DAILYRECORD.COM ❚ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 ❚ 3
ON STAGE
Love Letters play coming to Mayo PAC Love Letters
Bill Nutt
Special to Morristown Daily Record USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY
When Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker perform the play “Love Letters,” audiences are actually seeing two love stories on stage. On the one hand, theatergoers are watching A.R. Gurney’s story of the gradually unfolding relationship between characters Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, told through their correspondence to each other over the course of some 50 years. The other story: the real-life romance of Eikenberry and Tucker, spouses for more than 45 years and periodic costars (most notably in the 1980s and 1990s on the TV series “L.A. Law”). Each performer talks about the other in the most glowing of terms. “Jill is more beautiful today than every before,” said Tucker. “Her work is astonishing.” Her characterized her recent one-woman show in Manhattan as “phenomenal.” Eikenberry is similarly eff usive about Tucker. “Michael has an open-heartedness as an actor,” she said. “It makes me want to cry every time.” The two actors have staged “Love Letters” at several venues (including a cruise at which the director wanted to present only the fi rst act). Their next performance will be at the Mayo Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, Feb. 13, as a pre-Valentine event. “Love Letters” is a favorite of actors, especially ones with busy schedules. No memorization is needed. The two performers sit at tables facing the audience (but not each other) and read from letters, notes and cards between Melissa and Andrew. “It’s an almost perfect play,” said Tucker. “It unfolds perfectly and dramatically.” The letters, which begin with birthday party invitations and postcards from summer camp, chart the deep friendship the characters share. Tucker said that he and Eikenberry’s approach to “Love Letters” has subtly modifi ed over time. “We’ve changed,” he said. “As we get older, the characters deepen. We do
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 Where: Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown Tickets: $39 to $59 Info: 973-539-8008 or www.mayoart s.org
Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker will perform A.R. Gurney’s seriocomic play “Love Letters” at Mayo PAC on Feb. 13. COURTESY OF KRISTINE WALSH
slightly diff erent things.” “It would be very hard t do this with another person,” said Eikenberry. “I wouldn’t want to do it with another person,” concurred Tucker. “We’re facing out. You can’t see the other person, so you have to trust the other person.” The bond between the two began in
the early 1970s, when they were cast in the plays “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” and “Moonchildren” in Washington, D.C. The question almost inevitably arose: Was it love at fi rst sight? Tucker chuckled. “Jill knew more than I did at the time,” he said. “That’s
all I’ll say.” Eikenberry and Tucker married in 1973. They pursued various stage and screen roles over the years. She won an Obie for her theater work in 1986, and he had signifi cant roles in fi lms directed by Barry Levinson and Woody Allen, among others. After appearing on two episodes of “Hill Street Blues,” they were cast as Ann Kelsey and Stuart Markowitz on “L.A. Law.” The quirky chemistry between the tall, glamorous Eikenberry and the short, balding Tucker endeared the couple to viewers. Besides their performances, the two are known for their support for breast cancer research. Eikenberry co-produced a TV documentary called “Destined to Live, which consisted of interviews with women who, like her, were breast cancer survivors. In recent years, Tucker has turned to writing. His fi rst play, “The M Spot,” debuted at New Jersey Repertory Co. in Long Branch. This past summer, the theater presented a new work, “Fern Hill,” which spotlights couples in their 60s, 70s and 80s. Eikenberry appeared in both productions, which Tucker said has given him even more reason to recognize her. “I’ve had a new appreciation for Jill since I’ve been able to watch her as a playwright,” he said. Given their history with each other and with “Love Letters,” Eikenberry hoped that audience members at the Mayo PAC will enjoy their performance as much as they value being able to perform it. “I hope people know how much it means to use to do this play,” Eikenberry concluded. “Every time we do it, it’s special.”