Working with Tennessee: Charlotte Moore Discusses the Production of "A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur"

Set in a cramped St. Louis apartment in the mid-1930s, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur focuses on the tragicomic desperation of Dorothea, a high school civics teacher whose romantic illusions regarding the school’s principal collapse in the jostling exchange between two other characters: her protective roommate, Bodey, who views Dorothea as a match for Bodey’s twin brother, Buddy, and Dorothea’s domineering teaching colleague, Helena, who is desperate to move Dorothea into an expensive duplex with shared expenses. Hack became part of the company late in the game, replacing the original director and, according to Gussow, proving to be “extremely successful in orchestrating his actresses into an ensemble and in maintaining the play’s understated mood.” Appearing in the starring roles of Dorothea and Helena were, respectively, Shirley Knight and Charlotte Moore, both of whom would reprise their roles for the New York City production, which opened Off Broadway on January 21, 1979, at the Hudson Guild Theater. Ms. Moore’s extensive credits include the celebrated Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor production of Private Lives, a critically acclaimed performance in the New York premiere of A.R. Gurney’s The Perfect Party, and a starring role in the long-running Broadway revival of Meet Me in St. Louis.