Wendy Wasserstein, an uncommon woman among others, left us much too early. She was only 55. As one of our best-loved, best-liked and best-known women playwrights, her unique voice will be missed; and onstage, too. She was literally at the top of her game from the time she left the Yale School for Drama and began her New York career in 1977 with Glenn Close, Jill Eikenberry and Swoosie Kurtz starring in her play about the aspirations of college women, Uncommon Women Among Others.
The dialogue was of the moment -- sharp, bitchy, smart and witty. That was the case again in 1989 for Wasserstein's best-known play, The Heidi Chronicles. The story of an art history professor, played by Joan Allen (Cynthia Nixon and later Sarah Jessica Parker were in the cast), in the midst of an emotional crisis, was produced by Playwrights Horizons (later moving to Broadway) and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and, in a first for a solo female playwright, the Tony Award.
Wasserstein's 1992 The Sisters Rosensweig, which starred Jane Alexander, Madeline Kahn and then- unknown Frances McDormand; and her hit 1983 Off-Broadway Isn't It Romantic at Playwrights Horizons starring Barbara Barrie (it later transferred to the Lortel, starring Betty Comden - yes, that Betty Comden); and her sole Hollywood credit, the 1988 off-beat "The Object of My Affection," about a woman's intense attraction to a gay man (it starred Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd) had her now-famous balance of drama and humor.
Wasserstein often noted the lack of women playwrights as role models when she was coming up the ranks. Her mother, a dancer herself, instilled an early love for ballet, and Wasserstein was enrolled in classes. She worked hard, she said, because the "dessert" was her parents taking her to a Saturday matinee. A grandfather performed and wrote for Yiddish theater. But she wasn't pushed into show business.
In a speech at a 1993 Baltimore fundraiser, she joked, "Mother never said, 'Darling, please grow up to be a playwright, and put off marriage as much as possible!'" She said in a New Yorker interview that, "being the youngest of four siblings in a family of of very large personalities, humor became my niche, my defense mechanism." Her plays were ripe with sharp, pointed humor but also deep poignancy.
Wasserstein said she was blessed in how "the doors opened for me" and that she was determined to give something back.
She frequently spoke in public schools for the American Theater Wing and the Theater Development Fund (TDF), but she wanted to take mentoring a step further. In conjunction with TDF, she started a program with high-school seniors that was initially called Wendy's Project. As it evolved and grew, it became known as Open Doors.
"My philosophy," she said, "what I've always believed is just as we have the inalienable right to ride the subway, it's our birthright to go to the theater. Why grow up in New York and not go?" Her goal was to see if theater could be as relevant to kids as sports, boom boxes and video games.
"I asked TDF to find me eight smart high school students, and I'd personally take them to plays for a year. I wanted students who've never gone to professional theater. Basically, I saw it as a way of developing new audiences and instilling a love of theater. Maybe even developing new playwrights."
Schools and teacher contacts were chosen. "It was the teacher's responsibility," explained Wasserstein, "to select bright, verbal and reliable students who were willing to risk entering a world they had little knowledge of."
To narrow the list to manageable groups, selected students were asked to do a qualifying essay on what they expected from the experience.
"I was amazed at the interest," said Wasserstein. "The kids came from all walks of life, all economic levels. Most were seniors who had a prime interest in math and science. However, they had never gone to the theater and had no pulsating desire to persue it professionally."
The first group came from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, and the first show was the Public's revival of On the Town. After performances, there were 90-minute discussions over pizza and soda. Over the course of the year, the students keep a journal to document, expand and reflect on their experience.
"It became a wonderful experience for us," Wasserstein reported. "Listening to the kids talk about the plays really reinvigorated my work. I saw that what we do (in theater) has an effect on them. Students who are looking for careers saw there's passion in our work and that you can love what you do to make a living. Best of all, of course, Open Doors created a desire to go to the theater. "
Quickly, the program expanded to nearly 20 groups, and many of Wasserstein's devoted friends came aboard, including Hal Prince, William Finn, James Lapine, Graciela Daniele, Kathleen Marshall, Lar Lubovitch, Scott Ellis and journalists Frank Rich and Alex Witchel.
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