Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have been short of stature but she was a giant in the world of legal justice, for women and men, blacks, Jews and Native Americans, and children. She was an outspoken advocate for gender equality for anyone who needed a voice, the “left out people,” winning arguments before the Supreme Court long before she became an illustrious member herself. A trailblazer, a member of the Harvard Law School, one of only nine women against five hundred men, Ruth employed liberal views of the law and never stepped back when she saw an injustice. Along the way, she earned a nickname and t-shirts taken from B.I.G. the Rapper as the “Notorious R.B.G.,” had a coloring book, workout book, bobblehead, tattoos, beer 9 (for when she was asked when there would be enough women on the Supreme Court, she answered nine), an opera (for her love of music and her deep friendship with fellow Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia), coffee cups, a species of praying mantis named for her and a Forever Stamp as well as much more memorabilia.
Ruth battled cancer five times, was the first to officiate at a same-sex marriage, was immortalized by Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live, solved the question that a hot dog is a sandwich with Stephen Colbert, attended college classes for her beloved husband and transcribed notes when he fought cancer while raising their daughter, earned more than two dozen honorary college degrees and in her chambers hung a sign “Zedek, zedek. tirdof” Justice, justice shall you pursue” as a reminder of her heritage and professional responsibility. Is it any wonder that Tony Award-winning playwright Rupert Holmes would use the pandemic to create a one-woman play about Ruth, a woman who reminded him of his wife who also lost a parent in high school and went to law school while raising a child, someone he greatly admired and appealed to him on so many levels.
To Holmes, this play about Ruth is “a passion project and a perfect fit.” It opened in 2022 on Yom Kippur after he had found the perfect actress Michelle Azar to become this Great Dissenter with elegance and truth, with an authentic, fluid and dynamic script: “All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” The Westport Country Playhouse will be entertaining Ruth in her intimate legal chambers from Friday to Sunday, May 3-5 for a ninety five minute conversation that is both heartfelt and a little heartbreaking, meeting her as a dear friend who wants you to understand her journey. Laley Lippard sensitively and strongly directs Ruth’s talk to a visiting friend of her granddaughter's in her elegant legal chambers. Please join them.
To Rupert Holmes, Michelle Azar “inhabits her (Ruth) and channels her so authentically.” For Michelle Azar, after securing the role she did a deep dive into what made her tick, to pay homage to her, to honor her, viewing her as a lady who was willing to fight for her beliefs, shy as well as feisty, wanting to get into Ruth’s psyche and portray her with conviction. She calls Rupert a “master storyteller,” who uses music and projections to round out the tale and infuse Ruth’s spirit. Playing Ruth, Michelle feels, has changed her “enormously. I feel more tolerant and patient, wiser, older, humble, even more feisty, like I can claim my strengths. I can appreciate my parents more and it has changed how I am raising my own daughters, one almost 19 and the other 23. Ruth has been a gift.”
Michelle hopes audiences will gain admiration and respect for Ruth and learn each of us can do something to make the world a better place to live. She feels work has to be done, to make a peaceful protest for change. She loves Connecticut and is anxious to welcome spring here soon.
For tickets ($45-55), call the Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Power Court, Westport at 203-227-4177 or online at boxoffice@westportplayhouse.org or https://www.westportplayhouse.org/show/all-things-equal-the-life-and-trials-of-ruth-bader-ginsburg/ Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.
As Rupert Holmes explained it, "I believe 'All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg' will bring together the audience and the gracious RBG in an enlightening and touching encounter with the remarkable person 'behind the initials’ …Ruth…Justice…and the American Way.” Michelle Azar describes Ruth as a “True American original.” Don’t miss this unique introduction and conversation coming soon to Westport Country Playhouse for your personal enjoyment and edification. Michelle Azar will clearly have Ruth’s lace jabot firmly in place on her Supreme Court robes after her nomination in 1993 by then President Bill Clinton to be the first Jewish woman and the second woman ever appointed after Sandra Day O’Connor.
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