I’d planned on seeing Long Day’s Journey Into Night Monday. But then the Ice Storm Cameth, and things got cancelled, and then things got complicated and the sad trombones played, and yadda, yadda, yadda.
Anyway, I love sharing audience reactions, and this is a good one from retired U of M theater professor Gloria Baxter:
“Still thinking about the bold choice of Threepenny Theatre Company to produce Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night. (To the best of my memory, the last production of this American classic in Memphis was at U of M in the 1970’s). In 1995 I became immersed in O’Neill’s work as I was invited by the American Embassy in Paris to give a lecture tour to Universities in eight cities in France regarding O’Neill’s play, Strange Interlude. The reception and deep appreciation of O’Neill I found there had lasting effect on my Script Analysis classes at U of M. (As many former grad and undergrad students know I often had folks engaged in study of Long Day’s Journey Into Night long into the midnight hour!) So for all those reasons I especially looked forward to seeing this production at TheatreWorks. I was not alone. The audience on opening night (Friday, February 13th) was wholly present—a spontaneous and immediate standing ovation at the end of the show. All of us in unison so appreciative of Threepenny’s commitment to producing such a demanding play and so grateful for the rich and admirable performances we had just experienced. Accolades to Bill, Christina, Dylan, Gabe, and Jillian! Thank you and Matt for a wonderful evening at the theatre!”
