Actors Bask in Afterglow of Taper Gala

“It was more than a performance,” said Gordon Davidson of the Taper 20 Gala Celebration on Saturday night. Still on a high after a week of events commemorating the anniversary of the Mark Taper Forum, capped by this three-hour tribute to two decades of theater, Davidson praised the cast and crew who took part in the commemorative production that played to a full house.

“Not only did it evoke the original performances,” he said of the show, a series of scenes from Taper plays (most done by original cast members), “but it reconnected me to the spirit of the plays. That speaks for the strength and power of the actors. It was a big emotional thing, especially this afternoon when we rehearsed in the theater.”

Davidson, artistic director-producer of the Mark Taper Forum, joined audience and cast members after the benefit performance at a party on the Music Center Plaza. “Meet you in the tent!” cried a man to his friend as black-tied guests streamed into the plastic bubble and dove into the food and champagne. (One stylish young man, when asked what his plans were for a whole kiwi that was perched on his plate, said: “I don’t know--take it home as a memento.”)

Alfre Woodard said of her scene from “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf” (she was in the 1977 production), “I think it was an important piece when it came along. Black women hadn’t had a voice in the theater. (Playwright) Ntozake Shange’s prose is so beautiful--and in doing this so well, she gave everybody a voice.”

Michael Gross, with wife Elza Bergeron Gross, came in clutching his “The Real Thing” script, from which he reprised his role in the 1986 production. “Prior to ‘Family Ties’ I did have a life,” he said, alluding to the fact that his television role has virtually obscured his stage work.

Does he ever wish his audience knew of his work in the theater? “I think so, but by definition theater has a small audience. It’s a more select group. TV is reaching the masses. And I’ll be remembered for this role (in ‘Family Ties’) until . . . I do another TV show.”

Some of the actors in the show hadn’t set foot on stage in years, but were grateful for the chance to do the vignettes. “People were saying backstage that they hadn’t done shows for 10, 12 years,” said Barry Bostwick, who did a bit from the 11-year-old “The Robber Bridegroom.” “And they were saying, ‘God, I want to do stage work again.’

“This is one of two or three legitimate showcases in the city for new talent,” he continued. “If an actor is fortunate enough to get in a play here, he’ll be seen by the right people. And what’s great about Gordon is that he always gives new people a chance. He’s brave and he’s a risk-taker; not just in his choice of plays, but also in his choice of actors.”

Training Ground for Talent

Davidson admitted that the show “ignited a lot of that feeling (to do theater again) for some of the actors. So many people have moved away from it; although some try to have multiple lives, and succeed. The theater is a training ground for talent, and the (movie and television) industry has to give back more to the theater--not as a farm team, but as a partner in creative growth. It’s done more in England, and it’s what I’m working toward here.”

Despite the late hour, guests continued to mingle, congratulate one another and talk shop; among the crowd were other actors from the production, including Katey Sagal, Andrew Robinson, Peter Strauss, Richard Jordan, Louis Gossett Jr., James R. Winker, Penny Fuller, Shaun Cassidy, Henry Winkler and co-emcee Madge Sinclair (her other half, John Ritter, was a no-show at the party). Also attending the performance were director Hal Prince, Taper executive managing director William P. Wingate, David and Roberta Haft (he’s president of the Center Theatre Group board and she’s president of the CTG volunteers), Julie Harris, Olive Behrendt, Eddie Albert, Anna Bing Arnold, departing CalArts president Robert Fitzpatrick and wife, Sylvie, and playwright Luis Valdez, whose 1978 play “Zoot Suit” was cheered when a video clip was shown. “There was a lot of residual energy,” he said.

There was a feeling of old home week at the party as theater folk reunited and chatted about the old days. One man decided to use his Taper anniversary commemorative book as a high school annual and have his friends and co-workers sign it. A woman, getting into the spirit of things, signed: “Have a bitchen summer.”

And what are Davidson’s plans, now that the anniversary celebration is over? Start on the new production of “Roza” and, he added, “I have to fumigate my house.”

Those theater people.