I don't know about you, but I am SO excited it is finally almost Wednesday, October 26th when I will be giving my presentation on the plays of Wendy Wasserstein -- not just because I think it's going to be a lot of fun, but because after almost two years I will finally make my deadline!
If the weather cooperates (I'm ever the optimist) we will be meeting in Sharon's lovely backyard at 12:30 pm. If the weather looks bad, we will meet at12:30 pm in the Orr Room of the Hastings-on-Hudson Public Library. Even though Broadway houses, and now the opera and the ballet, will be allowing audiences to be unmasked during performances, numbers are starting to tick up, and it seems like a good time to see if our library option is a comfortable one. (That said, if you have a seat cushion or two you can bring along, that might help make the library's stacking chairs a bit more comfortable. I can bring 11.)
Please look for my email on Wednesday morning for the final decision on where we will be meeting. In addition, carpooling might be helpful for avoiding limited parking options.
Again, if anyone would like to listen along on Zoom please let me know and we'll send you a link. Until then, Jacquie
Christine's minutes: In yet another first in these seasons of firsts, thirteen members of the Literature Club gathered in the Orr Room of the Hastings Library, and Lyn McLean joined us from North Carolina, via Zoom. The day started out foggy and remained weirdly warm and threatening throughout; but we enjoyed magnificent views of the Palisades all dressed up in colors, just for us.
President Connie Stewart rang the bell at 12:50. (I had 1:50 in my notes, but that can’t be right.)
The minutes were read and accepted. Lori, our treasurer corrected last month’s report. We actually have $389.50
There was an effort to keep our discussions brief, knowing that Jacquie had a grand program awaiting, and we did not want her to curtail it in any way. Still.
Sharon reported that she has a list of desired books from Debby Quinn, the Head Librarian, and she noted that they are all – but one – written by white men. The books are already ordered, so that is a done deal. Nor is this to say they are not good books, but the fact remains that women, of all colors, are woefully underrepresented. We all agreed this is an important issue, one that we can easily discuss at great length; it was decided that we will put it on the agenda for our annual meeting in March.
Laura asked what is our policy regarding inviting people who do not live in Hastings? There seems to be a tacit policy that all members either live in Hastings, or originally lived in Hastings (e.g. Louisa, Carla, Laura). Someone who lives in Laura’s building in Ossining has expressed an interest in coming. It is Catalina Danis, who lived in Hastings for decades, so we all agreed that would be fine.
In the spirit of Show & Tell, Diana announced that she has found the most wonderful small, portable light for reading in bed – and she showed it to us – it looked quite fetching draped over her shoulders.
The latest news on Gita: she has been living with a daughter in Long Island, but would like to return home. She does not expect to be attending this year, but that may change.
Now, at last, the lights go down, the chattering stops, cell phones are silenced and the play begins.
It was no surprise to anyone that Jacquie approached her topic with enthusiasm and imagination. She said that upon reading Wendy’s first play, Uncommon Women and Others, she became concerned that this play about the first world concerns of a group of Mount Holyoke alums, could seem, well, trivial, when lined up next to climate change, the war in Ukraine, the Dobbs decision, and the rise of nationalism and xenophobia.
But not at all. Jacquie plunged into Julie Salomon’s biography, Wendy and the Lost Boys (which she recommended highly) and began to see that the plays must be read in the context of their time and place, and also that – Derrida be damned – an understanding of the playwright, described as “complicated, fascinating, amusing, frustrating, intuitive, completely open yet enigmatic” could be, if not essential, an important key to understanding and appreciating the plays. In Jacquie’s view, the plays are not “classics per se”, but sociological studies reflecting the Baby Boomer experience, in real time, aging along with the playwright, reacting in real time. But do they still entertain us – which is, according to Tom Stoppard, the main task of theatre? Oh, indeed they do. We were well entertained all afternoon.
Before delving into the plays, we learned a bit about Wendy’s remarkable life. Beginning at the end, with the memorial service in 2006, attended by everyone in theatre, when Wendy was praised for her talent, her bravery – she had a child, Lucy Jane, at the age of 47, on her own – and her truth telling, as well as her invention.
Wendy Wasserstein was born in 1950, to Morris and Lola. And as was often remarked, she was “born into great material.” The family euphemism for death was that the deceased had “gone to Europe.” Hers was a family of über-achievers, who kept their secrets well. While Morris was a ‘decent, hardworking’ father, tiny Lola was the mythmaker. Wendy the playwright, Bruce the billionaire, and Georgette known as Gorgeous, only learned in adulthood of the existence of another brother, Abner, institutionalized since his childhood.
Wasserstein Brothers was a successful ribbon manufacturer in Brooklyn. While Wendy would describe her childhood as Camelot, her much older sister who was also her cousin, Sandra, experienced the hardscrabble childhood of recent immigrants. Wendy attended Yeshiva in Brooklyn, then Ethical Culture, and then Calhoun in Manhattan. She is described as a mediocre student. Still, she entered one of the Seven Sisters, Mt. Holyoke, in 1967 – just when college life was on the cusp of radical change. After college she returned to New York, studied with Israel Horowitz and wrote her first play, Women Can’t. In 1973 she went to Yale School of Drama where she met William Ivey Long, Christopher Durang, James Lapine, all of whom became fast friends and colleagues. Her play about Mt. Holyoke students, Uncommon Women and Others, had a production at the Phoenix in 1977 and was a great success. Next came Isn’t it Romantic. Then The Heidi Chronicles, her greatest and most indelible success. It opened on Broadway in March of 1989 and closed the following year after 622 performances.
The Heidi Chronicles is a brilliant history and send-up of 25 years in the life of Heidi Holland, art historian, and 25 years of women keeping up the struggle for some kind of equality.
Members were handed copies of the book, and assigned roles, as we would read pivotal scenes in the play. Act one, scene one features a high school dance, and awkward conversations between Heidi and a certain boy. Scene two in another dance, with Heidi and Scoop Rosenbaum.
It must be pointed out that every scene was accompanied by a song, appropriate to the period: we were treated to Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Aretha Franklin, and so many others.
Scene three is set in a church basement, where a women’s consciousness-raising group is meeting. Your secretary enjoyed the chance to read the part of potty-mouthed Fran. Jacquie summarized the next few scenes, each one emblematic of its era: a protest in front of the Art Institute in Chicago; we learn that Nixon has resigned, Peter, now a doctor, comes out, and Scoop is clerking for the SCOTUS; a wedding at the Pierre where Scoop married Lisa Friedlander; Heidi lecturing on art; and onward until Act 2. We read Act 2, scene 3, where Heidi is being asked to consult on a movie about contemporary women. And finally, the last scene in Heidi’s new apartment, with the now very rich Scoop, whom she chose not to marry.
As Jacquie said: “That particular paradox – of being better than everyone else but not good enough – [would become] a recurrent theme in Wendy’s life and in her work.”
Respectfully submitted,
Christine Lehner
President Connie Stewart rang the bell at 12:50. (I had 1:50 in my notes, but that can’t be right.)
The minutes were read and accepted. Lori, our treasurer corrected last month’s report. We actually have $389.50
There was an effort to keep our discussions brief, knowing that Jacquie had a grand program awaiting, and we did not want her to curtail it in any way. Still.
Sharon reported that she has a list of desired books from Debby Quinn, the Head Librarian, and she noted that they are all – but one – written by white men. The books are already ordered, so that is a done deal. Nor is this to say they are not good books, but the fact remains that women, of all colors, are woefully underrepresented. We all agreed this is an important issue, one that we can easily discuss at great length; it was decided that we will put it on the agenda for our annual meeting in March.
Laura asked what is our policy regarding inviting people who do not live in Hastings? There seems to be a tacit policy that all members either live in Hastings, or originally lived in Hastings (e.g. Louisa, Carla, Laura). Someone who lives in Laura’s building in Ossining has expressed an interest in coming. It is Catalina Danis, who lived in Hastings for decades, so we all agreed that would be fine.
In the spirit of Show & Tell, Diana announced that she has found the most wonderful small, portable light for reading in bed – and she showed it to us – it looked quite fetching draped over her shoulders.
The latest news on Gita: she has been living with a daughter in Long Island, but would like to return home. She does not expect to be attending this year, but that may change.
Now, at last, the lights go down, the chattering stops, cell phones are silenced and the play begins.
It was no surprise to anyone that Jacquie approached her topic with enthusiasm and imagination. She said that upon reading Wendy’s first play, Uncommon Women and Others, she became concerned that this play about the first world concerns of a group of Mount Holyoke alums, could seem, well, trivial, when lined up next to climate change, the war in Ukraine, the Dobbs decision, and the rise of nationalism and xenophobia.
But not at all. Jacquie plunged into Julie Salomon’s biography, Wendy and the Lost Boys (which she recommended highly) and began to see that the plays must be read in the context of their time and place, and also that – Derrida be damned – an understanding of the playwright, described as “complicated, fascinating, amusing, frustrating, intuitive, completely open yet enigmatic” could be, if not essential, an important key to understanding and appreciating the plays. In Jacquie’s view, the plays are not “classics per se”, but sociological studies reflecting the Baby Boomer experience, in real time, aging along with the playwright, reacting in real time. But do they still entertain us – which is, according to Tom Stoppard, the main task of theatre? Oh, indeed they do. We were well entertained all afternoon.
Before delving into the plays, we learned a bit about Wendy’s remarkable life. Beginning at the end, with the memorial service in 2006, attended by everyone in theatre, when Wendy was praised for her talent, her bravery – she had a child, Lucy Jane, at the age of 47, on her own – and her truth telling, as well as her invention.
Wendy Wasserstein was born in 1950, to Morris and Lola. And as was often remarked, she was “born into great material.” The family euphemism for death was that the deceased had “gone to Europe.” Hers was a family of über-achievers, who kept their secrets well. While Morris was a ‘decent, hardworking’ father, tiny Lola was the mythmaker. Wendy the playwright, Bruce the billionaire, and Georgette known as Gorgeous, only learned in adulthood of the existence of another brother, Abner, institutionalized since his childhood.
Wasserstein Brothers was a successful ribbon manufacturer in Brooklyn. While Wendy would describe her childhood as Camelot, her much older sister who was also her cousin, Sandra, experienced the hardscrabble childhood of recent immigrants. Wendy attended Yeshiva in Brooklyn, then Ethical Culture, and then Calhoun in Manhattan. She is described as a mediocre student. Still, she entered one of the Seven Sisters, Mt. Holyoke, in 1967 – just when college life was on the cusp of radical change. After college she returned to New York, studied with Israel Horowitz and wrote her first play, Women Can’t. In 1973 she went to Yale School of Drama where she met William Ivey Long, Christopher Durang, James Lapine, all of whom became fast friends and colleagues. Her play about Mt. Holyoke students, Uncommon Women and Others, had a production at the Phoenix in 1977 and was a great success. Next came Isn’t it Romantic. Then The Heidi Chronicles, her greatest and most indelible success. It opened on Broadway in March of 1989 and closed the following year after 622 performances.
The Heidi Chronicles is a brilliant history and send-up of 25 years in the life of Heidi Holland, art historian, and 25 years of women keeping up the struggle for some kind of equality.
Members were handed copies of the book, and assigned roles, as we would read pivotal scenes in the play. Act one, scene one features a high school dance, and awkward conversations between Heidi and a certain boy. Scene two in another dance, with Heidi and Scoop Rosenbaum.
It must be pointed out that every scene was accompanied by a song, appropriate to the period: we were treated to Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Aretha Franklin, and so many others.
Scene three is set in a church basement, where a women’s consciousness-raising group is meeting. Your secretary enjoyed the chance to read the part of potty-mouthed Fran. Jacquie summarized the next few scenes, each one emblematic of its era: a protest in front of the Art Institute in Chicago; we learn that Nixon has resigned, Peter, now a doctor, comes out, and Scoop is clerking for the SCOTUS; a wedding at the Pierre where Scoop married Lisa Friedlander; Heidi lecturing on art; and onward until Act 2. We read Act 2, scene 3, where Heidi is being asked to consult on a movie about contemporary women. And finally, the last scene in Heidi’s new apartment, with the now very rich Scoop, whom she chose not to marry.
As Jacquie said: “That particular paradox – of being better than everyone else but not good enough – [would become] a recurrent theme in Wendy’s life and in her work.”
Respectfully submitted,
Christine Lehner
Recording secretary
