Who Sees a Broadway Play at 11 a.m. Part III?

Baltimore's beautifully restored Hippodrome Theatre was packed on Thursday MORNING, Oct. 26, for a FREE performance of the Roundabout Theatre Production of "Twelve Angry Men". How did this happen you may ask.

 

 

 

Well, it began with Olive Waxter, Director of the Hippodrome Foundation, Inc. who after the success of their free morning matinee of last season's presentation of "Little Women", did the exhausting work of grant writing and succeeded again in getting the grant to do the Hippodrome Foundation's second free morning matinee with "Twelve Angry Men". (The other morning matinee I covered was "Once on this Island" at Center Stage who do this for every one of their six productions.)

 

 

 

But this time, another grant from Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (headed by Randy Vega) allowed theater lovers this incredible opportunity to see this heralded Broadway production as well. Representing the City School system was Dr. Deborah Wortham who looked so pleased with the audience prior to the beginning of the play.

 

 

 

Scores of yellow school buses clogged the streets surrounding the Hippodrome Theatre as 1,000 Baltimore high school children and 400 Baltimore County high school children filed into the Hippodrome starting around 10:30 a.m.  But there were problems with buses.  Patterson High didn't arrive until 11:30 (thankfully the curtain was held for them).

And at Frederick Douglass High School, the buses NEVER showed. But teacher Najib Jammal at 10:40 a.m. walked to the Mondawmin Metro station with his 35 students and three chaperones, took the subway to the Lexington Market stop, walked one block to the theater, and were seated by 11:20 a.m. Thankfully, buses arrived to return them back to school.  Jammal said only 2 or 3 of his students had ever been to a play. He commented that they were so excited about the experience; they gladly shared their experience upon their return to school. Each had their favorite characters. I'm sure the persistence of Mr. Jammal  was not lost on his students.

 

 

 

Due to the Free Fall Baltimore promotion, Waxter reported she was overwhelmed with the response from Baltimoreans.  She commented, "After our successful venture with "Little Women", the Free Fall Baltimore program allowed us to broaden our scope and include more of the general public this time."

 

 

 

And was it ever successful.  Waxter had over 900 requests for free tickets within three days and every one of the tickets was distributed.  But, Waxter did more than that. After I inquired about the possibility for those who did not receive tickets could possibly attend at the last minute if there were "no shows" and reported this in my "Baltimore/Washington Backstage" column, everyone who showed up was able to snag one of these precious tickets.  Kudos to Ms. Waxter for allowing theater-lovers the opportunity to catch this tremendous production and not leave any seat empty if there was someone who wanted to attend.

 

 

 

Others in attendance included over 250 senior citizens from various senior centers and 100 tickets were distributed to the University of Maryland Law School which featured a program about jury trials on "Opening Night".

 

 

 

Also responsible for helping out was Terry Hickey who heads the Community Law in Action program (CLIA) who is in the process of organizing a Mock Trial Challenge for Baltimore City high school students. CLIA is a non-profit organization begun eight years ago as a clinic at the University of Maryland Law School. It has successfully started two mock trial teams and has a goal of getting ten more schools involved. With the help of law students, the Bar Association, and retired Judges, Hickey is optimistic he will attain this goal.  Laura Furr, Director of Advocacy for CLIA, states there still is a need for mentors and volunteers. For further information, you can call 410-706-3875. While Baltimore City has four mock trial teams at the moment, Baltimore County Schools have 30 mock trial teams.

 

 

 

But the stars of the day (besides the terrific cast) were the 1,400 high school students who greeted George Wendt with screams and yells when he as the first member of the jury appeared on stage. Richard Thomas also received cheers when he first appeared.

 

 

 

The audience was very attentive and did not hesitate to laugh and cheer. But they were quite silent when towards the end of the play a juror began his tirade about the race (never disclosed) of the 16 year old accused of stabbing his father. "These people are born to lie. They're different. They act different. They are the way they are by nature. Family means nothing to them. Not one of them is really good. These people are multiplying five times as much as us. They want to destroy us. They're violent, vicious,

they'll cut us up. Get him before they get us. I don't care about the law."

 

 

 

There was silence until another juror told him "Don't open your filthy mouth again" and then came thunderous applause.

 

 

 

The actors were treated to a standing ovation. Following that, eight members of the cast took seats on stage for a Q. and A. with the audience and the actors LOVED it.

 

 

 

They were asked "How long did it take to learn your lines? "Four weeks."

 

 

 

One asked the cast to define "You people". The response led by Thomas concerned prejudice to people unlike yourself combined with ethnic prejudice and economics.

 

 

 

There was a question about whether they smoked real cigarettes. The answer was "herbal cigarettes".

 

 

 

There were questions to George Wendt about his prior work.

 

 

 

Thomas was asked why he voted not guilty from the beginning and discussed "doubt". He commented, "It's not clear the boy killed his father or didn't…but the State just didn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt."

 

 

 

The cast liked the question "How do you get the energy and passion to perform every day?" They commented, "We get it from each other AND you the audience."

 

 

 

Waxter related that during dinner the night of this performance, the cast was thrilled with the event and happy to be a part of it. She commented, "They were pleasantly surprised about the caliber of the questions."  They also expressed hope that in other cities, similar events could occur. The cast was unanimous in saying, "It makes it much more interesting for us to have a responsive audience." They also noticed the students laughed in places they didn't expect.

 

 

 

The emails Waxter received were overwhelming in their appreciation. It was also clear that this may be the ONLY play many in the audience will ever attend. She's hoping that more programs like this in the future will rectify this.

 

 

 

I was able to meet many members of the cast after the performance and they were all so excited about the experience. There was a huge white limo by the backstage door waiting to whisk away Richard Thomas and George Wendt. Thomas put on his baseball hat, talked about how much he was enjoying Baltimore, looked at the beautiful blue sky and told the driver he'd walk back to the hotel. Is anyone surprised Mr. Wendt got in the limo?

 

 

 

"Twelve Angry Men" continues at the Hippodrome until November 5. For tickets call 410-547-SEAT. Do NOT miss it!!!

 

ADDENDUM:

MPT's "Artworks This Week" presents a nice interview with stars Thomas and Wendt. You even get a chance to see two scense from the play. You can view a rebroadcast of the show on Saturday morning, Nov. 4 at 9 a.m. or Monday morning, Nov. 6 at 5:30 a.m.

For comments, cgshubow@broadwayworld.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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