King of the City
Vogue US|October 2022
In Straight Line Crazy, Ralph Fiennes brings Robert Moses to the stage—divided legacy and all.
Sarah Crompton
King of the City

In January 2022, the actor Ralph Fiennes took a helicopter ride over New York, looking down like a god on the avenues, expressways, and bridges that shape the city’s daily life. He studied the view with care, not as a tourist might, but as preparation to play the man who created much of it all: Robert Moses, once the most powerful urban planner in the world.

“I just wanted to get a sense of the reach of his vision,” says Fiennes from Umbria, Italy, where he’s renting a farmhouse with no Wi-Fi, so he’s at a local café, wearing a loose white shirt open at the neck in the heat. “From all the conversations I have had with New Yorkers, they consider his legacy to be extremely negative. But you can’t go to New York and not benefit from the West Side Highway or Riverside Park. You still use the tunnels and bridges that he built. Of course, the Cross Bronx Expressway is horrendous—it’s a divided legacy. And that is very much addressed in the play.”

The play in question, Straight Line Crazy, headed to New York’s busy, multidisciplinary arts center The Shed in October, is written by the celebrated English playwright David Hare—one of Hare’s rare excursions into American life. Nearly two decades ago, Hare addressed the causes and repercussions of the American invasion of Iraq with Stuff Happens and The Vertical Hour. This time he’s reaching further back into U.S. history to the vision and delusions of a man who transformed midcentury New York. “Who would have thought you could actually make a play about urban planning?” says Hare f rom Paris, where he spends part of the year with his wife, the former fashion designer and sculptor Nicole Farhi.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2022-Ausgabe von Vogue US.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2022-Ausgabe von Vogue US.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS VOGUE USAlle anzeigen
WOMAN TO WOMAN
Vogue US

WOMAN TO WOMAN

Chemena Kamali's debut for Chloé was notable most of all for the way it connected with so many. Chloe Schama meets the designer whose name is on everyone's lips.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
October 2024
In Wonderland
Vogue US

In Wonderland

Coach creative director Stuart Vevers and husband Ben Seidler's country cottage on 40 rolling acres is filled with antiques, flea market finds and their gorgeous young twins.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
October 2024
SUPERNOVA
Vogue US

SUPERNOVA

A searingly modern take on Sunset Boulevard, starring Nicole Scherzinger at the height of her powers, comes to the New York stage.

time-read
8 Minuten  |
October 2024
Mr. Happy
Vogue US

Mr. Happy

Kieran Culkin as electric an actor as he is a constitutionally ambivalent one-anchors the dark comic indie A Real Pain, and is leading Glengarry Glen Ross to Broadway. It's a lot to process.

time-read
10 Minuten  |
October 2024
SHAPE SHIFTER
Vogue US

SHAPE SHIFTER

Who is Lady Gaga now? A Hollywood superstar, a pop innovator, and a much happier, more grounded creature altogether. But as Jonathan Van Meter discovers, she's still an ever-evolving puzzle all her own. Photographed by Ethan James Green.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
October 2024
An Un-Still Life
Vogue US

An Un-Still Life

The vibrant paintings of Hilary Pecis pulse with energy.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
October 2024
Giddyup Cup
Vogue US

Giddyup Cup

The storied Austrian glassware maker Lobmeyr looks to the American West.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
What's Going On With Pants?
Vogue US

What's Going On With Pants?

The current (and oft-confusing) proliferation of them mirrors our lives today. By Maya Singer.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
October 2024
Full Flower
Vogue US

Full Flower

Erdem Moralioglu plants a new seed with his bloom-adorned bag.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
October 2024
Out of the Box
Vogue US

Out of the Box

A biopic made from Legosfor Pharrell Williams.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024