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Sept. 16, 2011
A story full of life and love
Gallery 7 brings Tuesdays with Morrie to the Vancouver stage.
TOVA G. KORNFELD
“Learn how to die and you learn how to live.” This aphorism is at the heart of Brandeis University sociology professor Morrie Schwartz’s story, which is captured in the bestselling book, award-winning movie and play Tuesdays with Morrie.
Schwartz’s former student, Mitch Albom, a Detroit sportscaster, first heard that Schwartz was dying of the degenerative neurological disease ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, when he saw Schwartz being interviewed on Nightline. Not having been in touch with his professor for more than 16 years, Albom decided to rekindle the relationship, and began making a weekly trek to the Boston area to be with his former mentor.
Those visits turned into 14 taped interviews recording Schwartz’s thoughts on topics ranging from love and family to death and dying. After Schwartz passed away in 1995, Albom compiled the interviews into the book Tuesdays with Morrie. Originally published to pay Schwartz’s medical bills, it sold more than 11 million copies, topping the New York Times bestseller list for four years and being translated into 31 languages.
In 2000, a made-for-television movie starring Jack Lemmon as Morrie and Hank Azaria as Albom swept the Emmys. The book was also adapted for the stage, by Albom and playwright Jeffrey Hatcher. Five years ago, Vancouver audiences were treated to an Arts Club production featuring local octogenarian thespian Anthony Holland in the role of Morrie. Now, Gallery 7, an Abbotsford faith-based theatre company, brings the drama to the Pacific Theatre stage for its fall season opener.
In a telephone interview with the Independent, artistic director Ken Hildebrandt, who plays Albom, said, “Our faith shapes who we are and the plays we choose to do. When I first read the play a couple of years ago, I found it to be quite moving. The story was uplifting, humorous, sad and tragic all at the same time. I knew that I wanted our company to present it and, although it took a couple of years for that dream to come true, our recent 20th anniversary season presented the perfect opportunity for its production.”
When asked about the move to a Vancouver stage, Hildebrandt said, “Ron Reed, the artistic director for Pacific Theatre, saw our production in February, told me he loved what we had done and asked if we would bring the show to Vancouver as a guest production. We jumped at the chance.”
Hildebrandt said that the play resonates with him as a young man who appreciates the mentoring of the older generation. “I am just one year older [37] than Albom was at the time he wrote this. I personally flourished when I received mentorship from someone older and more mature than myself and that has made me a better man.”
He noted that there are not many plays focusing on deep male emotional interactions. “I feel that it is very manly to express one’s emotions and to be in touch with them,” he said. “I found the play was powerful in expressing the depths of the relationship between these two men in a way that was not sexualized but rather portrayed a healthy intellectual and spiritual connection between two men separated by 40 years in age.”
The nicknames they gave each other, “Coach” and “Player,” is a testimony to their feelings, he added, pointing out that the play is not just about Schwartz’s slow demise. “Albom has some unresolved issues in his personal life and Morrie’s words of wisdom provide him with an opportunity to purge the ghosts of his past,” said Hildebrant, who has nothing but praise for the play.
“It is well written, character driven, an emotional rollercoaster replete with laughter and tears, while managing to stay away from maudlin sentimentality,” he said. “We have kept the set a simple backdrop to allow the two protagonists to be front and centre.”
In preparing for his role, Hildebrandt read the book but shied away from watching the movie, as he did not want to have any external influences on the interpretation of his role. Glen Pinchin, who plays Morrie, and was a policeman for 32 years before going to theatre school, visited patients with ALS so that he would ensure that his portrayal was accurate. “Glen’s role is extremely difficult, as he loses his physical presence, going from walking, to sitting in a chair, to lying in a bed barely able to vocalize as his disease progresses,” explained Hildebrant. “His portrayal of Morrie is powerful.”
When asked why people should see the show, which opened on Sept. 14, Hildebrandt enthused, “It is just such a good, heart-warming experience. You will not leave the theatre feeling depressed but, rather, energized and inspired. The play is a wonderful celebration of relationships and is cathartic for coming to terms with life and death. Ironically, although it deals with death and sickness, it is really about living life to the fullest. It packs a punch.”
Tuesdays with Morrie runs until Sept. 24. Tickets are available at pacifictheatre.org or by calling the box office at 604-731-5518.
Tova G. Kornfeld is a local writer and lawyer.
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