R.I.P. Lanford Wilson

So sorry to hear about his passing today at age 73.  He wrote my all-time favorite play, Burn This, which I saw on Broadway twice, once with John Malkovich, who was amazing, and once with Eric Roberts, who really wasn't. Joan Allen was in the cast with JM, but I actually preferred the performance of Lisa Emery, who appeared with ER.  I'm still waiting for the movie, which I heard was in development, but apparently never got past that stage, too bad!  Burn This is one of only 3 plays that I bought the book for.  (Edward Norton won an Obie for a revival in 2002; he was replaced by Peter Sarsgard later in the run - I would have loved to see both of them in the role!)

I saw several of his other plays as well, including Balm in Gilead (in New Brunswick), and The Hot L Baltimore and Redwood Curtain (I can't recall where). I saw The 5th of July in Flagstaff with my dad, and again, later, at Rutgers, with Laura (though I didn't like it as much the 2nd time). Larry and I saw his final play, Rain Dance, when we visited NYC in 2004 for our 10th wedding anniversary.  Somewhat ironically, I don't think I ever saw Talley's Folly, his most celebrated (and probably best known) play.