Actors Go On, To Help Others Go On

Throughout recorded history, populations in times of war and strife have turned to the theatre for comfort. Whether in the Siege of St. Petersburg or the London Blitz, actors provided succor to those who felt frightened and confused. It was no different this week in New York, after the horrific attacks that leveled the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon Tues., Sept. 11. After two days of dark theatres, the Broadway community heeded Mayor Rudolph Giuliani 's call to reopen the houses, raise the curtains, and give frightened New Yorkers a few laughs, a few songs, or whatever else the performers could provide.

Not that the actors found it easy. Whether in plays, musicals, or cabarets, the performers who first ventured out to face audiences were themselves somewhat frightened and apprehensive. But as these four performers recount their tales, it is obvious they enjoyed giving their theatrical gifts to their grateful audiences, and they got something in return.

Valerie Harper, who plays the title role in "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife," had spent Tuesday and Wednesday donating blood and bringing flowers to firehouses that had been decimated by the disaster. By Thursday, when the show resumed, she and the rest of the cast were virtually exhausted, she told Back Stage.

"None of us felt funny, but the mayor asked us to get on with life and that he thought it was important for Broadway to reopen, so we went in," she said. "And we had to go in early to rehearse, because there are references to terrorism in our play that Charles Busch, our playwright, and Lynne Meadow, our director, wanted to change. They are usually very funny lines, but now they would take people out of the play, and be really counterproductive and wrong.

"By going in and working on those cuts, we were suddenly in work again, and when I walked into my dressing room I thought, 'If the audience is out there, by Heaven, we'd better be up here doing the best job we can.'

The house was at least half full of stalwart individuals, and we did not know what was going to happen. The opening scene is between my character and the character of Mohammad, the doorman. Poor Amil [Kumar, who plays the role], who is American born and bred-his family is from India, I think, but he plays an Iraqi-said, 'Oh, Val, I'm afraid they're going to hate me." But the play went on, and the audience was a very game group, and when the first laugh happened about three lines in, it was a huge relief.

"Charles also wrote a beautiful curtain speech for me to deliver to the audience: 'I want to tell you what a privilege it's been for us to be able to perform the play tonight and to see that you have made the choice to come out, to laugh, to carry on, and not be ruled by fear. We're going to get through this together. God bless America.'

"And at the end of the show, people waited at the stage door and said, 'We needed those laughs.' It's not disrespectful to the dead or the suffering families or the suffering friends or city. Instead, it's like Mayor Giuliani said: 'We have to pick ourselves up and go on. They cannot cripple us. We've taken quite a hit, but we're New Yorkers.'

My former teacher, Viola Stalling, used to say, 'The theatre is a temple and in it we worship God.' Some might think that's extreme, but it is a communal event with the audience. It's human heart to human heart, and Broadway has a wonderful role to play in our recovery."

Positive Attitude

Cabaret performer Tim McArthur agrees, and appreciates how his chosen career helped people cope with the current crisis when he became the first performer to go on at Don't Tell Mama, the popular 46th Street piano bar, after the terrorist raid on the twin towers. McArthur lives in London, and had just arrived in New York the day before the attack.

"I arrived on Monday evening all excited after months of preparation and trying the show out in London to make sure it worked," he told Back Stage, "and obviously after what happened on Tuesday, I was sort of thinking, 'Do I do it or don't I do it?' Then, when your mayor said on Wednesday he wanted everyone up and running again on Thursday, I thought maybe Friday would be all right.

"So I did it, and it was an amazing evening. As a performer I've never experienced anything like it. The houses have been fairly small, but I'm not too worried about that because the people who have seen the show have said, 'Thank you for making me laugh. I've wanted to laugh all week and haven't been able to.' That really cheered me up and I think if I can give someone that hour of something else to think about, that's obviously why I'm here.

"There has to be a way that what has happened can be turned into a positive situation," he said hopefully, "and that is that every person in New York City may start being a bit more respectful of each other and take care of each other. I know that the lady I'm staying with in Chelsea said on Saturday night she was walking home and someone got knocked over-he was fine, but she said the amount of people who went up to see if he was okay was amazing. She said two weeks ago that wouldn't have happened. It's not the same thing, but I remember when Lady Diana died, the outpouring of grief in London got people talking to each other because she was such a fantastic lady and for a time after that everyone was nicer to each other. Now, four years later, it's like it was before, and I think if New Yorkers can learn to stand together and be supportive, that is the positive thing that will come out of it. Life is generally too short and you never know when it could end, and that's why my own feeling is that you have to live so that every moment counts. Enjoy yourself, and be respectful to people. Life is precious, it's a gift, and you should never ever take it for granted.

"I love the American attitude. It's a very positive attitude, and cabaret is much bigger here than in London. In England we like it when people start to do well, but then we sort of hate it if they do too well, if you know what I mean. Your culture is much more positive about things: anything is possible. I believe in that.

"When I go back to London, I'm not going back the same performer I was when I got here."

Enjoying Forgetting

Dick Cavett, who plays the narrator in the Broadway revival of "The Rocky Horror Show," had a task that combined Harper's Broadway experience and McArthur's cabaret experience: He normally begins the show with an ad lib monologue touching on the issues of the day. That was not the case Thursday, however.

"Some people suggested to me that maybe I shouldn't mention the catastrophe," he told back Stage, "but I'm not lucky enough to be in a costume playing a part; I'm myself and had to say something about it. I just said in my opening remarks that at this point we'd normally be laughing at my humorous monologue but we all know what has happened. I also said I think we can afford not to feel guilty for trying to get some fun for a couple of hours. I went rather quickly into the part from the text, and in an amazingly short period of time I was right back in the feel of the thing.

"Before the show everybody in the cast was subdued and wondering how we were going to do it, but through the magic of the theatre as we got into makeup and our costumes, the doubt from a half-hour earlier that we could do it at all had disappeared and we realized that clearly we were going to be able to do it. And in the middle of the first act, I suddenly realized I'd forgotten about the terrorists for a moment. It came back immediately, of course, but I thought that that is probably what the audience is enjoying: forgetting.

"I figured I could do the second act pretty much the same way I always do, commenting on things, and in fact I did. I only really referred to the catastrophe by accident, when I mentioned that Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said that it was because God is angry at the ACLU, abortionists, gays, lesbians, and whoever else. When I said that Jesus was gonna kick his ass up around his ears, the laughter and applause went on for a gratifyingly long time.

"And at the end of the show-some might call it a sacrilege, I suppose-but there was an audience whooping and hollering and doing the 'Time Warp.'

I used to marvel sometimes, when I got older and it occurred to me to marvel, that the golden age of radio comedy was during World War II. When every day a carrier was sunk or gold star mothers were being made or we were losing to the Japanese-which most people don't remember-and every night Fibber McGee came on, and Jack Benny and Fred Allen and Bob Hope, they made us double over with laughter.

Bracing Ourselves

Jeanine LaManna, who plays Lois Lane in the Broadway revival of "Kiss Me Kate," also found herself reflecting on World War II as she reported for work.

"Before I got to the theatre I was thinking about how we have the flag and the military and a few references to Washington," she said, "and I wondered if there was going to be anything touchy, and I can't honestly tell you how they went over. I was glad they were positive aspects to those symbols, but it calls to mind a period in which there was a war. We weren't around for it, it was our parents' and grandparents' era and I personally thought I'd never have to live through something like that, but now I think there's a great possibility that we will go to war and we kind of have to brace ourselves for it.

"It was good to come to the theatre Thursday and see everyone in our extended family-to see their faces and learn that they were okay and their families and friends were okay-because everyone had been so isolated in front of their TVs or volunteering. This is a pretty tight-knit cast, and after two days of that isolation it was good to see them and also to say, okay, this is normal, since it was so abnormal not doing the show.

"I think it's good that Mayor Giuliani is trying to keep the economy strong, but it felt strangely premature to have a show Thursday. I don't know how many people were in the house that night, but there weren't that many. Still, they were eager to be entertained, and I was thrilled to see children in the audience, because that gets them away from the television. They get a little bit of Cole Porter and a little bit of Shakespeare and history, and they like the costumes. I thought, 'Yes, absolutely, keep the theatre open for the kids, if nothing else.'"

-- Mike Salinas