#*lizbeth henley

[mmonetsims]

face card, no cash, no credit

[papermoonstheatricaldiary]

CRIMES OF THE HEART

January 12, 1983

CRIMES OF THE HEART is a three act play by Beth Henley.  Set “five years after hurricane Camille” [1974], it tells the story of three sisters, Meg, Babe, and Lenny, who reunite at their grandfather's home in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, after the youngest, Babe, has shot her abusive husband. Past resentments bubble to the surface as the sisters are forced to deal with past relationships and Babe's incident.

Henley finished the play in 1978, but was not successful in getting it produced. The play was first performed in February 1979 at the Actors Theatre Louisville and  continued to be developed, with productions in various regional venues across the United States. The play was seen off-Broadway in December 1980 in a production that transferred to Broadway eleven months later (see below). The play received the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  It was made into a feature film in 1986.  It was revived off-Broadway in 2001.  The play is regularly produced in amateur venues.  

CRIMES OF THE HEART began performances at Broadway's John Golden Theatre on October 23, 1981 and played a total of 535 regular performances and 12 previews.  It was directed by Melvin Bernhardt, with scenery by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Patricia McGourty, and lighting by Dennis Parichy. The original cast featured Mia Dillon (Babe Botrelle), Mary Beth Hurt (Meg Magrath), Lizbeth MacKay (Lenny Magrath), Peter MacNicol (Barnette Lloyd), Raymond Baker (Doc Porter), and Sharon Ullrick (Chick 'the Stick').  The production was nominated for four 1982 Tony Awards.  

In January 1983, the cast featured J. Smith Cameron (Babe Botrelle), Kathy Danzer (Meg Magrath), Jana Robbins (Lenny Magrath), Tim Choate (Barnette Lloyd), Tom Stechschulte (Doc Porter), and Sharon Ullrick (Chick 'the Stick').  

I saw this now-classic Pulitzer Prize-winning play just a few weeks before it closed on Broadway.  To date, there has not been a Broadway revival, although it has been seen in off-Broadway and in a ton of community theatres, including nearly every one within 50 miles of me. In fact, in December 1984, I was cast in such a production, playing lawyer Barnette Lloyd (“Lemonade?”).

This final cast included Jana Robbins (above), who was understudy and standby for many a Gypsy Rose.  In fact, when Paper Mill produced the musical starring Betty Buckley, Robbins took the role for more than a dozen performances when the star was out.  

This was J. Smith Cameron's Broadway debut, but I would see her again in the hilarious Lend Me A Tenor (1989) and the less-than-hilarious After the Night and the Music (2005).  My favorite of her many roles was as Alexa in As Bees in Honey Drown (1989).  

One of my clearest memories of this show is not about what happened on the stage, but what happened in the lobby.  CRIMES was performed with two intermissions and during one of them I saw Anne Meacham (above), huddled against the theatre's outside wall smoking a cigarette in the cold. I recognized her instantly as the batty housekeeper, Louise, on my favorite soap “Another World,” a role she had just recently left. I didn't know it then, but this amazing actor was a much-respected actor of the works of Tennessee Williams, a southern writer with whom Beth Henley is often compared.  In fact, the two were friends!  At that moment, I was one degree from Tennessee!  We spoke about the distracting noise from the theatre alley next door.  Superstar Bee Gee Barry Gibb was playing the title role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the adjacent Royale (now the Jacobs).  Because CRIMES was much longer than Joesph, the screaming fans gathering at the Royale stage door could occasionally be heard in Hazelhurst, Mississippi, while Meg, Lenny, and Babe were sorting out their sisterly feelings.  After a few brief (but cherished) words, she snuffed out her cigarette and we bustled inside to see how things would turn out for the Magrath girls.  

CRIMES OF THE HEART rates 4 Paper Moons out of 5