Moon for the Misbegotten
Daniel Kessler
play, a play based on the playwright's brother....
Also, "Moon" had a difficult history...opened in an unlikely out-of-town
location of Columbus, Ohio on Feb. 10, 1947 with some theater-goers
offended by the play's rough language. The lead characters were
miscast...still, the play continued its out-of-town
progress...Cleveland, Pittsburgh and then Detroit were the police closed
it because the language...such as "louse" and "bastard" offended some!
Imagine that?
While "Moon" suffered mixed reviews...that is...except for renown Boston
critic Elliot Norton who traveled to New York at the time... described
the writing as "profoundly beautiful...This is O'Neill at his peak!"
In spite of that, "Moon" closed on B'way...then the play was withdrawn
by the Thaeater Guild for its scheduled 1946-47 season. A later attempt
was made to attract Marlon Brando, as James Tyrone, Jr., and Rosalyn
Russell for Josie, but neither was interested.
Broadway offered it again in 1957, four years after O'Neill's death.
British actress Wendy Hiller was Josie...thought to be "too British" for
the role.
That raises a question..."What sort of accent should Josie show?" She's
not from "the other side" as is her father Phil Hogan...should the
director require a Josie Hogan that shows vestiges of her father's
ancestral burr? Not sure! Whereas, the role of her father, Phil Hogan
would have been a possible fit for one-time movie actor Barry
Fitzgerald. Still, I'm inclined to think fo Phil Hogan as a heavy-set
crusty old character and Fitzgerald was "too skinny."
Fortunately for me, I recall "Moon"... the 1973 outing with Jason
Robards, Jr. and Coleen Dewhurst on B'way...others have followed, but
none have equalled Robards and Dewhurst "combo," in my opinion.
First, Josie is described as a "big girl" and Dewhurst was the epitome
of that and more, with a voice more a contralto than a soprano. And
that was a part of the problem with this Shaw revival...Canadian actress
Jenny Young was too skinny, and with the voice of a soprano when you
wanted a lower voice richly modulated...it just didn't work and David
Jansen's acting for the part of James Tyrone didn't have the gravitas
for that role as did Robards who was more effective in conveying a sense
of world-weariness...causing one to hang on his every word and gesture!
A later B'way revival with Gabriel Byrne and Cherry Jones didn't work
for me!
Only veteran Shaw performer, Tim Mezon as Phil Hogan, Josie's father was
perfectly cast. I left at half time!
"Moon" is a treacherous piece to offer if you don't have the right cast!
dgsweet
People forget that there was an enormously successful off-Broadway
revival of MOON before the Broadway Robards-Dewhurst match-up. Salome
Jens and Mitchell Ryan at the Circle-in-the-Square downtown. I think
there's a recording of it. That's when I first saw and fell in love
with the play. Robards and Dewhurst were really about 20 years too
old for the parts, though nobody much gave a damn. (As you probably
know, a video of that production is available on DVD.)
Jeff
Daniel Kessler
its one of those pieces that needs mature actors to bring it off...
...but...you have to admit... they gave the piece the theatrical magic that it
needed!