THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504280676
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: Long : 141 lines
``KEEPING IN TOUCH'' is the theme of A.R. Gurney's poignant and humorous ``Love Letters,'' the play-reading that covers five decades in the lives of two upper-crust seekers. They, like Scarlett and Rhett, never quite get together, but the quest is one that theatergoers have been devouring with relish for several years.
The play, which is actually a reading, begins in 1937, when the characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, are in the second grade. Through the years, they valiantly attempt to communicate. They marry others but remain close. Yet the very letters that bring them together also keep them apart. He eventually admits that ``I feel most alive when I'm holed up in a corner writing things down.''
He becomes a U.S. senator. She becomes a would-be artist, a drunk and an often-divorced socialite.
It's about braces, boarding schools, bewilderment, broken homes, bashfulness, brashness, big bucks, the birds and the bees - all at a breakneck speed.
The project has become something of a theatrical phenomenon, both nationally and locally. When Charlton Heston and wife Lydia read the ``Love Letters'' here last March, a first-day box office sales record was broken. Even before opening night, ticket sales had topped $70,000. With a hopeful look backward, the prospect of another such lucrative importation was apparently enough to cause Virginia Stage Company to abandon it's promised production of ``Blithe Spirit'' and sign a trio of impressive actors for a three-week run.
No star combination has approached the roles with more life-affirming charm than Van Johnson and Betsy Palmer, who appear at the Virginia Stage Company's Wells Theater through Sunday.
At 78, Johnson still has the boyish demeanor and innocent charm that made him a mainstay of the MGM golden years.
Palmer admirably represses her effervescent bounce to stay firmly within the bounds of her character. Delightfully, she is not required to discipline all her energies, because Melissa has most of the play's zingers.
Who would have thought that Johnson, of all the MGM galaxy, would be working today while his co-stars, the likes of Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Clark Gable, are either unemployed or gone to stars' heaven? Johnson, who was last here as grand marshal of Virginia Beach's D-Day observance, is more than a mere survivor. He puts to rest any rumors of physical ailments with a performance of fine timing.
Look at that ever-bubbling Betsy Palmer and you think of game shows of our TV pasts. She hardly needs the spotlight. She glows naturally. A lady of a thousand ad-libs, all of them witty, she can be restrained but not diminished by a mere script. She was the nurse who made the boys nervous in the classic ``Mister Roberts.'' On screen, she lived through both being threatened by Joan Crawford in ``Queen Bee'' and mothering Jason in ``Friday the 13th.'' On stage, she is Melissa Gardner, but she also, is still our own Betsy Palmer.
The duo are directed by Ted Weiant, who has made a career and a franchise out of star turns with this script. The staging reduces theater to the bare necessities - a table, a spotlight and two actors. The pace is frenetic in Act I, as we are asked to digest instant clues thrown at us at breakneck speed.
Paul Winfield (Oscar nominee for ``Sounder'') and Barbara McNair (singer and nightclub entertainer) take over the roles on May 2. Ron Leibman (Tony Award winner for ``Angels in America'') and Jessica Walter (``The Group'' and ``Play Misty for Me'') arrive on May 9. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Betsy Palmer
Van Johnson
Graphics
BETSY PALMER'S CAREER
``Mister Roberts'' (1955): She was the shapely nurse who sparked
Jack Lemmon in the classic comedy starring Henry Fonda.
``The Long Gray Line'' (1955): With Tyrone Power and Maureen
O'Hara at West Point.
``The Tin Star'' (1957): With Henry Fonda and Tony Perkins in a
classic Western.
``The Last Angry Man'' (1959): Co-starring with Paul Muni.
``Friday the 13th'' (1980): She was the mom who drove son Jason
into a hockey mask as she snared a new generation of cult fans.
TV appearances: A 10-year run on ``I've Got a Secret'' (1957-67)
plus quiz show stints on ``Masquerade Party'' and ``What's It
For?''
- Mal Vincent
THEATER REVIEW
What: ``Love Letters'' by A.R. Gurney, starring Van Johnson and
Betsy Palmer, directed by Ted Weiant
When: Today at 8 p.m., Saturday at 5 and 9 p.m., Sunday at 2
p.m.
Where: Presented by the Virginia Stage Company in the Wells
Theater in downtown Norfolk
How much: $10 to $30 (Call 627-1234 for information and
reservations)
More Love Letters: Barbara McNair and Paul Winfield will take
over the leads May 2-7. Ron Leibman and Jessica Walter will appear
May 9-14.
Personal and up close: A backstage supper party is held with the
cast each Friday evening after the performance, including gourmet
late-night supper, open bar and music. ($40 per person, $70 per
couple). Call 627-1234 for information.
VAN JOHNSON'S CAREER
Out of his more than 125 movies, here are our Top 10 films
featuring Van Johnson.
``Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944): Van flies the plane,
commanded by Spencer Tracy, in America's first attack on Japan in
World War II.
``State of the Union'' (1948): He's Spencer Tracy's campaign
manager in a memorable comedy-drama about a presidential bid. Kate
Hepburn is the candidate for first lady.
``Command Decision'' (1948): Clark Gable and Walter Pigeon join
him in World War II drama.
``In the Good Old Summertime'' (1949): Musical with Judy Garland;
it's also Liza Minelli's debut.
``Battleground'' (1949): Academy Award nominated film about the
American fighting man in World War II. Largely regarded as the best
of that war's combat flicks.
``The Caine Mutiny'' (1954): Rebelling against Bogie over
strawberries.
``Brigadoon'' (1954): Singing and dancing with Gene Kelly and Cyd
Charisse in bonny plaids.
``The Last Time I Saw Paris'' (1954): Loving tragic Liz Taylor in
F. Scott Fitzgerald country.
``23 Paces to Baker Street'' (1956): A thriller with Van as a
blind man who ``witnesses'' a murder.
And in 10th place, a collective bow to his many co-starring
vehicles with his two most-frequent leading ladies - the bubbly June
Allyson and the often-wed Esther Williams
Plus, two memorable stage performances: ``The Music Man''
(beginning in London in 1961) and ``La Cage Aux Folles'' (1984 on
Broadway)
by CNB