Six years separate these two actresses' turns in OCCUPANT. Anne Bancroft was supposed to premiere the work for Signature in 2002, under Anthony Page's direction, but I'm not sure there was more than one or two previews (if that). Regardless, that production was quickly canceled. (Bancroft of course died three years later.)
In 2008, Signature tried again, and the play opened -- with Mercedes Ruehl under Pam McKinnon's direction.
I had a ticket to see Bancroft in OCCUPANT for what was going to be an all-Albee weekend . . . OCCUPANT on Friday 2/15, the first preview of THE GOAT on Saturday 2/16, and a matinee of ALL OVER at Princeton on Sunday 2/17. In the event, I got a call from Signature a night or two before telling me that the Friday night performance was cancelled. So I was down to two Albees.
Never mind. Seeing the first-ever public performance of THE GOAT was a night I'll never forget -- particularly since any number of changes were made to text and staging in those early previews. (One of the best lines was cut, alas.) |
