BLYTHE DANNER AND THE FOURTH WALL.

BLYTHE DANNER AND THE FOURTH WALL. On New Year’s Eve in 1980 (I just looked it up), my wife Mary Jane and I saw our favorite actress, Blythe Danner, in a performance of PHILADELPHIA STORY at Lincoln Center. In the last act, there was a loud screeching noise that wouldn’t stop and made it hard to hear the lines. It turned out to be a defective microphone hidden in the garden at the front of the stage. It kept screeching. Finally, Blythe Danner stepped forward and asked that the microphone be turned off. “We can project. We’re all professionals.” The microphone was not turned off. A loud voice from the back called out “We’ve almost got it fixed, Miss Danner.” After a while, the screeching stopped and the show went on. I guess the lesson I draw from this is that the incident did not spoil the show. Audiences put up with glitches and commercials because they don’t interfere with what they are imagining. It was a wonderful performance. When we came out of the theater, we found that a heavy snow had begun. We went down to the White Horse Tavern and sat and watched the snow. Happy New Year to all!