Friday, September 30, 2011

Linda Hunt on acting

From a profile of Linda Hunt:

“I couldn’t imagine any other life for myself. This happens to kids who are different in any way. How am I going to make a life? Who am I going to be when I grow up? Will there be a place for me in the world? Acting gave me a sense of purpose, but it also gave me a sense that I would survive, that I would find my place.”

Jace Lacob, The Cult of Linda Hunt (The Daily Beast)
Boston, 1984: Elaine and I were fortunate to see Linda Hunt in the Boston Shakespeare Company’s production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage (dir. Peter Sellars). What a performance. The music was by Van Dyke Parks, long before I knew his name.

comments: 2

Richard Henderson said...

You're one lucky fella, Michael. As a fan of Parks, I read about Mother Courage and wished that I lived a lot closer to Boston. When I finally met VDP, one of the first things I asked him was about the MC score and if there were recordings. He shrugged his shoulders, said he had no idea. I wondered how many of his other creations were similarly ephemeral.

I admire Ms. Hunt as a thespian and like her quote. All the same, her plummy, patent-leather-flats-and-pearls delivery of the introduction to each episode of the City Arts and Lectures program (on radio in the Bay Area) makes me a bit crazy.

Michael Leddy said...

Richard, I wish I could remember more about the music. I could say “art songs,” but that wouldn’t say much.

Several years ago I tried to find a recording of the production and concluded that it was impossible. If I remember correctly, I even called the BSC.