THE LEHMAN TRILOGY - Edward Gero - Guthrie Theater

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY - Edward Gero - Guthrie Theater

The Lehman Trilogy is now in rehearsal at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stefano Massini’s epic multi-generational story, adapted by Ben Power and directed by Arin Arbus, chronicles the true-to-life rise of three Jewish immigrant brothers who built their own version of the American Dream from a small fabric business in 1844 to the international financial firm whose spectacular collapse in 2008 sent global markets spiraling out of control. The Guthrie Theater production includes Edward Gero, Mark Nelson and William Sturdivant in the cast of three who play the Lehman brothers and recreate all of the over fifty other roles.

Edward Gero’s performance is another highlight in a distinguished, award-winning career spanning forty-seven years with upwards to one hundred fifty roles and counting. In our 2018 CONVERSATION, Gero was in the middle of a run of The Originalist at Court Theatre in Chicago. Last season in Washington, he appeared in Angels in America at Arena Stage and earlier this year, in the critically-acclaimed production of The Lehman Trilogy at the Shakespeare Theatre Company that has now transferred to the Guthrie and opening September 19, 2024.

There is much more in our CONVERSATION about the inner workings of the show and balancing a professional career with the rigors of serving as a full professor at George Mason University from one of America’s most accomplished and gifted actors, Edward Gero.

LISTEN to the CONVERSATIONS podcast on Apple Podcasts

About The Lehman Trilogy …
Edward Gero: “The Lehman Trilogy is an amazing piece of writing. It's a play that covers the arc of the Lehman Brothers who arrived in 1844 in America and we follow the family over several generations, 150 years, through to the collapse of the Lehman Corporation in 2008. … we're really seeing the story of the rise of America and capitalism through the immigrant experience of these three men and their descendants. It's a remarkable play … three acts. … in a Greek trilogy form. Three actors. Three hours. We never leave the stage and we play the three brothers and a total of probably fifty other characters by the end of the evening.”

On the Washington DC production …
EG: “We did the play back in March (2024) at the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington, directed by Arin Arbus. That was really daunting. It's a lot of text, right? … each one of us have roles that are longer than King Lear, probably close to Hamlet. So, it took two months to learn it, because it's not just straight dialogue. It's narrative. You become characters. It's a juggling act really and so that style of storytelling was very different. It's very Greek. I think that's my sense of it. It's like, let's gather around a fire and we're going to tell you the story of America through the eyes of these three brothers, and we'll take on the character as we go. We had maybe three and a half, four weeks of rehearsal to put it together. So we had to work ahead of time to be ready to get it up. … we worked very quickly and efficiently. And the design for those who have seen the Broadway production—it's now reopening on the West End—Sam Mendez directed it originally in a sort of acrylic box that moved very sort of contemporary. We did it on the proscenium. It was more open.”

Moving the show to the Guthrie …
EG: “We were very fortunate that the Guthrie was interested in bringing our team up here. We had to replace one actor. René Thornton Jr. was very fortunate to book (the national tour of) Harry Potter. We have William Sturdivant an actor from the Minneapolis area who's terrific. … Mark Nelson and I, who have done the play before, are finding different nuances. But we're shifting from a proscenium to a thrust. So that's challenging to unlearn what we knew … to open it up and change the space. And there's a much more intimate, direct connection to the audience in this configuration than the proscenium. It's the same set. They had to make some modifications. There are a lot of rear projections. So there is a sort of proscenium section of this thrust and the rear projection screens are there.”

Playing Multiple Characters …
EG: “The challenging ones are the ones that you have to turn on a dime and then let it go. And you have to want to find some way to establish it as quickly as you can. … changing the voice or changing the physicality, that's the challenge of keeping the balls up in the air. It really is juggling. Not only is it epic, Homeric—because the original novel is written by an Italian—there's also the Virgil tradition,. There is the Commedia tradition. There is Fellini. There is circus. It really feels like a circus. You're juggling lines, you're juggling characters and the magic of it is to be able to transform in a beat and then let it go in a beat.”

Performing at the Guthrie Theater…
EG: ”I've wanted to work here since I was a young actor. Many of the actors that I admired and watched and emulated and learned from and, in some cases, had the privilege of working with came from the Guthrie, whether it was with Tony Guthrie or Michael Lanham, Garland Wright, Joe Dowling. I have worked with Joe several times. It has been a destination. … The regional theater movement was sort of anchored by Arena Stage in Washington, the Goodman in Chicago, and the Guthrie in Minneapolis. And it took me forty years, but I finally got the trifecta. … It's a thrill and the new building is spectacular. The architecture is really interesting. I have not had a chance yet to explore Minneapolis because we are in rehearsal, but I am looking forward to maybe getting to a Vikings game.”

The Future …
EG: “There are some roles I'd like to do. I would like to get a shot at a play like Death of Salesman … or Prospero or Falstaff. I've done Falstaff in (Henry IV) Part 1. I'd like to finish that. Lear. … There are a few still out there … some got away… like Brutus and Iago, but, you know, maybe there's a chance for Iago. I don't know. I'll do the older version of Iago. Maybe he's just an old grouchy man, who knows.?”  

This content has been edited for clarity and length.

PHOTO|Joshua Cummins

GUTHRIE THEATER
presents

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

September 14 (Previews)
September 19-October 13, 2024

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PicksInSix Review: The Lehman Trilogy - Timeline Theatre Company | Broadway in Chicago

Searching For The Next Big Thing!
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

Though it's not customarily appropriate to disclose the ending of a dramatic piece up front—and certainly one as consequential as the Chicago premiere of the 2022 Tony Award-winning “The Lehman Trilogy,” a brilliantly staged co-production of TimeLine Theatre Company and Broadway in Chicago that opened at the Broadway Playhouse on Wednesday night—there it is right in front of us all at the top of the show: A blinding frenzy of news reports cascading across multiple screens on Collete Pollard’s striking, multi-level set composed of stacks of banker’s boxes, copy machines and office furniture. Few born before 1990 will need to know much more about the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis that toppled world financial organizations and placed tremendous hardship on America’s middle class.

“The Lehman Trilogy” serves as a rich and compelling reflection of our troubling financial times and a largely fact-based interpretation of the journey that led to this unimaginable end. The story hinges on the notion that the events that we know all too well are actually a consequence of succession and not of the vision and passion of its founders.

Wisely, and with blistering speed, “The Lehman Trilogy” focuses on the burgeoning path of their family pilgrimage to America, their aspirations and legacy. We first meet Heyum ‘Henry’ Lehman (Mitchell J. Fain), the eldest brother and patriarch of the family empire, as he arrives in New York in September 1844 and establishes a storefront business in Montgomery, Alabama.  Henry is joined by Mendel ‘Emanuel’ (Anish Jethmalani) in a few years and then by younger brother Maier ‘Mayer’ (Joey Slotnick).

Stefano Massini’s script, adapted by Ben Power, introduces several dozen characters—heirs, wives and business partners—who first emerge as brokers in the cotton industry in the pre-Civil War years; expand their influence with a major move to New York City that would eventually diversify business models during the Industrial Revolution and into the emerging Stock Market and then on to investment banking operations. Along the way, the Lehman’s developed dynamic investment philosophies and successfully navigated the aftermath of the 1929 Stock Market Crash in the face of enormous challenges.

Through it all, there is a willingness by the Lehmans to constantly look for opportunity—the next big thing—by taking a simple idea and making money with it. Lots of money.

Perhaps the most important element of this epic tale is not the accomplishments of the Lehmans to perpetuate their version of the American Dream, but rather the brilliantly imaginative way the story is told: with only three extraordinarily talented actors playing all roles over the course of the three-act production, one that moves so swiftly and with such grace, humor and pathos that we feel a sense of wonder and awe at every turn.  

There is an economy of scale to the entire production that co-directors Nick Bowling and Vanessa Stalling have baked into every scene that is worthy of a Lehman investment. At one moment, the Lehman brothers are head-to-head passionately debating the next iteration of the company or one is playfully wooing a partner into marriage. In the next moment, characters shift, the stage is on fire and the story launches forward, challenging the emergence of the next generation of the family to cope with molding America’s investment infrastructure on their own. It’s all together a fascinating adventure tale.

Pollard’s towering scenic landscape is richly amplified by the collective brilliance of John Culbert’s lighting design, Anthony Churchill’s projections, André Pluess soundscape and Izumi Inaba’s period costumes.

In truth, Robert Lehman, the last of the Lehman heirs to run the company in this exuberant, fast-paced and superbly staged production, passed away in 1969. The play then races to its conclusion with mergers, buyouts and the highly questionable move to mortgage acquisitions that led to the eventual collapse with nary a Lehman in sight.

By that time in the piece, having been gloriously entertained by these gifted performers, we are left with the understanding that the founders, and their heirs, had successfully pivoted in the face of every threat to the survival of the company for the next generation.

It’s no coincidence that “The Lehman Trilogy” is indeed the next big thing to strike a chord with audiences in Chicago. The show has already been extended through November 26.

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY
BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
present
THE LEHMAN TRILOGY
NOW EXTENDED
through November 26, 2023

BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE
at Watertower Place

TICKETS
WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC