Stockard Channing in Six Degrees of Separation

I was reading something about the 1993 Academy Awards when Stockard Channing was nominated for recreating her role in Six Degrees of Separation. The article referred to her stage performance in that play as "the stuff of legend." I'm wondering if anyone saw her in that play or has more insight into how accurate that statement is. Is it an exaggeration or was she really that good? I like her as an actress but I've never heard that particular role or her performance mentioned along with some of the greats.

I saw that production -- superb in every respect. Fortunately Channing was cast in the movie version, and if you want to know whether it's legendary, you can watch it and judge for yourself.

I saw her perform in the first production four times. Each time her performance was a little different. What I liked about it was that at the beginning of the play, she seemed like your typical upper east side middle aged matron. But as the play moved on, and her involvement with Paul built, she seemed to get younger and younger and regain almost a kind of teen age innocence. At the play's final moment, as she stood silent on the stage, her hair down, to me she seemed like a young girl going on her first date. That is what made her performance unique .

What I remember from the original Six Degrees was that it felt like a torrent of words coming at us from the first lights up that the cast rode like a roller coaster, masterfully negotiating the ascents and drops. As an audience member, I was on the edge of my seat the whole night following the tale. It was exhilarating and heartbreaking, and though Stockard Channing was dazzlingly in command, she was met note for note by a fantastic cast. I remember the college kids in the company being as thrilling as the "grownups". A great night, that no amount of movie razzmatazz could honestly capture.

EvanstonDad said: "These responses have all been fascinating, thanks! I was pleasantly surprised to find so many people on these boards who saw the original Broadway production. The article I was reading was about what a great year the 1993 Oscars were for Best Actress. Holly Hunter dominated all of the awards that year for The Piano (rightly so), but any one of the Best Actress nominees would have been a deserving winner in a different year. I've not seen the film version of Six Degrees of Separation, but my sense is that the movie overall wasn't particularly well received, or at least not as much as the stage version, even if Channing's performance in it was."

I agree with all the positive statements previously made; she was incandescent. I always assumed that Ruehl (who I also thought was great in a totally different role in Yonkers) won because of two key reasons: (1) she was the lead in the show that won Neil Simon the Pulitzer Prize (and which won two other acting Tony's); and (2) she had a much showier role, in the vein of a Come Back Little Sheba or The Rose Tattoo role. She was all over the stage, crying, shouting, redefining warmth with (her nephews?).

Interestingly, both movies opened in the same year (1993) and it was Channing who was nominated and not Ruehl. While neither movie's acclaim lived up to the stage success, 6 Degrees received much better reviews. Re Yonkers, which was at best a mediocre movie, I think that people probably wondered whether their initial praise for the play was unjustified (I loved it), but the real issue was that the direction was flat, and Ruehl didn't moderate her performance (IMO). It was still a 'stage performance', and came across to me as overacting. NOTE: Irene Worth, who was terrific in the show, just didn't make an impression in the movie

I saw her in the production and she was remarkable. It's funny that, today, maybe we're only separated by two or three degrees of separation.

Lost in Yonkers won the Pulitzer; it should have gone to Six Degrees of Separation.

The play originally opened for a limited off-Broadway engagement at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater and was such an instant sensation that it moved upstairs to the Vivian Beaumont as soon as the initial sold-out run ended. James McDaniel, who can be seen two photos south of the Playbill in BrodyFosse123's post above, played Paul but was unable to move upstairs to Broadway when the play transferred due to a prior television commitment. Courtney Vance, who'd made such an impression in Fences, replaced him, but I believe the rest of the cast was the same. Stockard, who incredibly was a last-minute replacement for Blythe Danner after she bailed during rehearsals, had a film commitment as well and was replaced for several weeks by Swoosie Kurtz. Kelly Bishop, a terrific part of the original cast as Kitty, played the role several times as well. Incredibly, I know a few people who preferred Kelly. I add this only to say that the play itself is a striking piece and was not entirely made by Channing.

I saw the play twice, once at the Newhouse and once at the Beaumont, and I second everyone's impressions and memories of Channing's beautifully nuanced performance. I have never seen an actor allow themself to go on such a journey in such a short time. She peeled away her own defenses, and her final moments in the play were heartbreaking.

I believe a theater with under 500 seats is an off-Broadway house and one with over 500 seats is a Broadway house, no matter where they are actually located. (It's always so good to see that Avatar, Carlos Alberto.)

The Other One said: "The play originally opened for a limited off-Broadway engagement at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater and was such an instant sensation that it moved upstairs to the Vivian Beaumont as soon as the initial sold-out run ended. James McDaniel, who can be seen two photos south of the Playbill in BrodyFosse123's post above, played Paul but was unable to move upstairs to Broadway when the play transferred due to a prior television commitment. Courtney Vance, who'd made such an impression in Fences, replaced him, but I believe the rest of the cast was the same. Stockard, who incredibly was a last-minute replacement for Blythe Danner after she bailed during rehearsals, had a film commitment as well and was replaced for several weeks by Swoosie Kurtz. Kelly Bishop, a terrific part of the original cast as Kitty, played the role several times as well. Incredibly, Iknow a few people who preferred Kelly. I add this only to say that the play itself is a striking piece and was not entirely made by Channing.

I saw the play twice, once at the Newhouse and once at the Beaumont, and I second everyone's impressions and memories of Channing's beautifully nuanced performance. I have never seen an actor allow themself to go on such a journey in such a short time. She peeled away her own defenses, and her final moments in the play were heartbreaking."

The television commitment that kept McDaniel from originating the role at the Beaumont was the infamous, ill-fated COP ROCK. Vance actually went into the show while it was still at the Newhouse, so he had already been playing it for a little while by the time it transferred.

Kelly Bishop understudied Ouisa from the beginning and played the role at several points during the Off-Broadway and Broadway runs. She actually did a significant chunk of the Broadway run (August - December 1991), with Channing coming back for the final month of the run. Kurtz only did the part at the Newhouse, because the run was extended so many times that it interfered with Channing's other commitments.

There was also a pretty successful US tour featuring Marlo Thomas as Ouisa.

NYCblurb said: "I don't remember how the Lincoln Center production wasn't part of the "Broadway" run until it transferred to the Beaumont. How and when did that change?
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I'm not sure what you mean by this. The play opened at LC's Off-Broadway space, the Mitzi Newhouse, which isn't a Broadway theater. (As someone else already pointed out, Broadway designation has to do with seating capacity among other factors). It became a Broadway production when it moved into a Broadway-sized house, which is the Beaumont in this case.