Strawhead - Production

Production

With the script finished, Mailer and the others set out to find the lead actress for the play. In October 1982, Mailer was attending a Park Avenue dinner party given by Claus von Bülow, who at that time was on trial for the attempted murder of von Bülow's wife, Sunny, and had been out of jail only two days on US$1 million bail. Also attending the party was Australian-based theatre actress Kate Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick was introduce to Mailer and spoke with Mailer during dinner after Mailer swapped the place cards to seat Fitzpatrick beside him. After deciding that Fitzpatrick was perfect to play Marilyn Monroe in Strawhead, Mailer, Hunter, and Hannum met with Fitzpatrick to give her the script. Fitzpatrick turned down the part, since she already was committed to playing Marilyn Monroe in Terry Johnson's 1982 play, Insignificance.

The producers made additional efforts to find a noted actor to play the lead role. Prior to 1983, Mailer, Hunter, and Hannum also courted American actress Susan Sarandon to play the Marilyn Monroe character. Sarandon declined the lead role with the query, "Why should I perpetuate someone else's legend when I should be creating my own?"

On March 7, 1983, the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Mailer is an alumni, presented a staged reading of Strawhead. The presentation was part of the theaters noted Monday night series at the Loeb Drama Center. ART actor Karen MacDonald played the lead role. At this point, the play was an unproduced spec script, Mailer thought the play needed trimming, and there were no immediate plans to produce Strawhead.

In June 1983, it was announced that Strawhead would be produced by Marshall Oglesby at Provincetown Playhouse in Manhattan. At Mailer's recommendation, Oglesby selected ART actor Karen MacDonald to play the Monroe character. In late August 1983, Strawhead was presented at Provincetown Playhouse.

In November 1985, Mailer brought his play to the Actors Studio, an Off Broadway theater and school that gained worldwide recognition under the leadership of Lee Strasberg. The scenes presented were workshop scenes and Mailer put himself in position of director of the two-act production. In addition to the cast including Robert Heller, Mickey Knox and Patrick Sullivan, Mailer added his wife Norris Church to the cast. There was no admission charge to the workshop.