Type On, Golden Blogger: Reading Jane Fonda’s Web Journal By PATRICK HEALY Jane Fonda, seen here in 2005, has been blogging about her preparations for the Broadway play “33 Variations.” (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times) As personal blogs go, this one is a pretty interesting read: Jane Fonda has begun her first-ever web journal to chronicle her return to Broadway, after a four-and-a-half-decade absence, as the star of Moises Kaufman’s new play, “33 Variations.” The postings, which can be read here, are relatively unguarded for a celebrity blog: Ms. Fonda, 71, writes about her nerves returning to the stage, the ups-and-downs of rehearsals (the play begins preview performances on Monday), her singing lessons, and her experiences living in New York City for several months. “I’m so glad I didn’t chicken out and not agree to do this out of fear—after 45 years,” Ms. Fonda writes in a Feb. 2 posting. “I could say it’s like sex and riding a bike—it comes right back… but not really. Mostly this because I am so different as a woman.” Ms. Fonda, in her autobiography and in interviews (including one she did with me in 2001), has often commented about how, early on, the men in her life treated her more like a lost little girl than a mature woman, and how she sometimes took movie roles (such as “Barbarella”) because they suited the feminine image that men believed fit her best. On the blog, she is similarly candid and self-critical at times, but she is also plainspoken about the excitement and rigors of the challenge of live theater. “I am fairly confident of my lines now with the exception of the final scene in Act One where all the characters come onstage and have individual lines interspersed, and sometimes spoken simultaneously,” she wrote in a posting on Jan. 24. “It is stylized and I sense it can be effective and theatrical but right now it’s challenging to learn how it all goes together. “Wouldn’t you think that after fifty years I would have more confidence? But in some ways, it’s just the opposite. More is expected of me and I expect more of myself,” she wrote a few sentences later. Using a theatrical expression for that day’s rehearsal, she went on: “The stumble through did not go well, in my opinion…not for me. I feel very low right now. Very much wondering why I am in this profession. Very much wishing I could disappear to my ranch and never come out. I feel at a loss as to what to do about it. Maybe a good night’s sleep will help. For the first time in my life, I am having trouble sleeping through the night.” Ms. Fonda also blogs about how much she misses her father, Henry Fonda, with whom she had a rocky relationship through the years. Mr. Fonda began his acting career on Broadway in the 1920s and ‘30s, starring in “The Farmer Takes a Wife” among other productions; he won a Tony as lead actor in “Mister Roberts” in 1948, and was nominated in 1975 for his performance in “Clarence Darrow.” “Now that I am doing theater again after a huge absence, I can’t help but wish he was still here with me – to see,” Ms. Fonda wrote about her father in a Jan. 29 post. “Not that he would give me advice. That wasn’t his style. But I wish he knew that I’ve come back to his place of love. “There have been days during these weeks of rehearsals when I seem incapable of doing the same thing over and over…even twice, never mind for 4 years! I wonder how he was able to do it. I want to please him…still. Do we ever get over this need to please the parent we were closest to?” Original Article Link
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Yesterday my blog went up online although I’ve been writing blogs almost daily since January 5th. Blogging just to record what’s happening day to day feels different than blogging when there’s starting to be a buzz about the very fact of my blog and people are beginning to actually visit my site. I haven’t had a chance to read all the feedback and comments that have come in this far but I will over time. As I expected, there are a few people who want to know whether the things that have been said about me over the years, the things that I have been accused of — the Hanoi Jane stuff– are true. There are also those who need to believe they are true and, as a consequence, have nasty things to say. I intend to answer these questions. I would like nothing better than to put these lies and myths to rest once and for all. I will try to do this as soon as possible but these tech rehearsals are really exhausting and I can’t imagine being able to get to it until Sunday. But then, my daughter, Vanessa will be in New York this weekend doing a media training with the Women’s Media Center and Sunday is the day we’ll get to spend some time together, so even getting to it then isn’t a sure thing. I encourage those folks who want to know about my activities during the Vietnam years to read my book, “My Life So Far.” The chapters entitled ‘Hanoi,’ ‘Bamboo’ and ‘Framed’ deal with all this. There is also an excellent and exceedingly well researched book, “Jane Fonda’s War,” by Mary Hershberger that answers all these questions in great detail. Having a blog feels like growing another limb, or maybe a goiter! There’s my life…and then there’s this thing that’s blossoming alongside reality. It’s my life, in a way, but not quite. I need to remind you that I Googled for the first time this summer. I have never read anyone else’s blog so I don’t know what they usually look like. I trusted my new Atlanta-based techie friend, James Andrews, when he said he knew this guy out in Detroit, J.J., who would set it all up for me and maintain it. Good. That meant I didn’t have to learn everything myself. I’ve absorbed a lot in a short time and worked by phone with J.J. and James tweeking and changing the look, the categories, the photos, what goes where and how to get there. The feedback so far tells me people like how it looks, find it easy to navigate, like that I’m active on it, find a lot of good content. My daughter-in-law, Simone Bent, sent me an email today saying, “Personal enough to be intimate, but not a road map to your front door.” Smart cookie, that one. She also says Troy will be coming back from Russia soon. He’s been making a movie there about out-of-work jet fighter pilots directed by Mario Van Peebles. Back to rehearsals: Tech is really tiring. Not sure why because it’s a lot of standing around. Maybe it’s standing for so long under the lights. It is, however, a swell way to practice lines and moves and even new ideas. It’s also the first time Moises is seeing us all in costume, on the set and under the lights, so there’s a lot of wardrobe trials and errors. David Woolard (who’s doing my clothes) and I are really in sync. I feel very comfortable with the look that we are evolving for Dr. Brant (me)—stylish but not too; academic but with an edge. Diane Wash, our classical pianist, walked by this afternoon and said, “That’s great, Jane…a ballsy musicologist.” I think she meant I looked strong which is how it should be. Speaking of Diane, can I tell you what a treat it is to be privy to a private concert everyday as she warms up at the gorgeous Steinway? Made a positive discovery during the dinner break. I was able to fall asleep with Tulea on the couch in my little antechamber. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to cause its real tiny, but when the lights were all off and my ear plugs were in—swish. I was out. It’s a kind of Pavlovian thing that started in 1989 when I did the film “Stanley and Iris” with Robert DeNiro. I was fifty or so back then and finding that I needed a nap during the lunch break. I had never been a napper but I found that ear plugs made all the difference—signals to tune out. Even if I was only really asleep for 10 minutes, it made a real difference. My napping skills got honed during the decade with Ted who is a daily napper, then I got out of the habit because if your life isn’t arranged so that regular napping is possible, you find you get wiped around nap time but have to push through. Now, with this play, I can tell that napping will be de rigueur again. I’m thinking all this isn’t very interesting so I will stop for today. Tripping out about naps must be a sign. See you next time.
Sooo exciting today. I’m moving into my dressing room—my hood for the next 5 months. It’s great. Here’s a picture of it. And there’s a little ante chamber where my friends can hang with me afterwards. I’ve already stocked the wine. My dressing room This is such a magnificent theatre. I’ve taken a picture of the ceiling but it doesn’t do it justice. AND THE SET! OMG. Seeing everyone in costume and makeup is a trip. Erik, Don and Zach are transformed into characters out of the 1800s. Ceiling of the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Running through the scenes from the stage where we’ll be playing takes some getting used to. For 3 weeks I’ve been looking out at a lit up room filled with red seats where I could see everyone’s faces. Now, it’s a dark hole. I’m working on two things: imaging all those seats out there that I can’t see filled with loving, friendly people and projecting my voice and my feelings far enough to fill the place—right up into the balcony. The acoustics at the Eugene O’Neill are wonderful so I should get used to it soon. New ideas have been coming to me during this tech rehearsal—just being in makeup and costume and on the set is inspiring. I’m so glad I didn’t “chicken out” and not agree to do this out of fear—after 45 years. I could say it’s like sex and riding a bike—it comes right back… but not really. Mostly this because I am so different as a woman. My wonderful force-of-nature-friend, Eve Ensler, came by to visit. She knows and loves Moises. In fact, she was the person who first told me that Moises had a new play to send me. She brought a box of cupcakes from Magnolia for the cast and I devoured a –what is it called?—the kind with white frosting on a red cupcake? They’re my son’s favorite. I had no intention of eating it all; just a polite taste was what I planned. Except I couldn’t stop there—it was too delicious. Eve also brought me a gift—it is a rock from the Moroccan desert that has been split open and when you look inside the two halves, you see a glistening, shimmering miracle of crystal and mica. “This is how we are when we are broken open,” she said. ‘We’ means we women, artists, warriors. It the perfect Eve gift—I will keep it on my dressing table. A constant reminder to allow myself to be broken open. I left rehearsal tonight in a temp wig and costume to go downtown to the screenings of The FTA Show. David Zeiger and I came in after the first showing was over and answered questions. Joining us was Marlisa Grogan, Captain in the US Marine Corp (29 UES). I had never met her before and was very impressed. She has such a deep understanding of why it is important for us to support active duty members of the military who are anti war or, at least, anti a war they feel is wrong and ill-conceived. She herself has been involved in an anti war show that has performed for active duty personnel. She said that it is the soldiers who have seen active duty who tend to be anti war more than the ones who have stayed stateside. “They just don’t know,” she said. David Zeiger and Marlissa Grogan, Captain in the US Marine Corp. She talked about the similarities that exist between today’s military and those of the Vietnam era but also pointed out the profound differences, citing in particular, the fact that so many recruits are confronted with the choice between jail or military. For many it’s a much needed job. Look how young she is, yet so wise and committed. “We can’t just rely on the hope that Obama has brought us,” she told the audience. “We have to get off our asses and make sure we organize and speak out for what we feel is right.” Marlisa Grogan The three of us stayed to introduce the film to the second-showing crowd. In between showings I was so happy to see old friends playwright Barbara Garson, who I write about in my memoirs (and who wrote some of the original FTA Show) and D.A. Pennebaker who filmed a documentary of me years ago when I was in rehearsal and then on Broadway in a deservedly ill-fated play. It lasted one day. It is amazing to watch the FTA film now. Quite unbelievable that we actually did it. Then I returned for another hour of rehearsal and now I am signing off. It’s midnight—not bad for a gal whose normal bedtime is 9pm. See you next time.
The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention which I founded in 1995 works with girls and boys to build their self confidence and give them a vision of a future that is within their reach. We stress the importance of staying in school and developing the skills of productive citizenship. We help adolescents who are already parents to go back to school, go to college and get jobs. We help boys understand that being a man doesn’t mean fathering children and not raising them. It means learning how to be an engaged father. We describe what we do as “above the waist work.” Dr Michael Carrera who started the Children’s Aid Society’s Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program many decades ago is my mentor. To paraphrase him, “Adolescent sexual behavior is determined more by what goes on between their ears than what goes on between their legs.” This is why young people who see a future for themselves are less at risk for early parenthood. Hope is the best contraceptive.
Elizabeth Sackler and Jodie Evans at a fundraiser for The Women’s Media Center at Elizabeth’s NY apartment. Gloria Steinem, Robin Morgan, Jessica Neuwirth and I founded WMC right after the 2004. We saw how the media does not reflect women’s concerns, issues, voices. We understood that this was, in part, because women do not hold decision-making positions in the media. In fact, women hold only 3 percent of the “heft” jobs in media-the programmers, station managers, CEOs. For more about WMC, please go to our website which can be accessed from the front page of this website or by clicking here.
You might wonder why, at age 71, I am launching my first blog. Well, good friends of mine (Rosie and Lily) have been avid bloggers for a long time and I’ve noticed that what they offer is interesting and provoking. Provoking is good—provoking ideas, thoughts, laughs, compassion and just plain fun. I like to provoke. I have interesting friends, an amazingly diverse and interesting life and family, great photos. There’s a lot to get into on a blog. So—I had breakfast in Atlanta in the beginning of January with my friend, Matt Arnett. Matt really wanted me to meet a friend of his whose kids go to the same school as my grandchildren because he thought this tech-savy friend might be able to help my Georgia-based Non-profit, The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention improve its website. (More about that another time). Actually, we never even got around to G-CAPP because I got so inspired to start my own blog. Matt, James (that’s his name—James Andrews) and James’s wife Sherrelle Kirkland-Andrews, pointed out to me that there’s such malarkey floating around the net about me. Why not begin to tell my own story, my thoughts, and activities (past, present and future) rather than letting others—sometimes hostile others—try to put out their own spin on me. That’s part of it. But the idea also occurred to me that I was about to launch into a new adventure in this third act of mine and that it might be interesting to bring people along with me. The adventure is that I am returning to Broadway for the first time in 45 years. Why not try, with this blog, to convey what it’s like… day by day…the excitement, scariness, the highs and lows. So, although I’ve just gone online today, I have, in fact, been blogging for three weeks now and you can follow all the posts from the beginning by clicking here. Today, during lunch break, I took my dog, Tulea, for a walk and it really hit me how much I miss my dad. When he returned from his stint in the Navy after WWII he went straight to Broadway to star in “Mr. Roberts.” He played that role every day for four years, never missing a performance! It was not customary in those days—the 40s and 50s—for movie stars to go back and forth from Hollywood to Broadway. But theatre was Dad’s great love. My brother and I grew up knowing and respecting this about him. He loved the immediacy of playing before a live audience. The instant feedback. He was meticulous, always doing exactly the same things, the same moves, the same inflections, every night. I have heard this from so many of his fellow actors. Now that I am doing theater again after a huge absence, I can’t help but wish he was still here with me–to see. Not that he would give me advice. That wasn’t his style. But I wish he knew that I’ve come back to his place of love. There have been days during these weeks of rehearsals when I seem incapable of doing the same thing over and over…even twice, never mind for 4 years! I wonder how he was able to do it. I want to please him…still. Do we ever get over this need to please the parent we were closest to? * * * * * * * * Moises Kaufman, the writer and director, has us doing run throughs more frequently now and it helps so much to experience the sweep of the play. We begin tech rehearsals in the actual theatre—the Eugene O’Neill–next week (gulp!) so we are starting to fine tune and lock in the blocking. I love watching the other actors in their scenes. So funny, so touching, so outrageous! I like how we are melding together as a unit, all watching out for each other. Colin (Hanks) has had a cold for several days and last night he had to fly to Las Vegas to perform a scene he did with the actors in the TV series “Mad Men.” We’re all worried about him and he left with all of us bombarding him with special remedies for stopping colds. I couldn’t resist taking this picture of Don Amendolia who plays Diabelli, the music publisher whose small waltz is the inspiration for Beethoven’s great opus, 33 Variations. That’s him behind the paper, sleeping with Tulea during a break. Susan Kellerman, who plays the librarian in charge of the Beethoven archive, is insisting that I grant them all visiting rights with Tulea when the play is over. “Over”! What a concept. Tomorrow I have an early costume fitting so I’m off to bed. See you next time.
My daughter, Vanessa Vadim, is the environmental know-it-all for an important new website called Mother Nature Network (MNN). Her column is called “Ask Vanessa.” In it, she answers your questions about all things Green and sustainable – everything from what fish are safe to eat, whether pellet stoves a good way to heat, even an open letter to Obama telling him what she hopes he will accomplish for the nation. She’s currently answering my question about natural gas cars. Check it out. http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/ask-vanessa
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