Harold & Stella: Love Letters

Being a descendant of Eastern European immigrants who loved the Yiddish theater in New York at the turn of the 20th Century, what a treat it was to learn Stella Adler's parents were stars from that wonderful period of theater history. Film clips after the play introduced Stella Adler as a real person, showing her in her element teaching theater to future generations of actors. But the most impressive thing about this production was the brilliant acting by the father-daughter team of Bill and Arianna Ratner as Harold Clurman and Stella Adler. The two sat on stools and read love letters between the two lovers who were living on opposite coasts during World War II. The real lovers were presented as total opposites: he was Hollywood street-... full review

By Ed Rampell of The Hollywood Progressive June 12, 2014 The “playwrights” for Harold & Stella: Love Letters are the eponymous Harold Clurman and Stella Adler, those stage legends who co-founded the fabled Group Theatre back in the 1930s. Stella, but of course, went on to become America’s foremost apostle of “Method” acting after her circa 1935 trip to the Moscow Art Theatre and meetings with thespian guru Constantin Stanislavski. As a teacher (and high priestess) Stella’s students (and acolytes) included Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, Robert De Niro and other luminaries of stage and screen who have lit up the creative constellations from the Great White Way to Hollywood. Love Letters is based on the correspondence between Group dir... full review