《愛情故事》主演45年後再攜手合作新戲
Remember “Love Story”? If you’re like me, you remember the book and movie, both written by the classics professor Erich Segal, vividly. You remember how Harvard-Radcliffe it was. You remember sobbing your eyes out, and how great that felt.
還記得《愛情故事》(Love Story)嗎？這本書和電影劇本都是由古典文學教授埃裏奇·西格爾(Erich Segal)創作的，如果你和我一樣的話，肯定也會對它們記憶猶新。你會記得哈佛大學拉德克里夫學院的景象，記得自己是怎樣哭紅了眼睛，那種感覺又是多麼美好。
Most of all, you remember how beautiful the leads, Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw, were. You recall waiting in the snow for hours during Christmas vacation of seventh grade at the Loew’s Tower East on 72nd and Third with Nancy Tichner and her mother — wait, that’s just me — to see it. It was worth it.
當然印象裏最清晰的還要算是美麗的兩位主演，瑞安·奧尼爾(Ryan O’Neal)和艾麗·麥古奧(Ali MacGraw)。你會記得七年級的那個聖誕節假期，冒着雪來到72街和第三大道交界的利奧大廈東影院，身邊是南希·迪徹納(Nancy Tichner)和她的媽媽——不對，好像只有我自己——等了幾個小時，只爲看這部片子。然而非常值得。
When I think of the 1970 movie, I see the montages of the lovers frolicking in the snow, in Cambridge and in Central Park. Which is why I am nonplused when I hear a familiar melody playing in an arts-center ballroom here: a jazzy “Silent Night,” though it’s 92 degrees outside.
每當我想起這部1970年的電影，我的腦海裏都會浮現出這對在雪中、在劍橋與中央公園嬉戲的情侶。所以當我在一處藝術中心的舞廳裏聽到熟悉的旋律——爵士版本的《平安夜》，不禁心頭一陣恍惚，儘管外面是92華氏度的高溫。
It’s the middle of July, and I’m in this blazing hot city to live out my adolescent fantasy and actually meet Ms. MacGraw and Mr. O’Neal. I’ll sit in on a news conference. Then I’ll conduct a private interview with them. And finally I’ll attend an early look at the Gregory Mosher-directed national tour of A. R. Gurney’s classic two-hander “Love Letters” with — together again for the first time in 45 years — Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal as the ink-crossed lovers. (It officially begins on Oct. 13 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.)
其時正值七月中旬，我在這個炎熱的城市裏重溫了青春期的舊夢，而且真的見到了麥古奧和奧尼爾，過一會兒還要對他們做私人採訪。我坐在新聞中心，參加由格里高利·莫舍(Gregory Mosher)執導、A·R格內(A. R. Gurney)編劇的經典雙人劇《情書》(Love Letters)全國巡演的試演會，艾麗·麥古奧和瑞安·奧尼爾將在45年後首次再度攜手，飾演一對鴻雁傳情的情侶。該劇將於10月13日在比弗利山莊，瓦利斯·安妮伯格表演藝術中心正式上演。
Before “The Little Drummer Boy” begins to play, they arrive. It’s them. Ms. MacGraw is still striking, and Mr. O’Neal remains handsome, but we can see the lives they’ve lived: Mr. O’Neal is using a cane to help steady himself after tearing his Achilles’ tendon, and the raven-haired Ms. MacGraw is mostly gray. Their enviable bone structures have been softened by the four decades they’ve spent since “Love Story,” and by some hard living on both of their parts: good breaks, bad breaks, scandal and divorce. He’s in a blazer and button-down shirt, and she is in an Indian kurta and white jeans, wearing a chic assortment of silver jewelry.
不等音樂放到《小鼓手》(The Little Drummer Boy)，他們就來了。正是他們。麥古奧依舊美麗，奧尼爾亦是英俊如昔。但我們可以看到歲月留下的痕跡。自從跟腱斷裂後，奧尼爾就得拄着柺杖才能站穩。麥古奧當年的一頭黑髮也變得花白。自從《愛情故事》之後，時間已經過去了四十多年，好時光、壞時光，醜聞與離婚……歲月和生活的艱辛讓他們令人妒忌的身材變得鬆弛下來。他穿鈕釦領襯衣，外罩運動衫；她穿印度式長袖衫和白色牛仔褲，佩戴各種時髦的銀首飾。
Their easy affection is apparent. As they are asked the usual anodyne questions (“Do you still have chemistry?”), they playfully hug, swat and pat each another. Mr. O’Neal cracks one self-deprecating remark after another – “She’s one of the few women who will still talk to me” — which make Ms. MacGraw laugh till she snorts.
兩人之間顯然有種輕鬆的感情，被問到那些常見的乏味問題時（“你們之間還有化學反應嗎？”），他們開玩笑地擁抱，拍打對方。奧尼爾不住自嘲——“她是爲數不多的幾個還肯跟我說話的女人”——麥古奧聽了忍不住大笑起來，最後嗤之以鼻。
The two had been in touch off and on over the years, mostly via letters and phone calls. Then, as part of a feature last year in The Hollywood Reporter, the stars of “Love Story” — the quintessential movie romance, at least until Nicholas Sparks picked up his laptop — were brought together for an interview. The accompanying images affected Nelle Nugent, a veteran producer who produced “Love Letters” on Broadway last year.
多年來，兩人一直斷斷續續地保持聯繫，主要是通過書信和電話。《愛情故事》一直是經典的浪漫愛情電影，至少是直到尼古拉斯·斯帕克斯( Nicholas Sparks)開始寫作，因此，去年，《好萊塢報道者》(Hollywood Reporter)把劇中這兩位主演又拉在一起做了一次採訪。兩人在一起的形象打動了資深製作人奈麗·奈金特(Nelle Nugent)，去年她在百老匯製作了《情書》。
Despite positive reviews for the play (“Deceptively simple and quietly moving” — The New York Times), that run closed after three months. It was the oft-produced play’s first time on Broadway. Indeed, some of the rotating cast members didn’t get their chances to read at the table.
儘管這部舞臺劇頗受好評（“看似簡單，其實不然，平靜之下感人至深”——《紐約時報》），這部劇只上演了三個月。它雖然經常上演，但在百老匯還是第一次。有些輪換演員甚至連登臺演出的機會都沒有。
Ms. Nugent suggested the O’Neal/MacGraw pairing to Broadway Across America, the largest presenter of touring shows, and with the O.K.'s of the playwright and director, they got to it.
奈金特建議奧尼爾/麥古奧組合做“全美百老匯”(Broadway Across America)巡演，這是規模最大的巡演體系，編劇和導演都同意，他們就開始行動了。
While “Love Letters” is no sequel to “Love Story,” it feels cut from similar tweed, and — this has to be said – it is the better written of the two. Andrew Makepeace Ladd III could be Oliver Barrett IV of “Love Story,” though he attends Yale and joins the service before he heads to Harvard Law School. Melissa Gardner is a Fairfield County black sheep bohemian, though unlike Jenny Cavilleri, the feisty scholarship student in the Segal tale, she is rich, as she frequently, and bluntly, reminds Andy. Through letters, post cards, invitations and notes of apology, Mr. Gurney’s play chronicles a 50-year friendship of two loving friends and reveals a woody wagon full of regrets.
雖然《情書》並不是《愛情故事》的續集，但確有異曲同工之感，而且必須說，它是兩人更好的寫照。劇中的安德魯·梅克皮斯·拉德三世(Andrew Makepeace Ladd III)也可以是《愛情故事》中的奧利弗·巴瑞特四世(Oliver Barrett IV)，但安德魯上的是耶魯大學，後來去服兵役，之後纔去了哈佛法學院。梅麗莎·加德納(Melissa Gardner)來自菲爾菲爾德郡，是個叛逆的波西米亞女郎，不過和西格爾筆下那個倔強的女學生不一樣，梅麗莎很有錢，而且她經常笨拙地這樣提醒劇中被稱爲“安迪”的安德魯。通過書信、明信片、邀請函和道歉信，格內的劇本記述兩個相愛的朋友之間50年的友誼，揭示出無數悔恨與遺憾。
After the news conference, we go to dinner at a nearby restaurant — Mr. O’Neal and Charlie Mattera, a screenwriting friend who is acting as his fixer on the road, Ms. MacGraw, and me. I’m cool on the surface – at least indoors where it’s air-conditioned — but inside I’m thinking about everything that we have in common (and not just how I couldn’t have written my “Preppy Handbook” without “Love Story.”)
新聞發佈會後，我們到旁邊的餐廳去吃晚飯，有奧尼爾、他的編劇朋友兼巡演助理查理·馬塔拉(Charlie Mattera)、麥古奧和我。我表面上還算冷靜——至少是在有空調的室內——但在內心深處盤算着各種能聊的共同話題（不僅僅是說沒了《愛情故事》，我是寫不出我的《預科生手冊》[Preppy Handbook]的）。
Like her, my young success was my greatest success, and I’ve always had an ambivalent relationship to my early career. And neither of us wears makeup!
和麥古奧一樣，我一生最大的成就是在年輕時取得的，我一直對自己的早年成就抱有含糊的態度。而且我們倆都不化妝！
Like him, I use humor as a tool to keep things light, and we’re also sentimental.
和奧尼爾一樣，我也喜歡用幽默來輕鬆氣氛，而且我倆都有點多愁善感。
Ms. MacGraw, 76, and Mr. O’Neal, 74, have survived in an industry where few dare appear in public at 76 and 74. The names that dot the stories they tell include Farrah Fawcett and Steve McQueen, of course, but also Cary Grant, William Holden, Charles Bronson, Myrna Loy, Bette Davis, Sue Mengers and Frank Sinatra. Between them, they know or knew everyone.
麥古奧今年76歲，奧尼爾今年74歲，在這樣一個人到76或74就很少敢於公開亮相的行業裏，他倆還蔚然挺立。曾經出現在他們生命中的名人自然包括了法拉·福塞特(Farrah Fawcett)和史蒂夫·麥奎因(Steve McQueen)，但也有加里·格蘭特(Cary Grant)、威廉·霍爾登(William Holden)、查爾斯·布朗森(Charles Bronson)、瑪娜·洛伊(Myrna Loy)、貝蒂·戴維斯(Bette Davis)、蘇·門格斯(Sue Mengers)和弗蘭克·辛納塔(Frank Sinatra)。兩人和這些人彼此之間都認識。
Still, they seem incredulously grateful to be working together again, and in a two-hander that is slated to take them to Hartford, Boston, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Detroit, Dallas and Tulsa. The Ft. Lauderdale stop is a kind of out-of-town tryout.
他們似乎仍然對能夠重新在一起合作表示非常感激，而且這部雙人劇即將在哈佛、波士頓、水牛城、匹茲堡、巴爾的摩、底特律、達拉斯和塔爾薩上演。勞德代爾堡的一站是一場額外試演。
It’s touching to see how concerned they are about doing a good job. That their director, Mr. Mosher, is in Kenya and South Africa, directing “Antigone” in churches and community centers, doesn’t make things easier. Though they rehearsed with him in February, filmed their run-through and spoke with him over the phone, they haven’t seen him in a while, and his absence adds to what appears to be a growing case of the now openly discussed jitters.
兩人非常盡力想演好這部戲，令人深深感動。導演莫舍目前正在肯尼亞與南非執導在教堂與社區中心上演的《安提戈涅》(Antigone)，這讓工作變得更加困難。2月，兩人曾經和莫舍一起排練，他們把排練拍攝下來，和他通過電話交流，但他們已經有段時間沒見過面了，莫舍的缺席更加重了公開的不安情緒。
Over salads (actors!), I ask them what they’re feeling on the eve of their first performance.
吃着沙拉（畢竟是演員！），我問他們，第一場演出前夜是什麼感覺。
“This is a little scary, not big scary,” Ms. MacGraw declared. “I feel supported. There’s the comfort of doing it with someone I’ve adored for 44 years.”
“稍微有點害怕，但不是特別害怕，”麥古奧說，“我覺得自己得到了支持。和自己喜歡了44年的人一起工作很舒服。”
“The key is she and I,” Mr. O’Neal said. “It’s meant to be. It’s the best acting Ali has ever done. You understand completely why he was in love with her.” Turning to Ms. MacGraw, he added, “It’s like it was written for you.”
“她和我在一起是關鍵，”奧尼爾說。“本來就應該是這樣。這是艾麗迄今最好的演出。能讓你徹底理解他爲什麼愛上她。”他轉向麥古奧說，“這個角色就是爲你量身定製的。”
Ms. MacGraw grew up in Westchester County, where her parents were artists. Her town was made up of haves, but she was a scholarship student at Rosemary Hall, a prestigious girls’ boarding school (which was absorbed by Choate). From there, she went on to Wellesley College, again on a scholarship.
麥古奧在韋斯特切斯特郡長大，父母都是藝術家。她的家鄉全是富人，但她卻在羅斯瑪麗霍爾學校考取了獎學金，這是個受人尊敬的女子寄宿學院，後來被喬特學校合併。後來她又上了衛斯理學院，依然是靠獎學金就讀。
With her grand education and patrician looks, Ms. MacGraw was more than believable in “Love Story”; she was nominated for an Academy Award. She had a big life, an older, powerful husband in the studio executive Robert Evans, and a baby. By 1972, she was making “The Getaway” for the director Sam Peckinpah, and falling madly in love with her co-star, Steve McQueen.
因爲不俗的教育背景與高貴的相貌，麥古奧在《愛情故事》中的表演頗具說服力，並獲得一項奧斯卡獎提名。她的人生步入巔峯，丈夫是電影公司高管羅伯特·伊文思(Robert Evans)，年長而極具權勢，她生了一個孩子。1972年，她在拍攝薩姆·佩金帕(Sam Peckinpah)導演的《亡命大煞星》(The Getaway)一片時，與男主演史蒂夫·麥奎因陷入了瘋狂的戀情。
She got divorced, married McQueen and became a housewife. After divorcing him, enduring a catastrophic fire at her home in Malibu and having only six films on her résumé, she left show business and Los Angeles and has since lived in Santa Fe, where she has a quiet life, engaged mostly in community service and seeing friends.
她離了婚，嫁給麥奎因，成了家庭主婦。與麥奎因離婚後，她在馬里布海灘的家經歷了毀滅性的大火災，最後她的履歷上只有六部影片，她離開了演藝界與洛杉磯，此後就一直住在聖塔菲，過着安靜的生活，主要是參與社區服務，見見朋友。
She has a son with Mr. Evans and a 4-year-old grandson. A serious practitioner of yoga, she is fit and elegant, meaning she looks at least 10 years younger than her age. Twenty five years ago, she performed in “Love Letters” in Texas opposite Robert Foxworth. “I was too young then,” she says. “I didn’t get it.”
她和伊文思生有一子，目前還有個四歲的孫子。她一直刻苦地練習瑜伽，所以身材苗條優雅，看上去比實際年齡至少年輕十歲。25年前，她曾經在德克薩斯與羅伯特·福克沃斯(Robert Foxworth)同臺共演《情書》。“我那時太年輕，還不理解這種感情，”她說。
Mr. O’Neal has never stopped working as an actor. From his early days on TV to big movies like “Paper Moon,” “What’s Up, Doc?” and “Barry Lyndon” — not to mention his public life with Farrah Fawcett — he is a figure of Hollywood. He has a well maintained website and social media accounts. Although I hadn’t been paying attention until July, he has a digital trail of tabloidy stories, mostly for activities and misdeeds from long ago.
奧尼爾一直沒有停止演員生涯。他早年曾經演過電視劇，後來又演過《紙月亮》(Paper Moon)、《愛的大追蹤》(What’s Up, Doc?)和巴里·林登(Barry Lyndon)等大片。更別提他和法拉·福塞特的公衆生活，他在好萊塢算是一號人物。他有精心維護的官網和數個社交媒體賬戶。儘管直到7月我纔開始關注，但他其實在網上許多小道故事裏都出現了，主要是關於社會活動和很久以前的荒唐事。
He is far from preppy in real life. College was never on his agenda; instead he was a boxer until he decided to act. Yet the East Coast blue blood is the man he has portrayed, once and again.
現實生活中，他和預科生相去甚遠。大學從來不在他的人生計劃之內。其實從事表演之前，他本來是個拳擊手，然而卻一再飾演東海岸的藍血貴族。
I asked him why he became Hollywood’s Ur-preppy. “I think it’s the scarf,” was his answer.
我問他，爲什麼他成了好萊塢的都市預科生。回答是，“我覺得可能是領帶的緣故。”
“Love Letters” is Mr. O’Neal’s stage debut. Why bother doing the hard work of traveling and being vulnerable in front of a live audience? “I wanted to get closer to Ali again,” he says. Besides, “what would be the downside? To get paid to have her in my arms? And it’s a new challenge.”
《情書》是奧尼爾第一次在舞臺上亮相。要長途旅行，還要面對現場觀衆的品頭評足，爲什麼要做這吃力不討好的工作呢？“我想再一次親近艾麗，”他說。此外，“這能有什麼壞處，能擁抱她，還有人給我付錢？而且這也是個新挑戰。”
He and Ms. Fawcett had been offered the play earlier, for a run in Las Vegas. “It was just wrong for Farrah,’’ he says. “I never even finished it.” On the other hand, “I’m the right guy now, and it’s perfect for us. Ali and I just pick up where we left off.”
早些時候，曾有人邀請他與福塞特在拉斯維加斯上演該劇。“這個角色不適合法拉，”他說，“我根本沒能完成它。”另一方面，“我現在已經成了合適的男演員，這個劇對我們倆來說都很完美。艾麗和我撿起了我們遺下的東西。”
Live theater — even without the pressure of having to memorize the script – is not a cakewalk. She was not interested until he was in, and vice versa. And the theyness of the project just works. (A Miami Herald critic thought so, too: “With their skills, their shared history and their movie-star aura, MacGraw and O’Neal take several thousand attentive people at a time on a simply delivered but emotionally engaging trip through a different era,” she wrote of the Ft. Lauderdale engagement.)
就算沒有背臺詞的壓力，現場演出也絕不輕鬆。直到他加入進來，她纔開始感興趣，他也是一樣。兩人之間的化學反應運作得很好。《邁阿密先鋒報》(Miami Herald)的評論家也這麼認爲，她在爲勞德代爾堡的演出評論中寫道：“麥古奧和奧尼爾的技巧、他們共同的歷史與電影明星的光環，把千餘名聚精會神的觀衆帶往一個不同的時代，踏上一次簡單質樸而又充滿情感的旅行。”
Back in 1970, Mr. Mosher, the director, was thinking more about the Vietnam War and Kent State from his perch at Oberlin College than sentimental me was, and knew about “Love Story” only as a reference point. He didn’t see the movie until later, and even now he’s surprised by the big effect the stars still make together.
1970年，導演莫舍在歐柏林學院就讀，腦子裏思考的大都是越戰、肯特州之類的事情，不像我這麼多愁善感，他只是聽說過《愛情故事》，最近纔看過那部片子，不過就算是在現在，他也爲兩位影星在一起依然能夠產生那麼大的化學效應感到震驚。
In a reference Erich Segal would approve, Mr. Mosher cites “The Age of Insight,” a book by the Nobel Prize-winning neuropsychiatrist Eric Kandel. The book talks about “the beholder’s share,” in which the viewer’s participation enhances the work of art in a sort of collaboration.
莫舍還搬出了諾貝爾獎得主，神經心理學家埃裏克·坎德爾(Eric Kandel)在《思想的年代》(The Age of Insight)一書，這本書講的是“旁觀者的分享”，觀者的參與如同一種合作，增添了藝術品的魅力，埃裏奇·西格爾無疑會對他的話表示贊同。
“Ryan and Ali trigger a very powerful beholder’s share,” Mr. Mosher said. “Their impact on our psyches happened together, and they are very generous performers.”
“瑞安和艾麗觸發了非常強烈的‘觀者分享’，”莫舍說。“與此同時，他們深深觸動了我們的靈魂，他們是非常大方的演員。”
The next night, when Ms. MacGraw and Mr. O’Neal walk out onstage at the 2,700-seat theater, they look so small. I’m feeling protective of my Jenny and Oliver. The audience rewards them with big applause. I can’t relax until they get their first laugh. And then I remember: I have three children, who don’t know where I am.
接下來的晚上，麥古奧和奧尼爾在一個有2700個座位的劇院演出，他們在臺上看上去那麼小。我真想保護我的詹尼和奧利佛啊。觀衆向他們報以熱烈的掌聲，直到看到觀衆們第一次大笑起來，我才鬆了口氣，接下來纔想起：我有三個孩子，他們根本不知道我到這兒來了。
I agree with Mr. O’Neal; the actors are doing what they’re meant to do, using one another’s encouragement and affection as life support. I forget that they are senior citizens as they take the stage in “Love Letters.”
我同意奧尼爾的話，演員就是做他們本來就應該做的事情，用彼此之間的鼓勵與愛作爲生命的支撐。當他們走上舞臺，上演《情書》，我忘記了他們已經是古稀老人。
They’re young again, laughing at their private jokes and playing in the snow.
他們再度回到青春歲月，爲私下的玩笑捧腹不已，在漫天飛雪中嬉戲。
