 |
|
|
 |
|
June
1, 2001: Edward Albee (b. 1928) at work in his Montauk
home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. He bought the house
forty years ago for $40,000 which, he says, "I could
not afford but I could not afford not to have it. I am,
however, a Pisces — a water sign — and I am unhappy
when I am land-bound. Mountains and deserts are all very
well, and I have enjoyed them both, but unless they abut
an ocean I become impatient. Simply, I must be either near
or by (or on!) large bodies of water most of the time to
be a happy man."
|
|
I've
known and photographed Edward Albee since 1964. I'm an unabashed
fan of his work so I was thrilled when on June 2nd he was awarded
a Tony Award for his most recent play on Broadway, "The Goat,
or Who is Sylvia." I had the good fortune to see this play
on opening night (The
Goat, or Who is Sylvia) and since then, I have found myself
thinking about the issues he raises which, I think, is all a serious
playwright asks of any theater-goer.
It's probably one reason so many intelligent actors want to perform in
his plays. During the week preceding the awards ceremony, Edward appeared
on Charlie Rose, along with his two stars, Mercedes Ruehl and Bill Pullman,
and Pullman said that at first he had turned down the play after reading
the script but then, when he found he couldn't stop thinking about it,
had phoned his agent to say he would like the part. |
 |
|
The
way it works at the Tonys is that after the winners
receive their awards, they are whisked from Radio
City Music Hall over to the Rainbow Room where
they pose for the photographers in one area, move
on to another for print media, and then to a third
for TV interviews. I was assigned to the photographers’ room
but as soon as Edward appeared I was invited to
join him for the remainder of the evening.
|
|
|
 |
|
In
the TV room where he was interviewed by various
networks including NY1 and The Today Show, Edward
was greeted by Whoopi Goldberg who, along
with other celebrities, was also making the rounds.
She asked him if he would please write a play for
HER. Edward said he would be delighted.
|
|
|
 |
|
En
route from the Rainbow Room to Rockefeller Center
where the party was held, Edward is accompanied
by Daryl Roth, one of the producers of "The
Goat." She also co-produced his "Three
Tall Women"and "The Play About the Baby."
|
|
|
 |
|
At
the party, Edward with Bill Pullman, Mercedes
Ruehl and "The Goat's" director, David
Esbjornson.
|
|
|
 |
|
March
5th, 1972: Edward Albee with Tennessee Williams.
I had photographed Tennessee earlier in the evening
at the 92nd Street Y where he was being interviewed
by Leonard Harris. Following the event , Ruth Ford
hosted a party for Mr. Williams in her apartment
at the Dakota.
|
|
|
|
|
|
August
9, 1976: On the beach at Montauk with Poochi,
his Lhasa Apso. In recent years Albee has switched
over to cats because he travels so much.
|
|
|
 |
|
May
26th, 2001: Tribeca Loft. In the kitchen with Jonathan
Thomas, a sculptor, with whom he has lived
for 32 years. On the wall you can see a painting
by Susan Rothenberg. Albee is a serious art collector
and an excellent cook.
|
|
|
 |
|
June
1st, 2001: Montauk. Albee loves gardening. This
is a glimpse of him "pruning and ruining some
of my bushes."
|
|
|
|
|
|
June
2nd, 2001; East Hampton: Terrence McNally & Edward
at Guild Hall. Earlier in the afternoon they had
participated in a panel discussion, which included
fellow playwright and East End neighbor, Lanford
Wilson, on the subject: Out in America — Theater
from a Gay Perspective. The event was sponsored
by EEGO (East End Gay Organization) one of the
oldest gay rights groups in the United States.
Much of the discussion had been centered on a recent
appearance on "The Charlie Rose Show" by
critics Ben Brantley and John Simon in which Simon
had noted what he felt was Brantley's preference
for the homosexual play. Simon also suggested that
there was a bias among gay critics, pointing to
what he felt was a suspicious voting pattern at
the New York Drama Critic Circle Awards for best
play. "The gay critics," he said, "voted
for Albee's 'The Play About the Baby.'"
Albee's response was succinct: "The more we can expose
John Simon's mind to public inspection, the better off we
are."
|
|
|
|
|
|
June
11th, 2001; Chelsea Piers: Edward and Irene
Worth at a benefit for The Women’s Project.
The playwright presented an award to this beloved
and talented actress who had appeared in three
of his plays: "Tiny Alice," "The
Lady From Dubuque" and "Listening."
On Sunday, March 10th, she had been scheduled to attend Edward’s
opening night of "The Goat" and the curtain was
held an additional ten minutes because she had not shown
up at the theater and Edward did not want to proceed without
her. A phone call to her apartment delivered the sad news
that she had died that afternoon of a stroke.
This past week a memorial service was held for Ms. Worth
at The Public Theater. In his eulogy, Edward said that when
he was a young man he was a poet ... "a dreadful poet," and
had gone to see T.S. Eliot’s "The Cocktail Hour" in
which Irene played a leading character. "When the curtain
came down," Albee recalled, "I said to myself:
Edward, if you ever become a playwright, this is the woman
you want to star in all your plays. She graced three of them.
My only criticism of her is this: Irene, you had no right
to go away from us."
|
|
|
 |
|
Later
this month Edward is off to Alaska on his annual visit
for The Last Frontier Theater Conference which he co-founded
ten years ago to provide a place for new playwrights
to present their work. Last week he went to Hartford,
Connecticut for the opening of "Seascape"at
the Hartford Stage. His play, "All Over"will
be transferring from the McCarter Theater in Princeton,
New Jersey to The Roundabout for a June 27th opening
(it's located at the Gramercy Theater on 23rd Street
in Manhattan). He is presently working on a new play
about the Spanish writer, Federico Garcia Lorca.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
