Wasserstein Tribute Plays At Blair Academy

The Blair Academy Players presented the Wendy Wasserstein comedy, The Heidi Chronicles, the first week of November (see photos below). Craig Evans, chair of the performing arts department, reports: The Players chose this winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Hull-Warriner Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in tribute to the American playwright who passed away this past January.

The Heidi Chronicles covers the life of art historian Heidi (played by Gabriella Zlocki ’07) from her prep school days in the tumultuous Sixties through the anything-goes Seventies, and finally, to the disillusioning Eighties. Along the way, she encounters fellow preppies Peter Patrone (played by Todd Lewis ’08) and Scoop Rosenbaum (played by Michael Richards ’08) who become the two most significant men in her life. Her best friend from her schooldays is Susan Johnston (played by Tina Tozzi ’08), whose path will stray and intersect with Heidi’s over the decades. The play goes from the innocence of early rock’n’roll to the antiwar campaign of Eugene McCarthy, the feminist encounter groups of the Seventies, to the “we can have it all” women’s philosophy of the end of the period.

Current events, popular culture allusion, and of course, the Baby Boomer soundtrack of the era set the stage for this woman who is a true believer and ultimately, a survivor. The play was student directed by Keegan McDonald ’07 and sophomore Michael Breslin ’09. Updated 11/6/06

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