Great Moments in New York Theater: The Rose Tattoo
Sometimes you see something in a play that you never forget in your life. Maybe the entire play, itself, doesn’t stay with you – but that moment stays with you forever. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, it’s a couple of moments, a mood, a memory that makes it stick around. For me, The Rose Tattoo was just such a night.
I never saw this play before; neither did I see the film (even though I am a fan of Tennessee Williams’ work). So when I walked into the Circle in the Square theater, I walked in blind. I had no preconceived notions based on a previous knowledge of the story. I only knew that I was going to see two of my favourite actors, two of the great actors of the time. I had loved Anthony LaPaglia since his first movie (which remains one of those movies I watch on dvd something like six times a year), BETSY’S WEDDING and I don’t remember what my first Mercedes Ruehl movie was (I think it was BIG) but I have been a die-hard fan since. All I knew was that I was seeing a classic play starring Ruehl and LaPaglia. That was enough.
I must admit that I have not spent a lot of time thinking about this play. I remember the basic premise and I remember that I enjoyed the play itself ( always drawn to the poetry of this playwright ) but that is it. What I remember, specifically, was that Mercedes and Anthony were simply marvelous in the show. Exemplary talents on their own, together they created a chemistry so dynamic that it became mesmerizing. Oftentimes it felt as though we, the audience were actually watching through a window as a real-life couple went about the conversational moments of their day. I loved watching them. I just loved them, especially in a moment that brought out their humanity and the folly of being a stage actor. That moment came in the final scene when an actual live goat was brought onstage to be chased around; and it was during that chase that the animal relieved itself on the stage. Little goat pellets were everywhere and Merceds Ruehl did this sort of don’t-step-in-the poop! dance that had she, Anthony and the audience enjoying peals of laughter. It added, immensely, to a wonderful and exhilarating night at the theater.
The moment, though, that haunts me (almost every day, too) was the start of the play. We were sitting in our seats reading our playbills. The lights began to dim and everyone settled in, straightening up their backs, so as to get the best view possible. We sat for a few moments in the dark. Music began. The music was this other-worldly phantom of a melody, so rich as to be nothing more than a dream. A few notes into the tune, a shaft of amber light began to illuminate the silhouette of Serafina (Mercedes Ruehl), standing at full mast in a red dress, her back arched and her chin lifted, as she gazed into the heavens and fanned her face with an elegant yet ordinary fan. The music continued to grow and swell around her and the movement of the fan as the lights came up on the rest of the stage. Music, fan, Serafina, louder, swollen, ethereal. It was an opening worthy of live theater. It captured my attention and kept me in my seat until the end of the play. The music and the vision haunted me the rest of the day, the rest of the week and the rest of my life.
I had an opportunity to ask my friend Elizabeth Rouse, who was in the play, if she would find out what that music was. I was ashamed when she told me. An avid collector of motion picture instrumental scores on vinyl (and then, cd) since my teens, I had no idea of the brilliance of the score to The Mission. The song was The Falls. This production introduced me to the song, the score and the work of Ennio Morricone, who would become one of my favourite composers. I listen to his music a lot of the time and, particularly, to The Falls. To that end, The Rose Tattoo changed my life and made it better.
I will never forget those opening moments of the play. They are, forever, burned in my memory.
Click here to hear THE FALLS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIMwEFAEld0
I never saw this play before; neither did I see the film (even though I am a fan of Tennessee Williams’ work). So when I walked into the Circle in the Square theater, I walked in blind. I had no preconceived notions based on a previous knowledge of the story. I only knew that I was going to see two of my favourite actors, two of the great actors of the time. I had loved Anthony LaPaglia since his first movie (which remains one of those movies I watch on dvd something like six times a year), BETSY’S WEDDING and I don’t remember what my first Mercedes Ruehl movie was (I think it was BIG) but I have been a die-hard fan since. All I knew was that I was seeing a classic play starring Ruehl and LaPaglia. That was enough.
I must admit that I have not spent a lot of time thinking about this play. I remember the basic premise and I remember that I enjoyed the play itself ( always drawn to the poetry of this playwright ) but that is it. What I remember, specifically, was that Mercedes and Anthony were simply marvelous in the show. Exemplary talents on their own, together they created a chemistry so dynamic that it became mesmerizing. Oftentimes it felt as though we, the audience were actually watching through a window as a real-life couple went about the conversational moments of their day. I loved watching them. I just loved them, especially in a moment that brought out their humanity and the folly of being a stage actor. That moment came in the final scene when an actual live goat was brought onstage to be chased around; and it was during that chase that the animal relieved itself on the stage. Little goat pellets were everywhere and Merceds Ruehl did this sort of don’t-step-in-the poop! dance that had she, Anthony and the audience enjoying peals of laughter. It added, immensely, to a wonderful and exhilarating night at the theater.
The moment, though, that haunts me (almost every day, too) was the start of the play. We were sitting in our seats reading our playbills. The lights began to dim and everyone settled in, straightening up their backs, so as to get the best view possible. We sat for a few moments in the dark. Music began. The music was this other-worldly phantom of a melody, so rich as to be nothing more than a dream. A few notes into the tune, a shaft of amber light began to illuminate the silhouette of Serafina (Mercedes Ruehl), standing at full mast in a red dress, her back arched and her chin lifted, as she gazed into the heavens and fanned her face with an elegant yet ordinary fan. The music continued to grow and swell around her and the movement of the fan as the lights came up on the rest of the stage. Music, fan, Serafina, louder, swollen, ethereal. It was an opening worthy of live theater. It captured my attention and kept me in my seat until the end of the play. The music and the vision haunted me the rest of the day, the rest of the week and the rest of my life.
I had an opportunity to ask my friend Elizabeth Rouse, who was in the play, if she would find out what that music was. I was ashamed when she told me. An avid collector of motion picture instrumental scores on vinyl (and then, cd) since my teens, I had no idea of the brilliance of the score to The Mission. The song was The Falls. This production introduced me to the song, the score and the work of Ennio Morricone, who would become one of my favourite composers. I listen to his music a lot of the time and, particularly, to The Falls. To that end, The Rose Tattoo changed my life and made it better.
I will never forget those opening moments of the play. They are, forever, burned in my memory.
Click here to hear THE FALLS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIMwEFAEld0
posted by StephenMosher at 9:21 AM
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