Post by rick on Mar 25, 2020 14:34:37 GMT -5
Terrence McNally, Playwright, 81, Dies of Coronavirus Complications
This passing stung for me.
The obituary lists his contributions to art.
The first play of his that I can remember seeing was "The Lisbon Traviata," which, back in the late 1980s, starred a brash newcomer named Nathan Lane. He stole the show. Although the show was in NYC, and I live in L.A., I went to see it twice.
Next I saw on PBS his telefilm "Andre's Mother" starring Richard Thomas and Sada Thompson. Sada Thompson plays a mother who comes to New York to see her gay son, Andre, but Andre is not there, and instead she encounters Andre's lover (Richard Thomas). Andre is never seen in the film. No matter how many times I see this movie, I cry every time. Sometimes when something is going on in my life and I feel the need for "a good cry," this is the movie I put on and it does it every time. It makes me laugh and cry, which, IMHO, the best art has the ability to do both.
On my second-to-last trip to New York, I saw the last new play of his, "Fire and Air" about the relationship between impresario Serge Diaghilev and ballet dancer Nijinsky. It wasn't one of McNally's better works, but it felt great to see a new work by this august playwright and to be in the lobby before the show and see him milling about.
One my last trip to New York, in May 2019, on my first night there, I saw the revival of McNally's "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" with Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon. I'd never seen it before and had not seen the somewhat bastardized movie version. It was a beautiful production and it really touched me. The performances were spot-on.
A documentary called "Every Act of Life" was made about Terrence McNally's life. If you can watch it, I believe it is on Amazon Prime. It's quite illuminating. I was fortunate to see a screening of it at Outfest, the L.A. gay and lesbian film festival with a post-screening discussion with the filmmakers and actors who had worked with McNally including Rita Moreno ("The Ritz").
He led an amazing life and he gave us so much rich work.
