The Goodman Theatre has canceled the remainder of the world-premiere run of Pamplona, the one-man show in which Stacy Keach portrayed the writer Ernest Hemingway, after halting the opening night performance midshow on Tuesday evening.
Robert Falls, the Goodman’s artistic director as well as the director of the new play by Jim McGrath, announced from the stage after Keach’s exit on Tuesday that the 75-year-old actor had been feeling ill all day but had insisted on going on with the show. But it was clear to those in the audience, myself included, that Keach was struggling to keep his place in the script.
Performances on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings were canceled as Keach was checked out by doctors, as he had no understudy for the show. Just before 5pm on Friday the Goodman announced that the remainder of the run would be canceled as Keach had been prescribed rest. The nature of his ailment was not disclosed.
Originally scheduled to run through June 19, Pamplona had added a week of performances through June 25 before opening. The Goodman says ticket holders for Pamplona, including for the performances already called off this week, will be offered their choice of a full refund, a Goodman gift certificate for the same value, tickets to the upcoming production of Ah, Wilderness!, or converting their ticket price into a tax-deductible donation to the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs.
Pamplona had been a reunion for Falls and Keach, who worked together on the Goodman’s hugely acclaimed production of King Lear in 2005, as well as for Keach and his character: He won a Golden Globe in 1989 for playing Hemingway in a TV miniseries.
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