Sometimes an actor strives to put a personal stamp on a role. That is not what Valerie Harper wants to do in portraying the Milwaukee-raised Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, in the touring production of “Golda’s Balcony,” which will run Nov. 29 to Dec. 4 at the Milwaukee Theatre.
Harper, most famous for the role of Rhoda Morgenstern in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Rhoda” television series, told The Chronicle in a telephone interview that anyone in this part “should make it as Golda as she can.”
So Harper will put on a wig, a false nose, padding, and seek to “disappear” into Meir’s “life and memories and mind,” she said.
And it seems to be a delectable challenge for her. For one, “the material can carry you when it’s good,” said Harper; and the 90-minute play by William Gibson, best known for “The Miracle Worker,” is “so beautiful and brilliant … a wonderful feat of writing,” she said.
“He wears his history very lightly. You’re not beaten over the head with facts, but they have to be there to understand what she was up against,” Harper said. Gibson manages to do this in such an “entertaining and interesting way” that “you don’t know you’re getting all this data.”
For another, there is the appeal of Meir herself, whom Harper said is “a major hero of mine.”
The play, said Harper, displays just how complicated a person she was, “very funny, with a dry sense of humor, droll, smart, down-to-earth and clever and very American,” but also with powerful feelings of inadequacy, sadness, guilt about what she had to do for Israel and what she didn’t do for her family.
She also had visible eccentricities, like the constant cigarettes; and “her speech is wonderful for theater … she did her Ts and Ks like the best theater actor,” said Harper.
But even though this is a one-woman play, Harper won’t just be Meir. She also will show Meir imitating some of the people she had to deal with, including “a funny sequence” showing her speaking with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
The resulting mix has proven very successful. The original production starring Tovah Feldshuh set a record on Broadway in New York City for the run of a one-woman show (493 performances) and was nominated for a Tony Award.
Jerry Benjamin, Milwaukee businessman and Jewish community activist, said he and his wife Cindy have seen the play in New York in both the off-Broadway and Broadway productions, and “it played to standing ovations every night,” he said.
“It brings [Meir] back to life in a way that seems almost miraculous,” Benjamin said.
Moreover, the show can “lift your spirits” and “reaffirm your emotional connection to the story of Israel and introduce new people to Israel’s story,” he said.
In fact, Benjamin played roles in helping to create the play and bring it to Broadway. When Feldshuh was doing research for the role, she came to Milwaukee (see Chronicle, Jan. 31, 2003) and ended up staying at Benjamin’s home.
Moreover, after a performance of the off-Broadway production, producer Dave Fishelson asked Benjamin if he would be interested in helping to produce a Broadway production. Benjamin “circulated a letter to friends and people I knew” and helped raise funds for that production.
The Milwaukee run will be one stop in a seven-month tour, in which Harper will play Meir in cities from Detroit to Toronto. (The tour was supposed to open in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but Hurricane Wilma compelled the production to close soon after opening night.)
Harper said she is “anxious to play Milwaukee, Golda’s hometown,” where she spent her later childhood and teen years. “I’m thrilled to be doing it.”
Admission prices range from $30 to $60, with group rates available. Tickets may be purchased at the Milwaukee Theatre Box Office, 510 Kilbourn Ave., or through TicketMaster, 414-276-4545. Further information about the tour can be found at www.goldasbalcony.com.
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