Ray Stricklyn said receiving the Theatre League Alliance's 2000 Ovation Award for Lifetime Achievement is "humbling, embarrassing, wonderful, and thrilling." To hear this master actor reminisce, it seems the same could be said about the entirety of his career—with emphasis on "wonderful" and "thrilling," of course.
Aside from his roles in classic films (The Catered Affair, 10 North Frederick, The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker, among many others) and guest appearances on television (Days of Our Lives, Cheers, Seinfeld, Dynasty, also among many others), Stricklyn has appeared in a fair number of stage productions around town. He is living proof of a rich history of theatre in Los Angeles. And, speaking with Back Stage West at his graceful mid-Wilshire home, he seems able to recall every moment onstage and every local stage he stepped onto, whether they are now long gone, newly refurbished, or still standing proudly.
Most recently, he toured in Confessions of a Nightingale, the one-man show in which Stricklyn lovingly portrays Tennessee Williams. Between its debut in 1985, at Beverly Hills Playhouse, where it had a yearlong run, and its most recent local performance, at Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in 1997, the production has played New York, toured nationally and internationally, graced the Pasadena Playhouse for two runs, and drawn fans at the Canon Theatre and the then-Westwood Playhouse. During his national tour, he found Confessions held up in a larger house, so he agreed to perform at the Pasadena Playhouse's mainstage, a theatre he loves. "It's attractive, and they treated me beautifully, and they paid me well. I've always appreciated their belief in me," he said.
He also remembered the acoustics being quite fine at the Pasadena Playhouse. "Of course, I was trained as an actor to speak up. Nowadays, theatres are so miked. That's one of my quarrels about theatre these days—the actors mumble their words. I guess it's movie technique."
After debuting on Broadway, in The Climate of Eden, with Rosemary Harris and John Cromwell, Stricklyn made his Los Angeles stage debut, in 1959, appearing in Compulsion (based on the Leopold/Loeb murder trial) for the opening of the Omnibus Center Theatre, a venue since torn down, at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland. Compulsion had a six-month run, "which, for L.A. at that time, was quite something." Stricklyn remembered the Omnibus as an arena theatre, "one of the few arena theatres out here at that time." The actor had become accustomed to playing an arena in his hometown of Houston, Texas, where he helped co-found the now-world-renowned Alley Theatre. "The arena is such an intimate way of doing theatre. Of course, your concentration has to be double because the audience is right on you. But you can be more intimate because projection isn't as necessary."
Backstage Tour
After Confessions first opened at BHP, he returned to the Alley for a one-night performance in its 900-seat theatre. Years later, after its successful Broadway run, he performed at Texas A&M University on an arena stage. Confessions had been directed for proscenium—the Tennessee Williams character sitting in one position for long periods—so the arena setting required some adjustments. "I think it went quite well," Stricklyn said. "I had played it for so long in proscenium. I really had to be on my toes. I felt refreshed and revitalized. It gave the performance a new spin."
Immediately after his debut Compulsion closed, Stricklyn played in a summer-stock production of Shimon Wincelberg's two-character Kataki at the former Laguna Playhouse, at that time on Ocean Avenue a block from the beach. Stricklyn had the luxury of living in Laguna for the three-week run. For the summer-stock productions of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Long Day's Journey Into Night with Tustin Summer Theater in Orange County, the producers housed Stricklyn and co-actor Jody McCrea in a large apartment along a wharf, from which they could gaze at John Wayne's yacht.
Stricklyn also recalled appearing at the 300-seat Hollywood Center Theater on McCadden south of Hollywood Boulevard. "I believe it's been torn down. It was a very nice playhouse, sort of rundown, but it held 200 to 300 seats. It had a nice stage. But the backstage area was rundown." There, he played Treplev in The Seagull. "I didn't think I was very good in it," he insisted.
The nicest backstage areas in his memory include Pasadena Playhouse, where he also appeared in 1990 in Bus Stop, and Smothers Theatre. Coincidentally, these two also offered the best nutrition to hungry actors. "Pasadena used to always have Friends of the Pasadena Playhouse—the patrons. Once a week, they'd feed the actors, between either the Saturday or Sunday matinées and the evening performances, so the actors wouldn't have to go out. We'd have this feast. Pepperdine also gave me all sorts of hors d'oeuvres before the show."
In the 1960s, he played in the West Coast premiere of Pinter's The Caretaker at Beverly Hills Playhouse, starring with Tom Troupe and Richard Bull. The often self-disparaging Stricklyn finally admitted, "That was a special production, if I say so myself."
In 1975, Stricklyn withdrew from performing and worked in public relations for John Springer and Associates. He emerged in 1982 to appear in How Does Your Garden Grow? at the Cast Theatre (which is still a survivor), and in Naomi Court with Mary Jo Catlett at the Pilot Theatre (since torn down). "It was a nice, very large playing space," he said of the Pilot. "That was a novelty for a small theatre in L.A.—a wide theatre."
He made his "big comeback" at Beverly Hills Playhouse in 1983 with Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré, "the one that started the revival of my career, winning all those awards, the one where the critics said I should do something on Tennessee Williams. And that's how Confessions of a Nightingale was born."
Stricklyn had earlier found a home at BHP, in the 1960s after Compulsion had closed, when he arrived for an acting class and "got involved." Sherman Marks taught the class. "He eventually leased the playhouse and directed The Caretaker. It was a wonderful place to work," Stricklyn said, "a nice theatre, a good location." After Marks died, Stricklyn stayed away from BHP for years. By then, Milton Katselas owned and ran it. "I owe whatever career I've had since then to Milton's generosity in producing Vieux Carré and Confessions of a Nightingale. It opened up a whole new career for me as a character actor. I had been a juvenile for 50 years." Stricklyn liked BHP for the people who worked there and for its location. "Now, so many of the theatres are in bad locations. It's kind of scary to go to them, although the work going on inside can be marvelous."
He recalled the backstage setup for Vieux Carré at BHP, with its cast of nearly 40. "We were all crowded in one large room. We ran for six months. As I recall, there were very few fights." There were also very few cast changes, he recalled, "which spoke well for the contentment of the company." The play rehearsed at the other Katselas-owned theatre, the Skylight, today very much active on Vermont Avenue.
Noises Off
Stricklyn has, of course, suffered through panicky moments wondering if other actors were "present." During one performance in Tustin, an actor who was offstage for most of the second act decided to head around the corner for a mid-play snack. "It certainly wasn't theatre protocol," Stricklyn said. "I remember the stage manager going bananas. He did come back, though."
In the Tustin production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Stricklyn played the young professor, Nick. The actor playing George couldn't learn his lines, between the volume of words and the brief rehearsal period. "They brought in a hypnotist. That didn't work. I remember opening night. He had the lines pasted on the couch. He had them pasted in the bookcases. But he was such a professional, he came off smelling like a rose. We came off looking like we didn't know what we were doing because we didn't know when he was stopping."
Stricklyn had one such incident of his own, in his youth, when he had a monologue to deliver to his character's girlfriend in a monastery. "I said a few words. Then, I went totally blank. I looked at her and said, 'I guess I'd better be going.' Fortunately, the older woman in the cast, playing the Mother Superior, saw what was happening and threw me some sort of cue. I learned better after that."
Neither colds nor injuries nor any other excuses ever kept him from a stage performance; instead, he has used them in characterizations. Having twisted his leg during a curtain call at a Pasadena Confessions, he played Williams with a cane the next night. Once only, he deliberately showed up late to allow his eager understudy a chance at his role.
And sure, he has heard the sirens and air traffic and rain while he was onstage. Early on, he learned to work with it while performing The Grass Harp in Greenwich Village. "Some guy would rev his bike every night. Turned out to be Steve McQueen before he was famous. He didn't do it on purpose. But it would go straight through you."
Stricklyn still longs to do one more project. "I have a wonderful script, The Tennessee Williams Show. I would love somebody to produce it. And then I'll retire for good!" BSW