Man and Boy

"Man and Boy" presented by Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, September 10,  2011

Back to reviving classic American theatre, the Roundabout has scored Frank Langella to lead Terrence Rattigan's 1963 story of a corrupt, big-money, business mogul.  Set in 1934 New York, Gregor Antonescu (Mr. Langella), who single-handedly saved the the Franc in 1926, is viewed as the Warren Buffett of his day.  The parallels to today continue with the Great Depression era during which dissatisfaction with Roosevelt sound a lot like the criticisms of President Obama. The truth turns out to reveal Antonescu as a Madoff-like cretin, who created an elaborate Ponzi scheme which is about to collapse.

Antonescu is laying low in NY, and turns to his estranged, illegitimate son Basil (Adam Driver), for help to complete a last ditch deal to re-supply his organization with cash.  Basil has cut ties and abandoned the lifestyle that might have been his after a failed attempt to shoot his father on his 21st birthday.

Mr. Langella is masterful in this creakily written role, finding depth and nuance that likely aren't on the page.  Mr. Driver is miscast as Basil.  His physical presence is anachronistically buff for the sensitive musician that is this bastard son.  Francesca Faridany turns up for another shallow socialite, similar to her role of Vida Philmore from the Atlantic Theatre Company's The New York Idea from earlier this year.

Director Maria Aitken keeps things moving, but the play might have benefited from a bit of adaptation 50 years later.  Derek McLane's Greenwich Village basement apartment works nicely, but is more serviceable than remarkable, as do Martin Pakledinaz' costumes.

Man and Boy is scheduled to run through November 27.

Hedda Gabler

"Hedda Gabler" presented by Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, January 8, 2009

Ibsen's great heroine...in a new adaptation that is both literal and anachronistic at the same time.

Here's another one I had really high hopes for, although I'll admit to having a few feelings of wariness about it. I'm a big Mary Louise Parker fan - "Weeds"? Love her, all the way back to "Longtime Companion." "Proof" blew me away - what an amazing tour-de-force performance!

Then I hear that the Roundabout is producing "Hedda Gabler" which I found a bit curious after the fairly recent and most excellent production featuring Cate Blanchett at BAM.

Disclaimer: I did see a fairly early preview, so there may be some issues that resolve themselves before opening.

Director Ian Rickson, coming off a lovely (if partly miscast) "Seagull" starts out with some eerie mood music and the first of several bizarrre "furniture ballets" which never really seem to indicate anything about the play or move the story along. The static and irregular staging became difficult to follow, particularly in a slow passage before Hedda shoves Lovborg's hand up her dress as she shoves her tongue down his throat. If that sentence sounds jarring, imagine that same response when you see it performed.

And don't get me started on fumbling lines.

Ms. Parker fully commits to her role, but here our Hedda is so disdainful and contemptuous of everyone around her, it's hard to imagine what has earned her such reverence and respect. She insults, dismisses, stalks and plots with total disregard for those around her. It isn't until Act II that she even touches her husband with anything nearing tenderness. Michael Cerveris' Jorgen Tesman bows and scrapes to the point of humiliation - not one of his finer performances.

Christopher Shinn's adaptation comes up short on subtlety and long on sarcasm. I think others have done better with this material. Hildegard Bechtler's tall and heavy set creates more viewing problems than it solves, moving some action so far to stage right that much of the audience can't see what's going on, as well as a small dark room upstage center that distracts more than it hides. Ann Roth's costumes are an eclectic mix of period and Art Nouveau.

I really wanted it to be good - I really did.

Star watch: Annie Parisse in the audience.

The Art and Politics of Seduction

"Les Liaisons Dangereuses" presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theater, April 13, 2008

As much as I admire Laura Linney, when I found out that the Roundabout was reviving "Les Liaisons..." hers was not the first name I thought of.

Foolish me.

In a stylish and glamorous production, sex and intrigue are back on the boards. Director Rufus Norris has assembled, for the most part, a first-rate cast to tell the tale of La Marquise de Merteuil (Ms. Linney) and Le Vicomte de Valmont (Ben Daniels) and those who foolishly stumble into their sights. Valmont is a noble cad, received by proper society but not respected by them. La Marquise, well-widowed, feels slighted over a society issue and seeks revenge by having Valmont seduce Cecile Volanges (Mamie Gummer) the teenage daughter of her offender, already betrothed to a much older man who is also in need of social distress. La Marquise and Valmont have their own romantic history. Disinterested at first because he has set his sights on seducing someone else, La Presidente De Tourvel (Jessica Collins) a beautiful, devoutly religious and devoted wife of another. The Marquise offers an enticement: if Valmont is successful in seducing Cecile, La Marquise will give herself to Valmont for a night of passion.

Turns out that Cecile and her mother Madame de Volanges (Kristine Nielsen) have been invited to stay with Valmont's aunt, Madame de Rosemonde (Sian Phillips), to get Cecile away from the young and unsuitable (meaning no money) Le Chevalier Danceny (Benjamin Walker). The confident Valmont decides to kill two birds with one stone and accepts the challenge.

Plots are twisted, bodices ripped, seductions completed and Valmont wins his challenge. Along the way, however, he and Mme de Tourvel are truly in love with each other. Knowing he would ruin her life, he rejects her. Sword play, dying confessions ensue.

It's really a plot of operatic proportions. I'm amazed at how well it works as a straight play.

Let's start with the supporting roles. Ms. Collins' Mme de Tourvel is a porcelain beauty, but doesn't quite rise to the level of performances around her. Fine-boned and delicate, her accent comes and goes (thanks to my good friend, voice and speech coach Deborah Hecht, no doubt).

Ms. Gummer continues to rack up excellent performances, here in her Broadway debut. Mama Streep should be awfully proud of the child-like petulance we get in Cecile. Her transition from mortified to randy after her first romp with Valmont is delightful. Ms. Nielsen's Mme de Volanges is appropriately befuddled and dotty.

As Mme de Rosemonde, Ms. Phillips was a significant disappointment. Is it just me, or shouldn't all the actors have learned their lines by the time previews have started. Ms. Phillips played not one, but two scenes with pages from her script poorly hidden behind a fan or oversized playing cards. The scenes were near the end of each act - wasn't she studying her lines backstage? Adding insult to injury, she also insisted on wearing her very contemporary spectacles, so she could follow along when other actors are speaking. She practically traced her finger along each line spoken.

Now, it might be one thing, had she been a last minute replacement, but I've heard nothing to that effect and her photo and bio were present in the playbill which certainly requires some lead time. (I remember during last fall's "The Ritz" at Studio 54, Ashlie Atkinson was a last minute replacement, requiring the cancellation of only one preview performance to accommodate learning the role.)

I asked myself, "Where was Marian, Marian Seldes?" (SarahB, that was for you!)

Mr. Walker's Danceny is brash and eager, easily seduced by La Marquise as a ploy to enrage Valmont when she realizes he's falling for Mme de Tourvel.

As Valmont, Mr. Daniels brings to mind a younger (and shorter) Jeremy Irons. He struts and poses like a bantam rooster, sprawling lewdly on the furniture and cutting quite a fine figure during his nude seduction of Cecile. His dying confession to Danceny, however, didn't ring true yet. I'm certain by opening, it will be a heartbreaker.

Ms Linney is triumphant, regal and conspiring, haughty and preening as La Marquise. The fire in her eyes when she realizes Valmont truly loves another is startling. Her stifled reaction to learning of Valmont's death almost makes one feel sorry for her, despite the fact that it's a result of her own manipulations. (There was a moment or two when Lady Bracknell seemed to be speaking, but again I'm sure her performance will be ravishing by opening night.) I feel certain she'll be a contender come Tony time, and as well she should.

Director Norris wields a fine hand in this stylized production, employing baroque singers to evoke the setting of Paris in the 1780's, the calm before the storm, as it were. He employs the dark glass-paneled sets by Scott Pask with simple manipulations to move from salon to salon to bedroom, complemented by heavy silk drapes and swags, all evoking the gilded and mirrored French architecture with ease.

Donald Holder's lighting, however, creates more shadows than illumination. More often than not, it seemed an actor was adjusting his or her blocking to move where a face could be seen. I can't imagine such was intentional.

Katrina Lindsay's lush costumes seemed straight out of a Fragonard painting, subtle and rich silks for all.

Loverly

"Pygmalion" presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, December 12, 2007

This classic tale of creation, as told by George Bernard Shaw has been carefully revived by the Roundabout under the wise direction of David Grindley, who so skillfully brought WWI in last season's revival of "Journey's End."

Mr. Grindley has assembled a diverse, yet talented cast including Claire Danes in her Broadway debut as Eliza. Ms. Danes does come from a stage background, but primarily as a dancer before her breakout portrayal of the vulnerable and misunderstood teen in the excellent but short-lived "My So-Called Life" on television.

As Higgins, Jefferson Mays brings his significant skill to play as an overgrown boy, a spoiled technician who spends his intelligence on the minutiae of dialects rather than pay attention to those around him. This callow portrayal works very well, fulfilling Shaw's own interpretation that there was never any intention of romantic feelings between Eliza and Higgins. Boyd Gaines, turning in yet another solid and commendable performance this year, plays the shy, if sometimes befuddled Pickering, bringing the needed tenderness to Eliza's journey from the gutter to the ballroom.

In supporting roles, Jay O. Sanders' Alfred Doolittle is a blustering bear, reduced to Davey's lion with the thorn once the weight of middle class respectability has become his burden to bear upon his inheritance.

I give credit to Ms. Danes for taking on one of the theater's more challenging roles. In her case, it requires significant effort in that she must master not one, but two accents and pull off the transition from one to the other seamlessly. Her youth does show through in her first scene at Mrs. Higgins' (and the discussion of "the influenza" and "the straw hat what was to have come to me"), tossing away several of the jokes. She seemed to be missing a certain conviction of self - even though Eliza is still in mid-transformation. There were also a few moments in the second act when she still seemed to have the marbles in her mouth, but perhaps I'm expecting too much. Overall, she was lovely and performed admirably.

Sets and costumes are up to the Roundabout's usual standards of excellence under the talents of Jonathan Fensom. I'll admit that I'm a sucker for a rainstorm onstage - love that. I also liked the cinematic effect of the diagonally traveling set wagons and blackout curtains. Jason Taylor's lighting was an effective complement.

What Was Up With The Lollipops?

"Old Acquaintance" presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre

Oh, the glamour of pre-war NYC! Kit and Millie have been friends and friendly competitors since college. Millie married, had a child and divorced, while Kit has moved from romance to romance, never managing to settle down. Millie cranks out at least one novel a year, always a good seller, but rarely the critics' choice. Kit is much less prolific, but the critics' darling when she does publish. Now Millie's daughter, Deirdre has finished school and at the age of 19 is ready to take on life in NYC as a modern woman of 1940. Kit's current affair is with a younger office worker at her publisher's.

John Van Druten's script, originally ran on Broadway in 1940 is in its first revival. Mr. Van Druten, also the author of "I Remember Mama," "Leave Her to Heaven," Bell, Book and Candle," and "I Am a Camera." This effort, one of his first, seems to follow the style of George S. Kaufman and other drawing room comedies of the '20s and '30s holds a couple of clever lines, such as Kit's first reference to Millie, "She has an extraordinary gift of common sense that never finds its way into her books." (Inexplicably, Kit also has some sort of oral fixation, appearing in nearly every scene sucking on a lollipop or candy cane.) Millie, ever the on-the-verge-of-hysterics mother of the period is totally involved her daughter's life, feeling incomplete since her husband left and now feels worse when she learns he is to remarry a young artist whom Millie herself had promoted a few years before. Deirdre, a classic ingenue looking to shake off the shackles of her mother and her youth, and considers kick-starting her new life via an affair with a well-heeled cad. Kit's inamorata, Rudd, has proposed and was quickly and kindly declined. Of course, when Rudd and Deirdre meet, true love appears, confusion arises, hilarity ensues and all is resolved by the end of Act 3.

As Kit, Margaret Colin is ever-lovely and elegant, but missing the fun her character is described as having. We know her affection for Rudd is real, but she seems to have lost sight of the care-free sophisticate she's playing. I was looking for Rosalind Russell a la "Auntie Mame," but she came across more like Norma Shearer from "The Women."

As Rudd, her much-younger boyfriend, Cory Stoll is earnest with a touch of callow. Diane Davis' Deirdre is very much a 1940 version of her willful daughter from "Regrets Only" earlier this year at Manhattan Theatre Club. Stephen Bogardus gets the thankless role of her father, who only shows up to give Millie another chance to chew some scenery.

And chew she does. Harriet Harris' Millie sparkles, wails, cries and staggers in this performance of a manic woman on the crest of middle age. She sweeps in on every entrance, whether in Kit's pseudo-edwardian/eclectic Greenwich Village garret, or the pepto-pink damask and white marble Park Avenue apartment she sublets for the winter. She seems to be the only one on stage having any real fun in this comedy.

Director Michael Wilson keeps a brisk pace with this three-acter, but he doesn't seem to have connected with Ms. Colin. Why else would she come across so dour? Alexander Dodge's NY apartments are in keeping with the period, complemented but not overly enhanced by Rui Rita's lighting. David Woolard's costumes lean heavily in favor of Ms. Harris' character as well. The rest are appropriate though not exemplary.

Kiss of the Body Snatcher

"Prelude to a Kiss" presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, February 25, 2007

Craig Lucas' play debuted on Broadway in 1990 with Mary Louise Parker, Timothy Hutton, and Barnard Hughes and has been revived by the Roundabout. It's not a bad play, but having seen it, I'm not sure why RTC found it necessary to revive it. (Spoiler Alert)

Peter and Rita meet at a party - fall in love and marry in 6 weeks' time. At the wedding, an old man shows up (whom no one knows, or questions for that matter), kisses the bride and swaps bodies. Confusion, frustration, questions of what love is really based on all get addressed and there's a happy ending.

Peter is played by the very attractive Alan Tudyk. Why is it that his scenework sounds like narrative and his direct addresses sound like scenes? Annie Parisse takes on the role of Riat, originated by Mary Louise Parker. She has a grand time as the old man, but I never got a sense of the kind of quirky, off-center, bohemian that Rita is. I also never got a sense of the "I-can't-live-without-you" between Ms. Parisse and Mr. Tudyk. John Mahoney as the old man has little to do in the first act. By the time he gets to work for us, he's basically working on his own, pulling the rest of the cast along with him. I got a much stronger sense of Peter's love for Rita, when she was in the old man's body than before or after.

Santo Loquasto's deep blue set functions well and Donlad Holder's lighting accents nicely.

Director Daniel Sullivan appears to have phoned this one in. I didn't see the nurturing and guiding hand that shaped "Rabbit Hole" anywhere.