When "The Graduate" opened in 1967, the film, which won Oscars for director Mike Nicholas and actors Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross, contained "shocking" scenes of 22 year-old Benjamin Braddock (Hoffman) having an affair with his boss' wife, the much older Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). Kind of ho-hum today when we're bombarded with frequent updates of the lurid details of a former 34 year-old schoolteacher and her affair with her 12 year-old student. The stage version, which more closely follows Charles Webb's novel than did the film, plays at the Majestic Theater as the opening show of the Broadway Contemporary Series but still features the music of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.
Returning to her hometown in the role of Mrs. Robinson is Morgan Fairchild, well known as Constance Carlyle in the TV series, "Flamingo Road," as well as guest appearances on numerous prime-time TV series. Last week I spoke with Morgan from her Los Angeles hotel and began the conversation by mentioning that I recalled seeing her in 1965 as a teen-age Patsy McClenny in Alice in Wonderland at Theatre Three in the old seat-cover garage on Main Street.
I asked where she got her stage name. "I had seen a movie in 1966, 'Morgan:A Suitable Case for Treatment,' starring Vanessa Redgrave. It was about a man who lived in his fantasy, and I lived in my fantasy then. Also it's a man's name, and I wouldn't run into 16 of me at every audition. I was looking for a last name to go with Morgan, and my friend, Camilla Carr (a former Theater Three actress) suggested Fairchild. I liked the name, and I have Camilla to thank for that."
Morgan went to Lake Highlands High School and still has family in Richardson. She lived in Highland Park on Shenandoah from 1967-71. She said one of her favorite places to visit is Highland Park Village where she often went with her late mother. She added, "Mother loved to go there."
Morgan still visits family here every Thanksgiving. "I love to drive around University Park and Highland Park at night to see the Christmas lights." Another favorite pastime is driving around Turtle Creek. She said: "If I lived in Dallas, that's where I'd live."
The day we spoke she had just come back from working out and said: "I'm just getting over the flu, and this is the first day I've worked out (in a while.) Most of the time I'm (on stage) looking for the spotlight, but for the first time I will be looking for the black hole." She has only two requests of the Dallas audiences: "Leave your binoculars at home" and "Be kind."
When I asked if she bares all, as did Kathleen Turner and Lorraine Bracco on Broadway, Morgan said: "It's in the contract." She added: "Thirty of my friends from Lake Highlands said they are planning to come (to the show) just to see me naked."
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