 |
| (standing) Stacy Keach, James Naughton, Geraldine Fitzgerald, with Robert Ryan (seated) |
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY
INTO NIGHT [Dramatic Revival] A: Eugene O’Neill; D: Arvin Brown; S: Elmon
Webb, Virginia Dancy; C: Whitney Blausen; L: Ronald Wallace; P: Edgar Lansbury,
Jay H. Fuchs, Stuart Duncan, and Joseph Beruh; T: Promenade Theatre (OB);
4/21/71-8/22/71 (121)
 |
| James Naughton, Geraldine Fitzgerald. |
Critical reaction to this Off-Broadway revival of O’Neill’s
autobiographical masterpiece (“the greatest drama ever written by an American,”
according to T.E. Kalem) ranged from the blissful to the bilious. It was “perfectly
cast,” exclaimed James Davis; its casting was “not perfect,” asserted Henry
Popkin. The production was “sketchy,” asserted Stanley Kauffmann; it was “authentic,
heartfelt, and thrilling,” responded Clive Barnes. Kalem described it as “done
with loving care, solid characterization, highly skillful acting and a
melancholy sense of life’s fatalities,” but Martin Gottfried was appalled by
its misdirection, the miscasting of Robert Ryan as James Tyrone, and the fact
that “just about all the power is gone.”
 |
| Robert Ryan, Geraldine Fitzgerald. |
Geraldine Fitzgerald’s Mary Tyrone was acclaimed by most as
one of her finest creations. “She is lovely,” wrote Kauffmann. “Her defensive
web of smiles and her sense of being lost within the mazes of herself creates
this sad woman for us.” It was felt that she gave a more sensitively
appropriate portrayal than did Florence Eldridge in the original 1956
production, and Kalem even thought she took the focus from the others by the
strength of her presence.
Few accolades accrued to Robert Ryan, a respected movie star, who was said to lack the commanding nature of a 19th-century classical stage star. Clive Barnes was part of a small minority that found his work overwhelming. Stacy Keach’s Jamie was acceptable, but several expressed reservations about his performance. Barnes, however, considered him “wonderful—one of the finest technical performances to grace New York in years.” James Naughton made an impressive New York debut as Edmund. An alternate cast of John Beal as James, Carol Teitel as Mary, Donald Gantry as Jamie, and Dan Hamilton as Edmund took over for matinees. Paddy Croft was Cathleen at all performances.
 |
| Robert Ryan, Stacy Keach. |
The production reaped a Vernon Rice Award, while Geraldine Fitzgerald walked off with top honors in Variety's poll for Female Lead, Play. Stacy Keach won an OBIE for Distinguished Performance, and came n first in the Variety poll for Best Supporting Actor,.James Naughton led a Variety poll in the category of Most Promising New Actor, while also landing a Theatre World Award. And Arvin Brown was Best Director in the Variety poll.
This was the pla's first revival since the one of 1962, but the half-decade of this series also saw another one, directed by its cast, in a nine-performance workshop production of the Actors Studio, 12/10/73, with Will Hare as James, Vivian Nathan as Mary, J.J. Quinn as Edmund, and Jean-Pierre Stuart as Jamie. It appears not to have attracted much, if any, press.
