Horton Foote: A Memorial
Just came from the Lincoln Center Theater memorial to playwright Horton Foote (pictured), who died on March 4th at the age of 92. The event, in which director Michael Wilson had a large organizing hand, not only contained touching tributes from Robert Duvall, Edward Albee, and many others, but brief performances from Foote’s plays. Estelle Parsons, Elizabeth Ashley, Matthew Broderick, and Lois Smith were among the interpreters. (Foote wrote glorious roles for women.) Betty Buckley sang the hymn “Blessed Assurance.” My favorite bit I hadn’t heard before: Harper Lee (who wrote “To Kill A Mockingbird,” which Foote adapted into an Oscar-winning screenplay), once said of the author, “He’s like God, but clean-shaven.” Foote thereby phoned her and said, “It’s God calling.”
