Gordon Clapp in ‘Robert Frost: The Verse Business’
Schedule
Sun Jul 07 2024 at 02:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
The Kate - Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center | Old Saybrook, CT
An entertaining portrait of the great poet and platform legend whose public “talks” were hot tickets for nearly half a century, and an illuminating glimpse of the old bard at home, aware of his fame and failures, with poems still to write and 'promises to keep.'
Emmy-winner (NYPD Blue) and Tony-nominee, Gordon Clapp, stars as poet Robert Frost, who “barded” around the country for nearly 50 years giving sold-out talks to mixed crowds of readers and non-readers alike. Arguably the nation’s first superstar poet, he quipped, “What began in obscurity is ending in a blaze of publicity.”
A beguiling rascal on the platform, the poet "re-lives" his verse from memory, relates his “wild surmises” on science, politics, and religion, and speaks to the purpose and meaning of art. Then, inviting us home, he drops his mask, shares losses and regrets, considers the sources of his poetic inspiration, and picks up his pencil.
“A seamless piece of theater, which Clapp delivers with authentic New England wit and charm…a must see! (Broadway World)
“The poet lives and breathes in Clapp’s performance.” (Lowell Sun)
“Highly recommended.” (New England Theatre Geek)
"When Clapp walks on to the…stage, he is fully Robert Frost.” (Nashua Telegraph)
“A lovely experience. Anyone who cares about this great poet - or his work - will want to catch this memorable performance.” (Hub Review)
Gordon Clapp has played Robert Frost over 130 times at regional theatres and in college towns in ten states. Mr. Clapp has enjoyed a long career in theatre, television, and film. His most recent Broadway performances were as J. Edgar Hoover to Brian Cox’s LBJ in The Great Society in 2019, and as Judge Taylor, opposite Jeff Daniels’ Atticus Finch in To K*ll a Mockingbird in 2021. Since then, Gordon has been seen on HBO’s Mare of Easttown and Showtime’s American Rust. In 2023 he played Gus Cudahy, the unexpected love interest of Mimi Kennedy’s “public intellectual,” Prudence Payne, in the Arizona Theatre Company’s world premiere of Pru Payne, as well as the title role of NFL legend, Tommy McDonald, in Tommy and Me at the Bucks County Playhouse.
A.M. Dolan (playwright) Andy has acted with many regional and summer theatres including the Old Globe in San Diego, Huntington Stage Company, Texas Shakespeare Festival, The Theatre at Monmouth, Harbor Stage, Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre, Merrimack Rep, New Rep, and New Century theatres, among others. Robert Frost: This Verse Business won “Best New Play” (Kaplan Award) at the Eventide Arts Festival in 2010, and “Best Production” at the United Solo Play Festival in NYC in 2013. His two other plays are Five Live Poets, and Dylan Thomas: In Country Heaven.
Where is it happening?
The Kate - Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Kate, 300 Main St, Old Saybrook, CT 06475, United States,Old Saybrook, ConnecticutEvent Location & Nearby Stays: