page 2 ad lib thursday, march 30, 1978
Emmy-winning director is enjoying move to stage
By Charlie Krig I 1 n1"" ' '! TJ7 TT"7! ,.f "
Television direction is fun but work on the stage is a ? tTl ,V ''Hwi.'r , . S J V
refreshing difference, according to Nick Havinga, a 15- ujV w ij fvj hl A &
year veteran of the video medium. But, after wining three ''IF $ flf ' ' A T i
year veteran of the video medium. But, after wining three
Emmy awards, he thought directing a play for the theater
would be a nice change, especially the chance to work
with the Guthrie Theater company.
His show, Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the
Misbegotten, opened last year on the Guthrie Theater's
stage in Minneapolis. Now the play is touring the country
and stopped in Lincoln for three performances last Mon
day and Tuesday.
Havinga, however, is not touring with the play. He's
in Los Angeles, working on several television projects. But
he took some time for an interview to talk about the play
and his work in the theater and television.
'Television and theater work are rather equal but dif
ferent. They're kind of like apples and oranges," he said.
"It's hard to keep your sanity with only television work
so I've always felt it necessary to do theater work.
"Theater is ultimately more rewarding because you
have more time to find the essence and depth of the play.
TV is more mechanical and direction can be reduced to
no more than being a glorified traffic cop."
Still, Havinga admitted that "if I were more heroic I
would shun TV and go totally theater, but it's hard for a
director to do that.
There were some obstacles to overcome while directing
the play, too. First, there is the recent O'Neill revival lead
by director Jose Quintero and actor Jason Robards, a
cooperation resulting in several Broadway productions
and a television special of A Moon for the Misbegotten.
Havinga said that in the back of his mind he was
concerned that audience members would try to compare
Quintero 's work to his own.
'There was some preoccupation about Quintero but
we decided we would find our own values in the play,"
Havinga said.
Second, the Guthrie stage has an extreme thrust so that
the audience almost surrounds the acting area. But on
tour, the play will be done mainly in proscenium theaters
so Havinga got to direct the play twice.
"I have to think about the play and how I could do it
on the Guthrie stage and how to do a four-act structure
as a two-act production. There's one act that takes place
inside the house. It's a lovely change if you can do it. But,
because of the thrust stage we went for a representation
of the house and staged the whole play outside the house.
The designer accomplished a good deal with it because the
set also had to be light and movable for the tour.
'Then, after the run in Minneapolis, I returned to the
Guthrie two weeks before it first went on tour. It's
always a challenge to be able to re-establish and refurbish
a play. It was a rare opportunity to go back to a play, see
its strengths and weaknesses and then be able to refine
it."
Finally, Havinga had to balance the humorous and
serious aspects of the play. "There's a certain amount of
tone set in the early part of the play. At the start there's
a young performer who really sets the mood and Richard
Ramos has a very clear idea of the humor in those
moments.
"It's a curious play," he continued. "It's written very
strangely. The humor is there; we didn't superimpose it
on the play. It's almost two plays in one. We had to syn
thesize the first part humor with the later dramatic
parts. It's good for the audience to laugh and enjoy the
opening.
'Then we had to work very carefully with those
certain moments of transition so that the audience would
be able to change from humor to seriousness."
Havinga said he cut parts of the play so it would run
more smoothly. "O'Neill's plays can often be improved
with some cutting," he said.
"O'Neill makes his characters clean. If you know his
preoccupations, his Catholicism, his other plays in this
cycle, then you know what he's looking for. I wanted to
discuss the play with the cast and come to a mutual de
cision about the characters instead of just dictating my
views. Of course it's always my final decision but if I can
collaborate with the actors I'd rather do that."
Havinga's present goal it to establish himself in Los
Angeles and continue his television work. He said he
recently completed some episodes of Wecome Back,
Kotter and Baby I'm Back in addition to a new CBS
series. Another Day. 'But his long-range plans include
some dramatic productions.
"I'd also like to do a feature film but so would about
8,000 other people in this business," he said.
But one thing he said he won't do is a television ver
sion of A Moon for the Misbegotten. Havinga explained
that the play needs an intimate medium to match its in
timate theme and that the transition to the video screen
would make it too distant from the audience and "that
would lose its feeling."
TO PROTECT
1HE UNBORN AND
1HE NEWBORN
give to the
mflRCH of Dimes
ffftO!5"t3fS (TlEfCtl
1 aB"'""BRR"BBMoRi
mm,- - m
B
t-mi
f I ft
pi r -?
h I
if W
i
yft tit
,
S Tf 7
t1
.-4
44 3tf
r. mi
Lrrr
It I
h m m 11 a w 1 it 11
J) 'V-.Vv ' if
Director Nick Havinga on the set of A Moon For the Misbegotten.
Minneapolis Tribune photo
((daytime)r
THURS THRU WED
MORNING
1:00 O BOZO
O NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY
CI PTL PROGRAM
O VARIOUS PROGRAMMING
O FARM REPORT FRU Answer
Is Love (WED )
Q9 CBS NEWS
1:08 O FARM AND RANCH REPORT
1:10 O NEWS
1:16 O UNO SCENE (WED.)
1:30 Q ROMPER ROOM
fl COUNTRY DAY
CI 8UNRI8E SEMESTER
O VARIOUS PROGRAMMING
O BUNKY'S FUN CLUB
7:00 fl ARCHIES
OO TOO AY
O CBS NEWS
O OOOO MORNING AMERICA
O I OREAM OF JEANNIE
MORNING SHOW
& SESAME STREET
7:30 Q FUNTSTONE8
fl MCHALE'S NAVY
1:00 fl POPEYE
CI OOOO MORNING AMERICA
CI CD CAPTAIN KANGAROO
O FUNT8TONE8
M-BCHOOL PROGRAMMING
(UNTIL l:M) National Geographic
(THUR ), Nova(FRI )
0:30 O UTTLE RASCALS
fl CARTOONS
1:00 fl 700 CLUB
fl O SANFORO AND SON
CI ALL MY CHILDREN
Q TATTLETALES (THUR..FRI.)
Pass The Buck (MON ,TUE ,W-
EO)
fl PHIL DONAHUE SHOW
O MEW ZOO REVUE
CJ ROMPER ROOM
0:30 fl O HOLLYWOOD SQUARES
O C9 PRICE IS RIGHT
fl BEWITCHED
10:00 flO WHEEL OF FORTUNE
Q HAPPY DAYS
O NAPPY DAYS (EXCFRI.)
Martha's Kitchen (FRI l
fl LOVE AMERICAN STYLE
(THUR., FRI.) Not For Women On
ly (MON TUE WED )
Of K-SCHCOL PROGRAMMING
(UNTIL 3:30)
tO 30 ft RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMING
fl fl KNOCKOUT
DO FAMILY FEUD
CS CD LOVE OF LIFE
fl NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY
(THUR., FRI.) Father Knows Best
(MON TUE WED I
11 0 fl NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY
fl fl TO SAY THE LEAST
O CJ 00,000 PYRAMID
O YOUNG AND THE
RE8TLE8S
O FATHER KNOWS BE8T
(THUR..FRI.) Mayberry R.F.D.
(MON , TUE , WED )
11:30 flO GONG SHOW
fl CONVERSATIONS
Oil RYAN'S HOPE
O QD SEARCH FOR TOMORROW
O MAYBERRY R.F.D.
(THUR , FRI.) High Hopes
(MON. , TUE. .WED
O M-BCHOOL PROGRAMMING
(UNTIL 3:30)
AFTERNOON
13:00 fl FOR RICHER, FOR POORER
f l OO CD NEWS
O NOON SHOW
fl ALL MY CHILDREN
a jim NA8OR88HOW
SESAME STREET
12:18 0 FARM ACTION
13:30 fl DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
f) fl DAYS OF OUR LIVES
O CROSS WITS
CI 83) AS THE WORLD TURNS
1:00 fl LUCY SHOW
O O ONE UFE TO LIVE
O MOVIE The Gilded Cage-
(THUR). "Miracles For Sale"
(FRI ). "The Invisible Ray" (MON ).
Tugboat Annie" (TUE ), "Duel Of
Champions" (WED )
CS IN -SCHOOL PROGRAMMING
(UNTIL 3:30)
1:30 fl BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
OO DOCTORS
O 02) GUIDING LIGHT
2:00 a PLEASE DON'T EAT THE
DAISIES
fl O ANOTHER WORLD
O fl GENERAL H08PITAL
2:30 fl GOMER PYLE
Q CD ALL IN THE FAMILY
O DENVER NOW
3:00 Q MICKEY MOU8E CLUB
fl FOR RICHER, FOR POORER
OR EDGE OF NIGHT
Q FOR RICHER, FOR POORER
(EXC.TUE.) Phil Donahue Show
(TUE )
O (ZD MATCH GAME
Q FUNT8TONE8
3:30 O TOM ANO JERRY
fl O GILUGAN'8 ISLAND
O TATTLETALES (THUR , FRI.)
Pass The Buck (MON .TUE ), Wild
Kingdom (WED )
O PHIL DONAHUE SHOW (EX
C.TUE.) R I LOVE LUCY
O MERV GRIFFIN (EXC.WED.)
ABC Afterschool Special (WED )
SD KALAMITY KATE'S CAR
TOONS
09 ELECTRIC COMPANY (EXC.W
ED.) Backstage At The Met
(WED )
4:00 fl GILLIQAN'S ISLAND
O MY THREE SONS (EXC.TUE.)
NBC Special Treat (TUE.)
O I DREAM OF JEANNIE (EX
C.WED.) ABC Afterschool Special
(WED )
fl NBC 8PEOAL TREAT (TUE.)
Q DINAH
O SUPERMAN
CD MIKE DOUGLAS
CI MISTER ROGERS
4:30 fl LEAVE IT TO BEAVER
fl BEWITCHED (EXC.TUE.)
O BRADY BUNCH (EXC.WED.)
O BIG VALLEY (EXC.TUE.)
O BRADY BUNCH (WED.)
fl FAMILY AFFAIR
61 SESAME STREET
109 fl ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW
fl 000 COUPLE
00 ABC NEWS
fl FILM (TUE.)
01 LOVE LUCY
I SO fl ROOKIES
flfl NBC NEWS
fj BEWITCHED
QO CSS NEWS
fl NEWS
fl ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW
fit OVER EASY
K .ttEnpertajcnmen' Edltor pete Mason Cover Design '.j? Beard Layout
Ad lib is an entertainment supplement published by the Daily Nebras
kan Editor in Ch.ef Ron Ruggless Advertising Manager Greco.
Wurdeman Production Manager K.tty Policky Business Manager Jerh
Haussler. s
Unless covered by another copyright, material may be reprinted
without permission if attributed to Ad lib, entertainment supplement to
the Daily Nebraskan
Ad lib is distributed Thursdays with the Daily Nebraskan