Podcasts

Woman Around Town’s Editor Charlene Giannetti and writers for the website talk with the women and men making news in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the world. Thanks to Ian Herman for his wonderful piano introduction.

Debra Winger

The Lovers – “Can Romance Survive Love??”

05/12/2017

That was the question that writer/director Azazel Jacobs started with when he sat down to write the script for The Lovers.  Ninety-four minutes later, we get the answer.

The Lovers is a film about a long married couple who are cheating on each other; but who end up cheating with each other. It’s a great premise. But for me, what sets this film apart from so many others is that neither the married couple nor their lovers are young. Thank you Mr. Jacobs for recognizing that there are literally millions of people out there who are not Millennials; and that those of us over the age of 50 not only live and love, but also make love.

_J4A0642.CR2

Debra Winger and Tracy Letts

Tracy Letts (award-winning playwright of August: Osage County, and Tony Award-winning actor) as the disgruntled and harried middle-aged husband, is truly spectacular here. I love the scene where he’s talking on the phone and pretends to be distracted by “Bob.”  It’s so well done and acted that until the frame widens out and you see that he is actually in a parking lot looking at a wall, you’re not quite sure that “Bob” is not really just off camera. I also nearly cried when his girlfriend, Lucy (an hysterical Melora Walters) asks him if he has been cheating on her and he takes a beat and then says, “Yuch; as if.”  Letts’ character is funny, maddening, and yes, even a little bit sexy. But he also shows humanity and heart.

Debra Winger – who has been on the large screen far too infrequently of late – was Jacob’s first choice for the part of the wife, Mary, and whom the director had in mind when he wrote the script. As he explained, “with her skill, I knew she would bring a life and a truth to the role beyond what I could hope for. It challenged me to write with an intimidating candidness that would hopefully be deserving of her.” And it is. With her throaty laugh and just under the surface sensuality, Winger embodies the role and brings it a certain grace. And kudos to the star for allowing not-always flattering close-ups that reveal both her wrinkles and her age.

_J4A1945.CR2

Tyler Ross, Debra Winger, Jessica Sula, and Tracy Letts

Throughout the film, Letts and Winger spar with each other and their lovers like characters in the screwball comedies of the 30’s and 40’s. Melora Walters and Aidan Gillen play the “other” lovers with just the right combination of desperation and exasperation. Tyler Ross and Jessica Sula are their son and his girlfriend, both of whom seem utterly surprised that parents are people, too.

In fact, the only thing I didn’t like about this film was the music. When it first comes in, it’s lovely and lyrical. But then it becomes overpowering. It not only telegraphs what we are about to see and hear, but also how we are supposed to feel about it. The adage, “less is more” was never so appropriate.

But that is just a minor bump in the road. Overall, this quirky little film is fun and surprising, i.e., great entertainment. As for Jacob’s question, “Can romance survive love??”  In this film, the answer is an emphatic yes!

Read Paula’s interview with Azazel Jacobs and Tracy Letts

Photos by Robb Rosenfeld courtesy of A24

Azazel Jacobs and Tracy Letts Talk About The Lovers

05/11/2017

The Lovers is a romantic comedy about a long-married couple, each of whom is having an affair.  When something re-ignites their passion for each other, they begin to cheat on their lovers.  And then the fun really begins. (Read the review.)

I recently had the chance to sit down with Azazel Jacobs, who wrote and directed The Lovers, and actor, Tracy Letts, who stars with Debra Winger, to talk about the film.

Azalea, how did you hit upon the premise of this film, can romance survive love? And why focus on a middle-aged couple?

One of the things that happened to me when I got into my 40’s was that a bunch of couples I knew were no longer couples. It was hard for me to think about their love not existing any more. In some ways, that was the jumping off point for me. And the question became whether or not they’d get back together again. The possibility that we can get so far away from each other, but that we can meet up again fascinated me.  I also liked the idea that at one point we’re with someone and have an impression of them, but even when we walk away from that relationship, we still carry them with us.

_J4A9792.CR2

Tracy Letts and Debra Winger

Finding the perfect combination of people for the lead roles was critical. I know you had been in touch with Debra Winger for years and had, in fact, written the role of Mary just for her. But how did you go about finding the perfect husband? How did Tracy Letts fit the bill? 

I was looking for someone on Debra’s level. My long-time casting director suggested Tracy. I first became aware of him through the film, Killer Joe (the 2011 crime thriller whose screenplay Letts had written). I also admired his work in The Big Short. I said, yeh, wow, that’s him. I felt like I could see him in this role, too.

Tracy, this role is a departure from your usual stage work with its serious characters. What appealed to you about it?

It’s about middle aged people who not only love; but there’s also sexuality. Normally, when we see people in middle age in films, they’re settled, they’re done – as if life stops at a certain age. But it’s not true for me or for anyone I know. We keep changing and working, trying to improve ourselves and failing – we keep failing. Showing middle-aged people with that kind of complexity was very compelling to me.

Azazel, is this a film about affairs or about relationships? 

Definitely relationships. That’s something that I really hope comes across. I understand the issues and the hurt and pain. I am interested in how we are ultimately similar and how we connect to one another; and how we are trying to connect to each other and how we can get apart from each other. I think of it as much more of a love story; and I see the connection between all of these characters. And I see the love despite the anger and the real damage.

Tracy, what do you want people to walk away with from this film?  

I hope they walk away seeing something about these people that they can apply to their own lives. It takes a lot of energy to create and maintain a relationship and how one manifests that energy is very individual. But you don’t settle into that. There has to be something that is activated with energy, interest, and curiosity. How do you keep your curiosity about someone else?  I hope that people re-invigorate that energy with their partner. And I think we’ve already seen some of that in the responses to the film. I hope people relate the film to their own lives.  I guess that’s a hifalutin goal, but that’s my goal.

Photo credit: Robb Rosenfeld courtesy of A24
Top: Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Tyler Ross and Jessica Sula

Tears and Terms of Endearment 

11/28/2016

When the movie Terms of Endearment came out in theaters in 1983, it was by all measures an incredibly successful film. Based on the book by Larry McMurtry and with ascreenplay by James L. Brooks, it featured a who’s who of award-winning actors, including Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson. Now the story comes to a new home, 59E59 Theaters, for its first U.S. stage production.

Adapted for the stagve by Dan Gordon, Terms of Endearment tells the story of sweet Texas rose Emma, her critical and tough-as-nails mother, Aurora, and the men who lift them up and let them down.

terms10

Molly Ringwald

The stage cast is full of familiar faces, headed up by the striking Molly Ringwald, the John Hughes muse who personified 80s teen culture in films like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. Here she puts on a hilariously snobbish New England accent and steely persona to become a woman who is at turns domineering, flirtatious, and sympathetic in the grief for all she has lost.

At first she seems completely unlikeable, almost to the point of being abusive in her criticism toward Emma, but at the story goes on and the years pass, she comes into focus as a woman who loves deeply but is also bridled by her expectations. The problem with being so critical about frivolous things is that when real criticism is deserved it doesn’t land with the impact it requires. It’s a complex role and Ringwald does it proud. But she doesn’t do it alone.

Jeb Brown plays the astronaut, Garrett, and he makes an instant impression on both the audience and Aurora. He’s an utter cad, always chasing after younger women and the next good time, but he’s also undeniably charming. His footloose and fancy-free philosophy couldn’t be more at odds with Aurora’s staid dignity. For every joke he cracks, no matter how flirtatious or fact-based, she has a reason to be doubtful. Yet when the two get together, doubt turns to delight. Between Brown’s charisma, Ringwald’s gravitas and their chemistry together, this is a production not to be missed.

terms4

Hannah Dunne

Hannah Dunne, a familiar face to Mozart in the Jungle viewers, takes on the role of Aurora’s beleaguered daughter, Emma. Where Aurora wears silk, Emma opts for flannel. She hitches her post to Flap—a nickname Aurora cannot abide—a dismissive boy who becomes a dishonorable man, but that doesn’t stop them from having three kids together, kids that Emma cares for nearly singlehandedly while Flap is off gallivanting inappropriately with his university students.

The problem with Dunne’s Emma being so unflappable and willing to go without is that the performance requires a kind of subtlety that doesn’t quite come out—at least not farther back in the audience. She seems uniformly sweet, uniformly forgiving, even when she and her children have been done wrong. As for Flap, played by Denver Milord, there is little to recommend him. In the beginning, he comes off as a bit sexist and certainly inconsiderate, but things just get more unforgivable as time goes on.

terms7

Jeb Brown and John C. Vennema

Director Michael Parva, who has worked with playwright Dan Gordon before, and set designer David L. Arsenault, have worked together to craft a graceful, flowing, nearly seamless production. However, for those who have never seen the 1983 film, the mother–daughter relationship is the entire story. You can sense Emma’s discontent with Flap, but not really get the full idea of just how much of a snake he really is. You can hear that Emma’s son Tommy’s anger at his mother is deep and hot, but not feel how terribly it stings.

Unfortunately, due to space and time constraints, there are some really powerful moments in the film that simply don’t happen in this version. It’s a disappointment, but not enough to keep from recommending this production, which can still make inspire laughs and move people to tears—as it did most of the audience judging by the sound of sniffles that filled the room. Jessica DiGiovanni as Patsy and the Nurse and John C. Vennema as Doctor Maise round out the cast, both of them lending depth and humor to their smaller but important parts. Vennema in particular plays things to full humorous effect.

Photos by Carol Rosegg
Top photo: Molly Ringwald and Hannah Dunne

Terms of Endearment
Directed by Michael Parva
Adapted by Dan Gordon
59E59 Theaters
Through December 11, 201