Elwood P. Stewart

It is impossible to discuss Harvey without also discussing Jimmy Stewart. He is the person everyone thinks of when thinking of Elwood P. Dowd, our protagonist. Not only did Stewart make the role his own, but he often expressed his love for the character. It may not have been his best role, but it appears to have been his favorite.

Now, let me be clear, I do not want the Elwood in our production to try to be Jimmy Stewart. There will be the inevitable comparisons without some kind of imitation at work. We need an Elwood who, like Stewart, makes the part his own. Stewart actually came to the part at a difficult point in his career. His luster was diminishing, and his post-war career needed a boost. This was not a major transitional role for Stewart, but Elwood gave him a little box office clout. Then came the great director Anthony Mann, and the series of unnervingly dark westerns they collaborated on together: Winchester 73, The Naked Spur, Bend of the River, and others. Now we had a Jimmy Stewart who possessed an edgy, raw spirit under the surface. Hitchcock saw these films and capitalized on the new persona in some of his best films - notably Vertigo.

Here's what you need to know. Jimmy Stewart piloted B-17s during the war. He flew some of the most harrowing missions any American pilot ever knew, rising in rank from Second Lieutenant to two star General in the Air Force. The effects of the war on him, and Stewart's fellow pilots, informed his performances forever more. Please remember that Harvey is set just after the war, and that Elwood is a drinker, This may be important to understanding a man who befriends an invisible rabbit.

For me, Jimmy Stewart's best role was as himself on one of the great television shows of all time - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Johnny was a fellow Nebraskan, and the two shared a love for all things mid-west. Stewart cultivated his homespun image with Johnny's help. He always came on the show prepared with a story or two, or maybe a poem; and the two of them would wink and chuckle at shared private jokes. Later, when he moved further down the sofa next to Ed, Stewart (like any good actor) would listen to the other guests and laugh on cue, or join in on the fun. Johnny loved this in a guest, and Stewart was one of his very, very favorites. If some of this was Stewart playing his part, who's to complain?

Jimmy Stewart won't walk through the door during auditions. Yet, someone will walk in with a particular singularity which will define Elwood as I see him. It may be invisible to him but, like Elwood P. Dowd, I like to think that I have the ability to see things which others don't.

Screwball Comedy

I have called Harvey a screwball comedy, which may push the definition of the genre just a little. For one thing, Harvey comes a little late in the history of the great examples of the genre. It Happened One Night ushered in the best of them, and they hit their zenith at the end of the 30s. Harvey is very much a post-war story. I'll delve into that in greater detail some other time, I promise you.

Also, most screwball comedies are associated with sexual banter. Indeed, His Girl Friday (probably my favorite) and The Lady Eve were sex comedies without the sex. Harvey may be a rabbit, but he seems to be a neutered one!

Still, several indelible elements of all great screwball comedies are evident in Harvey. You can't be a fan of these films without noticing that they always feature the triumph of the average person over the snobs. At no time was class warfare fought more valiantly on the silver screen than in these stories. Common folk always had more sense than the wealthy, it seems; although there was always a chance that the well off could redeem themselves once the smarty pants saw the errors of their ways. Good guys finished first.

 They usually involved absurd situations, too. Harvey is an invisible rabbit, but a very real leopard living with Katharine Hepburn is the key to much of Bringing Up Baby's humor. Rabbits are safer. As far as I know, there has never been a stage adaptation of Bringing Up Baby. Let's put it this way - I ain't directing it!


Finally, there is the banter. Dialogue cracked like a bullwhip in the center ring. If the drawing room was the battleground, wit was used for bullets. I assure you that my actors will snap their lines across the stage! Combine all of these elements with some slapstick and lines won't be the only thing snapping during a good production of Harvey. People can hurt themselves from laughing.  Still, it's safer than a leopard.

Get ready.

The Rabbit Lives

So, Harvey has begun. I have producers, a set builder, a set designer, a stage manager and an ASM. I even have dates for my auditions (Feb. 15 and 16, in Concord, NH). Anytime I begin to work with a new organization, I always get extra excited, because I have no clear expectations. I love that, because every show is an adventure, anyway! The newness of everything adds several new levels to the challenge. After all these years of working in theater, I need challenges.

Why Harvey? Let's start with the organization of the Community Players of Concord. This is their show. They selected it, then put out a call asking for Directors to apply for the job. I am coming into this as a Director for hire, but also to establish my bonafides with them for future consideration, as well. I always endeavor to give my very best; but making a good impression on people whom one respects, but doesn't know is very important to me. They, after all, are paying me to deliver a good show. And, goodness knows, they have a wonderful reputation. I have to live up to that.

My background, in all fairness, is as a film guy. before my love affair with the stage ever began, I was hooked on the cinema. Celluloid dreams led me to an appreciation for all performing arts. In my years as a student of movies, i got hooked on screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s: His Girl Friday, The Twentieth Century, Bringing Up Baby and, yes, Harvey. Scintillating banter between characters who somehow find themselves in the most improbable of situations is an absolute joy to behold.

I am equally interested in placing the comedy within the context of the times in which these stories take place. What, I wonder, is it about the post-depression that made these comedies so singularly precious? How is it that they have never been equaled for their quality in the years following their heyday? I plan to explore that in the coming months.

This, then, will be an exploration into the creative process of more than just one play's production. I will delve into the nature of comedy; discuss film and stagecraft (and, probably, video as well), and plan to reflect on the challenges of all of this.

Join me, please.