#Morrie schwartz meaning of life how to

Author of STEALTH BOAT: Fighting the Cold War in a Fast Attack Submarine (Naval Institute Press, 2008). Film: Aaron Haddam in Stephen Spielberg's LINCOLN. Recent Regional Theatre: Baron von Strack in AMADEUS for Baltimore's Center Stage.

Where: Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker.GANNON MCHALE (Morrie) Playhouse on Park debut! Broadway/Off-Broadway: JAMES JOYCE'S THE DEAD, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, FAME ON 42nd STREET, THE GOD COMMITTEE, THE FANTASTICKS, FINAL ANALYSIS.

It is interesting that people keep needing to be reminded of it. It's not the most original idea, but maybe that's because it's a universal truism. Morrie's ultimate lesson for Mitch is that people and relationships are more important than things and status in life. The meetings between Mitch and Morrie are in Morrie's study, so the study-size stage gives the play the intimacy that it should have. The small CitySpace Theatre is just right for this play, but the space is tricky. After appearing with City Rep recently in the musical comedy 'The Big Bang, another two-character show, Fields shows his serious side as Mitch, the high strung media personality and narrator in 'Tuesdays with Morrie.ĭirector Michael Jones' deft staging, in which even scene changes become part of the show, along with Donald Jordan's scenic design and Hal Smith's lighting design, makes this production work. The more you see Lane Fields, the more you appreciate his ability and range. The role is physically and emotionally demanding, and Taggart hits the mark just about every time. Taggart is effective in playing the feisty, ultimately affecting Morrie. The challenge that Gary Taggart faces in playing Morrie is that he must communicate to the audience the effects of ALS, a disease that robs people of the ability to communicate. Living unhappily is sad, too, and by the second act, Mitch decides that the high-flying life is not as glamorous and rewarding as everyone thinks it is. Just as in real life and B movies, Morrie informs Mitch that 'dying is only one thing to be sad over. He misses nothing: the Super Bowl, the World Series, Wimbledon, you name it, and he's there getting the story. Mitch is a nationally prominent sports columnist with radio and television gigs, and he drives rental cars with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cell phone in the other. 'Go after life and embrace it! 'Love is the only rational act.).

#Morrie schwartz meaning of life how to

He coins aphorisms that read like bromides on the page ('Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live. Morrie is an agnostic (or, at least, he was when he was healthy), somewhat of a socialist (Abbie Hoffman and other radicals studied with him at Brandeis) and a staunch liberal in the 1960s scholastic tradition (he gave his male students A's, so they could keep their student deferments and avoid the draft during the Vietnam War). Let's assume that when Albom heard that Brandeis University-professor Morrie Schwartz had a short time to live, his first thought was not 'book deal!

When you know that the events of the play come from real life, and if you give everyone the benefit of the doubt, you can enjoy Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre's delightful (if a tearjerker may be described as 'delightful) production of 'Tuesdays with Morrie.Īlbom's meetings with Morrie resulted in the slim volume 'Tuesdays with Morrie: an Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson, which Hatcher and Albom adapted for the stage. Oh, boy, this thing could turn maudlin fast. When Albom learns that the professor is dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease), the two meet every Tuesday so that the teacher can enlighten the student on 'The Meaning of Life. The synopsis of 'Tuesdays with Morrie by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom sounds awful: a Detroit sports columnist reconnects with his old sociology professor, 16 years after graduation.