| Famed 'Deep Space Nine' vet
gives up a tear-jerking 'Love Letters'
Creative Venues
By David Giarrizzo
| 
The Ferndale Rep had a treat September 17th at 8pm and
18th at 1pm, René Auberjonois appeared on the
Rep's stage with Executive Director, Marilyn McCormick,
in A.R. Gurney's poignant performance piece, Love Letters.
Aside from many TV guest appearances, René
is one of America’s most gifted stage performers.
He recently completed a Broadway run starring as Jethro
Crouch in the revival of Sly Fox, for which he was nominated
for an Outer Critics Circle Award. He received a Tony
nomination for his performance as Buddy / Irwin in the
Tony Award-winning musical, City of Angels, and won
a Tony as Katherine Hepburn’s nemesis in the musical,
Coco. |
Auberjonois has been seen on many regional theatre stages
as well. Among his many film credits are: McCabe and Mrs.
Miller, Eulogy, The Feud, Inspector Gadget, The Little Mermaid,
Batman Forever, and The Patriot. Known for many roles including
Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Clayton Endicott, III on
the long-running TV series, Benson, or as Father Mulcahy in
Robert Altman's M*A*S*H. and on the popular TV series, Boston
Legal, as Paul Lewiston.
Playwright A.R. Gurney was successful in building a lifelong
profile of two friends through the mere exchange of letters
in his play Love Letters. Auberjonois and McCormick successfully
held the audience’s attention for two hours of "reading"
letters written by fictitious characters Andrew Ladd and Melissa
Gardner, friends since grade school who keep up a written
correspondence for their entire lives, until one of them dies.
Andy and Melissa start out with a grade school flirtation
when Andy is invited to Melissa’s birthday party. The
play begins in the 1930s, and back then little boys might
have sent a written R.S.V.P. in response to a birthday party
invitation. Then Melissa sends Andy a thank-you note for his
gift, then Valentines are exchanged, Christmas greetings,
and a lifetime of letters as the two go their separate ways
through private schools, college, marriages and careers.
Through the years, the two friends share all the events of
their lives and, especially in Melissa’s case, feelings.
Their little-kid flirtation alternately blossoms into more
adult affections and sexual attractions and fades in periods
of silence or depression or jealousy by one or the other.
The viewer feels frustrated for this couple that perhaps
should have married, but never quite got together in the right
place at the right time. Melissa plays hard to get until it's
too late. She is an independent, somewhat stubborn artist
- a Georgia O’Keeffe type - who marries and divorces
more than once. Andy becomes a lawyer, then politician, with
the picture perfect family, even as Melissa is always in his
heart. One wonders if Melissa’s alcoholism and other
miseries might have been prevented had she married Andy -
or if, on the other hand, marriage would have destroyed their
friendship. The play’s ending is sad, and Auberjonois
and McCormick gave it a fine, tear-jerking reading .
Immediately following the performance the actors had an informal
question and answer session. A variety of questions including
conventional acting versus Reader’s Theater, live television
versus scene by scene TV filming and many endearing exchanges
between the players and the audience. An older couple in the
front shared a fond memory of Auberjonis’ past performances
at ACT in the early ‘70’s. You could tell it truly
touched the man that someone would remember a performance
from that far back and appreciated the attentiveness of the
audience that evening. Young actors wanted performance tips,
science fiction fans thanked him for helping shape their imaginations
by being a part of their lives. And he returned the favor
by cheerfully signing trading cards in the lobby after most
of the audience had left and he and Marilyn were the last
ones out the door.
I had to ask him one last question “Do teleprompters
make actors lazy?” To which he replied I haven’t
experienced the use except on live television. And in that
situation things are being rewritten until the very last minute.
I asked him if he would ever host Saturday Night Live and
he said it would be an interesting experience and live television
is always exciting. I thanked him, walked into the night,
and drove my vehicle back into the great unknown, reluctantly
ending a lovely evening of dinner (Curley’s) and theater
in the Victorian Village of Ferndale.
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