REP East did a remarkable job with this production. Although there were one or two minor line pauses, these were quickly forgotten as you became aware of the chemistry between the actors. These actors inhabited their characters: you grew to like them, and they didn’t just appear to be playing their characters, they were their characters. The cast starred Tina Baldridge* as Daisy Werthan, Stuart Calof* as Boolie Werthan, and Doug Jewell* as Hoke Colburn. All were great. I was particularly touched with how they portrayed their relationships, and how they captured the nuances of aging. All of the actors were new to the REP family (and all were Equity members).
The crew was equally remarkable. The production was produced by Bill Quinn, with direction by Rebekah Dunn assisted by Eric J. Stein. They did a great job; there were little directorial touches (such as the Daisy’s smile in the closing scene) that added significant depth. Also remarkable was the background music and sound: Steven “Nanook” Burkholder went above and beyond this time with his little touches. The set was designed by Katie Mitchell and Scott McKim and lit by Tim Christianson, who turned the simple REP space into multiple locales that came easily to the imagination. Costumes were by Janice Zeller, and these combined with the makeup to age the players very gracefully. The production was managed by Kelly Hardy and Katie Mitchell, with print design by the ever capable Mikee Schwinn, production by Bill Quinn and Ransom Boynton. Everything was under the ever capable artistic direction of Ovington Michael Owston. The play was written by Alfred Uhry. The production continues at the REP East through June 16th; click here for tickets.
One of the things this play emphasizes is family, and I’d like to touch on family for a bit. First, let’s look at the REP East family. We started going to REP East in early 2006 with the Abridged Shakespeare production. Since then, we’ve been to almost every main stage production, and have seen this company grow and thrive under O’s capable leadership. We’ve gotten to know them, and they’ve gotten to know us… and they are just a bunch of really good people. They care about their audience, they care about their community, they care about their art… and it shows. They are a gem of a company, and we are really glad to have found them. We hope to be part of their lives for many many years (and congrat’s to O on being a new daddy).
Let’s look at the other aspect of family, and why I like Driving Miss Daisy, for everytime I see this show, it reminds me of my family in two ways. First, the family of the show, the Werthan family, isn’t fictional. There is a real Werthan family in the south, although not in Atlanta. The real Werthan family (which was a wealthy Jewish family) was in Nashville TN, and had a business making and selling burlap bags. The business was started by Maier Werthan in 1866, continued by his son Joe and his grandson Howard. Joe was married to Sadie Mae Bogatsky, who may very well have been the model for Daisy. Sadie Mae was the daughter of Rosa Weinbaum, and Leopold Bogatsky; Rosa was the daughter of Daniel Weinbaum, my great-great granduncle. So I have a personal connection here. Daisy also reminds me of my grandaunt, Minnette Loewe, who was very much like Daisy. Aunt Minnette (who lived into her 90s) was an elegant, feisy, stubborn, and delightful St. Louis lady, active in her temple, strong in her opinion, and notable for her quirks. I miss her to this day, and this play brought back some pleasant memories. I look forward to seeing Aunt Minnette’s only son, Les, in Nashville at the end of June.
One last DMD connection: The current senior rabbi at The Temple in Atlanta (Rabbi Jeff Salkin), which is the likely congregation of Miss Daisy…. is also connected. His ex-wife, Nina, was one of the cofounders with me of the Usenet newsgroup soc.culture.jewish.parenting.
Returning to the theatre from the world of memory, what’s next on the theatre calendar. First and foremost, of course, is The Wizard of Oz… And Then Some at Nobel Middle School in Northridge on Thu 5/31 [6:30 PM], Fri 6/1 [6:30 PM], and Sat 6/2 [2:00 PM and 6:30 PM]. No tickets are required; donate at the door. Alas, we’ll miss the last performance of this, as we’ll be at “The Constant Wife” at The Pasadena Playhouse. Following that is “Side Show” at UCLA Theatre Arts on 6/9 @ 8pm; “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” through Broadway/LA on 6/16 @ 2pm. We’re on vacation the end of June in Nashville, and when we return, it is “Jersey Boys” at the Ahmanson Theatre on 7/15 @ 7:30pm; “Can-Can” at The Pasadena Playhouse on 7/28 at 8:00pm; “Beauty and the Beast” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on 8/4 @ 2:00pm, and the DCI 2007 World Championship Finals in Pasadena on 8/11 @ 5:00pm . I’ve also ordered season tickets for the Ahmanson, as discussed here, and there’s likely to be a Hollywood Bowl show in there somewhere.
The Playhouse did an excellent job telling this story: it had the right mix of comedy and bathos to keep the audience interested, and the actors truly inhabited their characters. You could see they were having fun performing this play, and to me that is an important aspect of making any play great. I don’t like actors for whom this is just a job: everyone wins when the actors joy in telling the story is shared with the joy of the audience in seeing it. About the only problem I had was a few scenes where the dialogue just wasn’t clear enough.