One of the ‘80’s most memorable movies, “The Big Chill,” was a stunner when it was released in 1982. It was the first movie about post-hippie Baby Boomers, celebrated to a ’60s soundtrack featuring music from Motown, Aretha Franklin, and the Rolling Stones. It also starred a group of actors who were just seeing their fame rise and nailed it in that movie including Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, Mary Kay Place, Tom Berenger, JoBeth Williams, William Hurt, and Meg Tilly. (Kevin Costner’s character was famously cut from the final version.)
Even now, the expression “The Big Chill” resonates for people of a certain age.
Now the movie is coming to East Hampton’s Guild Hall as a live staged reading on August 31st; the pricey ticket is set to benefit the West Park Presbyterian Church on 86th Street and Broadway, a community arts space now emptied awaiting its fate.
The reading features an all-star cast that includes Marisa Tomei, Matthew Broderick, Ayo Edebiri, Amy Brenneman, Spencer Garrett, Brian d’Arcy James, Ilana Levine, and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams.
Of the original cast, there’s buzz that Jobeth Williams may be in the audience.
This is the latest in a series of such events including last year’s performance of “All the President’s Men.” That spectacular night that included journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein for a heady discussion of media as an endangered species. “The Big Chill”’s themes resonate for this current moment.
Debby Hirshman, Executive Director of the Center at West Park, explained why actors such as Amy Brenneman would travel from Martha’s Vineyard to take part for no pay—emphasizing, many more wanted to come. They all remember when they were young actors, looking to nurture their talents, looking for affordable places to work, to be seen and encouraged.
Director David Saint recalls studying with Uta Hagen alongside Matthew Broderick, learning craft, starting out. “The Big Chill” will be for audiences a proverbial trip down memory lane. Nostalgia for the ideals of youth forms a potent backstory. Lawrence Kasdan’s script brings together for a weekend a group of successful people — former classmates at an affluent college — to mourn their friend who has died by suicide.
Now having “made it,” a question arises: did they compromise the ideals of their youth? Active in the ‘70’s, to what extent had they squelched early fires as they succeeded in their various careers, relationships, and lives? “How do we accept success without changing our ideals,” asks David Saint, looking at the parallels, noting 15 years ago we were in the Obama era: “History repeats itself.”
The historic church was where Joe Papp incubated his ideas about the Public Theater, where today community can come together to inspire young artists, playwrights, dancers, and actors like those who will grace the Guild Hall stage. Landmarked, the brick church with its stained glass, and period detail, should of course be protected from the developers who want to strip the space from its history to some commercial city tower. All of these protections are threatened, Mark Ruffalo who along with playwright Kenneth Lonergan originated the special benefit series, had said last year in an impassioned speech about why they have gathered an army of celebrities to fight against the crass cruelty of our current political moment.
