The Deuce Club, 8.9

Ging Gang Goolagong.

I’ll explain that in a moment, but some Tribal matters first:

As requested, the guessing game is back.  This photo shows a Tribe member on vacation with her family in Hawaii.  First hint: her son is 2.5 years old.  (See, it pays to read the OT threads.)  Thanks for sending it in!

Tournaments: Jay will be at Cincy.  [ETA: And so will codepoke -- he'll be there on Friday.)  We’re starting to build a longer list of TWers who will be at the US Open (updated list will be posted next week), and gatherings formal and informal are being planned.  Don’t forget to email me if you’re coming!

And now to relieve your suspense.  Why is Heidi mocking Evonne Goolagong’s name, you ask?  Well, I’m not.  I’m quoting from Peter Morgan’s Broadway hit play, Frost/Nixon, which tells the behind-the-scenes story of the famous David Frost interviews in which Nixon finally admitted some responsibility and contrition for Watergate.

Yes, that’s right.  There I was, excitedly reading cast bios and waiting for the lights to go down, when I saw that Evonne Goolagong is a character in the play.  I sat there blinking, trying to process how on earth she could possibly be involved.  Luckily for my attention span, that mystery was solved in the first several minutes.  The play starts with Nixon’s resignation speech, and then shifts to David Frost, who that very same day was all hair and teeth and British charm in Australia, interviewing Evonne Goolagong.

Frost introduces her as the first Australian Aboriginal woman to win a major, and also as having recently announced her engagement.  Goolagong comes out on stage in a red-and-white tracksuit.  He then opens the interview by saying, “Now, Evonne, you cannot do this to us.  You cannot possibly change your name.  Goolagong is the best name in the world.” Instead, he suggests that her husband should change his name, and jokes, “Is his first name Ging Gang?”

She laughs along a bit uncomfortably and says, “No, it’s Roger.”

There’s another line or two, and then that’s it for Goolagong, but it’s only the beginning of Frost’s transition (according to the play) from lighthearted playboy talk-show host to hard-hitting journalist who wins his fame back at the price of Nixon’s final ruin.  (Incidentally, Frost is still alive and kicking; he has a show on English-language Al-Jazeera.)

Tennis is everywhere.

If you’re in NYC, this play closes on August 19, and I highly recommend it.  It does drag a little at one point during the taping of the interviews, and I would have liked a touch more characterization for Frost, rather than relying on the narrator’s assertion of his genius for TV.  This would probably be especially helpful for an American audience, which isn't as likely to know Frost, and would also balance the play a bit more.  But the performances are simply unbelievable, and the staging is very good—minimal set, restrained use of a bank of TV screens.  If you won’t get to see it before then, never fear, because shooting on the film version starts a week after the play closes (with the two big stars, Michael Sheen and Frank Langella, reprising their roles), and there’ll be an American tour of the play next year.  Evonne Goolagong: coming soon to a a theater near you.

Next week’s installment of Heidi’s Broadway Adventures will hopefully be a review of Terrence McNally’s play Deuce, starring Angela Lansbury.  That also closes August 19, so run over to see that now if you’re around.

And don’t forget to keep sending news and notes, as well as your own theater review or discovery of tennis mentions in the oddest of places.  Better yet, take a photo and send it along!

--Heidi