Ovations For Eli
Eli Wallach gives another memorable performance in "Visiting Mr. Green."
ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER
Special to The Jewish News
IV
hen veteran actor Eli
Wallach appears on stage
at the Union Square
Theatre in New York in
Visiting Mr. Green, it's clear that a
great presence is standing in front of
the audience. Wallach's moving perfor-
mance as an 86-year-old lonely, can-
tankerous Jewish man in this two-
character Off-Broadway show is as
good as it gets.
In the play, the reclusive, recently
widowed Mr. Green receives a surprise
visit from a very handsome, 30-ish
Jewish yuppie named Ross Gardiner
(David Alan Basche). Ross nearly ran
down Mr. Green with his car and, as
punishment for his reckless driving, is
ordered by the judge to visit the elder-
ly New Yorker once a week for six
months.
At first, Mr. Green is resentful,
but Ross continues to pay his
weekly house call: He straightens
the cluttered apartment, stocks
the empty refrigerator and brings
kosher food from the deli.
Over time, Mr. Green grows
fond of Ross, and the two men
develop a convincingly tender,
poignant relationship. Skeletons
come out of both their closets:
Ross is gay and alienated from his
family; ultra-religious Mr. Green has
a daughter he disowned when she
married a gentile. Slowly, the two
men learn about tolerance from one
another.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon,
between his matinee and evening per-
formances, Wallach took time out to
talk to the JN about the play, what it
means to him, and his long, celebrated
theatrical career.
"The problems in Visiting Mr.
Green are centered around homosexu-
ality and strict, rigid, Orthodox
Judaism and the conflicts they create,"
says Wallach, while leaning back in a
comfortable chair in front of the
Alice Burdick Schweiger is an Ann
Arbor-based _freelance writer.
4/3
1998
96
make-up mirror in his dressing room.
"In this play there is growth for
both the young boy and Mr. Green —
like an epiphany."
Wallach says his character is a con-
glomerate of people he has known
over the years, including his own par-
ents. "I put the tea cup next to my
head, and that was my sweet, dear
father who did that when he had a
headache," he smiles.
But unlike Mr. Green, Wallach says
his parents were very accepting some
as Israel, so I am anxious to see Israel
survive."
While he is thrilled to be back on
stage in New York and is overwhelmed
by the attention he's receiving,
Wallach insists it's the playwright, Jeff
Baron, who deserves the credit.
"There is an old saying that a great
actor can read the phone book, but I
disagree," he says.
"You can't read the phone book:
There is no plot, no strength to it. A
good play has hidden qualities that a
.
movements and even the way he leans
forward to sip his matzah ball soup
detail a master of his craft. At curtain
call, the audience shows its support
with a well-deserved standing ovation.
This is, of course, no surprise, con-
sidering Wallach's longtime theatrical
experience.
Born in Brooklyn some 80 years
D—<
ago, he grew up with a passion for the
theater but thought he would proba-
bly become a teacher. "Everyone in
my family was a teacher," he laughs.
David
Alan Basche
plays a handsome,
30-ish gay Jewish yuppie,
and Eli Wallach stars as an
86-year-old lonely, cantankerous
Jewish widower in "Visiting Mr. Green."
50 years ago when he married actress
Anne Jackson, a non-Jew. "They
adored Anne and only wanted me to
be happy. I am grateful they were very
supportive.
"When Anne and I got married,
Israel had just been founded as a state.
I said our marriage would last as long
good actor has to search out. And if
it's well constructed, and this play is
very well constructed, then the actor
swims along with it, like the tide. In
the theater, the playwright is king."
This may be true, but it doesn't
diminish Wallach's artistry. On stage,
his gestures, facial expressions, body
He earned an undergraduate degree
from the University of Texas and a
master's degree in education at City
College of New York.
"I hated high school and loved col-
lege, but in those days going to Texas
was like going to another planet," he
recalls. "There were very few Jews, but
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