it was written for him, I finally gave in and saw Ralph Fiennes because my mom so wanted to see him. I was glad I did, since I now have both to reflect on. :)
But seriously, a screen performance is a product of adding in so many intermediaries, so many takes and camera angles, even artful voice retakes. I won't say there's nothing like live theater, since film or Tv to me does sometimes improve, but it's such a different experience. For many, live on stage is almost always preferable - to me, it's just that one will never replace the other.
Um, if Ophelia is being played by a guy, he’d be lissom. No e.
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Wonderful. And for those who are unable to cross the pond for Lia Williams performance, there's always the wonderful Maggie Smith 1969 movie. Get it. Or skip the Hamptons and to London.
Really.
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Follow Terry Teachout of the Wall St. Journal.. His reviews of theatre repertory companies across America are periodically published on Fridays. He covers Comnecticut, Washington D.C., and the Midwest in great depth throughout the year. He is a pleasure to read.
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Have been seeing this in Toronto as well, with more women getting lots of love on stage and in the directors chair.
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I went to Miami Beach (it's cheap in July) and Scranton with the last of a meager travel budget, and so glad again to get this vicarious trip to London! But uh, oh – I clicked on that link about the Maggie Smith film and now I can’t get that Rod McKuen earworm from that film out of my head. (The song's not in the play, is it?)
Tune of “Jean”
Ben, Ben, London’s ablaze
You’ve brought us there once again.
Though the costs hit new highs,
Through your ears and your eyes,
We’re over there with you, Ben.
Ben, Ben, which tuners, which plays?
We even turned off C-N-N.
As we read each review,
It’s like we are there too,
But you made the shlep for us, Ben.
It was once “London Journal,” but by any name
The vicarious thrill that it brings is the same
Now it’s “Brantley in Britain”
And through what you’ve written
Ben, Ben, the West End’s ablaze
With each notice you pen.
So we happily click
And live each show you pick
We’re there, when you’re there for us, Ben.
You took the cost and the jetlag for us, Ben.
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"Machinal" seems to get a revival every twenty years or so, gets great reviews, and gives a talented young actress a major career boost--and then disappears.
Which is better, I guess, than entering a permanent repertory and being given indifferent or amateur productions.
Please God Hollywood doesn't try to take a shot at it.
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I long for the day when the Times doesn't subsidize Ben's trips to London and actually pays attention to the theatre being done in American cities west of the Hudson.
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To Bill Grabarkewitz- I know it would be more pricy for them coming from where you are in California, but I’ve seriously priced these from NYC before finally choosing Fort Lauderdale/Miami Beach for myself ($119 for the same room that cost $359 in November, same amenities!). Assuming buying a few weeks in advance [and I’m hoping they upgraded the flights to "Pruitt class" with spare miles or points], a London trip can be much more economical than even the Williamstown/Berkshires trip. And both are a pittance compared to San Diego/La Jolla, and while Seattle had great bargains, what would they review there in summer that anyone would want to read about? (But I think they’d be there in affordable Chicago for “Cher Show” if it weren’t an official pre-New York tryout, which I gather means NYC critics are asked not to cover.)
PS I'd be with you on Vegas coverage, though; they used to go there, and don't much any more, but I bet it's not the cost (the unthemed Bally's at $39 or $49 is just as nice a room and just as central IMHO as Venetian or Bellagio at six or more times that, plus Bally's tries harder), just the work that's now there now doesn't warrant it.
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"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and the less often performed landmark play "Machinal" have been springboards to fame for the actresses who have performed these roles. Mr. Brantley forgets to mention the first (and standard) adaptation of "Jean Brodie" by Jay Presson Allen, which debuted at Wyndhams Theatre in London in 1966 with Vanessa Redgrave (following her legendary Rosalind two years earlier at Stratford). This was followed by the January, 1968 NYC production which starred the unforgettable Zoe Caldwell, whom I saw 7 times as an undergraduate student at NYU, during its one year run at the former Helen Hayes Theatre on West 46th St. ( now replaced by the Marquis Hotel). Caldwell won her 2nd Tony for that role. And the late, great actress Geraldine McEwan triumphed in the PBS TV version several years later.
The 1993 Stephen Daldrey/ Ian McNeil production of "Machinal" was truly one of the greatest productions I have ever seen in my life. Playing at the Lyttleton auditorium at the National Theatre, it launched the career of Fiona Shaw in an absolutely unforgettable, gut-wrenching production. The ovations at the curtain calls rocked the foundations of the theatre. The gifted Rebecca Hall was admirable in the recent Roundabout Theatre prod. in NYC but the final scene was completely misdirected and lacked impact.
One can only hope that these two new productions travel to Broadway.
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It would seem to be an exciting theater season. Even the still from "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" is arresting. This review made me long to be in London.
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One of the weirdest pairings of offerings for a double-feature ever: “Butch Cassidy…” and “…Miss Jean Brodie.” The only connection seemed to be that both had pop hit songs.
This was the poster for the two films together:
http://www.originalposter.co.uk/fulldetails.asp?rid=16036
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