Not Just Another ‘Miracle’ Spokane Civic Theatre’s Production Of Helen Keller Story Stars Lewis And Clark High School Student
Theater
Almost everybody is familiar with “The Miracle Worker,” William Gibson’s 1959 play about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. Besides being a Tony-winner and Oscar-winner, it’s a common English class assignment.
But here’s a few facts you might not have known about this play:
Playwright Gibson worked as an exterminator and as a piano player in beer joints before turning to writing.
“The Miracle Worker” was first written as a TV drama, presented on “Playhouse 90” on CBS in 1957.
The Broadway version of “The Miracle Worker” launched the career of the young Patty Duke.
Both Duke and Anne Bancroft, as Annie Sullivan, won Oscars for the 1962 film version of the play.
Gibson also wrote the plays “Two for the Seesaw” and “Golda,” and he co-wrote the musical “Golden Boy.”
Yet “The Miracle Worker” remains Gibson’s crowning achievement. When it opened on Broadway, critic Robert Coleman wrote, “Gibson’s words are terse and eloquent, highly dramatic, but it is the frightening, harrowing physical conflicts of his drama that terrify and grip you.”
The Spokane Civic Theatre’s production features the young actress Maia Newell-Large, a Lewis and Clark High School student, as Helen Keller. Marilyn Langbehn, one of Spokane’s most accomplished actresses, plays Annie Sullivan.
The rest of the cast includes Susan Smith, Signe Nall, Jason L. Stinebaugh, Pat Owens, Bob Swehla and Sandy Hosking. The director is Diana Trotter, a drama professor at Whitworth College.
Oh, and the plot? Just in case you missed it on TV, on stage, on the screen and in English class, it’s about how teacher Annie Sullivan helps rescue the blind and mute Helen Keller from her isolation and teaches her to communicate.
The show runs Friday and Saturday, and continues April 10-13, 17-20 and 24-26. All shows are at 8 p.m. except Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults on Fridays and Saturdays, $10 for adults on Thursdays and Sundays, and $9 for seniors, $7 for students.
Call 325-2507 for reservations; many performances will sell out. The Spokane Civic Theatre is at 1020 N. Howard.
‘Talley’s Folly’
Washington State University opens Lanford Wilson’s 1980 Pulitzer-winning play, “Talley’s Folly,” at the Wadleigh Little Theater on the Pullman campus on Wednesday.
This is an unconventional romance about a man who courts a woman named Sally. Her family does not want him around because he is Jewish.
This is a graduate student production presented by the School of Music and Theatre Arts.
It runs April 9-11 at 8 p.m. and April 12 at 2 p.m. General-admission tickets, available at the door, are $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for students and children. Call (509) 335-7236 for information.
‘Cream of Wit’
The Spokane branch of Unexpected Productions presents an evening of improvisational theater and comedy every Friday in April.
The troupe of performers respond to audience suggestions to create instant scenes, which are often clever and sometimes inspired.
The show runs at 9 p.m. Friday at Spokane Falls Community College’s Theater Building No. 5. Tickets are $6, or $5 for students with ID.
Call 747-7045 for reservations or information. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos