Alexandria's 'Love Letters' are a match

The U.S. Post Office "Love" stamp, 1973

Letters?  Who writes letters?  Millennials don't even know how to address envelopes, let alone write letters.

But, watching and listening to Love Letters now on stage at Little Theatre of Alexandria makes you long for and appreciate the letters which used to come in the mail, the letters friends and relatives used to write, that now, re-reading them years later revives voices and experiences which take us back to other .......(fill in the blank) times.

These Letters are a wonderful short escape from our anxiety-ridden world, a delightful detour along a different path from what a playgoer expects.

For "Small Theatre for Troubled Times" as LTA bills this first show in a series (with a PWYC admission price), Nicky and Steve McDonnell (who are married in real life) are longtime "friends," Melissa and Andy, who grow up together, beginning with pre-school and lasting 'til death did them part.

At separate tables the couple sit at simple wooden desks on opposite sides of the stage against a dark backdrop with two highly placed, large silhouetted windows. They face the audience and read their letters to each other. 

Back and forth, like tennis balls on a court, they go, but their dialogue is much more interesting than a tennis match and sometimes letters fly faster than Serena's serve (sorry, could not resist). 

I can't recall another stage performance where a playwright (A.R. Gurney) so effectively used silence.

When a letter generates no reply, the sender waits a moment in silence before writing again and sometimes, a third time. 

Over the years, their love (or is it?) deepens. 

The letters follow their lives from primary and secondary school  through college, adulthood, marriages, jobs, children, dreams, disappointments, regrets. The "friends" relate their different journeys, him to law school, Japan, relationships, and her to parents, art, relationships until THE END.

Initially, Ms. McDonnell was a little too loud, too rambunctious but perhaps she was setting the tone for Melissa's personality, because she calmed down soon enough, or maybe it was I who got used to her antics which did not dominate the show after the first few moments. Director Joanna Henry coaxes expressive hand and body movements from Ms. McDonnell who gets up from her desk occasionally, much like a political candidate to stake her ground. 

Except when reading or looking over his shoulder for his "wife," Mr. McDonnell, a star from Saturday Night Live and more, looks straight at the audience.  His  dark conservative suit with tie and glasses befits a Yalie who thrives as a New York lawyer who decides to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate and wins!

These Love Letters are a certain hit,  easy to understand the 1990 nomination for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  I expected to see a dull, wittyless platform but this convincing duo engaged me from the get-go.  

Certainly, another covid-19 victim is the theatre and LTA which has reduced seating to approximately 25 percent to ensure safety practices which it takes special care to follow.  

Nick Friedlander, producer; Brittany Huffman, stage manager; Jeffrey Auerbach and Kimberly Crago, lighting; Alan Wray, sound; Bobbie Herbst, properties; Russell Wyland, set.

What:  Love Letters

When:  Sept. 23 and 25, 8 p.m.; Sept. 27,  3 p.m.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Content: Adult

Duration:  90 minutes; no intermission

Tickets: Free!  Donations, encouraged!  
  
Public transportation: Check the Metro website.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby with free theatre parking at the Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets (when the bank is closed).

For more information: Box Office: 703-683-0496; Business: 703-683-5778. Ask@thelittletheatre.com

patricialesli@gmail.com

Love in the time of corona

Wedding joy amidst the cherry blossoms on Constitution Avenue/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Now this is bliss, amidst the cherry blossoms near the Washington Monument. The white figure in the distance is the bride seen in the photo above/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Could this be love in the cherry blossoms?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Between the rows of flags at a famous address in Washington, D.C., the Washington Monument stands center/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Guards making rounds on Sunday afternoon at the White House and leaves blowing in the wind at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue were almost the only things moving outside the gates/Photo by Patricia Leslie

On the 15th St. NW side of the White House on Sunday afternoon/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the Department of Justice building, patriot Nathan Hale (1755-1776) stands erect, continuing to serve his country. He was a spy for the Continental Army, captured by the British and executed. "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," or a variation of these words were supposedly his last and are carved at the base of the statue./Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the Federal Trade Commission building on Constitution Avenue, Gov. Andrew Cuomo  arrives to rein in the rampaging disease /Photo by Patricia Leslie

Parking was easy to find along Constitution Avenue Sunday afternoon, and the sidewalks were almost empty. We went for exercise and biking which is allowable under present rules/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Degas at the Opera will open again, won't it? Before it closes again, this time, scheduled to exit July 5, 2020 at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Multi-colored red tulips brighten a sad afternoon at the U.S. Botanic Garden. We may not be able to go inside the Botanic Garden building, but we can surely enjoy the scenery outside/Photo by Patricia Leslie

More beauty at the U.S. Botanic Garden/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The U.S. Botanic Garden/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A host of golden baby daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Is there a fragrance any better than hyacinths'?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

One of the loveliest park scenes in all of D.C. when the Bartholdi Fountain is working. Prithee, Architect of the U.S. Capitol, wherefore are thou, water? Shut off for coronavirus?  We cannot enjoy the park's beauty?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Have the Russians landed in D.C. to join their friend in the White House? What looks like Catherine the Great's gift to her Grandfather-in-Law, Peter the Great (which welcomes visitors at the River Neva in St. Petersburg) is actually General Jose de San Martin (1778-1850) "Liberador" and "Leader of the Argentine Independence," a statue which is found in Triangle Park at Virginia Ave., NW and 20th St., NW. It's a copy of one in Buenos Aires, sculpted by Augustin-Alexandre Dumont who completed the original in 1862.  Argentina gave this duplicate in 1925, and it was rededicated in 1976, according to the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 More about General Jose de San Martin at his statue/Photo by Patricia Leslie

General Jose de San Martin (1778-1850) "Liberador" and "Leader of the Argentine Independence" found in Triangle Park at Virginia Ave., NW and 20th St., NW/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Peter the Great Statue, the Bronze Horseman, a gift to Peter from Catherine the Great dedicated in 1782, St Petersburg, Russia. Note the similarities to Gen. Juan de San Martin's statue, the outstretched right hand, the rearing horse (which strikes a serpent under Peter). The "Thunder Stone" which holds Peter is the largest ever moved by humans (1768)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Peter the Great Statue, the Bronze Horseman, St Petersburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Peter the Great Statue, the Bronze Horseman, St Petersburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Tiptoe through the daffodils and smell their fragrance at the U.S. Botanic Garden/Photo by Patricia Leslie


PatriciaLesli@gmail.com

Coronavirus ends 'Moonlight and Magnolias' in Alexandria

Michael J. Fisher was Victor Fleming in Moonlight and Magnolias at the Little Theatre of Alexandria/Photo by Brian Knapp


It's a shame that COVID-19 shut down Moonlight and Magnolias early at Little Theatre of Alexandria. It was a fun show, a "great escape," a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to put together a movie script fast. It can be done!

I want to be bold and suggest a new title for this play, namely, Moonlight and Madness, because that's what they did to each other, a trio of Hollywood masterminds who drive each other insane while trying to write a new script for Gone With the Wind, and who hasn't seen that? (Excuse me, Millennials.)

The title is a bit misleading, after all, "magnolias" suggesting the South, since the show is not all Southern.  It's about "something Southern," namely, the movie that, according to Wikipedia, remains the highest grossing film of all time (after inflation) and which presents a jaundiced view of the South which Northerners relish and nurture to this day.  

That the playwright, Ron Hutchinson, is an Irish screenwriter himself, says a lot. 

Producer David O. Selznick  (1902-1965) confined a top screenwriter, Ben Hecht (who had never read GWTW), and a director, Victor Fleming (whom Selznick jerked from The Wizard of Oz) to work non-stop for five days on a replacement script for the awful one Selznick had.

Dashing Clark Gable, the woman slayer, and Vivian Leigh were to be the stars of the film. (Ordered Selznick: "Show her cleavage, cleavage, cleavage!" and they did.)

The year was 1939, before the start of World War II, when many wished the looming conflict was all a bad dream.  Was there an escape from it all?  (Like the LTA show was a "great escape" from coronavirus!)

Producer Selznick (acted here by lookalike Griffin Voltmann) believed there was, and he was right, although many skeptics thought the movie would flop like magnolia trees which fall to the ground.  (Oh, please.)  (The movie became the pinnacle of Selznick's success which he was never able to duplicate.)

Producer Selznick didn't give a damn about anything else Hecht and Fleming had to do. The show must go on!  And Director Juli Tarabek Blacker made it do just that. 

Michael J. Fisher made a hoot of Victor with wild antics, aided by a flustered Ben, effectively captured by J.T. Spivey, both roles bolstering the centerfold, Mr. Voltmann.

The threesome fight, they argue, they dance and scream and wear each other out, but they finish!  (Translated:  Don't give up the script.)

The action all takes place in Selznick's office which set decorators Stacey Becker and Ken Brown must have modeled after the actual to explain the jarring blue couch, the centerpiece and major detractor from the show. 

J.T. Spivy, left, was Ben Hecht, and Griffin Voltmann was David O. Selznick in Moonlight and Magnolias at the Little Theatre of Alexandria. At the desk in the background is Hillary Leersnyder, Miss Poppenghull/Photo by Brian Knapp


As time passes, the set fills with papers, bananas, peanuts (to help keep them going) and general disarray to match the progressive dishevelment of the characters, their talk and writing interrupted every so often by the prissy Miss Poppenghul (that's the best name the playwright could come up with) who pops in and out from her side office to tidy up the place, serve snacks, deliver messages, and play phone duty, general "step and fetch it" like any good servant would do.  What else was a ghul to do in 1939?   (In her first role out of college, Hillary Leersnyder was splendid!)

We know how this shows ends but it was a funny time to watch these characters puff and grind and sling it out.

Moonlight has ended at LTA but all is not lost for the season. After all, April has another play, Blue Stockings, which may open the 25th. Check the website.

Other members of the LTA Moonlight creative team were Rachel Alberts and Russell M. Wyland, producers; Alexander Bulova, assistant director; Sherry Clarke and Margaret Evans-Joyce, stage managers; Stefan Sittig, combat choreographer; Kathy Ohlhaber, set painter; Helen Bard-Sobola and Bobbie Herbst, properties; JK Lighting Design; Alan Wray, sound; Ceci Albert and Mary Wallace, costumes; and Hilary Adams, hair and makeup.

Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Wilkes in Gone with the Wind/Wikipedia/studio portrait

Note:  It was just a few years ago that Olivia de Havilland (b. 1916) visited St. John's Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square in Washington, looking as beautiful and easily recognizable as she was in GWTW a few years ago.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Tickets: Start at $21. Go here. 
 
Public transportation: Check the Metro website.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby with free theatre parking at the Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets (when the bank is closed).

For more information: Box Office: 703-683-0496
Business Office: 703-683-5778; Fax: 703-683-1378
asklta@thelittletheatre.com

patricialesli@gmail.com

At the think tanks, scientists talk coronavirus

From left, Ron Klain, Nancy Messonnier, Anthony Fauci, and Helen Branswell at the Aspen Institute, Feb. 11, 2020/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Last month at the Washington offices of the Aspen Institute, scientists, journalists, and members of the medical establishment got together to talk coronavirus which that day had received an official name for the disease from the World Health Organization, COVID-19.

On the panel was Anthony Fauci, MD, man-about-town, omnipresent television personality, and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said the development of a vaccine for the virus would take approximately 18 months (not "very close" or "soon" as President Trump said Feb. 25, 2020).

At the time the animal which was suspected of starting it all (supposedly at an illegal "wet market" in Wuhan, China) had not been identified other than online and at the WHO website as a possible snake (a word left unsaid publicly at the Aspen that day), or a pangolin, an endangered species the Chinese like to eat and value for its supposedly medicinal qualities.

In the Q and A after the presentation, an audience member asked if the virus came from an animal, and Dr. Fauci said "likely." The animal most often now linked to the disease is the bat.

The virus, Dr. Fauci said, may have "jumped" from a bat to a cat to a human (calling Dr. Seuss), an example of a zoonotic disease originating in an animal and transferred to a human (or, vice-versa). (Wash your hands after touching animals!)

On the panel with Dr. Fauci were Ron Klain, JD, former White House ebola response coordinator; Nancy Messonnier, MD, director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Helen Branswell, infectious disease and public health reporter, STAT News, who served as moderator.
 
The scientists said studies are underway to determine the best disinfectants for surfaces to combat the disease, and on March 12, the Environmental Protection Agency (whose budget Trump proposes to slash by 26 percent), published a list of them.

Dr. Messonnier praised the military for housing the quarantine victims from cruise ships docking in California.

A panel member reported seeing on the news a group of Metro riders shunning a person of Asian descent, a practice which will lead to more discrimination in schools and other places, Mr. Klain said, speculating these incidents are likely to escalate.

John Bolton (yes that John Bolton whose book was due this month but has been delayed until May pending White House review) was Trump's ax man who, about 18 months after Trump took office, shut down the White House National Security Council's liaison for disease control, Mr. Klain said.
 
The panel seemed in a hurry to broadcast the scientific community's assessment of coronavirus and its dangers to the world.

Dr. Fauci said staff from the Centers for Disease Control, Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Security Council, scientists, and doctors talk daily and sometimes more than once a day.

Said Dr. Fauci: Multiple generations have coronavirus, and people need to be warned about the risks. "It's relatively likely it will come here."


"It's not a feasible policy to quarantine, " said Mr. Klain, urging that responses to the outbreak come from the scientific and medical communities rather than policy wonks. "It's a bit of a mixed bag to prepare the U.S." for the disease. "Public leaders need to get on top of this," he said.  Getting Congress to allocate money to prepare hospitals will be "a challenge."
 
Dr. Fauci said more information from China was urgently needed, but the Chinese then were not cooperating: "We really need to know the scope of this," Dr. Fauci said.

Dr. Messonnier said the scientific and medical communities wanted to slow the spreading illness and to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic (which according to Merriam-Webster, occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population, and one month later, here we are).

She issued the usual admonitions to avoid disease: Wash hands (to the tune of "Happy Birthday"), etc., and to scattered laughter, said: "There's only so much worrying we can do, right?"

"We live in a connected world," Mr. Klain said, with people and goods arriving daily from outside the U.S. According to Dr. Fauci, It's "an impossibility" to keep out all the Chinese who want to come here since 22,000 of them enter the U.S. every day.

Dr. Fauci said travel bans will "never" exclude all Chinese from entering the U.S., and bans make no sense if the illness is already here, which it most certainly is.

Travel bans only "buy a window of time" for delay. 
 
Dr. Messonnier said it will take a year to develop a vaccine which, Dr. Fauci added, usually takes six to eight years.
 
Coronavirus can be "really serious" for the older population and those with underlying illnesses, Dr. Messonnier said.
 
"We are taking this very, very seriously. The situation can change," Dr. Fauci said.

Mr. Klain: "If it gets worse, it will reflect on health care.'

The pharmaceutical companies take big risks that the vaccines they develop won't work, noted Dr. Fauci, but lest anyone forget, "big pharma" makes big money, reminded a member of the audience.

Except in the cases of ill persons and health care workers, panel members said face masks were almost totally unnecessary, and no one In the packed Aspen house of attorneys, physicians, journalists, and interested onlookers wore one.

It was not until the beginning of this year that the panelists were aware of the disease which, for some victims, begins with pneumonia.
 
At the time of the panel presentation, 43,000 had been struck by the disease, with 13 of them in the U.S. Today the worldwide number is 169,610 with 3,782 in the U.S. Deaths number 6,518.

In testimony before the U.S. Congress last week, Dr. Fauci said the coronavirus was ten times as lethal as the seasonal flu.

Last month Trump proposed cutting the NIH budget by seven percent and the National Science Foundation by six percent, which includes a reduced number of grants for research. Also, he wants to cut the CDC budget by 16 percent and HHS, almost 10 percent. At the same time he proposes to increase money for "wall" construction by $2 billion for 82 miles to make it the most expensive wall in the world.

Is it safe to conclude that Trump values things more than he values people?

Maybe, the bats have come home to bite Mr. Trump.

patricialesli@gmail.com