‘The True’ all about Albany politics
ALBANY, N.Y. » There have been times when a play opening in New York City has caused some attention in this area. It could be when a local actor gets a big break or when a play that tried out in our area moves to Broadway.
However, “The True,” produced by The New Group now in previews at the Pershing Square Signature Center on 42nd Street for a Sept. 20 opening, has become the talk of the town. It certainly is the hot topic within political circles, and in Albany everywhere is within a political circle.
“The True” is all about Albany politics. The central figures are Polly Noonan and Mayor Erastus Corning II. She was Corning’s close confidant and trusted political advisor. Noonan is played by Edie Falco, best known for her work as Carmella in HBO’s “The Sopranos” and in the title role of “Nurse Jackie.”
Noonan was famous for her loyalty to Corning and her casual, blunt use of profanity in conversation. Noonan, who passed away in 2003, was known as a shrewd political power broker. Their personal relationship was as close as husband and wife, even though each was married to other people.
Mayor Corning, who served 41 years as the mayor of Albany, had one tough primary. “The True” is about that battle in 1977, six years before his death, when he faced a political upstart Harold Nolan. Corning and Noonan meet to strategize the primary campaign.
So far, it sounds like a typical political drama that could have been plotted by Albany literary legend William Kennedy. The difference is that “The True” is written by Sharr White, who is a successful playwright and a writer for the Showtime television series “The Affair.” It is feared White might exploit the innuendos that even in their lifetimes linked Noonan and Corning romantically as well as politically. Adding to the drama and political intrigue is that Noonan is the maternal grandmother of current United State Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Indeed, in a recent interview, playwright White said he first heard of Noonan when after Hillary Clinton resigned from the Senate seat to become Secretary of State, Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to take her seat by Governor David Patterson. He remembers reading that her appointment had, in part, something to do with repaying an old political debt he owed to Noonan.
“The idea of such inter- generational political loyalty intrigued me,” he said. He researched the political history of Albany and he discovered the influence that Noonan had within the Democratic party. It astounded White. “Let’s be clear, this was a woman who had enormous political power at a time when women had no place in politics,” he says.
White calls “The True” fiction and admits there is a lot of speculation in the play. He admits making up the situation in which the mayor is told by party boss, Dan O’Connell, to disassociate with Noonan because of her coarse speech and the growing innuendos about their relationship. He explains the need for the speculation, saying, “Most of their conversations took place behind closed doors.” However, he says, the play is “based on a skeleton of historical facts.”
Michael McKean, who plays Corning, says, “Love is definitely on the table,” but the actor preferred not to speculate on Corning’s relationship with Noonan, beyond saying “it brings a lot of traumatic energy” to the work.
McKean, whose large and diverse body of work includes playing Lenny on the early sit- com “Laverne and Shirley,” the lead singer in “This is Spinal Tap,” and most recently Chuck McGill on “Better Call Saul,” agrees with the closed-door aspect of the relationship. “The stakes are expressed in private. We don’t see them campaigning or making speeches. It is about their relationship with each other.”
McKean also shares White’s take on the provocative aspects of their relationship. “We are not blowing the lid off anything,” he says.
However, the play does not avoid the facts that White alludes to. It is a fact that Corning spent a great deal of time at the Noonan home, often sleeping over and taking the kids to school the next morning. When Corning died, he left his prosperous insurance company to the Noonan family and very little to his own children. Polly’s husband Peter ( played by Peter Scolari) is also a character in the play.
McKean agrees with the playwright that the major romance in the play has as much to do with politics as it does emotional relationships. “The love triangles in the play involve power, influence and organization. And the object of their affection is always the voter.”
As for his take on Corning, a taciturn man with an aristocratic demeanor, he says, “He played things tight to the vest. He might not always have known what cards he held, but he always knew who he had in his pocket.”
As for the concerns of those who fear that “The True” is an exploitive, tellall story, the playwright says. “This really is a sympathetic look at Polly Noonan. I could have made the story as salacious as I wanted. I had no interest in writing a salacious story. This is a story about dedication. She was dedicated to Mayor Corning and to his career. I see this as a story about two people who are true to themselves, true to each other and true to their principles.”
“The True” is now in previews at Pershing Square Signature Center, NYC. Opens September 20. For more information, visit https://www. thenewgroup.org/ 212-2869600.