Sada Thompson on Michael Bennett: He Made Things Soar
"I adored him. I just thought he was magical."
Through the generosity of Frances Sternhagen, I was given the phone number of Sada Thompson, and in 2008, I enjoyed a series of conversations with the actress, who was living in Connecticut.
Sada Thompson called herself a “true rep actress,” feeling that she was trained for and excelled in acting with a company in a series of plays at “lightning speed.” However, there weren’t many opportunities for her to join repertory companies, but she approached the work each and every time as with “a family,” she said. “Actors and directors and designers are my friends. I make them my friends. I work at it. Trust is important to acting. I think it’s the most important thing.”
Sada Thompson adored Michael Bennett, who directed her in George Furth’s Twigs, which opened on Broadway in 1971 and would later earn her a Tony Award. That Tony Award would ultimately bring her to television and her Emmy-winning role on the ABC television series “Family.”
Michael Bennett was born on April 8, 1943, so now (April 7) seems a good time to hear what Sada Thompson had to say about her “magical” friend.
Q: Is it true that Michael Bennett wasn’t a first choice as director for Twigs?
SADA THOMPSON; “I don’t know. I know I wasn’t the first choice for the play. That was Cloris Leachman, and thank God she was too busy to take the role. I’ve been thanking her for not being free all these years! Are you asking if it was some official doubt about Michael for directing? I know there were people—pests—who wondered if I was ‘safe’ with Michael, because they thought of him as a musical person. There are always gossips and people who would like to make you stumble and doubt, but I really don’t remember anyone doubting Michael. I mean, the play was by George Furth, and the music we had in the play was by Stephen Sondheim, both of whom had worked with Michael and thought highly of him. I think Michael was a safe and sure bet.”
Q: Craig Zadan wrote that you and Bennett formed a mutual-admiration society.
SADA THOMPSON: “That was true. I adored him. I just thought he was magical. Not only was he personally charming and fun and full of energy, but he had a way of holding us all in his hands, protecting us, letting us know we were safe to go out farther and farther. I remember George telling Lois Smith that Michael was making him think he was a greater playwright than he was. That’s how much depth Michael could bring out of all of us. He didn’t change any words in George’s play, but he examined and enlarged—no, that’s not—he amplified what was there.
“Here’s a great thing he did. I played all these different women at different ages and with different personalities, and I did the actress thing of wondering how I could show off and be different and unique with each one, and I could feel I was getting worse. I was acting too much. Connie [Conrad] Bain said I was laying it on a bit thick. Well, Michael took me off in one of those great meetings we would have, and he told me that these women were all related, they were universal. Focus on the humanity and the truth in each woman in each situation. We will apply padding and wigs and makeup. Then he said, ‘You just tell the truth, and I’m going to carry it forward with you.’ I mean, who can’t do well knowing you have that support?
“When people think of Michael, I think they go to the flash—the musicals, the dancing, that excitement of the music and the lights. All of which is great. But Michael did not direct noise, you know? A lot of musicals are just a lot of noise and flashing lights, but Michael always had as a foundation a story, and people, and lots of heart and truth. His musicals always tore my heart out, in the way that plays do. Yes, the scores to those musicals are great: You can listen to them again and again, and even if you never saw A Chorus Line or Ballroom, it’s great to listen to the stories in the songs. But if you’ve seen it—if you’re re-living the musical by listening—you remember the very real people at the heart of those shows, their humanity, and you get torn up. Well, I get torn up, anyway.
“Michael, that adorable angel, could really get under your skin and into your heart. He made me feel beautiful and talented. All of us. When Twigs closed in New York, I remember talking to the guys [Conrad Bain, Nicolas Coster, A. Larry Haines, Simon Oakland, Robert Donley, Walter Klavun] and we all agreed that we were not going to have another experience like this again. Our lives and our careers had been changed. Everything soared after that. Michael made things soar.”