McKellen in "King Lear", 2007 - Directed by Trevor Nunn
Sporting a shock of white hair and a generous white beard, he looked more like Gandalf than the smiling, clean-shaven man on the front cover of my program.
That is, if Gandalf was fond of wearing turquoise dress shirts with MacBeth tartan ties.
"King Lear" at the where? With WHO?
"Today at 10am on Minnesota Public Radio, an interview with Sir Ian McKellen."
The words cut through the grey, mind-fog of my morning drive. The Guthrie Theater was playing host to the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) for two productions, "King Lear" and "The Seagull" -- both starring Sir Ian McKellen. Also appearing in "King Lear" was Slyvester McCoy of "Doctor Who" fame. This was too good.
I called Avindair.
"We have to go," he said. "See if you can get tickets."
Ha!
Here There Be Scalpers
When I got to work, my first stop was the Guthrie Theater website. I was determined to get a ticket... ANY ticket... to see the show.
ANY ticket didn't seem to be within my budget. "King Lear"... according to the Guthrie... was sold out. However, "ticket agencies" aka "scalpers", had plenty. At the gut-wrenching rate of $400-$700 a seat.
Um. No.
Disappointment set in.
I went back to the Guthrie website, ready to drown my sorrows in a little theater-lover's web-based pity party, when I found the next best thing. Sir Ian would be speaking as part of the Global Voices forum. I called. I could still get two tickets -- in the second row.
Oh, yes. They would be MINE.
No, hon. It's just me and Dad.
Alex's face fell. I was a bad, bad Mom.
"Oh. I thought we were all going. But, that's okay. I understand."
Ouch.
He was still smiling, but I could see the disappointment in his eyes.
Our kids are almost as big theater and film buffs as Avindair and I are. And I would have loved to have taken them. How often does a chance like this roll around in the Twin Cities? Much less often than you would think.
For years we've had just-out-of-reach plans to visit England with the kids. We've told them tales of London, the theater, the history. Promised them the chance to meet their English relatives. But time, work or money has always stepped in the way. Seeing the RSC in Minneapolis would have been a taste of what-will-be-one-day, but it wouldn't be this time.
Worth Every Cent
The tickets for Global Voices weren't cheap, but they also didn't break the bank.
And it was worth it. Oh, was it worth it.
Avindair picked me up from work around 430pm. His eyes were dark and moody.
"Bad day?" I asked?
"Ugh," he grunted. "I don't even know if I want to go to this thing tonight. I just want to go home and relax. I'd like to see him, but I'm just feeling so damn grumpy now."
The only reason he didn't send MonkeyDude in his stead was for safety. Downtown Minneapolis streets aren't the safest at night. He didn't want MonkeyDude and I playing parking ramp Russian Roulette for the sake of some cool theater tickets.
The new Guthrie is... interesting. Parking is conveniently located across the street. (Getting out of there is NOT convenient.) I'm not a big fan of the overall architecture, but I'm a bit of a traditionalist. From my theater background, however, I could appreciate the design behind the Wurtele stage, where we'd see Sir Ian. The seats were a bit cramped, but there was great versatility for lighting, respectable accoustics, and a beautiful thrust stage.
Since we had to go early to grab our tickets, we decided to grab a quick bite at one of the Guthrie's three restaurants before the show. Trying to stay light, we each chose a soup and salad. A little pricey (what isn't, downtown?), but quite good -- and fast. By the time we'd finished our soup, Avindair was finally relaxing from his day, and glad that he'd come along.
Once we got into the theater, we found ourselves wedged between two interesting people. I sat next to an odd fellow, who I later discovered rode a fine line between theater afficianado and weird, crazy fan guy. The entire two hours, he sat scribbling in a notebook in a a script I could only assume was short hand. Previous pages contained what I thought at first might be scientific notation, but on repeated glances, seemed to be some kind of code. I won't go into his personal hygiene. Yeesh. Next to Avindair was a friendly older lady who regaled us with a few stories of her years as a freelance marketing writer. At least we had something in common!
ENOUGH with the Exposition!
So? What about Ian McKellen?
In short, he was a delight: charming, funny, modist and at times, self-effacing. Sir Tyrone Guthrie, founder of the Guthrie Theater, had been a prominent influence in the beginning of McKellen's career. He spoke of directors and actors he'd worked with, his thoughts on acting and Shakespeare, shared stories... it was fantastic. During the question period, he was gracious, patient, and throrough in his answers.
McKellen in "Coriolanus", 1963 - Directed by Tyrone Guthrie
Although the audience seemed almost embarrassed to touch on McKellen's more mainstream roles, like Gandalf and Magneto, there was one very memorable moment in the evening.
He mentioned that when preparing for a role, he likes to know where a character would keep his money. Does he have pockets? A wallet? Does he use cash?
Someone asked, "Where would Magneto keep his money?"
"I imagine with his powers he'd simply put it wherever he wanted to," McKellen replied, making the Magneto hand gesture as if levitating metal coins. "But what I would like to know," he continued, smiling, "is where Mystique keeps hers?"
I'm sure there were many in the audience, who, like ourselves, hadn't been able to get tickets to "King Lear" or "The Seagull". Sir Ian saved the best for last. He treated us to a soliloquy from "Sir Thomas More" by Henry Chettle, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Heywood, Anthony Munday & William Shakespeare. This particular passage was known to have been written by Shakespeare himself, as the British Museum has the original text in his handwriting. The piece was as relevant today as it was in Shakespeare's time. Here's a bit of it that I could find online.
Grant them removed, and grant that this your noise
Hath chid down all the majesty of England.
Imagine that you see the wretched strangers,
Their babies at their backs and their poor luggage,
Plodding to the ports and coasts for transportation,
And that you sit as kings in your desires,
Authority quite silent by your brawl,
And you in ruff of your opinions clothed;
What had you got? I’ll tell you: you had taught
How insolence and strong hand should prevail.
Sir Thomas More, Act 2 Scene 4
And yes, there was a standing ovation.
*Images from www.mckellen.com.
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