When I was little, my parents took me to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. I recall thinking it was pretty cool - all those plaques on the wall, all of the memorabilia in shiny cases, and lots of people oohing and aahing and reminiscing about the good old days, "when there were real baseball heroes." Of course, they were talking about he likes of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio. I was about 7 years old, and had no idea what they were talking about, but I could tell the place - and the people it honored - was a BIG deal.Fast forward a decade or so, to my first trip to Broadway, which just so happened to be at the Gershwin Theatre, home of The Theater Hall of Fame. I was just starting my love affair with the stage, so I knew about as much about the Broadway folk of yesteryear as I did the ball players when I was 7. But I had a decidedly unfavorable impression of this "Hall of Fame." No plaques, just names on a wall. I mean, I figured they were important, since their names were big and went from (very tall) ceiling to floor. But not a picture, prop or costume in sight. And the people milling about weren't talking about the names on the wall. Heck, they weren't even looking at the names. And, geez, there was a bathroom door right next to one of the lists!
Anyway, this year's list of Hall of Famers was just announced, and I know every on the list. A few personal thoughts on each:
F. Murray Abraham - I only knew him as the guy from Amadeus until I saw him as Roy Cohn in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. What an actor! So powerful, so nasty, yet so pitiable a character he created. I also got to see him in Triumph of Love, and I marveled in the fact that he was in a musical and acting up a storm!
Blythe Danner - She's so much more than Gwenyth Paltrow's mother... I saw her in the revival of Blithe Spirit and thought she was terrific as the titular ghost. All these years later, I remember her biting line deliveries and graceful, ethereal way of floating around the set.
Alvin Epstein - I only saw this elder-statesman perform once, in the Sting revival of 3penny Opera, and to be honest I don't remember much about it. But anyone with a several decades long career, interpreting Weill and taking on the classics as he has surely deserves the honor.
Now, years later, of course, in subsequent visits to the Gershwin, I can appreciate most of the names on those lists, and even if people are more interested in the Ozdust Boutiques all over the place than they are in those lists, I'm glad there is at least something around to honor some of "the real theater heroes." Congratulations to this year's honorees.
Jeff
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