Family Matters

Leo Tolstoy’s oft-quoted line about each unhappy family being unhappy in its own way certainly springs to mind during Festen, David Eldridge’s adaptation of the Danish film of the same name (called The Celebration in the U.S.), which begins previews today at the Music Box. The play is set during an ostensibly happy occasion — the 60th birthday of family patriarch Helge — but a pall hangs over the festivities due to the recent suicide of one of his four children. Once the other three siblings, Helene, Christian (the twin brother of the deceased young woman), and Michael, arrive, the atmosphere sours further as they bicker and fight among themselves. But the worst is yet to come, when Christian chooses to unveil a long-suppressed family secret.

The original production of the play at London’s Almeida Theatre in 2004 earned director Rufus Norris the coveted Evening Standard Award. Wisely, producers Bill Kenwright and Marla Rabin have transported Norris across the Pond to helm the Broadway production. In turn, he has cast the show with 14 accomplished American actors. The company is headed by Tony Award nominees Larry Bryggman and Michael Hayden (as Helge and Christian, respectively); TV and stage stars Julianna Margulies and Jeremy Sisto, who will be making their Main Stem debuts in the roles of Helene and Michael; and, in the biggest casting coup of all, Ali MacGraw in her stage debut as Else, the family matriarch.

“It’s taken a long time to put this cast together. We’ve jumped through a lot of hoops, but I’m supremely happy with them,” says Norris. “They’re slightly less eccentric than English actors, and I have to say there’s a lot of humor in the rehearsal room. In some ways, it would have been nice to bring the original cast here, but if you are presenting a story as difficult as this one, you have to make the audience travel with it. And I think that meant doing it here with American actors. If I were doing it in Australia, I’d hire Australian actors.” Norris also made a decision not to have the cast use any kind of foreign accents, even though the play is set in Denmark. “This way, the audience is just receiving the characters for who they are in the purest and most simple way.”

MacGraw — who lives in Tesuque, a small town just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico — was flabbergasted when the chance to audition for Else came up. “The universe just dropped this offer to read the script in my lap,” she says. “I immediately turned around and said to my agent, ‘You do know that I have never performed on stage in my life.’ Yes, I speak all the time in public as an activist — but that’s not the same as speaking this perfectly crafted script that has to be memorized word-perfect alongside this group of amazing, world-class actors. So I’d be an idiot if I weren’t terrified.”

She had been perfectly happy not acting; except for a small part she had in an independent film directed by her son Josh Evans, she hasn’t made a movie in over a decade. “I haven’t missed Hollywood or doing films,” she says. “The stuff I’m offered these days doesn’t matter enough or pay enough so that I could say, ‘I’ll do it just so I can give money to the animal shelter.’ But I have missed being part of something that really matters, which is why I felt it was so important to do this play.”

Margulies, who is returning to the New York stage for the first time in three years (since the MCC production of Intrigue with Faye), was the first person cast in this production, even though she didn’t see the play in London. “All my friends who did the see play there have the same reaction, that this is a night of the unexpected,” she says. “The writing is so strong that there’s really not much we can do to screw it up. At the same time, one of the beautiful things about this play is that if one person does mess up, it’s like a domino effect — there can be no weak link. And I really love the idea of working with an ensemble, of sharing the stage with 14 actors, since most of what I’ve done on stage has between 2 or 4 characters.”

While Margulies was the first person aboard, Sisto was the last — due to a question of scheduling — and he’s thrilled that all has worked out. (The actor is set to co-star in the new NBC drama Kidnapped). “Michael is such an interesting role,” he says. “He’s complicated, but less complicated then some of the other characters. Yes, he’s dysfunctional — he’s short-tempered and excitable — but there are some things in his life that kind of got worked out, and there’s some sense of kindness and softness.” In some ways, Michael seems to be a spiritual cousin of Billy, the character Sisto played so memorably on HBO’s Six Feet Under. “Yes, there are some sides of Billy in Michael,” he admits. “Billy did a lot of interesting things that other people didn’t get, but I understood him.”

Hayden was another late addition to the cast; in fact, he had to withdraw from the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Carnival just as that show was beginning rehearsals. “Festen was too good to pass up,” he explains. “The play has such exciting writing, exciting characters. It’s edgy and sexy, and that’s what drew me to it. But Rufus was the biggest factor. After meeting him, I would’ve done it no matter who was in the cast.” Still, Hayden is excited to be sharing the stage with this particular group of people, especially MacGraw: “It’s heaven to play her son. She’s just gorgeous and like an angel. Of course, I am very mean to her on stage.”

And how did Bryggman react when he learned that MacGraw would be playing his wife? “I thought, ‘Gosh, I didn’t know she was still in the business,'” he says. “But I am so glad she is. She keeps telling me that this is her first stage role, but I am not sure I believe her. She asks all the right questions about creating a character and what’s going on in the family.”

Bryggman, who won an Emmy Award for his role as the dastardly Dr. John Dixon on the soap opera As The World Turns, was initially reluctant to tackle another dark role. Moreover, he had to choose between this play and the Public Theater production of Stuff Happens, in which he would play former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. What made him decide to go with Festen? “I read the script again, and I thought there were a couple of things I could hang to. Also, I realized this is a dysfunctional family where everybody has a hand in the pie. They’ve all played a part in their own problems.”