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And Field gets to work with Sam Gold, the Tony-winning director of 2015s inventive and emotionalFun Home.
I have this massive creative crush on him, says theLincolnandSteel Magnoliasstar.
Credit: Brigitte Lacombe
I followed him around.
I sawFun Homefour times.
So how are the rehearsals going?
The Glass Menagerie.
confesses Field, 70.
Its so much, and so hard.
I dont know whos going to go crazy first, Amanda or me.
I think theyre going swell, he says.
I was having the college life I never had because I started [working] so early.
I would read new plays and did a billion readings, and I did some workshops.
A year ago Scott asked me to lunch and he said, Okay, so how aboutGlass Menagerie?
And I went, Whaaat?
He had always known that for me, that was the one that got away.
So I said [to Scott when he asked me again], Youre joking.
And he said, No.And how about with Sam Gold?
I went, Whaaat?
I could barely talk.
I walked back to my apartment just stunned.
And then the other part of me was going, Oh God!
You know, be careful what you wish for!
JOE MANTELLO:Unlike Sally, mine was actually not a role that I had ever considered playing.
The deciding factor for me was to be in a room with Sam.
You know, directors never get to watch other directors work.
Ive grown to love the role.
Tell us about your two costars.FIELD:Theyre both just divine.
Finn is so talented and energetic.
Then theres the flat-out gift that is Madison.
Never has Laura been the heart of the play as much as this.
MANTELLO:I agree.
And its a very different take.
Theres very little self-pity.
Sam has endowed Laura with a sense of agency that I dont think weve seen before.
Madison is a wheelchair user in real life.
How does that play into her character?FIELD:It plays into her character.
That, Im sure, is difficult to adapt to in your life.
Brilliant Mr. Gold has not made it any easier!
Its a constant loop of Toms memories that dovetail into each other.
As a matter of fact, this is probably the most accurate production of what Tennessee originally wrote.
MANTELLO:It really plays out as a memory play, and memory is different from dreamy.
Quite often I seeGlass Menageries that are dreamy.
This is a very tough production.
FIELD:Well, I was doing Tennessee Williams in high school.
[Laughs] So, in 1962.
I was always attracted to his language.
I was doing his one-act plays, and I did a scene fromA Streetcar Named Desire.
Which scene?FIELD:The rape scene!
I mean, my God we were in high school!
[Laughs] It was like Heidi the little goat girl taking a stab at it.
But it didnt matter!
MANTELLO:You still are queen of the drama department, here at the Belasco Theatre.
Do you know what youre doing after the end of the run?
FIELD:Im going to lay down.
Are you still sleeping on the floor?FIELD:No, I have a real bed now!
