BWW Interviews: MILK TRAIN's Maggie Lacey

Viewing the DVD of Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN presents one of the greatest delights for a theatergoer. Not only is Paul Newman in superb form as the Stage Manager, but Maggie Lacey's luminous portrayal of Emily Webb is preserved for generations to come.

Lacey's performance spans the development of a teenaged girl in an America that may never really have existed, to a young bride filled with Freudian doubts, and finally to a deceased woman longing for the life she never fully appreciated while living it. It is a sublime portrayal and Lacey glows throughout.

Currently, Maggie Lacey is giving another masterful performance on the stage of New York's Laura Pels Theater, where she is appearing in The Roundabout's production of Tennessee Williams' THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE in which she is seen as the widowed Frances Black, the secretary of Flora Goforth (played brilliantly by Olympia Dukakis). Also sharing the stage are Edward Hibbert and Darren Pettie-both in fine form. As directed by Michael Wilson, it provides for a very memorable evening in the theater.

Speaking by phone on a wintry afternoon, Lacey sounds both bright and reflective as she discusses her past accomplishments and the challenge of appearing in what might be one of the playwright's most problematic efforts, as well as the experience of sharing the stage with an Oscar-winning star.

When told that her performance is captivating audiences, Lacey responds with an obvious smile in her voice and says, "I love that you use the word ‘captivating' because that's what we're going for. We're trying to draw you in. Hopefully we achieve that." Obviously she and the other members of the cast are attaining that goal because conversations overheard during intermission indicate that people are fascinated by the play and are making comparisons between it and earlier works of the playwright.

Lacey hails mostly from Cleveland Heights, Ohio. However, her peripatetic family caused her to live in Tennessee for a while and Andover, Massachusetts--and even lived in Hartford, Connecticut for about six months when she was still a child. "We actually lived on Michael Wilson's street, maybe three houses down from him, " she recalls with a giggle, "It was the funniest thing," she continues, "because I wound up spending so much time later on in Hartford. I'd go out to Michael's house or go jogging out to my old house and back. It's odd how things can go full circle, isn't it?"

The actress recalls that her interest in theater began when she asked her mother if she could attend summer camp and she and her sister became involved in several Gilbert and Sullivan productions that the camp sponsored. "There was always a scarcity of boys so we often wound up playing boys parts. Sometimes my sisters and I would wind up marrying each other!"

The actress was an English major in college and appeared in several plays. "I didn't even know there was such a thing as graduate school for acting. I just had a hankering for it and knew I wanted formal training. I knew I'd regret it if I didn't try it so I enrolled in NYU's graduate program and things just kept panning out. I loved NYU."

Still, the actual genesis of her acting career can be charted to those Gilbert and Sullivan productions at summer camp. "It's funny to allow our nine year old selves to tell us something like that, but it really began when I was a kid. It took me years to trust it and try it for real, but the older I get the more in tune I feel with that child."

One of the professors she credits as being inspiring to her was Ron Van Lieu , who had been taught by Olympia Dukakis. "It's amazing now to hear her say things that had come to me previously through Ron. I feel like I'm part of some sort of history cycle at times." There was another man named Jim Calder who taught masque and commedia and clown. "He's still there and in my mind he's one of the great cornerstones of that program," Lacey remarks.

Maggie Lacey's three major appearances on the New York stages have been in the aforementioned OUR TOWN, as Rachel Brown in INHERIT THE WIND and now as "Blackie" in MILK TRAIN. Although the plays are as different as they can be, there seems to be a similarity in the structure of the characters that Lacey played, or is playing. All three women endure the various hardships that are found in the scripts, but three quarters of the way through the plot, there's an epiphany in which the actress is called to deliver an eloquent monologue expressing a new-found realization. Is this mere happenstance or is the actress deliberately seeking out roles structured in this manner? "That's such a good question." she responds. "It's probably a combination of things. When I started out I wasn't looking for that. I was really looking for something that I could really lend myself to. There's something about the challenge of that ...the inherent challenge of someone who was going through something and comes around to a certain realization. That really appeals to me."

Speaking specifically of the character of Blackie, she mentions that she "likes the direction that that's going as opposed to Emily or Rachel Brown. Blackie is sort of wry and a little more acerbic and I like doing that direction. I hope that becomes a trend, too...to be a bit less earnest."

Along the way, Maggie Lacey has gotten to work with some of the biggest names in the theater: Paul Newman, Christopher Plummer, Brian Dennehy and now Olympia Dukakis. She has nothing but praise for all four of them.

Recalling her experience of working with Newman in OUR TOWN, Lacey borders on the rhapsodic: "First, he was from Cleveland, so we both had that in common, but he was so cool. I feel so lucky in being able to witness how these people approach their work and Paul was so ‘present' and there was no malarkey about him. He was funny and he always had great snacks backstage. He was nearing 80 years old at that point in his life and the Stage Manager is a really tough role. He'd come out and do these monologues and the fact that actors fifty years younger than he could get the order of those speeches mixed up. He open-heartedly approached it all and was a pleasure to work with. You know the Broadway run had a great deal to do with raising money for the renovations at the Westport Playhouse, don't you? That's what it was about for him and that was a great thing to see."

In the highly praised production of INHERIT THE WIND that Lacey was featured in, the leading roles of Henry Drummond and Matthew Harrison Brady were played by Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy. There's enormous fondness in Lacey's voice as she recalls her experiences with Dennehy. "I really liked working with him. He had a lot of great stories and we had a moment when we were almost off stage when Brady was talking to Rachel. He and I decided to have a real conversation every night. We talked about the day's events with one ear listening to our cue. He was very generous with his experiences and discussing how things had been for him. I remember that he took us to a jazz club in Harlem once and it was great fun. He's just a cool guy."

The mention of Christopher Plummer's name elicits an "Oh my God!" from Lacey. "He was absolutely great! What was so surprising about him was how dead-pan hilarious he was. That's my particular sense of humor. It gets me to the point where I'm not able to stop laughing. He had many funny stories about his early work on television when he was just starting out in the business. He was incredible to watch every night. I made sure to watch how he approached each performance. He was amazing."

Now Maggie Lacey finds herself sharing the stage with Olympia Dukakis and she is pretty much in awe of the seasoned veteran. "She and I have so much to do together We talk about what we've done every night and have gotten the chance to really dig in and hone our mutual scenes. My favorite time during this run was during previews when we were rehearsing during the day and performing the play at night. We'd come into rehearsals with things we'd discovered on stage the night before and share them with the rest of the cast. It was hard work but we made great discoveries. Olympia's very intuitive and she makes me realize how really good actors are kind of ageless because they're always putting themselves in new circumstances -and sometimes very scary circumstances. I admire the way she does that so often."

This version of THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE isn't exactly the one that audiences saw when the play was first done on Broadway in 1963, or even the revised version that re-appeared on Broadway a mere year later. Rather, the version that's on stage at the Laura Pels Theatre is a composite of different sources. "As you know," Lacey explains, Tennessee Williams was an incorrigible re-writer. He'd re-write his plays even after they'd won Pulitzer Prizes and all kinds of awards. He kept re-writing this one and there are several different versions of the play-including the screenplay for the movie version, which was called BOOM! It starred ElizaBeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Noel Coward. Williams wasn't really pleased with any of them and so our version is an amalgam of several different versions. The one that's published and is called ‘The New Directions Version' has this whole prologue with these Kabuki-esque characters called ‘One' and ‘Two' and it's really abstract. It seems that he'd seen some Japanese theater and we decided that in our production only Olympia would don a kabuki costime."

The play's director, Michael Wilson, was responsible for shaping much of Williams' assorted texts into its present version. "Originally we did this in Hartford. The dramaturge and Michael had come up with a version but in rehearsal we'd find that there was a speech that was being done in one place and we decided to move it to another. Stuff like that. Michael has directed most of Williams' plays and I think he has a real understanding of the man. It's uncanny at times. We felt like we were working on a new play; like we were getting re-writes from the author."

Lacey asseverates that all good playwrights tamper with their work: "Even when it's ‘done', it's not done."

Speaking of her relationship with director Wilson, Lacey says, "I would walk across fiery coals for that man. Working with him has been such a huge joy of my professional life. We're now very good friends and because of that we work together well. We have a terrific short-hand at this point and a great amount of trust. That's something I couldn't appreciate more. It's a pleasure to work under that kind of trust. We just have a mutual love for each other and I think it yields good things."

Watching Lacey on stage with Darren Pettie calls to mind the images of Maggie and Brick in Williams' CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Would she ever like to play that role under Michael Wilson's guidance? "From your mouth to God's ears! I hope that would happen someday soon," she states. "I would absolutely love to play that part. Yeah, I really would. I'd also love to play Stella in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. I think Stella is a very interesting part." Hedda Gabler is also a role that Maggie Lacey has on her dream list. "I like playing with guns!" she chuckles.

There have been rumors going around that this production of THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE may extend its run. There have also been mutterings that the play might transfer to a small Broadway house. "I've heard of a possible extension," comments the actress. "You know as actors, we have to cultivate a sort of -in-the-moment-ness about that kind of stuff. It always turns out best when you're pleasantly surprised." A Broadway transfer would give Olympia Dukakis a chance at winning the coveted Tony Award because her performance in this play is nothing short of brilliant. "I couldn't agree more," her co-star enthusiastically adds. "Wouldn't that be great?"

Yes it would be great, as would be any opportunity to view this entire cast as they perform so marvelously in this sometimes forgotten Williams play. Each and every one breathes a special life into their roles and makes this production the highlight of the current theater season in the minds of many. Truly, it's a production that should not be missed.

As for Maggie Lacey, she is playing a role that displays her sharp-tongued delivery of Williams' dialogue and enables audiences to enjoy her beauty and sexual energy. One thing is certain: she's come a long way from Grover's Corners!