“Launchpad of the American Theater: The O’Neill Since 1964” by G. W. Skip Mercier (review)

Visitors might not notice the image of George C. White as they enter the New York Public Library’s gallery that honors the Eugene O’Neill Center’s fiftieth anniversary. Instead, they might fixate on the man next to him on the overhead banner, Lloyd Richards (artistic director of the O’Neill 1969-99), or look past to see other suspended images from the ceiling such as critic Edith Oliver, director-choreographer Tommy Tune, playwright Wendy Wasserstein, or actors Michael Douglas, John Krasinski, and Meryl Streep. Indeed, the sheer number of luminary artists whose words or images appear on the walls or in glass cases suggests that the titular description of the O’Neill Center, “Launchpad of the American Theater,” might be an understatement. That said, I initially thought that more would have been made of its founder, George White. The entrance in the northeast corner of the Vincent Astor Gallery leads to a large, almost square exhibit space chock full of artifacts, including visual and auditory materials from the Theater Center’s rich history. The entire eastern wall was papered in royal blue and inscribed with quotations printed in white type from O’Neill alumni such as designer G. W. Mercier (also curator for the exhibit), playwright Lee Blessing, producer Kevin McCollum, composer Robert Lopez, and many, many more. But there was nothing from George.

Video monitors and headsets stationed exactly in the middle of the eastern, southern, and western walls allowed guests to see a scene from August Wilson’s Fences, watch a hit number (such as “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” from Avenue Q), view Lloyd Richards’s introduction of a play (in which he alludes to George’s vision), watch final scenes from the acting students of the National Theatre Institute, or see a photograph of Executive Director Preston Whiteway, flanked by Board Chairman Tom Viertel and the artistic directors of the six O’Neill programs, receive the 2010 Regional Theatre Tony Award. Those same artistic directors of the National Playwrights Conference, National Critics Institute, National Music Theater Institute, National Theater Institute, Cabaret and Performance Conference, and National Puppetry Conference articulated their respective missions in concise statements printed on handsome blue placards affixed to the gallery walls and adorned with many candid images of the work in action. But there were few statements from or about George White.

The southwest corner of the exhibit offered the most promising space to fill that omission. There, a greatly enlarged image showed the expansive view of Long Island Sound from the grounds of the Hammond estate in Waterford, Connecticut, which George White convinced town officials would make an excellent spot for his theater operation in 1964. The impressively large and detailed three-dimensional diorama placed in front of the landscape photo showed the complete layout of the O’Neill Center’s complex as it exists today. There was no key, however, to identify each building or performance venue and no descriptive tags for the history and development of the place. There was, however, a signpost on the wall to indicate the future growth and prosperity of the Center in the form of new residence dwellings for the many students and artists who come and go throughout the year. Such signs of vital growth suggested that the anniversary celebration and exhibit was as much about the future as the past.

Moving clockwise around the gallery, the last stop in the northwest corner may have been the best. Here, the exhibit featured the Center’s namesake with a framed caricature of the playwright by Hirschfeld and a photo of Monte Cristo Cottage (owned by the Center). Designed as a kind of homey space, in deference perhaps to the O’Neill cottage and complete with rugs on the floor, the corner invited the viewer to browse...