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A CurtainUp Review
Holden Caulfield: Theater Aficianado
By Elyse Sommer Close to half a century after its 1951 debut The Catcher in the Rye continues to resonate with high school and college students. He's also continues to hold a place in the heart of the people in their 50s and 60s who are Holden's contemporaries--or at least they would be if he were a real person instead of frozen in time as an icon and favorite allusion for the disenchanted young everywhere. Not the least of the institutions which Holden examines with less than unqualified admiration is the theater. While he admits that his father can't be blamed for being upset at his carelessness about money, he quickly points out that dad makes enough money as a corporate lawyer to invest in Broadway shows that invariably flop. Later, in the same chapter, he strikes up a conversation with two nuns. When one, a high school English teacher, expresses her admiration for Romeo and Juliet, he agrees but with typical Holden-esque reservations. Because he likes Mercutio and finds him "very smart" and more sympathetic than Romeo, his killing bothers him. He's also a little embarassed to discuss a play which "gets pretty sexy in parts" with a nun. In chapter 16 Holden walks over to "mobbed and messy"" Broadway to buy theater tickets for his Sunday afternoon date with Sally Hayes. He heads right for the box office since this was pre-TKTs discount booth and prices were not yet beyond the reach of even a well-heeled preppie. And so he buys two orchestra seats for I Know My Love by S. N. Berhrman, starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Since he considers Sally "the queen of the phonies"" (phoniness being the quality that Holden disdains most in people), he knows she will be thrilled to see a show with these luminaries of the stage. His own take on the show is that it isn't as bad as some he's seen but that it was nevertheless "on the crappy side." And while he did like the Lunts he thought they were "too good and full of themselves." Besides his amusing analysis of the play and performances, he also has a few well chosen words for the many "phonies" in the audience. Theater enthusiasts who've never read The Catcher in the Rye or haven't read it since high school, should take a first or second look at it if only for these idiosynchratic comments on the theater in chapters 15-17. Since Catcher is still on many required high school reading lists, and sells a husky 250,000 copies in paperback each year (Sales of the book overall: 60million). You should therefore have no troubling finding a copy of the book in your library or on line. ©Copyright 1998, Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp. Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com |