Eugene O‟Neill: the Constant Presence April 2017
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Eugene O‟Neill: The Constant Presence April 2017 SOCIETY BOARD PRESIDENT IN THE U.S., ON STAGE IN IRELAND J. Chris Westgate [email protected] 10th International Conference VICE PRESIDENT July 19-22, pp. 10-13 Robert M. Dowling 1 Central Connecticut State University National University of SECRETARY/TREASURER Ireland, Galway 2 Beth Wynstra [email protected] INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY — ASIA: Haiping Liu [email protected] INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY — EUROPE: Marc Maufort [email protected] 5 GOVERNING BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR: Steven Bloom [email protected] 3 Jackson Bryer [email protected] Eugene O’Neill: Michael Burlingame [email protected] Ireland, the Constant Presence Robert M. Dowling [email protected] Thierry Dubost 4 [email protected] Kurt Eisen Photos: [email protected] 1. Chris Whitaker 2. A. Vincent Scarano Eileen Herrmann 3. Eugene O‘Neill Fdtn. [email protected] 4. Carol Rosegg 5. Stephanie Berger Katie Johnson [email protected] Daniel Larner [email protected] 1. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Geffen Playhouse, pp. 17-18. Cynthia McCown 2. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Monte Cristo Cottage, [email protected] pp. 19-20. Anne G. Morgan 3. Shell Shock & The Rescue, Playwrights‘ Theatre, Danville, [email protected] REMEMBERING pp. 28-29. David Palmer THE GELBS 4. The Emperor Jones, Irish Rep, pp. 21-22. [email protected] pp. 3-9 5. The Hairy Ape, The Armory, pp. 14-16. Robert Richter [email protected] EX OFFICIO What‟s Inside IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Jeff Kennedy Honorary board, special members . .24 President‘s Message . .2 [email protected] Conference Panels . .25 Remembering the Gelbs . .3-9 THE EUGENE O’NEILL REVIEW O‘Neill On Stage . 14-22, 26, 28 Conferences, CFPs . 26 Editor: William Davies King Eugene O‘Neill Foundation [email protected] 10th International Conference . .10-13 Member News Artists in Residence . 27-28 NEWSLETTER Editor: Jo Morello New website . 23 Playwrights‘ Theatre . .28-29 [email protected] The Eugene O’Neill Review . .23 Contributors . .30-31 Eugene O‘Neill Society Page 1 A Message from Society president J. Chris Westgate which is great! But we still need all our Dear O‘Neillians, M c N a m a r a and members members in good standing. If you It is with deeply mixed feelings that I of the execu- haven‘t renewed yet, I encourage you write this letter. The recent passing of tive commit- to do so soon. As always, you can re- Barbara Gelb is a great loss for the t e e a r e new online at the Society website. Eugene O‘Neill Society. Along with working dili- Arthur, who passed in 2014, Barbara gently on I hope you get a chance to see some was a great presence in the Society for making this of the productions of O‘Neill‘s plays so long that it is undoubtedly difficult conference that are happening right now. We to imagine the future without her. As an amazing have coverage on several important you will see in the remembrances of experience. productions in this issue (pages 14-22, them elsewhere in this Newsletter, 26, 28). They were so important to so many I should note that all the conference members of the O‘Neill Society and information is posted on our newly I just got back from New York City the study of O‘Neill‘s life that we redesigned Society website thanks to where I had the good fortune of see- should all take a moment to remem- Jeff Kennedy. (See page 23.) Please ing one of them, The Emperor Jones, at ber them—each of us individually and take some time to look through the the Irish Repertory Theatre. It was an together as a Society. amazing work that Jeff has put into the astonishingly visceral experience that website and send him thanks for his left the performers and the audience Yet the sadness we feel is mixed with hard work. overwhelmed. (See photos HERE.) enthusiasm for what lies ahead for the Society, including the Tenth Interna- Just glancing through the photographs Additionally, I got to see The Hairy Ape tional Conference on Eugene O‘Neill: from past conferences in New York at The Armory, which was truly enjoy- ―Eugene O‘Neill: Ireland, the Constant City and New London was a treat for able in the ways that the production Presence.‖ The conference‘s schedule me—seeing all of us gathered together experimented with the expressionism is now available on the Society‘s web- to talk about the life and work of of the play. site (www.eugeneoneillsociety.org/ O‘Neill. index.html) and, as you can see, we If you don‘t have a chance to see the have a lot of exciting things to look I would be remiss (and in trouble with play, click HERE to watch Rob forward to including lectures from Beth!) if I didn‘t take a moment to ask Dowling‘s interview with the director, Ireland‘s president Michael D. Higgins you to consider renewing your Society Richard Jones, and the leading actor, as well as scholars Declan Kiberd, and membership for next year. We‘ve had Bobby Cannavale. Gerardine Meaney; a lecture on the a great year for membership, with our Abbey Theatre and its archives; and a numbers up from the previous year— Until Galway…. Chris performance of Ronan Noone‘s The Second Girl. Below, The Hairy Ape. PHOTO: STEPHANIE BERGER. Right: The Emperor Jones. PHOTO: CAROL ROSEGG. Beyond that, the Galway Arts Festival is running during the conference, with offerings we can take in during some down time. As you saw in the email from our sec- retary/treasurer Beth Wynstra, regis- tration for the Conference is now available. Conference co-chairs Nelson O‘Ceallaigh Ritschel and Audrey Eugene O‘Neill International Society Page 2 April 2017 The End of an Era: The Passing of the Gelbs “What I am is a Writer”: Remembering Barbara—and Arthur by Sheila Hickey Garvey was legendary and apparently seeped into their family life right to the edge Barbara and then Arthur Gelb were of the crib. amongst my closest friends for almost thirty years. We often dined together, Barbara‘s sense of artistic integrity was had a mutual passion for the opera, indeed finely tuned. This is why Bar- indulged—just a bit—in gossip, bara and Arthur together spoke laughed a lot and also shared personal against director Jose Quintero and intimacies and concerns in a way that Donald Gallop (then curator at Yale‘s one can only do with the closest and Beinecke Library) for adapting—at most trusted of friends. Of course, the Carlotta‘s request—the incomplete primary tie was Eugene O‘Neill, as my text of O‘Neill‘s More Stately Mansions own writing and research builds on for performance on Broadway. Bar- Barbara‘s interviews with José bara and Arthur both took an unpopu- Quintero and Jason Robards in the lar position, one that appeared in The 1970s. New York Times just before the pro- duction opened. Because of this there Separating Barbara and Arthur was was friction amongst Quintero, Ro- challenging since they co-authored bards, Gallup and the Gelb for many much of their O‘Neill writing and (File photo, forwarded by Bette Mandl) years. were an inseparable couple as often as bara and Arthur were at the confer- possible. But I consciously made the ence to receive the Eugene O‘Neill From Barbara and Arthur‘s point of decision to focus on Barbara‘s unique Medallion, I asked Barbara to join the view, they had taken a stance on behalf professional identity in this remem- panel. After all she was also a play- of deceased writer Eugene O‘Neill, brance because it was almost too easy wright and should be thought of as who was unable to speak for himself to become caught up in Arthur‘s dy- such. With reluctance Barbara joined and was known to have instructed namic personality, exuberant nature my other guests and, of course, held Carlotta to destroy the unfinished and mesmerizing intellect. her own while Arthur sat in the audi- manuscript. To alter an artist‘s work ence asking Jason and José provocative without permission was, to Barbara, My first effort to spotlight Barbara was questions to rile them up. an ethical violation. in 1987 at the time her play My Gene premiered at New York‘s Public Thea- Barbara once said to me, ―what I am is During the Society‘s Sixth Interna- ter. The play, about Carlotta Mon- a writer.‖ To Barbara, being a writer tional Conference in Provincetown, terey O‘Neill, starred Barbara‘s friend meant being an artist. As the niece of Massachusetts, in 2005, Barbara, Ar- Coleen Dewhurst. I interviewed Bar- acclaimed violinist Jascha Heifetz and thur and filmmaker Ric Burns spent bara and wrote an article based on the step-daughter of successful play- the weekend with fellow O‘Neillians. that interview for The Eugene O’Neill wright S.N. Berman she well under- They had asked me to arrange the Newsletter. In 1995 Fred Wilkins, co- stood what being an artist truly meant. premiere presentation of selections founder of the Eugene O‘Neill Society from their then newly completed PBS and then-editor of The Eugene O’Neill She gave me an example to explain American Experience episode titled Review, asked me to be the chair for a some of her eccentricities by telling Eugene O’Neill, a Documentary Film. performance panel at an O‘Neill Soci- me that her Uncle Jascha would test all ety conference in Boston.