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thehefnerZombie Girl icon! Whoo! Give it up for classic George Romero goodness!
Just finished reading "Moon for the Misbegotten" by Eugene O'Neill, a play that solidifies my opinion of O'Neill being perhaps my favorite non-Shakespearian playwright of all time, or at least my favorite American one (I cannot yet say if I think Miller's better than O'Neill or vice-verse.) O'Neill is, I fear, the neglected bastard son of the Holy Trinity of American playwrights, along with everybody's favorites Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Sort of like King Lear is the neglected bastard son beside Hamlet, MacBeth, and Othello.
"The Iceman Cometh" is my fav play of all time, and Hickey is my all-time dream role to take on, I think. That, and Cyrano. When it comes to O'Neill, though, everyone's favorite is "Long Day's Journey Into Night," a play I've read and saw in NYC twice (with Brian Dennehy, Vanessa Redgrave, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Thing about that play was, I loved it, if only because it was CHILLINGLY close to home... but even at 4 1/2 hours long, when it ended it didn't feel like an ending. I wanted more.
And just like that, I discover halfway during reading the play that "Moon for the Misbegotten" is a sequel to "Journey," with the one character in the original play I didn't really expect to have any future (well, there were all kinda doomed at that, weren't they?) Not only that, but "Moon" doesn't have the free-falling-into-despair-and-doom feeling of "Iceman" and "Journey." In fact, "Moon for the Misbegotten" is one of the most tender, beautiful love stories I've ever read. It starts off hilarious, and by the second half... every page I'm nodding, saying "yes!" and just thinking, Jesus, this play is amazing.
I need to produce this. Producing any Eugene O'Neill play will be enough of a chore as it is. Perhaps that's why he's not as produced or recognized as often as "Streetcar" or "Crucible," because his plays are, at the shortest, 3 hours long, and at longest... I think Kevin Spacey's "Iceman" was nearly 5 hours, if I recall correctly. But I shit you not, enthralling brilliance in every second. Done well, you don't care about the length. Hell, the Rudes' 3-hour Henry VI should be a testament to that.
Just finished reading "Moon for the Misbegotten" by Eugene O'Neill, a play that solidifies my opinion of O'Neill being perhaps my favorite non-Shakespearian playwright of all time, or at least my favorite American one (I cannot yet say if I think Miller's better than O'Neill or vice-verse.) O'Neill is, I fear, the neglected bastard son of the Holy Trinity of American playwrights, along with everybody's favorites Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Sort of like King Lear is the neglected bastard son beside Hamlet, MacBeth, and Othello.
"The Iceman Cometh" is my fav play of all time, and Hickey is my all-time dream role to take on, I think. That, and Cyrano. When it comes to O'Neill, though, everyone's favorite is "Long Day's Journey Into Night," a play I've read and saw in NYC twice (with Brian Dennehy, Vanessa Redgrave, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Thing about that play was, I loved it, if only because it was CHILLINGLY close to home... but even at 4 1/2 hours long, when it ended it didn't feel like an ending. I wanted more.
And just like that, I discover halfway during reading the play that "Moon for the Misbegotten" is a sequel to "Journey," with the one character in the original play I didn't really expect to have any future (well, there were all kinda doomed at that, weren't they?) Not only that, but "Moon" doesn't have the free-falling-into-despair-and-doom feeling of "Iceman" and "Journey." In fact, "Moon for the Misbegotten" is one of the most tender, beautiful love stories I've ever read. It starts off hilarious, and by the second half... every page I'm nodding, saying "yes!" and just thinking, Jesus, this play is amazing.
I need to produce this. Producing any Eugene O'Neill play will be enough of a chore as it is. Perhaps that's why he's not as produced or recognized as often as "Streetcar" or "Crucible," because his plays are, at the shortest, 3 hours long, and at longest... I think Kevin Spacey's "Iceman" was nearly 5 hours, if I recall correctly. But I shit you not, enthralling brilliance in every second. Done well, you don't care about the length. Hell, the Rudes' 3-hour Henry VI should be a testament to that.
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Date: 2004-09-27 03:01 pm (UTC)Which reminds me: have you seen Jason Robards' in Iceman Cometh? I have the DVD. I dunno how familiar you are with Robards, but he was Spacey's mentor, hero, idol, and best friend, and is generally considered O'Neill's literary soul mate. He was Jamie in the movie of Journey and repirised the role in film of Moon, both of which I MUST see now. Robards' take is very different, just because he's Jason fucking Robards, but after several viewings, I don't know which one I prefer. Spacey would, of course, say that Robards' is the ONLY Hickey.
Please, please, when you read Moon, let me know what you think.