Celebrating the birth & legacy of

TERRENCE MCNALLY

FRANKIE AND JOHNNY
IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE

Celebrating his words through our voice
with a monologue performed by
Actors Co-op Theatre Company member, David Atkinson

More on
FRANKIE AND JOHNNY
IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE

Terrence McNally’s career spanned six decades, and his plays, musicals, and operas were routinely performed all over the world.  He also wrote screenplays, teleplays, and a memoir.  Active in the regional and off-Broadway theatre movements as well as on Broadway, his work centered on the difficulties of and urgent need for human connection.

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune was first performed off-Broadway in 1987 originally starring Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham.  Kenneth Welsh went on to play the role of Johnny.  Kathy Bates won an Obie Award for her performance and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.   In 1991, a screen adaptation starred Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer.  Two starry revivals of the play were produced:  Edie Falco and Stanley Tucci in 2002 and  Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon in 2019.

The play focuses on two lonely, middle-aged people whose first date ends with their tumbling into bed. Frankie is a waitress, emotionally defined by what she believes is her unattractiveness.  Johnny is a short order cook certain he has found his soul mate in Frankie.   As the night unfolds, they slowly begin to reveal themselves to each other as they take tentative steps towards the possible start of a new relationship.

Today, we continue to celebrate Terrence McNally’s birthday with a monologue from FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE performed by Actors Co-op Theatre Company member, David Atkinson.

“Though its dialogue can suggest the easy rhythms of a slick commercial comedy, there are haunted depths to 'Frankie and Johnny,' carved from the universal fear that human connection may be an impossible dream…The sound of the silence behind the play's chatter is an awareness that life is short and, for those unwilling to make leaps of faith, unendingly lonely.”

— Ben Brantley, The New York Times

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