Friday, February 06, 2009, 11:12 PM
Atlanta, Arts and Theater
By Bert Osborne

'Menagerie' malaise

Blow out your candles, Laura.  Aurora has "postponed" plans for its highly anticipated March production of "The Glass Menagerie" – which was to have been staged by Alliance artistic director Susan Booth, with an illustrious cast:  Jill Jane Clements, Thomas Piper, Courtney Patterson and Chris Moses.  What better (or, rather, worse) occasion to start a theater blog?  Read it and weep . . . and/or comment!

Booth withdrew from the project a couple of weeks ago, apparently, but why?  An e-mail inquiry with the Alliance’s Robert Saxon, associate director of communications, yielded a summary reply:  "Best thing would be to have a conversation directly with Aurora to get the details of that decision."  As though the decision wasn’t Booth’s?

According to an e-mail response from Aurora artistic director Anthony Rodriguez, "When (Booth) originally agreed to direct ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ she was not yet scheduled to direct ‘Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL.’ . . .  Although Susan made every effort to accommodate and accomplish both projects, she explained to me that she was mistaken in her belief that she could pull both projects off while ‘honoring her commitments to her theater and her family.’"

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve always assumed a director’s job was technically finished once a production opens.  ("Superstar" bowed on Jan. 21 and "Menagerie" rehearsals were slated to begin this week.)  As someone who questioned where was Booth’s commitment to "her theater" when she bailed from the Alliance’s "Glengarry Glen Ross" two seasons ago – for a gig at the Humana Festival – news of her Aurora "Menagerie" had me preparing to take it all back.

Aside from doing a smashing job of it, Booth’s 2007 "Thom Pain" at Actor’s Express showed a sense of community on her part – the Atlanta community, that is – that I’ve not often felt about her.  (Or about her approach to the work, I should say.  We’ve never actually met.)  On the one hand, yes, of course, it’s remarkable that the Alliance won the regional Tony Award, or that it sent "The Color Purple" – if not (yet) "Sister Act" or "The Women of Brewster Place" – to Broadway.  On the other hand, can someone tell me this:  What is a "regional theater," anyway?  Is the purpose of the Alliance to serve and support its own region?  Is it to feed the theater scene in New York?  Both?

Rather than going on with the show under another director, Aurora has substituted "Duets" (featuring Marianne Fraulo and Don Finney).  "Susan and I are meeting to find a suitable time to reschedule ‘The Glass Menagerie’ in the future," Rodriguez writes.  "(We) chose together for her to direct, a project for which she has a great passion and a distinct vision.  That is the ‘Glass Menagerie’ I wanted to produce and the one I look forward to producing when Susan and I can find a slot in her schedule and ours that works for us all."

Meanwhile, there’s talk that "Superstar" is on the New York track, too, which would explain a lot.  If it’s some kind of ongoing work-in-progress, then clearly Booth’s job isn’t over as the director of the show.  (Then again, if that's the case, why wouldn’t the Alliance come right out and say it?)

At any rate, better so-called "scheduling conflicts" than the ol’ "creative differences," I suppose.  But does this mean we should be holding our breath to see a Booth-directed "Menagerie" at Aurora . . . or her "Superstar" on Broadway?