Kathleen Russo: Shaping Spalding's Stories
Spalding Gray chronicled the romantic and, yes, complicated! story of his marriage and family life with Kathleen Russo in Morning, Noon and Night, one of the most heartwarming of his many monologues. A true man of the theater, Gray achieved renown for such works as Swimming to Cambodia, Gray's Anatomy and Monster in a Box and acted on Broadway in revivals of Our Town and The Best Man. Two and a half years after suffering devastating injuries in a car accident, Gray took his own life in January 2004—but as Russo discovered, writing that is as gripping and theatrical as Spalding Gray's was destined to live on. With director Lucy Sexton, Russo has put together one of the season's happiest surprises, Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, now playing off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre. Even those who are familiar with Gray's work will be moved by the portrait of an inquisitive, irreverent, unique artist revealed in his stories, letters and personal journals, enacted by a talented cast of five. Russo, the mother of Gray's sons, Forrest and Theo, and an older daughter, Marissa, is co-founder of Washington Square Arts, an arts management organization that oversees Gray-related stage and film works, among other projects. Broadway.com asked her to share the genesis of this inspiring stage memoir.
We had Spalding's memorial at Lincoln Center in April 2004, and at the service I read a quote from William Wordsworth that Spalding used in his last monologue, Life Interrupted:
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.
I thought what a beautiful excerpt this was, but also how well it summed up my feelings that day. I vowed at Lincoln Center to keep Spalding's voice alive and to make sure his work continued in whatever capacity possible—for his family and his audience. I honestly didn't think that I would conceive of a play to achieve this, but what a journey it has been to mount Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell! To make art out of so much grief has been a very healing, memorable, gratifying experience for me.
In May 2005, I was sitting in the audience at Barnes and Noble listening to Roger Rosenblatt, Kate Valk, Reno, Bob Holman and Eric Bogosian read excerpts from the newly re-published Swimming to Cambodia and it was like a light bulb went off in my head. Listening to the audience's laughter, I was taken aback as I realized that other people can read Spalding's writing, and it works! We all remember Spalding as this incredible performer/storyteller, but hearing other people read his work reinforces the fact he was also an amazing writer.
PS 122 had already contacted me about doing a special event for what would have been Spalding's 65th birthday in June 2006, and after the Barnes and Noble reading, I thought I could put together an evening of excerpts—like "Spalding Gray's Greatest Hits"—read by a cast of friends. The theater put me in touch with Lucy Sexton, a woman who did a lot of volunteer work for their events, to help me organize the reading. As I was describing how I envisioned the evening, she stopped me and asked, "With all the material you have, should you consider making this a play instead of a reading?"
As we listened to the various stories, we realized the evening could be structured into the five voices of Spalding Gray. The "Journal Reader" would be the one who kept the themes going through the performance, drawing us in to the origins of Spalding's work. We had the "Adventurer," the one who put himself in bizarre situations hoping to gather material from the experience to share with his audience. We had the "Lover," the one who discovered his sexuality and how that translated later in his adult life. We had the "Family Man," the one who told stories of growing up in Rhode Island and of having his own family late in life. And we had the "Career Person," who told all the funny stories of Spalding wrestling with fame and trying to capture America's attention through a variety of Hollywood excursions.
Mayor Bloomberg declared June 5, 2006, "Spalding Gray Day" and we had a week of performances at PS 122 and UCLA to celebrate Spalding the writer and performer through a piece we entitled Leftover Stories to Tell. It was well attended, and Lucy and I were overwhelmed with the response we received. The Los Angeles Times put it on their top 10 list for 2006. We met Jenny Gersten in L.A., and before we knew it we had Eric Falkenstein and Michael Alden on board to produce what we hoped would be the next version of the show.
Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell began rehearsals in January and opened in March at the intimate Minetta Lane Theatre. I am so proud of this project and could not have done it without the support of Lucy, our whole creative team and the incredible cast we're so lucky to work with every day: Ain Gordon, Hazelle Goodman, Kathleen Chalfant and Frank Wood, plus all the "Career Person" guests who have made their way to our stage.
I wanted to make sure Spalding was not simply remembered for the final act of suicide—that we showed his passion for life even in the face of death. Each day he could still see beauty through his despair. He would be moved by a cloud passing in the sky or simply by watching his children playing beside a lake. To him, these were perfect moments that defined his life. And being the great observer, he would sit at his desk and write about it, hoping to share it in a story, for all of you to hear, even after he was gone.