Does ‘Gallop’ Hit Its Stride or Not?

Although Times critic Don Shirley compares the Los Angeles production of “Full Gallop” unfavorably to both its previous runs on the East and West coasts, he admits he attended neither (“A Difference of Style--and of Substance,” March 31). I have attended both.

I think “Full Gallop” is extremely well-written, full of witticisms, apercus and anecdotes that its authors culled from the more than 200 hours of audiotape that my mother, Diana Vreeland, recorded, in her highly characteristic style, over a two-year period while collaborating on her book “D.V.” with George Plimpton. Both authors and actresses had access to these in the preparation of the play.

Brenda Vaccaro may not look like Diana Vreeland, but through the magic of her acting and the power of the writing, she captures her spirit--that indomitable courage in the face of adversity and the wholesale embrace of life in all its aspects, which was quite devoid of smallness or vindictiveness.

Shirley would have done well to invest $13.95 in the paperback of “D.V.,” recently reissued by Da Capo Press, from which so much of the material in the current play has been extracted, to discover the true voice of the woman he has been so quick to judge. My advice to the reader would be to race to the theater to see this play (it will last until May 24) and see if I’m not right and Shirley wrong.

TIM VREELAND

Los Angeles

*

I am an admirer of Vaccaro’s work and therefore purchased tickets to her performance. Shirley writes, “One can always set aside a copy of Vogue; it’s more problematic to leave a two-hour public event.” Surely he knows one can leave at intermission, as we did, and not have to withstand a boring, lackluster production.

Who cares about an uninteresting, unfascinating view of Diana Vreeland? Not the audience I saw this show with; many slept and some left during intermission. It’s not Vaccaro’s fault. It’s the fault of the producers, writer, casting director, director and theater to hire an actress who is totally inappropriate for the part.

JAMES JORDANE

Los Angeles

*

The skill of acting is to impart the essence of a character--it need not be a carbon copy, as it then becomes a caricature.

Surely Ingrid Bergman, a tall, lanky Swede who portrayed Golda Meir, a short, dumpy Jewish mama, captured this essence in “A Woman Called Golda.”

Vaccaro is right on in her doyenne interpretation of Diana Vreeland. Demented with fashion as an icon of culture, a true artist awash with the impact of color, all with a wry eye on her own pretension, Vaccaro struts the stage with lariat precision. Her performance is a tour de force.

MARILYN HALL

Beverly Hills