MacBeth
OPENING: April 21, 1988
CLOSING: June 26 1988
Seen: May 1988
LOCATION: Mark Hellinger Theatre
Have you ever seen a show that you really, really want to like…but then you get to the theater and just don’t?
Personally, I feel this way about Disney’s Brave. I really wanted to like that movie – on paper, it had EVERYTHING that would make it an instant Morgana classic, but as I watched it in the dark theater, surrounded by the cast of the show I was doing at the time (Brigadoon, if anyone is wondering, which is why we thought Brave would be awesome to go see together) – I couldn’t help but feel that the movie was a massive disappointment.
I’ve always felt that this is how my dad feels about Shakespeare.
I’ve done my fair share of Shakespeare. And he’s been a trooper – he’s sat through outdoor Shakespeare in the rain, high school productions that made no sense whatsoever, and attempts at artistic genius that would make Laurence Olivier scratch his head. But at this point in our lives, he’s admitted that he probably won’t see another Shakespeare production of mine. And that’s okay – it’s not for everyone.
I, on the other hand, adore the bard. I’ve yet to see any of the modern greats do a live Shakespeare production, but it is most definitely on my bucket list. So when I found the Playbill in The Box that proved he had seen Christopher Plummer and Glenda Jackson in Macbeth in 1988, a pang of jealousy arose. I wasn’t even born yet, but he clearly gave it a try.
Every theater kid knows that Macbeth is considered a cursed show; one of the first rules tiny theater kids are taught is that you refer to Macbeth as The Scottish King within the walls of a theater and to never mention his name. My research for this entry tells me that the generally accepted reason for this is because the chant the witches use was an actual spell, therefore forever cursing the show. And compared to Shakespeare’s other plays – it has had it’s fair share of tragedy. Leading up to the first performance, the actor playing Lady Macbeth died. In the same century, an actor playing King Duncan in Amsterdam was accidentally stabbed on stage. Another actor in 1947 was killed on stage in another round of stage combat. And in 1849, riots broke out in Astor Place in New York’s East Village when two competing productions opened within blocks of each other. And yet – both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are roles that many actors clamor to play.
And Christopher Plummer and Glenda Jackson, both consummate professionals, were no exception to this desire.
But every theater kid knows that even the best actors are nothing if the team around them fails. And unfortunately, Mr. Plummer and Ms. Jackson were dealt a strong dose of the Macbeth curse. Reading the reviews, they went through multiple directors and the set had to be redesigned after the out of town tryout in Stamford, Connecticut ended in disaster; seven members of the cast – including Mr. Plummer – were injured on it. But artistic mishaps aside, Plummer took a hit in the reviews as well. Frank Rich even went on to state that he had never seen an actor playing Macbeth get as many laughs as Plummer did.
And looking through the Playbill – playing the role of Lady Macduff was a very young future Tony Winner. Her name is Cherry Jones and theatrically, she is most known for originating Sister Aloysius in Doubt. For this production to be as much of a trainwreck as it appears to be, there must have been a heck of a disconnect in the production team.
It's a shame that this was my dad’s first foray into Shakespeare. It’s truly a beautiful play that surprisingly has not fallen into the trend of modernizing and “retelling”. Perhaps this is because of the Macbeth curse, or maybe the show is just too bloody to make into a modern story. Whatever the reason, I can’t think of a story that comes close to the story. And the character of Lady Macbeth, in my opinion, is one incredible character that every leading lady should strive to play at some point in her career.
And I have a history with it too. When I was a junior in high school, one of the seniors decided to direct her own production. I auditioned and was cut, but one week before opening, she was hit with the Macbeth curse. One of her actors absolutely could not learn her lines and so she was left with a dilemma – recast, or fall victim to mockery? She decided to recast.
And that is how I was cast in Malcolm in Macbeth. She let me do it with index cards – because seriously, I had five days to learn a Shakespeare role, there was no chance of memorizing in that short amount of time – and I was thrilled to get on stage with it.
Thirteen years later, I worked on the costume crew for another production. That’s an topic for a later blog entry. And yes, it was actually thirteen years later AND it opened on Friday the thirteen. The curse symbolism is not lost on me.
But I think my dad felt about the play the way the critics did. I can’t help but notice the slight twinge of fear every time I tell him I’ve booked another Shakespeare. I wish his introduction had gone smoother, perhaps he’d be more willing to try to enjoy it.
Since 1988, Macbeth has returned to Broadway several times. Most recently, Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga took on the roles of the murderous couple. And in 2008, Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood had their turn, which was filmed. I had the pleasure of viewing the film in college; it’s truly a masterpiece.
I hope someday that I get to play Lady M. Malcolm was fun, but let’s be real – I love me a powerful boss lady. And playing her, Theatre Kids, would be a dream come true.
CAST: ORIGINAL
THREE WITCHES: Jeff Weiss, Tanny McDonald, Annette Helde
DUNCAN, KING OF SCOTLAND: Jack Gwillim
MALCOLM, SON OF DUNCAN: Randle Mell
CAITHNESS, A CAPTAIN: Bruce Gooch
LENNOX: Thomas Hill
ROSS: Philip Kerr
MACBETH: Christopher Plummer
Banquo: Paul Shenar
DONALBAIN, SON OF DUNCAN: Conan McCarthy
LADY MACBETH: Glenda Jackson
SEYTON: Robert Burke
FLEANCE, SON OF BANQUO: Michael Butler
A PORTER: Jeff Weiss
MACDUFF: Alan Scarfe
TWO MURDERS: Thomas Schall, Jeff Weiss
LADY MACDUFF: Cherry Jones
BOY, SON OF MACDUFF: Richard H. Blake
A DOCTOR: Paul Soles
A GENTLEWOMAN, ATTENDING LADY MACBETH: Tanny McDonald
SIWARD, EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND: Jeff Weiss
YOUNG SIWARD, HIS SON: Jack Hannibal
LORDS, SOLDIERS, MESSENGERS: Gary Bradford, David DeBesse, Bill Ferrell, Michael Alan Gregory, Jack Hannibal, Todd Jamieson, Gordon Paddison, Paul Soles, Gregory Zargoza
STANDBYS AND UNDERSTUDIES: Sarah-Jane Gwillim (Standby for Lady Macbeth); Paul Shenar (Macbeth); Robert Burke (Banquo); Marcell Rosenblatt (3 Witches, Gentlewoman); Thomas Hill (Duncan); Bruce Gooch (Malcom, Macduff); Gordon Paddison (Ross, Caithness, First Murderer); Edwin J. McDonough (Seyton, Siward, Doctor, Messenger); Paul Soles (Lennox, Porter, Second Murderer); Jack Hannibal (Donalbain, Fleance, Boy Macduff); Annette Helde (Young Siward); and Michael Butler (Young Siward).
Internet Broadway Database. “Macbeth”. Accessed September 2024. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/macbeth-478134
New York Times. “Macbeth to Close June 26.” June 18, 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/18/theater/macbeth-to-close-june-26.html?searchResultPosition=2
Nightingale, Benedict. “Stageview; For the Macbeths, Marriage is Murder” New York Times, May 1, 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/01/theater/stage-view-for-the-macbeths-marriage-is-murder.html?searchResultPosition=4
Rich, Frank. “Review/Theater; A ‘Macbeth’ Starring Plummer and Jackson. New York Times, April 22, 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/22/theater/review-theater-a-macbeth-starring-plummer-and-jackson.html?searchResultPosition=6
Royal Shakespeare Company. “The Curse of the Scottish Play.” Accessed September 2024. https://www.rsc.org.uk/macbeth/about-the-play/the-scottish-play
Schumm, Laura. “Why do actors avoid the word ‘Macbeth’? History.com, Updated September 3, 2018. https://www.history.com/news/why-do-actors-avoid-the-word-macbeth
Stuart, Jan. “Macbeth, Beware the Tour” New York Times, April 17, 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/17/arts/macbeth-beware-the-tour.html
