When Good Things Happen to Good People

One of my best friends is a good fellow named David Rintels.  He's a former president of the Writers Guild, and wrote the one-man Broadway play, Clarence Darrow, that starred Henry Fonda, and such as acclaimed mini-series as Andersonville, Nuremberg and World War II: When Lions Roared, along with the TV movies, Gideon's Trumpet, Fear on Trial and Sakharov.  (Yes, it's true, he writes such light-hearted folderol...)

Serious subject matters or not, he's a terrific guy.  So, it was with special pleasure that he told me some good news. 

Kevin Spacey has been the artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London for the past 10 years.  He's finishing up his tenure next year, and decided -- for what I believe will be his own final on-stage appearance during his time there -- to star in David's one-man play of Clarence Darrow.  It will run from May 28 through June 15, in case you happen to be traveling there.

David always makes clear that Clarence Darrow is a one man play, the first of its kind on Broadway.  It's not an actor getting up and talking to the audience, like Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain or Emlyn Williams as Charles Dickens.  It's a stage play with numerous characters -- only you only see Darrow.

The Henry Fonda version got recorded and shown on TV.  And I got to see it when Fonda brought the show to Los Angeles.  (It was directed by John Houseman.)  But this is its own great casting.  I'm sure that Spacey will be tremendous in the role. 

For now reason other than I'm so thrilled for the guy, I offer the following --