November 2009

Reading Between The Lines Of "The Play That Changed My Life"

We all go to the theatre and can be deeply influenced by the work of playwrights. But do we have any idea what piece of theatre influenced them? That's the central question behind the American Theatre Wing's new book, The Play That Changed My Life, now available in bookstores and online from Applause. Purchase your copy from Applause Books (use promo code APPL1 for 25% off and free shipping) or from Amazon.com.

While the book began as a long-held idea by ATW executive director Howard Sherman, it was brought to fruition by collaboration between Sherman and editor Ben Hodges (perhaps best known for recent editions of the venerable "Theatre World" series), with support and guidance from ATW Board Member William Craver, ATW Board Chairman Ted Chapin and the editorial staff at Applause.

With the book now in stores in time for holiday purchases, Sherman took the opportunity to ask Hodges a few questions about being on the front lines of an effort that encompassed work by 20 major playwrights over the course of a year.

Sherman: What was the most surprising part of working with the playwrights on these essays?

Hodges: The most surprising part was how early in their lives many of them experienced the plays that "changed their lives." I expected plays that would have greatly influenced them would have been in the earlier parts of their careers as writers in their young adulthood or adulthood, it was surprising to find that playwrights such as Beth Henley and Sarah Ruhl were influenced in such a life-changing way by community theatre and productions that their mothers were in when they were quite young. And Lynn Nottage, author of plays with subject matter as serious as Ruined, is still blown away by seeing talking lima beans in a children's show she saw as a very young girl called Succotash On Ice.

Sherman: How did this project differ from your previous books, and did you face new challenges that hadn't come up before?

Hodges: My first two anthologies "Forbidden Acts: Pioneering Gay and Lesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century" and "Out Plays: Landmark Gay and Lesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century" as surveys of varying degrees, in many cases required requesting permission to use the already-written works only from estates or a few agents of living playwrights. The second anthology was even easier as by that time my first anthology having been a finalist for a LAMBDA Literary Award and adopted as a course book in quite a few colleges and universities, had established my work as somewhat important in the genre. So I began to have a reputation that opened doors for me, as well as from having edited on an ongoing basis, "Theatre World."

Working on "The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals" was a very unique experience, because my co-editor, Fred Vogel (original director of the Commercial Theater Institute), passed away in the middle of the project. So, while Fred was instrumental in enlisting the 28 or so producers, general managers, lawyers, etc., to write essays for the project, I was left with only his notes from which to compose his introduction and my instincts as to how to guide the essayists to form the structure of the book.

In all, my first three publications - independent of "Theatre World" - were all very solitary projects for me. (And actually even the editing of "Theatre World" on an annual basis, is a very solitary undertaking.) And so working with the writers personally on "The Play That Changed My Life," but as well as in many cases with their agents, managers, and assistants was at times a bit challenging, because, just as they are all such varied and dynamic writers, so they are all personally, with different needs. Playwrights exhibit less of a uniform way of working than, say, lawyers or producers, and so I was dealing with an array of writers on varying deadlines for this and other projects, with different thoughts and questions about what to write about and how to write it, and in many ways I was surprised by how thoroughly I would be consulted by so many playwrights, as to what I thought they should write about. I felt I had a lot of influence in helping shape these pieces by writers who had won Pulitzer Prizes and a bevy of other awards, and that was strange but also exciting to me. But I think that the question itself of "the play that changed your life" may have been one that most of them had never contemplated in such a thorough way before, and that is, of course, why it was such a wonderful idea.

Sherman: Did working on this book cause you to reflect on your own relationship to theatre, above and beyond what you wrote in your foreword?

Hodges: It's interesting - I found myself alternately inspired and then uninspired to take up my own writing for the theatre based on what these writers had to say. I'm in the second act of a play entitled Coiffures by Betti Rose about my experiences growing up with my grandmother taking me to her beauty parlor in East Tennessee in the 1970s and the characters that I encountered there...it's sort of like Steel Magnolias without the steel. But I've been stuck in the second act for about ten years and have done all of these books in the mean time.

At the same time, though, every single one of these writers absolutely had to do what they do and couldn't have lived any other way. And I've always had such a diverse and kind of "jack-of-all-trades" sort of approach to life that I don't think there's anything that I couldn't live without (well, almost anything!). So it really made me think that there's more to theatre and "making it" than just being in the right place at the right time. We've always heard it as a cliché, but it really is true, and these writers are a testament to it - that you have to want this above all else, and you have to continue to do it, no matter what, if that's what you want to do.

Every single one of these writers knew at a very early age that this was what they were meant to do, in one way or the other, and every one kept at it. I don't even think I had one tell me either through their essays or privately that they'd ever considered doing anything else. I don't recall a single reference to being discouraged, and the point is that is the point - they just kept going no matter the good times or the bad.

Sherman: Imagine we could have asked any playwright in history to contribute to the book. Who would have been your first choice, and why?

Hodges: Oscar Wilde's piece clearly would've been a hoot, although none of it probably true. I would've loved to have read Tennessee Williams' piece (would he have substituted pronouns to mask his sexuality?), and in fact, so many writers before the present generation were not asked to open themselves up in such a way through interviews or essays as these in this compilation that I am sure that writers such as Lillian Hellman and Arthur Miller would've written illuminating essays, and then it would be fun to throw in something by Eugene Ionesco or Joe Orton, just for kicks.

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ATW Attracts Attention on iTunes

We are not the only ones that think ATW programs are hot. iTunes, Apple's on-line site for downloading songs, movies, and TV shows has prominently featured Working in the Theatre and In The Wings in their Performing Arts section of videos. Earlier this month, Working in the Theatre was ranked 6 and In The Wings was ranked 15 in the "Top Video Podcasts."

Additionally, In The Wings was spotlighted in "New Releases" while Working in the Theatre was a "Featured" program. Our viewers and listeners have been increasing over the last few months with Working in the Theatre and Downstage Center each reaching over 50,000 downloads a month. As we continue to add to our on-line collection of over 600 hours of video and audio programs on our website, we are also working on reaching more and more theatre lovers and students like you. If you're not already subscribing, go to our podcast page to be up to date on our latest media programs.

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Downstage Center Draws European Fans

In our August 2009 newsletter article on Downstage Center, we mentioned the winner of the 2009 Lotte Lenya Singing Competition, Berlin-based Alen Hodzovic, accosting our Board Chairman, Ted Chapin about when Downstage Center was coming back from its long hiatus. A few weeks ago when Alen and his partner Stefan Huber were in New York on vacation, we were pleased to be able to invite them both to sit in on a recording of Downstage Center. That afternoon's guest was Rosemary Harris, currently on Broadway in The Royal Family.

Alen is a Berlin-based singer, who graduated both from the Bavarian Academy of Theatre in Munich and the Royal Academy of Music in London. This season he is in Into The Woods as the Baker at the Theater Hagen and, Sweet Charity as Oscar Lindquist at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. Stefan started off as a classically trained actor, but soon after founding his own musical comedy troupe Tietzes, he has established himself as a renowned stage director. He is involved in creating new musicals for the Swiss and German market.

It is great to see that while we're the "American" Theatre Wing, we're attracting an international theatre audience.

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What They Said

Bebe Neuwirth, on ATW's Working in the Theatre, Leading Ladies, September 2009.

"The audience is part of the show. I maintain that [when] the performance happens, it is an energetic exchange, it is a metaphysical experience. We give a performance and the audience receives the performance. You can feel that: the energy gets exchanged from the minute the houselights go down, so you can't ignore that. We're all part of the same event, we can't happen without the audience-- so, thank YOU!"

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