There has been a palpable air of excitement in Fairfield County from the moment it was announced that James Earl Jones would appear at the Westport Country Playhouse in a new one-man play about Thurgood Marshall, the late great Supreme Court Justice. Mr. Jones, a two-time Tony and Outer Critics winner for The Great White Hope and Fences, winner of an Emmy and a Golden Globe, and recipient of a prestigious Kennedy Honor, is an actor of true gravitas; the man he is portraying is a man of distinction. It is would seem to be a perfect pairing.
Thurgood is written by George Stevens, Jr., who has 11 Emmy awards for his TV direction and production and two Peabody awards; this appears to be his first stage play.
Leonard Foglia, who directed Mr. Jones last season in a Broadway revival of On Golden Pond is once again joining forces with this formidable actor. The production begins performances in a limited engagement, on April 30, 2006, and has already been extended an extra week until May 21st.
This past Tuesday, April 23, I attended a press conference with James Earl Jones and Mr. Foglia, along with Alison Harris, Executive Director and Anne Keefe Associate Artistic Director of the Westport Playhouse, which is co-producing Thurgood with Bill Haber; they were there to discuss what we hope will be an exciting venture. (Artistic Director Tazewell Thompson was unable to attend but sent an enthusiastic statement.)
Smiling and genial, with a youthful twinkle in his eye, Mr. Jones, who admits to be hard of hearing, explained in his magnificent instrument of a voice, resonating like a deep bass fiddle, that the play was an enormous American history lesson. He is looking forward to playing the role and particularly thrilled to bring the story of this remarkable man to the young people from the schools who will be attending special performances.
Thurgood Marshall, who rose from a childhood in the backstreets of Baltimore, attended that city's Colored High School, then a Negro college and Howard University Law School, went on to become the principal architect of the effort that used the law to end school segregation in the U.S.
"He was always positive and believed in the promise of the constitution. Of course," Mr. Jones said, laughing. "He was a great story teller but often used salty language. George Stevens, Jr. is a real gentleman, so he just implies this in the play."
Mr. Jones confessed that performing in a one-man show presents different and difficult challenges. (There is a rumor that script screens will be used for this production. That remains to be seen.) Mr. Foglia added that the audience will be the "other" members of the cast, reacting to Mr. Jones' words. Every performance will be an act of discovery.
"The Westport Country Playhouse is the perfect place to really work on this play," Foglia said. "We thought we could come here quietly, but, that obviously is not the case," he said, acknowledging the reporters, and photographers, snapping pictures.
When told that one of the churches wanted to name Thurgood Marshall a saint: "Why, God damn it," Jones roared, "that's really something!"
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