Vanessa Redgrave will still perform 'Year of Magical Thinking' in April

[marie_elise]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 9:12pm

My apologies if this was posted elsewhere (I didn't see it on the boards):


Vanessa Redgrave will still perform 'Year of Magical Thinking' in April

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 9:23pm

Wow!
I hope it helps her through a difficult time.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 9:24pm

It will be intense, but I really do think it will help with working through her grief. I'm sure Natasha would want her to continue on. It will definitely add a whole other layer to the words. Wow.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 9:28pm

Maybe there's a chance she'll still do NIGHT MUSIC?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 9:40pm

I think NIGHT MUSIC will have to be put on hold for a bit, Natasha was so associated with the Roundabout that putting any other actress (except maybe Jolie) would be touchy.

[jazzicat]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 9:43pm

oh wow. I just finished reading the book and wished I had seen the performance. Just bought tix.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 9:43pm

Yeah, I think it'd be of bad taste to replace Natasha so quickly.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 9:48pm

^ I agree. But it might look like a gimmick if they replaced her with her sister Joely. Though that's probably not a terrible idea.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 10:02pm

Apparently, most of you don't come from a performing arts family. I do and the mantra "the show must go on" is applied to EVERYTHING. Everything.

When my musician father unexpectedly passed away in 2005, I went back to work the very next day. Nothing stopped in my life and that's exactly how he would want it. My mom (a former Broadway dancer) resumed her regular life routine, this time without her ever-present spouse of 43 years, in a few short days. She also shared that philosophy.

Marie Osmond went back to DANCING WITH THE STARS the week after her father's death. Audra McDonald performed in the recent revival of 110 IN THE SHADE the day after her father's death. Bernadette Peters resumed her concert tour a few weeks after the unexpected death of her husband Michael. There are countless of other examples with numerous other performers.

Liam Neeson is scheduled to return next week to the Toronto set of CHLOE (the film he is working on) and the Redgraves will continue in every and all projects they had planned... all as normal.

Life will go on... and Natasha will be in their daily thoughts (as much as my father is in mine)... for the rest of their lives.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 10:07pm

I imagine that it would be a tremendously cathartic experience for Redgrave.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 10:18pm

Not just in an entertainment family. Work is a major distraction from grief, it occupies your mind and body so you don't dwell on the pain from the loss, the whatifs and of course the WHY?! And maybe even physically tires you so sleep is possible ( well @ least briefly)

OH it will come back, astonishingly fresh and sharp and crippling, sometimes in little things sometimes on big anniversaries.
Like in Godot "I can't go on. I will go on." We have to believe, that, life is stronger than death.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 10:39pm

sabrelady, you are absolutely spot on. When my uncle was dying of cancer, I was in the ensemble of a regional theatre production of Miss Saigon and even though I chose not to tell anyone, doing the show really did keep me sane that whole time.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/21/09 at 11:25pm

I agree that work is a large part of recovering and helping life seem normal after a tragedy. I ran back and forth between a show I was working on to my own Mother's funeral, but it seemed what she would want me to do, and it helped.
But NIGHT MUSIC hasn't happened yet and it will now have a new shadow and myth attached, so sad we will be deprived of Natasha's view of that role.
All who saw her in the concert should feel blessed.

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/22/09 at 12:56am

One of the first things I thought of when I found out what happened to Natasha was seeing Vanessa Redgrave do Magical Thinking. It was powerful. Working through tragedy has always helped me, and actually, at one point when a family member was in the hospital in New York City, I would routinely visit them, then go see a play...because even the theatergoing was so cathartic!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/23/09 at 1:12pm

Apparently, most of you don't come from a performing arts family. I do and the mantra "the show must go on" is applied to EVERYTHING. Everything.

Well, clearly BrodyFosse, Vanessa Redgrave is not from a performing arts family since the reading has been postponed. Proving once again that your posts are as obnoxious as they are inaccurate.
My thoughts are with Redgrave, I can't even conceive what she must be going through.
YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING Reading Postponed

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/23/09 at 3:31pm

Proving once again that your posts are as obnoxious as they are inaccurate.

Its all about karma, bud. I've refrained from attacking others on this board for some time now and you should do the same.

Enjoy your week. I know I will.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/23/09 at 4:01pm

I think while it's tempting to try to project what's going on psychologically for individuals dealing with grief, it's probably smart not to just toss out bromides that may or may not be how a person is coping.

In this thread people have said, as if they knew, the reading was going to be a great way for Vanessa to work through her grief. It's just crazy to make assumptions like that. People are different, and what might be personally reasonable for one, may not be possible for another.

It also might be a good time to remember that the maxim that "the show must go on" is passed down from generations that were not comfortable dealing with emotions or expressing their feelings, in fact, doing so was not valued at all.

So when I read stories about how Gwen Verdon missed her own mother's funeral because THE SHOW MUST GO ON and I see how that sort of legend allegedly illustrates the dedication to her craft and all that blah-de-blah, all I really see is something that's totally effed up. Not going to her own mother's funeral BECAUSE THERE WAS A SHOW to be performed. I think it says there's a lot more going on there than we'll ever know.

There are some events through which the show can go on without a specific performer. Death of a family member is one of them.

[RyToast1]

Posted: 3/30/09 at 11:03am

RESCHEDULED!

Dear Mr. *******,

This performance has been rescheduled for Monday, October 26. https://www.stjohndivine.org/MagicalThinking.html

Kind regards,
Jonathan

[T.C.]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 11:14am

I just saw this thread from years ago and was reminded how powerful Vanessa Redgrave was in this role. Seeing her in the show was perhaps one of the most moving, remarkable nights of theater I ever experienced on Broadway.