What Is the Story of The Grand Manner?
Set backstage at a Broadway theater, The Grand Manner is inspired by a real-life event in the life of playwright A.R. Gurney, who briefly met legendary theater star Katharine Cornell in 1948 after a performance of Antony and Cleopatra. The play expands the story to include Cornell’s director husband, Guthrie McClintic, and her personal assistant and “close friend” Gert Macy. Cornell, a dramatic actress in "the grand manner," is experiencing a crisis of confidence as she observes the theater world changing around her, with the emergence of grittier writers such as Tennessee Williams and method actors such as Marlon Brando. Besotted with all things theatrical, young Pete soaks in the atmosphere and forms a quick bond with the star based on their shared background as natives of Buffalo.