I will disclose that what follows truly is a fan post - I'm not a professional critic. I also didn't record anything, so quotes are mostly paraphrased or completely from memory.
When I heard that the Vineyard Theatre was hosting a panel called "Law & Order and the Stage" as part of their Vineyard Voices series, I was actually pretty bummed. I already had a trip to New York scheduled the week before the event -- vaguely Law & Order-related, in that it included seeing Linus Roache in Vineyard's current play, Middletown. Two New York trips in as many weeks? That was just crazy talk.
But I'm crazy, at least when it comes to Law & Order, and so I ended up spending two consecutive weekends going up to New York - first for Middletown, then for "Law & Order and the Stage" (well, and because New York City RULES).
I arrived at the Vineyard Theatre early and snagged front row-center seats for myself and Faith, a friend from an online L&O fan community.
Faith arrived soon enough and we sat waiting for Sh*t To Get Real.
(actual picture of us)
Shortly after 6:30 PM, the program began with moderator David Cote, theater critic for TimeOut New York. He introduced the panelists— Linus Roache, Sam Waterston, Annie Parisse and writer/producer Gina Gionfriddo.
Over the course of an hour, Cote steered the conversation on a range of topics, all relating to Law & Order's 20-year history and the show's relationship to New York City theater.
The four panelists each had solid stage backgrounds prior to their work on Law & Order.
(sorry for poor photo quality -- I wasn't even planning to take pics, but then people started to, so I figured, what the hell...I was in the front row and trying not to be conspicuous!)
What made you go from theater to TV? Or in Annie's case, why did you go from TV to theater?
Annie noted that she’d always wanted to do theater, but could never afford it -- apparently off-Broadway actors make about $400/week. Once she had the L&O paycheck, she was finally able.
Linus said he shied away from TV for so long because of his father, long-time Coronation Street star Bill Roache, and the status that his dad has in the UK because of television.
(James, Bill and Linus Roache on the Coronation Street set)
Linus: He’s been on this show for 50 years.
Sam: Seriously.
Linus and Sam both agreed, however, that the courtroom scenes in L&O were very theatrical. Linus said this influenced his decision to join the show.
Regarding the show’s history of employing theater actors—from big names who are the main guest stars to nobodys who are cast as extras:
Annie remembered that she would see people she’d been in theater class with arrive on set and in one instance, her old acting professor showed up in a role.
Sam mentioned the privilege of getting to act with so many theater greats over the years.
According to Linus, Sam said what he liked least of all about McCoy getting promoted to DA was that he no longer got to interact with the revolving door of theater people—--“and instead he just had to do all his lines with me!”
Linus said working with theater people took some getting used to. “They’d say, this is Mercedes, she’s playing the judge and I’d be like, Mercedes Ruehl?? I was in love with her!”
In Sam's opinion, Dick Wolf deserves a Tony for all of his contributions to the theater and he will keep saying that till Wolf gets one.
GIVE THIS MAN A TONY RIGHT NOW OR HE WILL USE HIS MAGIC L&O POWERS TO TAKE IT HIMSELF.
Specifically, Sam said that one of the best things to ever happen to NYC theater was Dick Wolf convincing NBC to film in New York—it hadn’t really been done before on TV to this extent and it also opened up more peoples’ minds to filming movies there as well.
SIDEBAR, YOUR HONOR...
Fastforward to Q&A. Q&A is the one part of panel discussions that I tend to hate. Why? Because there's always that one person who can't let well enough alone. They either have to be the smartest person in the room or have to ask something completely irrelevant. In this instance, it was a case of the former mixed with the latter.
I don't even remember the woman's actual question, just her confrontational tone as she prefaced it with "Mr. Waterston..." and then went on about how The Equalizer broke that ground long before L&O did.
Yes, she tried to one-up Jack McCoy in the man's own house.
Let me tell you, Sam Waterston is pretty much the definition of class. His tone seemed slightly annoyed, but he politely asked her to clarify which show she was talking about and when it had run, before (I think) reiterating his original position on the issue.
Law & Order's place in history...
The moderator asked Sam about how it felt to have done the show for so many years.
Sam said (as he's stated on other occasions) that it never felt like, "I’m in this for x number of years," since he had a year to year contract. He mentioned Dick Wolf's policy of "if you don't want to be here, you don’t have to be, you can go" but that he never felt the need to go.
Annie spoke briefly about her decision to leave and her character's death. She also talked about having a photo from her last day on set -- of herself as Borgia, all beat up and dead-looking. Sam mentioned it was a difficult scene for him, as her friend.
Somewhere in there, Sam said one of my favorite things of the evening regarding L&O's place in history:
"The show is a living history of the law."
I'd never thought about it like that before. He's completely right and I absolutely love the way he said it.
HE WAS SO FREAKING CLASSY AND ELOQUENT. IT WAS AWESOME. As Rachel, another friend who attended, pointed out, he really did have great rapport with everyone on stage and couldn't say enough good things about both Dick Wolf and his time on the show. I know that most of us in the audience felt privileged to be in his presence -- and there he was, seeming just as honored to be there.
The panel also discussed why viewers watch Law & Order - why they followed the show continuously over the years and why they still like to watch the same episodes over and over.
Sam compared it to a child wanting to be told the same story night after night. The formula is the same, the content varies, but in the end, after the chaos and the scariness (he totally did scary hand motions there), there's comfort in resolution.
Cote asked if the show always stuck to the formula over the years.
With enthusiasm, Linus answered that the season 6 episode "Aftershock" removed the show (in a once-only occurrence) from crime scene and courtroom to a day-in-the-life of the main characters. I was impressed by his comments. "Aftershock" is a landmark episode in L&O history - both for its emotional impact and as a reminder of the evolution of the law. The eagerness in his voice was that of an honest fan of the show.
They also mentioned how the formula transferred to various spin-offs, both American and international.
With such a plot-driven show, notorious for not giving out much info about characters, how do you as an actor work with that?
Linus noted that the characters are defined by their actions—so the character’s story IS told by the plot.
Annie explained that as an actor, you give your character a backstory no one else necessarily knows, but the audience picks up on various things and makes their own inferences, regardless of your original intent.
Linus said, "Within two episodes, everyone thought Alana's character and mine were having an affair! We were just prosecuting!"
MMMMHMM. SO THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE CALLING IT THESE DAYS.
Yes. That was for all the Cutter/Rubirosa fans. ;-) I loved that they talked about audience inference. One of my favorite things about the show has always been that they do leave a lot open for interpretation, as far as the characters' backstories and personal lives go -- so you can pretty much imagine it however you want it to be.
Possibly my other favorite part of the night:
Linus mentioned that when he got the part of Cutter, he wrote a gigantic backstory for him.
Linus: And I sent it---[looks across stage at Sam]---did you ever read it?
Sam: [frowning] No!
Linus: [sadface] I sent it to Rene Balcer, too. He never got back to me...
Only later did he realize that much of what he'd imagined for Cutter was actually REALLY similar to what was already Jack McCoy's background.
(For the record, because it's been said to me numerous times since my original post: there are plenty of fangirls who would love to read your Cutter fanfiction, Mr. Roache!)
Another L&O production secret revealed (and thanks to Rachel for reminding me about this!) - Linus mentioned that Dick Wolf originally wanted Cutter to be bi-polar. Linus didn't want to take the character in that direction and had to fight to prevent them from going there.
When the show's cancellation was mentioned, the audience made its displeasure clear (including a few boos-- could you expect any other reaction from fans?) For the first time in 20 years, Law & Order was missing from the fall TV schedule. Thanks to the platform provided by the Vineyard Theatre, the panel members, part of that legacy, were able to share their experiences in a tribute to the show and the people who love it.
Law & Order's influence continues on the stage and in NYC's acting community - not to mention that in the hearts of its many fans, "these are their stories."
