Sarah Jessica Parker and Mathew Broderick on reviving Neil Simon's hit 'Plaza Suite'

Sarah Jessica Parker and Mathew Broderick on reviving Neil Simon's hit 'Plaza¹ Suite²'

　　Transcript³

　　NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with the two stars of the Broadway revival⁴ of Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite," Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.

　　RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

　　One of Hollywood's most beloved couples is currently starring on Broadway together in a three-part meditation⁵ on marriage.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

　　SARAH JESSICA PARKER: (As Karen) Today is December 14, isn't it?

　　MATTHEW BRODERICK: (As Sam) Yes.

　　PARKER: (As Karen) So? We're married 24 years today.

　　BRODERICK: (As Sam) Are you serious?

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　MARTIN: That's Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick in Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite," first staged in 1968. It ran for a few weeks in Boston, but the very day it was supposed to open on Broadway in 2020, the pandemic shut everything down. Now Broadway is back, and their play officially opens tonight. I asked them why, of all the projects, of all the plays that they could have done together, why this one was the right fit.

　　PARKER: We hadn't been looking to work together, not at all - like, right, Matthew?

　　BRODERICK: Yeah. I just remember we enjoyed reading it, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. They were very old people. But they - and...

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　MARTIN: Well, it's sort of an old play.

　　BRODERICK: Yes. And I'm old.

　　MARTIN: (Laughter).

　　PARKER: Go back where you don't call the audience old.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　BRODERICK: Well, I mean that in a nice way. I'm elderly. My brothers and sisters of white hair were sitting there, laughing with me.

　　PARKER: Not only those.

　　MARTIN: As you can hear, the two of them have such an easy way with each other, as you'd expect from a couple who've been together roughly 30 years, which makes them perfect for this play. It's about three different couples, each at different stages of their relationships, but all the stories take place in the same hotel suite. Some aspects feel universal; others, like the gender⁶ roles, feel of another time. In the first act, Sarah Jessica plays a middle-aged⁷ woman named Karen, who has planned this romantic night at the Plaza Hotel with her husband, Sam. Then she finds out he's been having an affair, and she gets desperate.

　　PARKER: She says, I understand it, Sam. It's not your fault.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

　　PARKER: (As Karen) But maybe I can live with it until it's over. What else can I do? I'm attached to you.

　　I think that is devastating⁸.

　　BRODERICK: Right.

　　PARKER: She says, well, what is it you want, Sam? And he says, I just want to do it all over again. Heart-rending - because it's not his fault (laughter). You know what I mean?

　　MARTIN: Well, it is, and it isn't. I sort of wanted to punch him in the face in that moment.

　　PARKER: Right?

　　BRODERICK: (Laughter).

　　PARKER: You know, it's 1968, so we are really talking about generational sexual politics - women's and men's roles, who they think they are. They're on the cusp of the women's movement. She's been exposed to these conversations. Like, they're on the fringe, right? And she thinks she's going to escape it and be modern and love her husband in traditional, what would be considered old-fashioned ways.

　　MARTIN: The second act is about a couple on the verge⁹ of an affair, and it's about power and mutual¹⁰ exploitation in romantic love. Then the last act is the lightest of the three. It's about a married couple trying to help their daughter get over cold feet on her wedding day. But Parker and Broderick's characters are bickering¹¹ the entire time.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

　　BRODERICK: (As Roy) Where's Mimsey?

　　PARKER: (As Norma) Promise you're not going to blame me?

　　BRODERICK: (As Roy) Blame you for what? What did you do?

　　PARKER: (As Norma) I didn't do anything, but I don't want to get blamed for it.

　　MARTIN: Was Neil Simon a fan of marriage?

　　BRODERICK: Well, he got married many times, so he must have been.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　MARTIN: An eternal optimist¹².

　　BRODERICK: Yeah. I mean, he had a hard time with it, I guess. But Neil Simon - I love Neil Simon partly because he can be very funny and also very serious in a way. And I think that what the daughter is afraid of is becoming them and the parents desperately¹³ trying to get the kid to take this step, and she's saying, but I don't want to be like you.

　　MARTIN: It's not lost on the audience that the two people playing these characters and these different portraits of marriage over time are you two, who have been married a long time. So in Sam, the character out of the first act, I walked away thinking that he felt marriage had contracted his life, had limited him in some way, at least in that moment. And I am betting marriage has not contracted your life, or you wouldn't have stuck with it. So if you wouldn't mind sharing the ways in which each of you feel that marriage has expanded your life.

　　PARKER: I will in very vague terms because I love not talking about our marriage, actually. It's the - one of the few things that we have managed to sort of be somewhat - what's the word, Matty (ph)?

　　BRODERICK: Private?

　　PARKER: Private but not withholding¹⁴.

　　BRODERICK: Yeah.

　　PARKER: Like, I will give you a general but real answer, which is that it has not contracted my life. Had I not met this particular man, married him, shared this life, found our way to creating a family, these wouldn't be the memories we share, and so I can't imagine seeing anything contracting. I only see growth. Matty, what do you think?

　　BRODERICK: Everything is contracting in a way as you...

　　PARKER: Get older.

　　BRODERICK: ...You know, get middle-aged. And I love my children more than anything in the world - and my wife. But I also - you know, everybody who has children knows you no longer can get on a plane and say, I'm going to go live in Paris for a year, you know? It's a limiter. It's a growth and a limiter. It's both.

　　PARKER: And it's not to suggest that people that find its limitations unbearable¹⁵ don't have every right to pursue a different life. Joy and satisfaction and contentment can be found in so many ways. And I think that's the question that the first two plays are asking, is where do I find mine, and how do I find mine, and can we find it together, or am I alone?

　　MARTIN: When I saw the play, at the end, the curtain call, Sarah Jessica, you went down with the curtain. And I don't know if this is something you do all the time.

　　PARKER: (Laughter).

　　MARTIN: Your little face just kept going as the curtain was descending¹⁶.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　BRODERICK: She doesn't want to leave.

　　MARTIN: Right. Right. You are left with this idea that you do have a connection to the work and that you did share something with the people in the audience and that you did enjoy it.

　　PARKER: I hope that's the feeling. I mean, I think the reason I do that is that, you know, we can't thank everybody for being there personally. But they waited two years. A lot of people held on to those tickets. Most people did not ask for their money back. They said, no, we'll wait. And so I stayed with them as long as I can, simply to try to convey our gratitude¹⁷. It's not Matthew's style to go crouch¹⁸ with his face at the - but he feels it, too. So...

　　BRODERICK: I can't bend my knees that - more...

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　PARKER: Yeah, no. It's like, seven knee surgeries doesn't allow that. But it's simply my way of trying to say thank you.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

　　MARTIN: Oh, it was so lovely to talk with both of you, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. They star in the new Broadway play "Plaza Suite." Thanks to both of you.

　　PARKER: Thank you.

　　BRODERICK: Thank you.

　　PARKER: Thank you so much.

1 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

2 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

5 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

6 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

7 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

8 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

9 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

10 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

11 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 optimist   

n.乐观的人，乐观主义者

参考例句：

• We are optimist and realist.我们是乐观主义者，又是现实主义者。
• Peter,ever the optimist,said things were bound to improve.一向乐观的皮特说，事情必定是会好转的。

13 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

14 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

15 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

16 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

17 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

18 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。