“No one does shows about this!”: Laura Linney on her theatrical new feel-good show American Classic
Cue the heavy red velvet curtain
As much as we love an action-packed thriller, a true crime documentary, a proper edge-of-your-seat watching-from-behind-a-cushion drama, sometimes TV calls for something a little more feel good. Luckily MGM+ heard the calls and decided to give us the new series American Classic.
Starring Laura Linney and Kevin Kline, the comedy-drama series follows Broadway star Richard Bean, who returns to his small-town roots to save his family's struggling theatre after a rather public breakdown. It’s the kind of show that actors love, showing off the best of what theatre brings to communities.
At a special screening at Soho Hotel, show star Laura Linney joined by show creator Michael Hoffman sat down to chat about why the series is so special, and most importantly, what it was like behind the scenes.
For both of them, the show is about “what it means to be relevant when we’re living in a world with a limited amount of time.”
For Linney, it's a more personal project: “I absolutely grew up in the theatre - so it was wonderful,” she explained.
“It’s always delicious being in a world that, you know, sort of reverberates around you. And I grew up in New York City, but during the summers, I was an apprentice in a theatre very much like the theatre in our show called the New London Barn Playhouse in New Hampshire. I was young, working backstage running lights and sets. The community that theatres create in a small town is really important and medicinal for the entire community."
“No one does shows about this!” she added, laughing. “And everyone in the show is a diehard theatre veteran. It meant a lot to all of us.”
It’s fair to say that the show itself pokes a lot of fun at theatrical types and ego-driven actors in general, rolling its eyes with the rest of the world good naturedly at the old vets whose beliefs in their own talents occasionally outweigh their actual talents.
“I think personalities are fun to critique,” the pair agreed diplomatically.
Even by the first couple of episodes, you’ll get that nice warm feeling – and according to the creatives behind it, that’s just as much about the subject matter (the theatres) as the show itself.
“Theatres are so welcoming,” Michael Hoffman shared. “It’s a communal experience and storytelling.”
“Theatre and the arts in general introduces you to parts of yourself you don't know exist,” Linney agreed. “And you cannot help but grow and evolve, no matter what age you are. It just keeps you alive in a very different sort of way.”
In a slightly meta fashion, the show American Classic is reviving an American Classic, a play called Our Town.
“What's remarkable about it [Our Town] and any other classic, for that matter, is that it hits you very hard no matter what age you are. And it hits you in a different way,” Linney explained.
"For me, that's the definition of a classic: something that you can see when you are 13, 23, 33, 43, 53, all the way up, and it will hit you equally hard in a very different transformative way."
The good news is that American Classic was just as lovely to work on behind the scenes as it is to watch on screen. Theatres foster connections between different people, all generations, with bonds forming quickly and deeply. And so it would seem that life imitates art – and visa versa.
“I don't know if you know, but Lynn Carey, who plays our father, was the original Sweeney Todd. He is a legend in the theatre, and we are so lucky to have him,” Linney explained.
“And to see him and Nell [Verlaque, who plays Miranda] interact together every day just made me weep all the time. There's something about the theatre that does not exist in film, because we have time together, what the theatre has that film and TV don't have is time which allows things to grow on its own timeline.
“When you're in the theatre, one of the best and worst things you can do to an older actor is ask for advice,” Linney continued laughing. “Because you're gonna get it. And you could get it for an hour at a time.”
“There is a responsibility that older actors have with younger actors to pass on and to have the arts continue so to see Len and Nell on set was really, really wonderful.” Linney concluded.
American Classic is available to stream now on MGM+.
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