The Royal Family

The Royal Family
A Play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber
Performances Ran from October 24, 2001 thru February 9, 2002

Last Updated:   March 13, 2010

Dame Judi Dench as Fanny Cavendish
and with Toby Stephens as Tony and the rest of the Cast

Main Royal Family Page

Revival that celebrates the lure of greasepaint

BY BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE
The Times of London

November 1, 2001

The Royal Family

BACK in 1927 Ethel Barrymore was so upset by The Royal Family, which treated America's premier acting clan with too much lèse-majesté for her taste, she tried to sue George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, its uppity authors. Years later, she was still sore enough to reply to Kaufman's request to do a charity performance with "I plan on having bronchitis that day": a line Peter Hall seems inexplicably to have cut from his brisk, entertaining revival. Well, I'd like to believe that Ethel is now looking down on Harriet Walter, who plays the character based on her, and feeling forgiving. Walter's Julie Cavendish is graceful, delicate yet authoritative, a woman who somehow keeps her head while all around are frantically and feverishly losing theirs. Indeed, Ethel's unquiet shade must surely be flattered by the quality of Hall's cast: Judi Dench as Julie's old-trouper mother, a fresh-faced Emily Blunt as her daughter, Peter Bowles and Julia McKenzie as her uncle and aunt — and Toby Stephens as a more endearingly raffish, less obnoxiously boozy brother than that notorious scallywag John Barrymore. Certainly, Ethel's ghost couldn't object to the overall feel of this revival. The busy, confident Broadway of yesteryear is being genially celebrated, along with the lure of the theatre itself. The point is that the Cavendish family has greasepaint in its veins, and greasepaint is addictive. Husbands and old flames try to lure the women away. A Hollywood scandal sends Stephens's Tony Cavendish fleeing to Europe. But where they will all end up? You've got it. The plot could be tenser, the stakes a bit higher. The lines could also be wittier and the comedy funnier, given that Kaufman wrote scripts for the Marx Brothers. I wish he and Ferber had introduced us to the demented Polish woman who is sueing Tony for breach of promise, or that self-important English dramatist, St John Throckmorton; but, sadly, they don't. Still, I found myself happily chortling at the antics of Stephens in particular, a flamboyant narcissist hardly ever out of his Cyrano costume or character. When this boy-man cries that he'd rather spend ten minutes in Chartres Cathedral than return to acting, you know he's lying, because the very statement is an act. But then many of the family seem onstage even when they're offstage, up to Bowles's grandiloquent yet subtly insecure Herbert, forever scrounging for new roles and trying to upstage McKenzie's Kitty, who is somewhat underused as his resentful wife. The prime exception is Dench's exquisitely judged Fanny. She's pale, she's sick, she'll soon be meeting the great producer in the sky. But for her the stage isn't an indulgence or an opportunity to show off. It's a deeply serious vocation, which demands an austere commitment and total professionalism and clearly gets it from her. To hear her coolly yet emphatically describe preparing for a performance, or simply declare that acting is "everything: work and play and meat and drink", is to hear something special: a moving testament to the power of the theatre from Kaufman, Ferber and, dare I say, Dame Judi herself.

Flamboyant all-star revival but the wit is thinly spread

by Paul Taylor
The Independent

November 2, 2001

The Royal Family
Theatre Royal, Haymarket

The West End is currently awash with actors performing in plays about actors and the ratio of thespians to civilians now gets even more skewed, as the director Peter Hall tips a whole clan of luvvies into the balance with The Royal Family.

Despite the title, this play is not be confused with the home life of our own dear Queen. It is an American acting dynasty, the Barrymores (in their day, the Kennedys of the legitimate stage) who are affectionately sent up in Kaufman and Ferber's 1927 drama.

"May God strike me dead if I ever appear in an all-star revival," declares Judi Dench as Fanny Cavendish, the formidable matriarch who, despite failing health, is planning a big comeback. It provokes a delighted groan of laughter from the audience for an all-star revival is precisely what Hall has assembled.

What is on offer is the pleasurable in-joke of watching the English acting aristocracy impersonate the competitive egos and joint dedication of their US counterparts of 80 years ago.

On that level, the evening does not greatly disappoint. A chaotic mix of stagey flamboyance and private funk, Toby Stephens hurtles through life as though it were a movie sword fight, cigarette-holder clamped between perfect teeth, in the role of the fencing, womanising Anthony Cavendish who is on the run from Hollywood and a breach-of-promise suit.

Looking fabulous in the Twenties outfits, Harriet Walter, as Julie, vividly communicates how a thoroughbred actress in her prime may yet have mutinous thoughts of escape into less pressurised world. As their mother, a turbaned Judi Dench withers any blow for freedom with her lethally casual put-downs of "normal" existence“ dismissing, say, the daily bouquets of roses sent by Julie's millionaire beau with the remark that they arrive every morning "like the milk". This Volumnia of the American theatre is not prepared to let any of the family try to wriggle out of their dynastic destiny.

But neither the presence of comic actors of the calibre of Julia McKenzie and Peter Bowles nor the somewhat synthetic bustle of Hall's production can disguise the fact that the wit is very thinly spread. And the show becomes suffocatingly incestuous. The attractions of life outside the theatre are systematically travestied because such non-thesps as we're permitted to see are given just enough stage-time to prove that they are thoroughgoing bores. Judged as drama, The Royal Family is too often a right-royal let-down.

Delda's Account of "The Royal Family"

List member Kathi S. and I saw "The Royal Family" twice -- Jan. 21 and Jan. 24. Several people have asked that I tell the list about our experiences, so here is some of what I remember:

The Mon. night audience was a much warmer, more responsive audience than the Thu. night audience, which we found interesting. The Mon. night audience's average age was older than the Thurs. night audience's, which may or may not have made a difference. The best example I can give of the Mon. night audience's warmth is the applause they gave Judi Dench on her entrance. The Thurs. night audience didn't applaud her entrance at all.

Similarly, at the curtain call the Mon. night audience applauded more and more loudly for each cast member until Judi took her solo bow, and then they were thunderous. The Thurs. night audience crescendoed, too, but not nearly as noticeably.

A footnote: at the Thurs. night curtain call Judi seemed to me to be peering over the footlights into the front rows of the stalls. When Kathi and I waited for her at the stage door (along with about 10 other people -- not another American in the bunch) British actor T.P. McKenna appeared, signed a couple of autographs courteously and then went up to see Judi. My assumption is that it was he she was looking for. He did not visit her long.

Mon. night no one dropped a line or made any other missteps, although there were a couple of unexpected things. At the end of the play Judi collapses into a chair and drops a glass. Mon. night she collapsed so hard the chair went backward just enough to hit and knock over a small table (and the glass that was on it).

Thurs. night the cast sped up Act I so much they stepped on each other's lines more than once. The opening of Act II contained a minor glitch when the maid appeared and had to wait a couple of seconds for Judi (who may have been delayed by a costume change).

Another footnote: 18-year-old Emily Blunt, as the granddaughter, was very good. About a dozen of us were waiting at the stage door on Mon. night, all Americans, and she stopped to ask how we liked the play, said the cast had kidded Judi about the extra dramatics at the end (knocking over the table) and then asked how the accents were. After the "accent" question there was a long silence (some accents were better than others -- Judi's tended to become
an Irish brogue) and finally I said they were fine. I don't know if she picked up on the long silence or not. She was smart to be attentive, though. We all appreciated it and will remember her kindly because of it. (For what it's worth, I thought all the accents were better on Thurs. night.)

Judi is nearly always the last one out (Emily Blunt told us) and was unusually late Mon. night. She was with friends from whom she parted at the stage door. Evidently a sad situation was involved as there was a lot of sadness to be seen. Nevertheless Judi was gracious -- apologized for keeping us waiting and thanked us for being such a wonderful audience. I thought that was just blarney until Thu. night -- Judi didn't thank us for being a good audience that night. (They weren't noisy -- just unresponsive until near the end.)

She was in a hurry Thu. night -- came out before some of the rest of the cast, signed autographs, posed for some photographs (I got two nice ones) and then got in a car with a driver. (He had gone in the stage door several minutes before she came down and picked up her large bag, which he stowed in the back seat.) She told Kathi she'd been filming that morning (we think probably the film was the new James Bond movie). When she got in the car the interior light remained on, and we could see her beginning to read something
-- studying the shooting script for the next day? We couldn't tell. She looked utterly exhausted both nights and I think she probably was. I can also report that on Mon. night her hair was shaggy and gray; on Thurs. night it was very short and blond. She was wearing the same coat in which she was photographed for The New Yorker article.

Another footnote: the Thurs. night group wanted lots of autographs, not just Judi's (unlike Mon. night, which was all American and wanted only Judi's autograph). When Penny Ryder came out someone asked for her autograph and she said in amazement, "Do you know who I am?" She had only two lines in the play and obviously was astounded that anyone was interested in her.

All the cast members were polite, though many walked by very very quickly. Mon. night Peter Bowles nearly ran past -- twice (he apparently forgot something).

Finally, a segment called "Onstage" on SkyNews (t.v.) ran several times and apparently had been running since late October. It covered virtually all of the plays and musicals running in the West End and noted that one should see "The Royal Family" because Dame Judi would not be available for another stage appearance until 2005, "due to heavy filming commitments."

Sandy's Account of "The Royal Family"

First DJD-related sighting, on the way to the hotel from Heathrow, was the theater on
Curzon Street where Iris premiered. The next morning we met Joan at the Theater Museum, where we spotted DJD's and Finty's hand prints and signatures on the long, colorful mural
leading into the exhibits. Also spotted Vanessa Redgrave's, John Gielgud's, and Patricia Routledge's, among others. Didn't spot Michael's, so that made us wonder if this visual
delight was created recently. Lots of people had obviously placed their hands over her hand
print, which is quite small. Hers was blue, Finty's red.

My friend and I had front row tickets to the Saturday matinee, during which Joan who'd already seen TRF twice-- went across the street to see Iris. Standing in the middle of that block was like experiencing Judi surround sound. Awesome.

Curtain up. Glad I knew she didn't made her entrance for awhile and that she came in from the top of the stairs. There wasn't any applause when she entered, but I'm sure I gasped. She had all the best lines and delivered them with maximum hilarity. Her costumes were to die for; it must have been fun just to swoop around in those flowing gowns and jackets. And who else could pull off sitting around in a feathered, jeweled turban and make it seem perfectly natural? She wore all her bracelets and rings, which was in keeping with Fanny Cavendish's flamboyant style. Interesting to see such different posture and body language; imperiousness practically oozed from her every pore. I could hardly take my eyes off her, and the only time I wasn't grinning like an idiot was when I was guffawing. When she wasn't part of the action, Fanny sat reading a newspaper. I've often said I'd pay to see DJD read a newspaper to herself, never dreaming it would happen.

The actors seemed to be having a lot of fun, and the audience was clearly appreciating and enjoying the play. Propped up against her chair, Fanny's cane clattered to the floor once. When Harriet Walker, who played Fanny's daughter Julie, picked it up, we could hear DJD say, "Thanks, Julie." Unscripted, staying in character. What a pro. I would have rather seen her corpse, though, but no such luck. Her â€˜American' accent was less than spot on, but who cares? Two of her biggest laughs came with the already reported "May God strike me dead if I ever do an all-star revival" and "Nothing takes the romance out of roses like knowing you're gonna get 'em." "Do tell," "Kitty," and "You sure are" also evoked big giggles, but you had to be there. All the characters except Fanny undergo some sort of metamorphosis . . . unless you call being alive one second and dead the next a metamorphosis. Lots of applause for all the actors, rather more for DJD and Harriet Walker,
who took their bows last and together. I couldn't help thinking that if DJD would have taken a solo bow she probably would have gotten a standing ovation.

Joan had sent a note to the theater, and when we explained this to the company manager (is that the title for the guy who guards the stage door?), he called up to her dressing room. Time seemed to stand still between his hanging up the phone and starting to tell us her reply. We knew we were in when he started giving us directions up the stairs to her dressing room. No
time to faint, no room to tap dance, and squealing would have been sooooooo uncool.

Seemed like it took forever just to get to the first landmark, a gold-framed mirror. Anyway, we finally made it to the first door on the left . . . I wonder if the other dressing rooms are even higher up? There had been a woman ahead of us talking to the company manager who was also going up to see DJD, but she got there another way. We beat her to the dressing room, but we were so nervous and excited we let her go in ahead of us.

All I remember from the ante room was the tray of champagne glasses, three styrofoam heads with her hats, and that it was white. My friend Barb said there was also a fire place with a ton of greeting cards on the mantle. So there we were face to face with The Grande Dame, who had changed into a bright yellow terrycloth robe. We introduced ourselves, she introduced us to this other woman (Sheila someone), and I achieved my number one goal for this trip: Shook her hand, looked her in the eye, and said, "I think you're wonderful." I have virtually no memory of her dressing room; my most vivid memory is how warm and soft her hand was. We told her we'd really enjoyed the play, she said it had been a great audience. She mentioned that she was also filming. The Bond movie? Yes. Does M have as much to do as in the last one? "Rather less, I think." Sheila and I both groaned. "She can't always have more to do." Sheila and I both asked, "Why not?"

DJD asked why we were in London. "To see you." Were we going to see any other plays? "We're going to the half price booth later and just see what we can get." (Reduced Shakespeare Company, as it turned out “laughed our heads off.) What else did we plan to do? A long list, no specific plan of action, just sort of whatever, whenever. "Go to the Tate Modern. It's been open two years, but I haven't been there yet."

Aware that she had only a couple hours for R&R before suiting up for the evening performance, I asked, "Would it be just too rude to ask if we could take some pictures?" She was most accommodating. A rather elderly gentleman arrived, panting. DJD noted that there were a lot of stairs, urged him to sit down, and mentioned that she would be going to Berlin. When I gave her an autographed copy of a book by Madeleine L'Engle, she said she should hold it up so Madeleine could see she got it . . . and she did. While Joan was taking our picture, I asked DJD what she did between performances. "Sleep . . . and have a massage."

Click, click, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you, I'll be back Monday night, bye, thank you thank you thank you. Out the door, down the stairs, high fives, squeals, hugs, and dancing in the street once we were outside. We could not have been in DJD's dressing room more than 10 minutes, but it was 10 of the most memorable minutes of my life. Also 10 of the most sweaty. Between forgetting my estrogen for a couple days, the total lack of
decaffeinated anything in England, and an off-the-chart excitement level, I was drenched. So much for being cool, physically or emotionally.

Monday afternoon, on a stroll from the Courtauld Gallery to St. Martin's-in-the-Field for a free vocal recital, I suddenly decided to stop in a tiny wool/cashmere shop scarves, hats, capes, sweaters. Yummy. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I didn't have room in my suitcase for anything big so I just bought an umbrella. Perfect souvenir from London, don't you think? (It never rained again, of course.) Anyway, while we were in this store we heard an announcement over the radio that involved the words "Dame Judi Dench . . . two . . . awards . . . Iris . . ." Didn't know what kind of award, but it was quite an exciting coincidence to have heard this as a result of randomly selecting a store to enter.

One of the singers at the recital sang "Later" from A Little Night Music. The DJD connections were everywhere! (Forgot to mention that the funniest, longest bit of the Reduced Shakespeare Company on Saturday night was re: Ophelia, the role that was taken away from DJD - “when she was just plain JD“ - for the American tour because she, well, stank, but which also made her decide why she was acting, which has, according to the New Yorker, kept her going all these years.) I digress . . .

While frantically packing the morning I left, I reached into a still-jumbled-from-moving drawer for a card to write a note to DJD and found one I've had for months: Drawing of a woman in a sloppy gown and robe, slippers, hair curlers, carrying a TV Guide and heading toward an easy chair in front of the TV. It says, "I thought I'd just take a minute out of my
busy day to say Hello." Inside it said, "I had a few moments between my photo shoot and crumpets with the Queen." I cracked up and thought she might get a chuckle, too. So I scribbled a quick note on it, after asking the company manager what her nomination was for (BAFTA), to congratulate her and ask if it would be OK to come up after the show to say thanks and bye in person. Then I dashed across the street to see Iris. Had to leave the movie 15 minutes early in order to be in my seat by show time, but it's just as well. I started sobbing when Iris repeated "When are we leaving?" three times. Some of the things that Iris/Judi did were too reminiscent of a friend, whose descent into Alzheimer's has been picking up speed. It was interesting to me that Iris Murdoch forgot who she was, which is not the way this disease is eating away at my friend's brain. Anyway, the only way I know how to describe DJD's performance is "shatteringly brilliant". She says it's the hardest work she's ever done . . . she made it look like falling off a log. I wish I hadn't known so much about Iris Murdoch, John Bayley, and the movie because now I don't honestly know how I feel about the movie; all I know is that DJD deserves every acting honor in the universe in perpetuity. Bought the soundtrack, of which I was totally unaware during the movie, but it's so evocative of all the swimming scenes . . . and it makes me cry every time. I finally decided listening to it in the
car was not especially wise.

OK, OK, back to the play. I sat one seat over from where I had sat on Saturday; asked to change seats but couldn't. Back to the first row. Sat next to two Americans, one of whom lives in London, who'd bought their tix at the half price booth. One said Monday nights were the only nights you could get half price tix for TRF. I didn't even care that I'd paid full price.
(Oh, that reminds me the woman from San Francisco who sat next to us on Saturday had bought her ticket that morning in front of the theater from a young man who'd bought it FIVE MONTHS AGO and then had to work that afternoon. That poor guy!)

The first laugh comes when the maid says that Miss Fanny (or is it Miss Julie?) isn't up yet because it's only 1 p.m. You could tell right then that this crowd wasn't going to be as ebullient as the Saturday afternoon audience. And it wasn't, no matter what. Didn't laugh as often, as loud, or as long. I wonder if Monday night audiences are typically a hard sell? I
couldn't tell that the actors were necessarily doing anything to alter their performances to try to reach the audience more. Nothing untoward happened except I think Peter Bowles messed up a line or two. The most exciting bit was when Fanny croaked - DJD heaved that martini glass so hard it crashed near the edge of the stage and shards of glass skittered
toward the audience. Bow, bow, clap, clap again no standing ovation.

Mosied back to the stage door, passing Julia MacKenzie on the street and stopping very briefly to chat. The company manager called up but said that DJD had to leave quickly and would see me outside. So, I waited with five other American women. Several actors walked out right in front of us Peter Bowles, Toby Stephens, the maid, the bellboy, the nanny, the cook, etc.-- holding our programs and our pens, and we were so focused on waiting for DJD
we didn't even speak to any of them. Finally, when Emily Blunt, who plays the granddaughter, came out, I did say something like, "You were quite lovely." This young woman's list of credits took up about two lines in the program; DJD's is two solid pages. She's very pretty and seemed quite nice. Wait, wait, wait. Finally joined a conversation with a young woman and an older woman; turns out the young woman is in London taking a class during her junior year at Indiana University, which is my alma mater and only about an
hour away from where I live. Too weird. The older lady (she kept saying she was 80) was from Virginia and just decided she wanted to see DJD in this play, so by crackey she came . . . all by herself. And bought FOUR tickets to the play. She'd been there Saturday night, said the audience was great, and that the pix she'd taken outside the stage door didn't turn out very good because it had been raining.

It must have been at least 10:30 when DJD finally came out wearing the suede coat!! She apologized to us for taking so long and thanked us for waiting. I would have been flabbergasted but that just seems so Judi. When she signed my program, she seemed a bit wobbly to me so I asked if she was. "No, not wobbly. But I have a 6:40 call in the morning. That's when I'll likely be wobbly!"

"More Bond stuff?"

"More Bond stuff."

Among the jillion things I wish I would have said to her, right here I wish I would have said, "If anything would get me up and going that early in the morning it would be seeing Pierce Brosnan."

"You really heaved that martini glass. Chunks of it landed in the audience, and people were grabbing them for souvenirs." (I neglected to mention I was one of the grabbers.)

"People have complained about that."

"Well, they weren't complaining tonight."

I mentioned how the audience had been so different from Saturday's, but I don't remember her response, maybe just "Yes."

I congratulated her on the BAFTA and asked if it was for both Iris and TSN. She said, "I don't know. I only heard about it tonight."

Chat chat, autograph, autograph, kudos kudos, thank you thank you, good-bye. Everybody started walking away except this older lady. I turned around and she was talking up a storm with DJD, so I thought, "What the heck?" I walked back and offered to take pictures of her with DJD (aren't I just the cleverest thing?), so then I felt OK about asking her to take a picture of me with DJD. This gave me the opportunity to give DJD the small guide book of
the Tate Modern I'd bought for her. She said, "Aren't you dear? Did you like it?" Clearly I'm no actress because then she said, "Too modern for you?" "Yes, but my friend liked it and we both really enjoyed the Globe, which we wouldn't have seen had we not taken your advice and gone to the Tate." "You should have gone to the Rose!" "I know, I know . . .but we couldn't do everything. We'll just have to come back."

Told her I'd seen Iris and that she was brilliant and that I had a dear friend with Alzheimer's. "Oh, so it hit a bit too close to home."

"Indeed it did."

She started walking backward toward her car and waiting driver. "Poor _____ (can't remember his name) “it's a long drive." We started walking backward down the sidewalk, waving, shouting gratitude and more kudos. The last thing I said was, "You're the best!" Not terribly brilliant but certainly accurate.

I wish there would have been time to ask her about the Minnie Driver brouha ha, whether the ATGB shooting schedule had been firmed up, what else she's got lined up after Bond, if the rumor that she's coming to the states in a play in 2003 is true, it she'll come to the Oscars, and to tell her about the mailing list and the world-wide friendships that have been forged as a result of it.

This older woman and I decided to try to find some place to get something to drink and to chat our heads off. The only place still open was the McDonald's across the street . . . where the young woman from IU and her friend (from Michigan) had gone. So the four of us had a jolly gabfest/DJD love-in over cokes in McDonalds. We took pictures, exchanged snail and
e-mail addresses, I promised to send a copy of the New Yorker article to the woman from Virginia. In other words, DJD is responsible for even more connections and friendships. EVERYONE that I've told about meeting her has said, "I LOVE JUDI DENCH!" I'm far from unique in that . . . but I was incredibly lucky and will be incredibly excited for a long time to come.

Sandra C's TRF Experiences

We were in the audience of TRF on the evenings January 2 and January 7. After the second performance, we met Judi Dench in her dressing room and that, of course, was the highlight of the trip for me. I will divide my email messages into Parts I and II (and perhaps Parts III and IV), so as not to make them too long. So here is Part I.

When we stopped by the lobby to pick up our tickets, we saw a sign stating that Peter Bowles was "indisposed" and would not be in the cast. The ticket manager told us that Peter was suffering with the flu. (I wondered at the time what Ineke would do if she had come over from the Netherlands and discovered that Peter was not going to be on stage that evening.) We ate at Café Flo before the performance. The Goat's cheese salad was superb! Thanks to Meggie for the recommendation. We did not stay after the performance to meet the cast since we would be seeing DJD on January 7 and since it was COLD and DAMP out!
What follows are Ron's notes from the performance on January 2. It might interest you to know that Ron is a drama teacher who directs plays himself.

Outstanding 1927 art deco two-story interior of Canvedishe's East 50's NY home. Great ensemble acting. Peter Bowles was "indisposed." His understudy was fine. Dame Judi was cast in a perfect role for her. Her American accent was very consistent as was that of most of the cast. Fast paced directing. High energy show. The script was OK, but these
actors breathe new life into it. Interesting to hear references to the theatre Guild (Kauffman and Hart were active in this group), and introduction of new German Expressionism. Incorporated a model of a German production which Tony had seen in Europe, along with a song from the show, "Mack the Knife" from Kurt Weill's "Three Penny Opera." Very
enjoyable! Great seats! Row E, 11 and 12 in Orchestra Stalls.

As these notes of our visit with DJD are very long, I hope you are not too bored.
We spent the afternoon at the Imperial War Museum. It was a good experience, actually, although I, like Jean, wondered why I would want to look at a lot of tanks, etc. The Trench Experience and the Blitz Experience and the 1940's House all seemed very authentic. And there are letters on display, although I looked for but did not see a collection of love letters in the Korean War section. Tonight we went to our second performance of TRF. Peter Bowles was back. The show was excellent! The big event, though, was after the performance! We went to the stage door and told the company manager we were expected. He called DJD and sent us upstairs. As we entered the dressing room, Judi's assistant offered us a glass of champagne, and then invited us in. There sat DJD dressed in a beige sweater and slacks,
in the process of removing her makeup! She greeted us warmly and mentioned a letter I had sent her. Then she introduced us to the others in the room, including her understudy Penny Ryder, and Anthony Andrews, his wife, Diana, and their daughter, Sammy. She asked us was, "How did you like our little play?" We said we love it. Anthony Andrews announced to Judi that his family has "John's dog." It seems that after John Gielgud's funeral the question was what to do with Arthur. (Judi then told us that Gielgud's first name was "Arthur".)
After John died, the dog was going to be put down because it was quite old. Anthony Andrews said it was "at least 101!" So the Andrews now have Arthur, who had to change some of his old habits of lying on all the beds. Anthony said the dog is "just like John." Judi kept saying "how sweet!" (That they have rescued the dog.) Judi explained that her dressing room had been Gielgud's and that was why she didn't mind walking up all those steps to get to it. Gielgud actually lived in the room during the war. When I asked where he slept,
and she nodded to a bed behind us in a corner. The room is lovely, with a bed, comfortable chairs, and wonderful prints and photos on the walls, including old photos of the original production of TRF in New York. Judi showed a print that George F. Kauffman's daughter sent her of the actress who originated the role of Fanny Cavendish. Judi explained that the whole cast was ill, and that Julia McKenzie probably would not be able to perform on Tuesday. She then turned to Penny Ryder ( understudy for both Fanny and Kitty) and kindly offered to go over lines tomorrow. She asked us if we had noticed all the glasses of water on the piano in Act III. It seems that the most of the cast were warding off sore throats. She said she herself was fine. She just always sounds raspy. Another of Judi's stories from the evening's performance involved Harriet Walter's long necklace which she, DJD, accidentally caught and broke with her cane. The string of pearls went rolling downstage to the
cast's amusement. Judi asked us if we had seen the pearls in the floorboards.

I asked DJD about ATGB. She said there would be four more episodes, "maybe six." When I asked which month BBC would tape ATGB, she said she didn't know but expected it depended on Geoffrey Palmer's fishing schedule. "He'd rather fish than act!" I asked about the 60 Minutes interview. Judi said Ed Bradley ("a lovely man") would be interviewing her again later in the week, as the filming of "Bond" was about to begin. She noted that some of his previous questions had been "difficult." Ron asked her if there were any restrictions put on the questions. She shook her head and said "no."

The conversation returned to the play. Judi told about the changes Peter Hall had made to the end of the play. She praised the work of Emily Blunt. (She is only 18. TRF is her first professional appearance.) The Andrews were looking into the school Emily attended for their daughter, who is 16. Judi was very encouraging to Sammy about her choice to study
acting. Judi told us about the "baby" in the play which was actually a doll that when squeezed, moans and makes faces. During rehearsal, Harriet Walter started "corpsing" so much that the batteries had to be removed from the doll. She said Harriet "corpses" almost as much as she, herself, does. We finally took a couple of photos and said our goodbyes. Judi wished us a safe trip home. She seemed genuinely glad to meet us.

It seemed that every day we saw a new image of DJD around London, including signs on a shop where she buys clothes. I will create a list for those who want to skip some of the "sightings."
1. On our tube ride in from Gatwick, we saw the first of the huge posters of DJD as Iris on the walls.
2. Since the legitimate theatres are dark on Sunday, we went to see Harry Potter at the Odeon theatre where it had premiered. While we were keeping warm in the lounge area, I looked at the bank of photographs on the wall and there she was--with Michael (in a Tux). I assume the picture was taken at a social event in the 80's.
3. We went to the Theatre Museum to see if we could watch a tape of Amy's View in the archives. Judi Dench's and Finty Williams' and David Hare's hand prints are on the wall there, and we took pictures this time. (We had been to this museum in May, actually.) The museum allows visitors to take pictures of only this one exhibit. It took us several days to
get permission to watch Amy's View, and we found it to be captivating--even with the one camera technique. When we saw DJD in her dressing room a few days later, she asked if we had seen Amy's View. I said "Yes, on tape." She looked surprised and said something like "mark that down there are royalties out there." Penny Ryder told her it was probably only one archival copy for educational purposes--not for sale. We assured Judi that it had been very difficult to even get permission to view the tape in the archive.
4. DJD's portrait is not currently on display in the National Portrait Museum, but visitors can go to the bank of computers on the second floor and bring up images of her three portraits in the collection. (That is fun--you can even focus in on her ring.) Visitors may print photos for
free, but not DJD's. It seems that the museum does not own the copyrights on them. (I did print a bunch of English author's portrait's for my literature classes.)
5. Finally--where Judi shops! When we were in Oxford and Ron was taking far too long choosing a tie in an Oxford University shop, I went across the street into a boutique. My friend came in and said "I expected you would be here. I saw Judi Dench's picture outside." When I ran out to look, I found a poster in the window with a handwritten note: “Again—I
came to Bath and found exactly what I wanted—thanks to Hampstead . With good wishes, Judi Dench.” There are branches of the Hampstead Bazaar in Oxford, Bath, Hampstead and London. We visited the one in Bath also. The beautiful, comfortable clothes are just what you would expect Judi to wear and Hampstead Bazaar also features American Southwestern jewelry. (Remember her necklace on the Today Show!) There is also a quote from Judi on the business card; “When I am in a panic and in a hurry to go out, I can’t go wrong if I wear a dress from Bazaar.” I asked the saleswomen in both Oxford and Bath if they had met Judi. "No" to Oxford, but "yes" to Bath—once. The Bath saleswoman said Judi’s brother
"comes in." BTW, I bought several items of clothing--they were having a very good sale.

On the morning of January 4, we took the tube to Holland Park to meet Joan Street the creator of the ATGB Locations Index. (Some of you may not know that Joan also has a Midsomer Murders site which is also fun to visit. With MM you get music!)

I was looking forward to meeting Joan because I appreciate her work on Locations site so much and also because I wanted to meet someone who actually got to attend the BAFTA ceremony honoring DJD!! I can't even imagine how wonderful that experience would have been. Joan is a delight! She cheerfully walked Ron and me around to all the ATGB sites in Holland Park--on a very COLD London day. Among the sites she showed us were Lionel's flat and Jean's house, the psychiatrist's office, Type for You 1 and 2, and the hotel where Lionel was staying to write his book as the series began. (The three of us took time to walk around in the revolving door of the hotel.) And then we visited Julie's Bar. It was too cold to eat outside, so we ate lunch upstairs in the restaurant. That meal was another highlight of our trip. All three of us chose salmon cakes, olive oil mash, greens and a Pimms! Julie's Bar is a charming old building, but I can only imagine how much fun it would have been to eat outside as Judy and Sandy and Alastair did on ATGB. We will return on a May trip, I am sure.

After lunch, Joan took us to the park, itself. We stood there and imagined how lovely it would be to visit in May to enjoy the beautiful gardens and wonderful winding paths. We also looked over at the spot where Jean and Lionel had observed the young in-love couple early in the series. Before we left the Holland Park area, we walked down a couple
other streets with Joan to see if she could locate Harry's police station. That is her latest quest. She has a keen eye for matching buildings from TV images!!

Ron took pictures of all the ATGB locations we visited, but I doubt if I will be sharing them with the List. Ron placed me in most of them, and with puffy winter coat, I look like the Michelin man. Finally, Joan escorted us to the BBC store so I could buy some audio
tapes of the Williams family reading "Winnie the Pooh." I love those tapes!! I want them all!! And I was hoping to get them more cheaply in London at the BBC than from my usual source-- Ebay. The BBC wasn't carrying them, so Joan escorted us to a Hanley's ( a very large toy store) and I did find my Pooh tape.

By the time we said "goodbye" and "thank you" to Joan, it was dark and we were looking up at the lighted Christmas decorations on Regent Street. What a special day!

Emma's TRF Experiences

Arrived home Wednesday night after a very smooth flight. Meggie and I had a wonderful time and met with Judi in her dressing room one night after seeing The Royal Family. She looked very tired and it is obvious that she is working hard to cover up her grief of losing Michael. The play has been discussed on the list and I really have nothing more to add to it except I enjoyed it very much and took it for what it is, A comedy. JD of course was excellent and her facial expressions were up to her usual standards.

The day after we arrived in London, 12/28, we went at noon to the Memorial Requiem Mass for Michael conducted by the Catholic Stage Guild. It was just lovely and Judi and Finty were both there. The hymns were sung by The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Singers. The service lasted about an hour and a half and when it was ended everyone was asked to remain sitting so that Dame Judi could leave the church quickly as she had to get to a matinee performance of TRF.

It was our good fortune to go to the BAFTA Tribute for Judi last Sunday. We were able to get tickets through BAFTA to the tribute only, not to the dinner. Joan Street has given you all an excellent accounting of both the tribute and the dinner so I won't go into detail on it.

Meggie is flying home on the 17th as she went to visit her son and his family in Oxford.

As to 60 minutes, Judi was interviewed by them for 2 hours while she was in NYC and then again this week in London. Keep an eye out for the 60 minute edition that shows JD.

Meggie's TRF Experiences

I'm home at last, after nearly a month in England, so thought I'd check in with my ATGB friends. As Emma has told you, I went to Oxford after she came home, and spent time with my son and his family, so am still in the process of getting back to normal time, and trying to catch up on chores, laundry, mail, and endless email.

Many of you have asked for my account of our trip, so I shall do my best to comply.
I will try not to repeat information that others have reported, or at least if I do, I will try to give a slightly different perspective, or add a few thoughts that have not already been covered in other letters.

The day after we arrived in London, Emma and I were honored to be able to attend the Memorial Requiem Mass for Michael Williams given by the Catholic Stage Guild at Corpus Christi Church in Covet Garden. It was a most moving tribute, in this beautiful, ancient little church. Judi and Finty sat six rows ahead of us on the opposite side of the aisle, and her understudy, Penny Ryder, sat two rows behind her. Penny gave one of the readings, as
you can see on the Program, which Emma has scanned to the lists. Martin O'Brien,
Chairman of the CSG Young Members' Group, sat beside me and we had a nice chat at the end of the service. His contribution is mentioned in the program as well.

As Emma has told you, we all sat quietly at the conclusion of the service so that Judi could go directly out to her waiting car, to get back to the theatre for the matinee. She looked absolutely beautiful as she and Finty walked down the aisle. We saw some familiar faces in the congregation, but couldn't recall the names. One was the young woman who appeared in a few episodes of "A Fine Romance," the very short girl with curly black hair who plays opposite Harry, the extremely tall guy.

The next day we listened on BBC1 to the Memorial Service in Westminster Abbey for the British victims of Sept. 11, then watched clips of it on the evening news. As you know, Judi read two poems at this service. When we spoke with her later she said it was a very moving service, and the most difficult part was meeting " - all those families who had lost loved ones
that day. There were many babes in arms who obviously were not even 'born' yet on September 11. So very sad."

One evening when we went in to our favorite restaurant for a pre-theatre meal, there at a table all by herself was Julia MacKenzie! We were just flabbergasted, so much so that we didn't even try to speak to her. After she left, we said to our waiter "Wasn't that Julia MacKenzie at the table over there?" He replied casually, "I'm not sure of her name, I just know that she's appearing at the theatre next door." We also saw Moyra Fraser one evening,
coming out of the theatre at the same time that we did.

Of course The Royal Family was wonderful. As those who have seen it know, many of the cast talk almost non-stop, and very loudly, as there is a lot of discussion and argument among the family members. I couldn't imagine how they could do this eight times a week without losing their voices, so I asked Judi about it when we spoke to her in her dressing room. " We use HONEY," she said. "We consume it constantly."

We commented on the very nice plaque on her door, which had a beautiful engraved "H" for the Haymarket Theatre, and below that, "Judi Dench." "Well, that one's all right," she quipped, "but you
should see the one they put up first." "Oh, was it not all right?" "Just look," she replied, and pulled a plaque out of her dressing table drawer. It was exactly the same as the one on the door, but it said " *Dame* Judi Dench." "I told them to make another one, I wasn't having THAT on my door!" And she tossed it back into the drawer. What a sweetheart!

During the one week when Judi had Michael's memorial service Wednesday and the Westminster Abbey service Thursday, she then flew on Sunday to America for two days of interviews and the Iris Premiere, flew back on Wednesday, and appeared on the stage on Wednesday night. *Where* does she get the energy? On the stage that night, she was marvelous, you never would have known that she was performing with jet lag. But in the dressing room later, someone asked her a question, a very simple one, and she simply could not answer. She said "I'm sorry, but I'm not thinking clearly yet."

We asked her what programs she had appeared on in America, and she reeled them off.
I said "How about Charlie Rose?" "Oh, don't I wish," she replied with a big smile.
"What a beautiful man !" He actually *listens* to what you say!

Emma and I saw the play several times, and it seemed that each time, we would notice something that we had missed before. At one point, Emma whispered, "Kitty just had her third drink." I hadn't even been counting, but then I realized that indeed, she was tossing them down rather freely, thus the giggly demeanor and the slight unsteadiness on her feet.

I was fascinated by the grandfather clock. There were several occasions in the play where
someone would look at their watch and mention the time, and I started checking the clock.
Sure enough, each time, the clock was exactly correct with the dialogue in the play.
There is even one scene which ends with the clock chiming the hour, precisely as the curtain slowly closes. I wondered how they could time the dialogue so precisely with the clock, but then I discovered that they were timing the *clock* to the *dialogue!* I began comparing the progress of the clock with that of my watch, and discovered that the clock was going a bit
*faster* than my watch was! So someone must have been behind it, adjusting it minute by minute to agree with the dialogue.

Emma and I both agreed that our very favourite scene was near the end of the second act, just after the shouting and arguments among the Cavendish family members had reached a critical point. The granddaughter has just decided that she is going to give up acting and "live a normal life." This does not set well with Grandma Fanny (Judi.) She proceeds to regale the wayward Gwenn with the delights of an acting career, with the very convincing speech which has been quoted in at least one review, but which I cannot remember word for word. The point is that - acting is night and day, eat and drink, acting is everything, - you go to the theatre, greet the doorman, smear greasepaint on your face, go to makeup, then check the audience, find the rabbit's foot, the curtain opens, it is a thrill every single time, etc., etc, and all you think about is "Going on, - Going on, - Going ON," and she gets herself into such a state that she "faints," dramatically into her chair. Of course the family is terribly worried, they all gather 'round, - a drink is brought, and the shattered granddaughter tearfully announces "I'll do it, Grandma, I'll do the play." Having accomplished her goal, Fanny weakly lifts her head and just manages to open her eyes ever so slightly, to make sure of the reactions of all the rest of the family who are anxiously hovering over her. Great laughter in the audience at this wonderful, subtle gesture.

But Fannie's not done yet. They gather around her and determine that she should be taken up to bed ~ she plays along, but half-way up the stairs, she says "Wait a minute," and has her last word on the subject. They then propel her the rest of the way up the long, winding staircase, and, near the top, she leans backward and looks down and back over her shoulder with a baleful glance at Gwenn, to make sure that she is properly chagrined. Absolutely wonderful ! With those magnificent eyes, and without speaking a single word, she brings down the house, every time! !

On December 9 we were thrilled to be able to attend the BAFTA Tribute to Judi on her birthday, where she was accorded their highest honour, the Bafta Fellowship. We walked on the red carpet, up the steps, and into the beautiful Haymarket Theatre, and were led to a lounge full of theatre personalities, where simply unbelievable canapes were being served along with the drinks. Saw many familiar actors, but for the most part we just watched in amazement, though we did chat a bit with Geoffrey Palmer. Emma asked him about Season nine, and he said "You'll have to ask that chap over there," pointing to Sidney Lotterby,
but we did not approach him. Finty was there, of course, and all the cast of The Royal Family, - also Pierce Brosnan, Richard Briers, and many others whose names I could not recall.

Soon we were escorted to our seats, and found we were sitting near Bob Larbey, Peter Hall, and Barbara Leigh-Hunt. Stephen Fry was the master of ceremonies, and he introduced Judi, who came out looking absolutely radiant in a simple, elegant black velvet gown. She spoke briefly and then went to her seat in the front row next to Geoffrey and his
wife, and near Sir John Mills.

The Tribute was wonderful, and maybe if we all make a concerted effort, we can persuade our PBS stations to buy the rights to show it. It seemed that nearly all of the British acting community were there, and each one gave a lovely tribute to Judi. There were many jokes, of course, as there always are at these affairs, and, naturally, endless praise for her amazing talents and her very special qualities as a person. Billy Connolly gave quite a long discourse, - he does tend to get sidetracked in many hilarious directions. Maggie Smith's tribute was exquisite, and she spoke about the long friendship that she and Judi have shared.

Between the personal tributes, there were filmed tributes from people who were unable to be there, such as Kevin Spacey and many others. Also on the screen were shown clips from many, many of Judi's appearances. I think that all of our "favourite clips" were there! One thing that I found very interesting was the clip of her appearance in Cabaret. Perhaps you remember that in the Bravo interview, they showed a scene of Sally Bowles dancing, in
a scanty outfit, and singing "Cabaret." I remember Tracy Thomas telling me at one time that she had studied Judi's lips during that song, and she felt that she was in fact not singing "Cabaret" at all, but rather "Don't Tell Mamma." Well, Tracy, you are absolutely correct! They showed a much longer clip of this scene, and it is indeed "Don't Tell Mamma" that she is singing!

Geoffrey spoke with much affection and admiration for Judi, as did Richard Briers. Joseph Fiennes, Pierce Brosnan, and Jim Broadbent were among the others who praised her. Then Stephen Fry called Judi back onto the stage and they sat in armchairs for a little chat. They talked at great length, and Judi's upcoming movie, which Stephen will be directing, was mentioned.

Finally, Sir Richard Attenborough spoke glowingly about Judi, and then presented her with the BAFTA Fellowship Trophy. Judi spoke once more and thanked everyone for the wonderful tribute, then Billy Connolly presented her with an enormous bouquet of red roses, it must have been at least three dozen! Stephen Fry walked over to the orchestra and said "Do you know a song called Happy Birthday?" so of course we all sang to Judi. A lovely evening indeed, and one Emma and I shall not forget.

Just one other lovely story about little Sam, Judi's beloved grandson. Penny Ryder had told us that during the time that Judi would be in America, Sammie would be appearing in a Nativity Play at his school; Judi, sadly, would have to miss it, but Penny was planning to attend, with Finty. So, after Judi returned from America, we asked her if she had heard how
Sammie had fared in his play. She replied that he had done "Fine, just fine, but Finty said that during his time on the stage, he just kept looking steadily at the floor, would not look up at all, like this - " And she did an adorable mime of a shy four-year-old !

I asked if this had been his "First Stage Appearance," and she smiled and replied, "Yes, his very first ! Someone videotaped it so I will be able to watch it. He played the part of 'a visitor,' and I told him 'You are not "A" visitor, you are "THE" visitor, the ONLY one!' "