Gordon Clapp, best known for his Emmy-winning role of Detective Greg Medavoy in the long-running TV series NYPD Blue, returns to the Boston stage for the second time this year, following up his acclaimed portrayal of poet Robert Frost (Robert Frost: This Verse Business) last spring. This time around, Clapp appears in Pru Payne, an unlikely love story set in a memory care unit by Pulitzer Prize nominee and Newton native Steven Drukman (“Another Fine Mess”). Clapp plays a retired custodian who falls in love with the title character, a contemporary Dorothy Parker type whose memory is failing. The cast includes Boston theater stalwarts Karen MacDonald, Marianna Bassham, Greg Maraio, and De’Lon Grant, and runs through November 16th at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts.
Theater Mirror spoke with Clapp during the rehearsal process.
By Mike Hoban
Theater Mirror: You and I had spoken previously about your desire to bring Pru Payne to Boston after having appeared in its world premiere at the Arizona Theatre Company in 2023. Can you tell us how you came to be involved with this play?
Gordon Clapp: (Boston actor) Greg Maraio sent me an e-mail about taking the role, and I almost deleted it because I didn’t know him. Fortunately, I didn’t. Greg has been involved with this play since its inception, and there were several readings of it back before COVID, but the first true production took place last March in Arizona. Greg suggested me to the director and the playwright, and they both said it sounded like a great idea, and they just went with it.
Theater Mirror: So Greg didn’t know you but thought you’d be perfect, so he just took a blind shot at reaching out to you?
Gordon Clapp: Yes.ButI was committed to a performance of Frost that was going to conflict with the dates, and I had already moved that performance once. I felt like I shouldn’t ask to move it again, but I called the woman (at the theater company) and told her about the play, and she said, ‘Oh. I think we could move it to the fall; I got my Equity card at the Arizona Theatre Company,’ So everything worked out nicely.
Theater Mirror: What sold you on doing the play itself?
Gordon Clapp: I knew (sitcom actor) Mimi Kennedy, who had already been cast. She made her bones in television acting for a long time when she was younger and wanted to get back to the stage. And then there was the play itself. I just thought that it was resonant in so many ways. It seemed to me that it was a play that checked all the appropriate boxes in theater today without bludgeoning the audience. It’s a hopeful, soulful, and joyous ride. There are certainly dark moments in the play, but in the end, it turns out to be very hopeful.
Theater Mirror: Since it was a new play, was (author) Steven Drukman involved in the process?
Gordon Clapp: Absolutely. It was great to have him there (in Arizona). A lot of things changed from his original script. The original had a male doctor, and Drukman changed it to a woman doctor (Marianna Bassham in the Boston production). That has been a very fruitful decision in a lot of ways because the doctor ends up being not so much a peripheral character but one with a personal involvement with two of the other characters.
Theater Mirror: Do you have any personal connection to the material? I mean, have you had experience with dementia in family members?
Gordon Clapp: I’ve been very lucky in that sense. For the last three or four years of her life, my grandmother was in special care, although it wasn’t devoted solely to memory loss. It’s extraordinary to me the number of people I know whose families – including the cast members – (have been afflicted by dementia). It’s so prevalent, and it’s incredible that I haven’t witnessed it more often. My grandmother is the only one who has experienced it, and that really surprises me.
Theater Mirror: What did you do to prepare so that you could better understand the role?
Gordon Clapp: In the Arizona production, it was mostly discussion. There were no experts brought in. This time, a woman who works at a memory care facility and her husband, who is a social worker, came in. They both went through this with their mothers, and the stories were so emotional and almost hard to think about. So yeah, there’s been a lot to learn, especially for me, because my character is a victim of Lewy body dementia. It’s a different animal because it has elements of Parkinson’s, MS, and Alzheimer’s. It’s not so much memory loss, although there is some, but it also involves hallucinations.
Theater Mirror: How would you describe the play to our readers?
Gordon Clapp: The play is really about memory. There’s a lot of talk about flashbulb moments in your life, where you can remember exactly what you were doing, what you were wearing, where you were when these things happened, and how impactful moments have a kind of a texture to them, that is almost tangible.
For tickets and information, go to: https://speakeasystage.com/shows/2024/10/pru-payne/
By Mike HobanGordon Clapp, best
known for his Emmy-winning role of Detective Greg MedavoyIn the long-running TV
series NYPD Blue, returns to the Boston stage for the second time this year, following
up his acclaimed portrayal of poet Robert Frost (Robert Frost: This Verse
Business) last spring. This time around, Clapp appears in Pru Payne,
an unlikely love story set in a memory care unit by Pulitzer Prize nominee and
Newton native Steven Drukman (“Another Fine Mess”). Clapp plays a retired custodian
who falls in love with the title character, a contemporary Dorothy Parker type
whose memory is failing. The cast includes Boston theater stalwarts Karen
MacDonald, Marianna Bassham, Greg Maraio, and De’Lon Grant, and runs through
November 16th at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Boston Center for the
Arts. Theater Mirror spoke
with Clapp during the rehearsal process. Theater Mirror: You and I had spoken
previously about your desire to bring Pru Payne to Boston after having
appeared in its world premiere at the Arizona Theatre Company in 2023. Can you
tell us how you came to be involved with this play? Gordon Clapp: (Boston actor) Greg
Maraio sent me an e-mail about taking the role, and I almost deleted it because
I didn’t know him. Fortunately, I didn’t. Greg has been involved with this play
since its inception, and there were several readings of it back before COVID,
but the first true production took place last March in Arizona. Greg suggested
me to the director and the playwright, and they both said it sounded like a
great idea, and they just went with it. Theater Mirror: So Greg didn’t know you
but thought you’d be perfect, so he just took a blind shot at reaching out to
you? Gordon Clapp: Yes. But I
was committed to a performance of Frost that was going to conflict with the
dates, and I had already moved that performance once. I felt like I shouldn’t
ask to move it again, but I called the woman (at the theater company) and told
her about the play, and she said, ‘Oh. I think we could move it to the fall; I
got my Equity card at the Arizona Theatre Company,’ So everything worked
out nicely. Theater Mirror: What sold you on doing
the play itself? Gordon Clapp: I knew (sitcom actor) Mimi
Kennedy, who had already been cast. She made her bones in television acting for
a long time when she was younger and wanted to get back to the stage. And then
there was the play itself. I just thought that it was resonant in so many ways.
It seemed to me that it was a play that checked all the appropriate boxes in theater
today without bludgeoning the audience. It’s a hopeful, soulful, and joyous ride.
There are certainly dark moments in the play, but in the end, it turns out to
be very hopeful. Theater Mirror: Since it was a new
play, was (author) Steven Drukman involved in the process? Gordon Clapp: Absolutely. It was
great to have him there (in Arizona). A lot of things changed from his original
script. The original had a male doctor, and Drukman changed it to a woman
doctor (Marianna Bassham in the Boston production). That has been a very fruitful
decision in a lot of ways because the doctor ends up being not so much a
peripheral character but one with a personal involvement with two of the
other characters. Theater Mirror: Do you have any
personal connection to the material? I mean, have you had experience with dementia
in family members? Gordon Clapp: I’ve been very lucky in
that sense. For the last three or four years of her life, my grandmother was
in special care, although it wasn’t devoted solely to memory loss. It’s extraordinary
to me the number of people I know whose families – including the cast members – (have been afflicted
by dementia). It’s so prevalent, and it’s incredible that I haven’t witnessed
it more often. My grandmother is the only one who has experienced it, and that
really surprises me. Theater Mirror: What did you do to prepare
so that you could better understand the role? Gordon Clapp: In the Arizona
production, it was mostly discussion. There were no experts brought in. This
time, a woman who works at a memory care facility and her husband, who is a
social worker, came in. They both went through this with their mothers, and the
stories were so emotional and almost hard to think about. So yeah, there’s been
a lot to learn, especially for me, because my character is a victim of Lewy
body dementia. It’s a different animal because it has elements of Parkinson’s,
MS, and Alzheimer’s. It’s not so much memory loss, although there is some, but
it also involves hallucinations. Theater Mirror: How would you describe
the play to our readers? Gordon Clapp: The play is really about
memory. There’s a lot of talk about flashbulb moments in your life, where you
can remember exactly what you were doing, what you were wearing, where you were
when these things happened, and how impactful moments have a kind of a texture
to them, that is almost tangible. For tickets and
information, go to: https://speakeasystage.com/shows/2024/10/pru-payne/
