The Road For Driving Miss Daisy Leads To The Plaza

To get to Carnegie Hall it takes practice. For James Earl Jones, to get to The Plaza on opening night of Driving Miss Daisy, it took a 1950 Packard — the very same model the actor drives on stage at the John Golden Theatre.

Moments after the car had pulled up in front of The Plaza’s entrance, Mr. Jones and his wife were stepping out on to the red carpet, just in time for the opening night after-party in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom. How was the drive? “Wonderful. It’s a tank,” he told CPS Events at The Plaza. A large crowd assembled around the official press area outside to catch glimpses of the play’s three stars, Mr. Jones, Vanessa Redgrave and Boyd Gaines. There were a lot of flashbulbs and recorders taking down bon mots.

And then, it was time to kick back in the Ballroom for a hearty and soulful evening supper: a buffet offering perfect Monday night fare: salad, salmon, chicken, pasta. Some guests said the after-party harkened back to Broadway days long ago when the parties not only had panache but a sense of community. “We’d sit around and wait for the reviews to come in, and if they were good, we’d party for another few hours,” the actor Tony Roberts said. There was definitely a sense of theater family in the room; the guest list included everyone from the show’s producers to the show’s wardrobe staff.

Photo credit: Amanda Gordon

Source: Great Performances.com