TDF Stages

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"We've been calling it a rom-traum," jokes Delia Ephron about her new play Left on Tenth, a romantic comedy that goes to some very dark places. A prolific author known for her best-selling books and hit movies such as You've Got Mail cowritten with her late sister, Nora Ephron, she is making her Broadway debut with Left on Tenth, based on her memoir of the same name. Julianna Margulies stars as Ephron's stage alter ago, a recent widow of a certain age who gets a second chance at romance with a man from her past named Peter (Peter Gallagher). But a terrifying diagnosis may mean the end of everything. It's loss, love and am I done for?

It's not a spoiler to say that, in the end, Ephron survives—she's been making the media rounds after all. But mortality hangs over her tale: Not only are Delia and Peter grappling with grief from losing their respective spouses, but Delia is diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, the same cancer that killed her sister, Nora. It's also the same disease that claimed the life of director Susan Stroman's husband 25 years ago.

"When you get to be our age, there's always loss in the background," acknowledges Ephron. "The play is a roller-coaster of emotions. But we think of it as rather joyful—Stro is the most joyful of directors."

The stage adaptation of Left on Tenth is the product of a close collaboration between Ephron and Stroman. The show's lead producer, Daryl Roth, is the one who set them up. A Tony-winning director-choreographer celebrated for her work on musicals including The Producers and Contact, Stroman may not seem like an obvious choice for the project. But Roth believed she would be able to navigate the play's wild shifts in tone.

Turns out, much like the main characters, they were a perfect match. "When Delia came over, it was love at first sight," says Stroman. "It was amazing what we had in common, and so we connected right away."

Their shared experiences include tragedy, both are widows, but also a passion for musical comedy. "We have the same taste in music," Stroman says. "Like me, Delia grew up loving musical theatre and the old standards."

So, it's no wonder they found ways to sneak a little song and dance into Left on Tenth. "Delia and her late husband took tap-dancing lessons," Stroman explains. "We talked about how lovely it would be if we could show that. So, Delia wrote up a tap-dancing scene and it just seemed quite natural. When you do something with your partner, whether it's dancing or hiking or whatever you do together, and then suddenly you're alone, you think if you dream about them hard enough, that they'll be there with you again. It seemed like a marvelous thing to add," this moment of melancholic whimsy as Delia dances with an animated shadow.

It's also an apt metaphor for the play, which alternates between euphoria and despondency. As Ephron explains: "I always knew the play would begin with my call to Verizon" as she tries to get her Internet reconnected after canceling her late husband's phone line, "and end with the eclipse. As we worked on the play, Susan and I kept asking ourselves, 'What is this actually about? A play should be about something. What do people leave with?'"

For many audiences, hope and healing are the takeaways. "I've just been getting these incredible emails from people who have either been through cancer or have been a caretaker for someone who had it," Ephron says. Even Susan, who lost her husband in 1999, says watching the show soothes her spirit. "You would think after hearing the play so often it wouldn't hit me, but it still does," she says. "I think about my late husband, Mike, during the play, and I'm happy for its hopeful ending. A total life is filled with highs and lows. As Delia says: 'You have to accept the pain and revel in the joy.'"

And you have to take chances. That's what Ephron did in life, opening the door to love after her husband died, and in her career, making her Broadway debut at age 80 with this profoundly personal story.

"I use this expression: 'This out of that,'" Ephron says. "I cannot believe that we are on Broadway after that journey through a tunnel and here is this joy, and it's affecting other people who've had trauma, and they're going to this play and feeling so happy. I feel so lucky to be able to celebrate life, which you need to do. If you go through something and you can draw it, paint it, dance it, write it, do it. That's what I did."

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TDF MEMBERS: At press time, discount tickets were available for Left on Tenth. Go here to browse our latest discounts for dance, theatre and concerts.

Left on Tenth is also frequently available at our TKTS Discount Booths.