The return of Stacy Keach to the Goodman stage has been delayed. The World Premiere of “Pamplona”, written by Jim McGrath and directed by Robert Falls was scheduled to open tonight. The play is a tour-de-force performance where Keach takes on the persona of Ernest Hemingway during his declining years. Following an exhausting preview schedule and the crazy weather cycles that Chicago has had in the last few days, Mr. Keach, evidently caught some type of “bug”. He arrived at the theater, a bit under the weather, but this being opening night, a night where the press is out in full force and the sponsors and donors celebrate with the cast and crew, plus the old saying, “The show must go on”, Mr. Keach insisted upon doing the performance.
As it turned out, whatever it is he had ,was stronger than the will of an actor, even a superstar like Keach. While he attempted to get through the script to please the audience, Director Falls, who was in the audience, and the stage manager, Lauren V. Hickman, agreed that this was unfair for the actor, the writer, the director and of course, the audience, so the show was stopped. Mr. Falls explained to the opening night audience that they would be contacted with another date to come and see the performance as it is meant to be seen, with Mr. Keach in good form as he has always been on the stages of The Goodman. He certainly looks the part of Hemingway, and because the play is about an aging writer, struggling with his ideas and his thoughts, until they told us that he was ill, it appeared that Keach had captured the feel of Hemingway at a rough time of his life. I will review at a later date. See NEWS for official Goodman statement.
The production is scheduled to run through June 25th as of now, with performances as follows:
Tuesday , June 20th at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesdays 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays 7:30 p.m. June 15th a 2 p.m. show as well
Fridays 8 p.m.
Saturdays 2 and 8 p.m.
Sundays 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (no evening on June 4th and Father’s Day, the 18th)
Tickets range from $26-$85 and are available at the theater box office located at 180 N. Dearborn Street, by calling 312-443-3800 or online at www.GoodmanTheatre.org/Pamplona
For special performances- ACCESS check out www.GoodmanTheatre.org/Access
I think you handled your review really well considering what went on in the theater!
Thanks- turns out he had a small heart attack, but I am glad they got him to the hospital and he is on the mend. I am anxious to have him come back and finish what he started.