My Name Is Lucy Barton could win Linney a Tony Award.
And maybe a Grammy, too.
Lucy Barton is a woman of many lives.
Credit: Matthew Murphy
Shortly before beginning performances, EW spoke to Linney about reprising the part for both projects.
Then I read it again, and I read it again.
When something is adapted [for theater], it has to come up and off the page.
You have to give yourself permission to let that happen.
The actual sentences are all Lizs, but the actual sequence of the writing has been changed.
Its a different experience than reading the book, thats for sure.
This Broadway show is co-produced by Penguin Random House Audio.
Hopefully its a mutually beneficial give-and-take.
And again, doing the audiobook, I had to let it be a totally different thing.
I couldnt do the audiobook the way I do the play.
And yet I wasnt reading the book!
How did you find the experience?It was tricky.
But maybe it was better that I did it when I was a little far away from that.
You just have to pitch things differently.
You cant perform it; you have to gently give it.
You have to get more intimate with it, I think.
Im whispering in someones ear.
Im not talking to them as if theyre in the back row.
Did you have your director, Richard Eyre, in the booth with you?Nope.
I just went in and did it.
[Laughs] There was a producer who was there, certainly…who had me go back.
If there was a click or a sound wasnt quite perfect.
But I wouldnt say it was directed.
She was certainly there to answer questions and I had questions!How should I do this?
How do I do this?I have no idea how it turned out.
I have no idea, if I listened to it, if Id like it or not.
I really dont know.
Do you have any history with the form?
Is it one you enjoy?I grew up on spoken-word albums.
My father had a ton of them.
I listened to all of the great British actors.
I loved those albums, just loved them.
There was a record of Basil Rathbone reading Poe, which I loved.
And there was anAs You Like Itwith a young Maggie Smith.
That made me uncomfortable.
I wish Id been able to record it after the run was over.
But its a great thing for people to have.
There are things that I discovered during the second go that I didnt know about.
And now there are things Im discovering now.
Thats the thing that theater gives you that other mediums dont: time.
Its an ingredient you cant force, you cant generate.
You have to earn it.
If you have the patience, it will really reward you.
[Laughs] No, no, no.
TheMy Name Is Lucy Bartonaudiobook will be released Feb. 4, and isavailable for pre-order.
