When the Roundabout Theatre Company announced it would stage a Broadway production of TWELVE ANGRY MEN in 2004, enthusiastic supporters were in the minority. Although Reginald Rose’s drama resonated with audiences when it debuted as a CBS teleplay in 1955 and later as a motion picture release in 1957, modern day theatre critics weren’t particularly interested. Despite the tepid response, Director Scott Ellis believed in the material and sensed that a new generation was ready for the lessons that lay within.
“We did a reading of it at the Roundabout and it was from that reading that I thought we should do it because I could sense from the audience that something clicked with them,” said Ellis. “That’s when I really pushed and said ‘I think we should do this.’”
Not only were Ellis’ instincts right, TWELVE ANGRY MEN went on to become the longest running play in Roundabout’s history, it received three Tony nominations and those jaded theatre critics were convinced of the show’s merits beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Scott (Ellis), who I think deserves all the credit, just directed an absolutely brilliant production of that play with 13 incredible actors, it got the best reviews we got of the season and now it’s on a national tour,” said Todd Haimes, Artistic Director of the Roundabout Theatre Company, one of the country’s leading not-for-profit theatres. “I honestly did not have a clue until I saw the first preview that it was going to be anything as magical as it was.”
TWELVE ANGRY MEN is set in New York in 1954, where a Puerto Rican teenager awaits sentencing for the murder of his abusive father. Twelve jurors are corralled in a room for their deliberations where the wrangling begins and a rush-to-judgment is thwarted thanks to one lone juror who hasn’t been convinced of the young man’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The heated debate that ensues reveals the hidden prejudices and fears the various jurors hold. As each piece of evidence is carefully reexamined by the jurors, their initial judgment of guilt gradually sways until a unanimous verdict is reached.
The main difference between the now-closed Broadway production and the current tour are the actors themselves. “There are 13 new actors in the show, nobody from New York is doing it, and it works just as beautifully as it did on Broadway,” said Haimes. “I think that is a tribute, of course, to the actors but it is also a tribute to the brilliance of Scott’s direction. Every place we go, it gets the same magnificent reviews. It’s unbelievable. Every single place.”
Richard Thomas, fondly remembered as John-Boy from the revered television series “The Waltons,” plays the pivotal role of Juror #8 – the rational holdout. Though he doesn’t necessarily believe the teenager is innocent, he prefers that the deliberations are indeed deliberate. Ellis called Thomas’ role “very difficult because it drives it (the play) forward. He sort of represents the common guy, the regular Joe Blow, who’s just there and wants to ask the questions.” Ellis added that Thomas assumes his role so completely and believably that audiences “connect with him fairly fast.”
Joining Thomas on the tour is George Wendt, best known as Norm Peterson from the hit television comedy “Cheers,” where he earned six Emmy nominations. As the Foreman/Juror #1, Wendt doesn’t have the biggest role but rather, he immerses himself seamlessly into the ensemble. Ellis said that Wendt brings to the play “an everyday feeling and everyday persona. He’s a wonderful actor that just allows himself to become part of that group.”
The biggest obstacle Ellis faced in directing the Broadway production and tour was the blocking. For the full duration of the play, the actors are not only confined to the jury room, but they have to sit around a table. This obviously poses a problem where half the actors are going to have their backs to the audience at any given time. The challenge for Ellis was to keep the actors up and moving around the stage to keep it interesting, yet trying to keep the movement from looking unrealistic.
Because most, if not all, of the theatres the tour will play are significantly larger than the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway, Ellis shared some insight with the actors. “We have no control in the touring as far as what theatres we go in, how big they are or not, but we do have control in how you look at the play and how you look at the characters,” said Ellis. “I always tell them ‘Don’t go to them, let the audience come to you.’ So if you walk into one of the houses and it’s much larger than another house, don’t all of the sudden become big performers. You don’t do that. You keep focused and that audience will come to you.”
TWELVE ANGRY MEN may have popped onto the American landscape 50 years ago, but it remains just as provocative, engaging and powerful for audiences of all ages today. “It was hardly our master plan to have a big hit,” said Haimes. “I was surprised that every single person who saw it, whether they were 80-years-old or 15-years-old, were moved by it.”
TWELVE ANGRY MEN is currently on tour through May. More information is available online at http://www.12angrymentour.com.
By: Kirk Wingerson
