2010 - THEATRE - The miracle worker

Jennifer Morrison Exclusive!
March 11, 2010 08:18 PM EST

In case you haven’t heard, Jennifer Morrison will be back on Fox’s House for one night only—that night being the April 12 episode which marks star Hugh Laurie’s directorial debut. But the actress just broke some exciting news to me that we’ll likely be seeing more of her much missed character, Dr. Allison Cameron, in House’s 2010-11 season!

“There have been discussions of me doing a few episodes next year based on what they end up writing,” says Jennifer. “Contractually, they’ve guaranteed me a certain number of episodes next year - I think three or four, which means that they’re probably very much leaning toward writing a storyline for the character.”

Well, Amen to that.

But if you just can’t wait to see the divine Miss M, I have some exciting news. You can hop on a plane or subway right this minute and head over to Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre to see Jennifer’s moving portrayal of Kate Keller, the strong mother of blind/deaf activist and author Helen Keller, in the American classic, The Miracle Worker. It’s been fifty years since the original Tony Award-winning play opened on Broadway with Patty Duke as Helen. This is the first Broadway revival, and stars Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) as the brave, frightened child.

As an added incentive, if you Tweet Jennifer (who is contracted to appear in the production through August 1) at least a couple hours before show time, she’ll do her very best to meet you at the theater after a performance. How cool is that?!!

Here’s what Jennifer has to say about her Broadway debut.

When did you first become aware of The Miracle Worker and the story of Helen Keller?
I know we read it in school in 4th or 5th grade, but even before that in second or third grade we studied who Helen Keller was. But I had not seen any of the productions (either theater or film) until just a few years ago when I put the Anne Bancroft/Patty Duke version on my Netflix. It’s an incredibly moving story.

You’re playing Helen’s mother. What drew you to this role?
At first it was just that there was a play on Broadway that had a role that I was right for. I’d done a lot of theater but never on Broadway. I did my first play when I was five years old, then studied at Steppenwolf (Theatre Company in Chicago) and was a theater major at Loyola (University Chicago). I really love being on stage and was hungry for that again.

What kind of woman was Kate Keller?
She was 100% in love with her daughter, but she was very weary of (Helen’s teacher) Annie Sullivan coming into the house. There are quotes from Kate saying how hard it was to watch her child suffer, and though she loved her child, sometimes she thought the most merciful thing for her would be death.

How is your staged version different from what people may have seen before on stage or film?
I wondered what this play would be like now. When I read it for the audition I was really moved by it. I think people have an idea in their head of what it is, but the first time around it was more of a melodrama, because that was the style of the time. But that’s certainly not what we’re doing now. It’s still set in the 1880’s, but it’s a very raw, emotional presentation. And because it’s a theater in the round, people feel like they’re at the dinner table with us.”

Have you had any visually or hearing-impaired audience members?
All the time. They’ve gone to great lengths to make this production accessible to both the visually and hearing impaired. We had a matinee performance just yesterday that was fully signed. We also had the dialogue scrolling on two different walls. We also have very advanced ear pieces for the visually impaired that describe the action on the stage. One of Helen’s descendants, I think her great grand niece, was at a production and told us that Helen would be really proud of the advances we made for this production.”

To follow Jennifer, or to let her know you’d like to meet with her after a performance of The Miracle Worker, sign on to
Twitter or Facebook

To learn more about The Miracle Worker visit: www.miracleworkeronbroadway.com/

And to order tickets, sign on to: www.miracleworkeronbroadway.com/tickets.php

www.tvguidemagazine.com/kecks-exclu...usive-4338.html