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.

Go Ahead Caller, You're On The Air.

"Talk Radio" at the Longacre Theatre, February 18, 2007

Eric Bogosian's "Talk Radio" originally produced by the NY Shakespeare Festival (now the Public Theatre) in 1987 makes its first Broadway bow. Under the direction of Robert Falls, the cast is fearlessly led by Liev Schreiber as Barry Champlain, a 1980's "shock jock" of the first order.

It's a solid play, but the performances are better than the material. Mr. Schreiber is ruthless in his portrayal of the arrogant Cleveland Ohio radio host. As he is described by his producer, Stu (Michael Laurence) "...Barry looked like he had seen God. In the mirror." His Barry knows the financial success he's brought to the once-struggling radio station and flexes that muscle at every appearance of the station manager, Dan (Peter Hermann).

I struggled a bit with the structure of the play. The action is basically real-time, but there are three direct-address monologues that interrupt the action to provide exposition. Stu's is first and when it comes, it looks like it justifies that Barry (and hence, Mr. Schreiber) needed a break. from their respective shows in progress.

The second is when Linda (the quite beautiful Stephanie March), Barry's assistant and sometime girlfriend/bed partner shares her take on the man. She finds him fascinating, but almost morbidly so, "Barry is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there." Despite her words, apparently she does, attempting to call into Barry's show and asking him as an anonymous caller the things she hasn't found the nerve to ask him face to face. Barry immediately recognizes the ploy and ends both the call and the relationship.

The third is that of the station manager, Dan. Mr. Hermann explains that it was he who discovered Barry in Akron while he was developing the whole "shock" approach to talk on the radio. Dan has saved what was a financially failing station by switching to the all talk format and credits himself with creating Barry's on-air persona. With the possibility of taking the show to national syndication, the evening's broadcast is pivotal to everyone's financial success.

Barry takes this bait and runs with it, appearing to dare these potential buyers with the notion of "be careful what you wish for." Dan is terrified over how extreme Barry's show is, but in the end, Barry does prove himself as being right about some controversial events along the way. Dan warns the audience about the battle of Barry's ego over knowing it's just a job. Barry's final revelation points that concept right back at him.

Mark Wendland's broadcast studio is a bit expansive, but has some excellent detail. Laura Bauer's costumes are spot on.

Saving Captain Stanhope

"Journey's End" at the Belasco Theatre, February 13, 2007

Following a successful revival in London, R. C. Sherriff's "Journey's End" has been revived at the Belasco. Written in 1928, it's a powerful indictment of war, following the days leading up to a WWI battle in the trenches in France. All the class delineations of the British miltary are intact, officers "upstairs" and enlisted "downstairs" although their physical locations are reversed in the trench fortifications. There's also a certain reversal of age too, higher ranked officers are recent university graduates and lower-level officers from the professional class of older men.

Captain Stanhope (Hugh Dancy) has been commanding his unit in this location for nearly 3 years. The experience and stress have taken their toll and he fuels his courage and hides his terror in whiskey. Mr. Dancy, making his Broadway debut gives terrific intensity and self-torture in this role, originated by no less than Lawrence Olivier.

Rotating in for a six-day tour is Lieutenant Osborne (Boyd Gaines). A school master, everyone refers to him as "Uncle." Mr. Gaines masks Osborne's fear in devotion to the young officers he supports, giving him a bit of a Michael Redgrave flavor. Nice job with the accent, I thought.

Jefferson Mays returns to Broadway for the first time since his tour-de-force performance in "I Am My Own Wife" as the officer's cook, Private Mason. Mr. Mays doesn't mince nearly as much here, but does give us a bit of the fey British simp.

2nd Lieutenant Trotter is a bit of a stock character, large, blustering but benign and caring as delivered by John Ahlin.

As Raleigh, Stark Sands (also making his Broadway debut) brings the needed youthful innocence as Stanhope's childhood friend to this fatal character. There is a fuzzy line about which one could wonder what the extent of the relationship exactly was between Raleigh and Stanhope. Stanhope had been linked with Raleigh's sister prior to joining the war, but is his affection for Raleigh a sublimation of his love for the sister or is his affection for the sister a sublimation of his love for Raleigh?

Dancy's Stanhope is nearly devastated over having to decide which of his officers must make a dangerous raid on the German entrenchment on the other side of the 70-yard wide no-man's-land that separates the two sides. His near-disintegration over the decision is heart-breaking.

Jonathan Fensom's set and costumes are eerily accurate. One could almost smell the earth of the underground bunker, complete with dirt floor and mud puddles. Jason Taylor's lights, seeming a bit too dim at first, did support the darkness in which these men were forced to flounder. It was Gregory Clarke's overwhelmingly effective sound design that brought the reality of war into the theatre. The bombing of the German attack in Act II wa truly frightening.

It's interesting to see how the truths of the human side of war is portrayed onstage. Such has gone on since the time of the Greeks. Such folly that recognizing it changes nothing in the "real world."

The Girls Upstairs

"Follies" Encores! production at City Center, February 10, 2007

An amazing cast, excellent direction with one of Sondheim's deepest scores, Encores! has delivered one of their best productions.

I think Encores! is one of the greatest ideas around. Gathering very talented performers and theatre artists to quickly mount a basic-staging of some of the theatre's better- or lesser-known shows that might not otherwise ever be seen. Encores! has had some significant successes in changing the fate of shows like "Chicago" (still running from its transfer to a commercial production) to "Wonderful Town" which enjoyed a good year or so in a commercial run, even to the soon-to-close "Apple Tree" at Roundabout's Studio 54.

There was a bit of buzz about transferring "Follies" to a commercial run, but the fervor for that seems to have waned and now appears unlikely (would have required some principal casting changes - Donna Murphy is already committed to another show this year).

Nevertheless, it was quite exciting to see this live production. The only other I'd seen was the 1985 documentary of the NY Philharmonic concert version with Lee Remick (Phyllis), Barbara Cook (Sally), George Hearn (Ben), Mandy Patinkin (Buddy), Carol Burnett (Carlotta), Elaine Stritch (Hattie), Phyllis Newman (Stella), just to name a few. At the time, I really thought I'd seen a definitive interpretation.

Not so.

Casey Nicholaw continues to prove himself as a thoughtful and talented director and choreographer. Of course, an all-star cast doesn't hurt a bit:

• Victoria Clark - Sally Durant Plummer
• Donna Murphy - Phyllis Rogers Stone
• Victor Garber - Benjamin Stone
• Michael McGrath - Buddy Plummer
• Philip Bosco - Dmitri Weismann
• Joan Worley - Stella Deems
• Christine Baranski - Carlotta Campion
• Lucine Amara - Heidi Schiller
• Mimi Hines - Hattie Walker

Too many highlights to list without reciting the show completely, here are a few:

Victoria Clark - I LOVE her! And have since "Light in the Piazza." Barbara Cook is famous for her Sondheim interpretations, but she needs to watch her back. Vickie's got a voice (literally and figuratively) that's up for the challenge. Mr. Sondheim might do well to keep her in mind as he writes his next new show.

Donna Murphy - another musical theatre artist of the highest caliber. Merely her subtle physicalization of this role communicated the years of experiences in Phyllis' life. Quoting Ben Brantley in his review: "To understand what “Follies” is meant to be — and too rarely is — you need only look at Ms. Murphy’s expression when she first sees the actress playing her 19-year-old self."

Victor Garber was both the show of bravado and cringing child that is Benjamin Stone. He was most affecting in his breakdown amidst "Live, Laugh, Love." Michael McGrath came quite a long way from Spamalot's Patsy, giving a particularly athletic song and dance performance in both "The Right Girl" and "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues."

If Ms. Baranski's Carlotta had been any more deadpan, one might have needed to check for a pulse. Nonetheless, it worked for the world-worn character, although she wasn't in great voice the night I saw the show. (I have to add here Jackie Hoffman's comment about her from her "Jackie With a Z" cabaret show at Joe's Pub. "Christine Baranski - she said to me, 'I know Hanukkah - that's Christmas with the candles, right?' ")

There were a couple of staging decisions that seemed to undercut the proceedings. One was the opening, which was much more effective in the 1985 staging. Having so many of the returning Follies girls enter to applause before the "Beautiful Girls" number seemed to undercut its impact. I also thought William Ivey Long and Gregg Barnes' total costume and hair changes for Sally and Phyllis for their respective songs, "Losing My Mind" and "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" interrupted the flow of the story. Changing from the all-black concert attire into an all white gown for Sally and all red "jazz-hot" costume for Phyllis was a bit jarring. Even the baby blue dinner jacket for "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" was more than what would have been effective.

Things I really did like were the quartet number of young Sally, Phyllis, Ben and Buddy, "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through" with each couple interrupting and interpolating amongst themselves. It was a great concept that demonstrated how the couples matched and mismatched simultaneously. I also thought JoAnne Worley did a fantastic job leading "Who's That Woman?" and again kudos to Mr. Nicholaw for the mix of the older and younger versions of these characters dancing together.

Speaking again of Mr. Nicholaw (which one can't go without here) he also captured the various dance styles beautifully, (except perhaps for the tango number in Act I). From the tap of "Who's That Woman" to the Jack Cole style of "... Lucy and Jessie" to Busby Berkeley in "Live, Laugh, Love" he proves his worth in spades.

(Star Watch: David Hyde Pierce in the house. I even spoke to him - told him I was looking forward to "Curtains." He said I'd enjoy it "... a fun show")

Band! Ten-Hut! Mark Time Mark!

"Company" at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, February 7, 2007

John Doyle strikes again with a stripped down, streamlined staging of Sondheim's "Company." In the same vein as last year's "Sweeney Todd," Doyle has tossed the pit orchestra onto the stage as the responsibility of the actors. Where it worked well with the concept of asylum inmates putting on a show, here it looks like the child of musical theatre and marching band. For those of you who thought "Blast" from several years ago, an indoor staging of drum and bugle corps-style performance event was that bizarro-child - you were wrong.

Unfortunately, this is not a love-child. Rather it's turned out to be the bastard child. My real fear is that Mr. Doyle has set a new formula by which producers will look to control the costs associated with producing musical theatre. What's next, Annie accompanying herself on the glockenspiel?

Aside from the close-order-drill staging, there are some very nice performances on view.

Raul Esparza gives us a very detached and emotionally-unavailable Bobby who's really anxious to change his life. He orbits the lives of his friends and vice-versa, making an occasional foray into their relationships as the naturally stumble along. The measure of time is contrived around Bobby's birthday, turning 35 as the show begins. We follow Bobby through the next year during a series of vignettes as he spends time with each of the five couples that make up his social world:

• Sarah and Harry: uber-competitive, they seem to enjoy the fights and nitpicking more than the make-up sex.
• Joanne and Larry: a little older; she, married for the #th time, a bit jaded and not quite ready to believe she's found the one who really loves her for who she is.
• Susan and Peter: a bit too sweet and polished on the surface, so after their divorce they continue to stay together for the kids.
• Jenny and David: traveling through life on pure momentum, hiding things that the other already knows anyway.
• Amy and Paul: not yet married; she, frenetic and manic - he, calming and stalwart.

The score survives the Doyle treatment quite nicely, I must say. Not sure how to divide that credit between Mr. Sondheim and Mary-Mitchell Campbell who supervised the music and orchestrated this production.

A couple of standouts:

• Barbara Walsh as Joanne - it's tough to rise out of the ashes of Elaine Strich. Congratulations to her for making this role her own.
• Heather Laws as Amy - I think every good patter song deserves an encore. Gilbert and Sullivan knew this. Why doesn't everyone else?
• Kelly Jeane Grant as Kathy - brings a full fledged performance to what otherwise would be a mere 2-dimensional featured role.
• Elizabeth Stanley as April - a thinking man's blond bimbo.

David Gallo's set, open and thoughtful, supports Mr. Doyle's vision for this production most effectively. A central column evokes a Soho loft, as well as the "I" of Bobby's life as a single man. The diamond-shaped wooden floor on which it rests is surrounded by a track of darker wood which serves as a runway for the five couples to orbit Bobby. The rest of the set fades away in glossy black with acrylic tiered boxes/platforms. The acrylic boxes are an especially effective metaphor to me, portraying the artificial pedestals on which Bobby views his friends, as well as the three women (Marta, April and Kathy) we meet in his life. It is Thomas C. Hase's lighting that is the key to the set's ultimate success. Ann Hould-Ward's mostly-black costuming flatters each cast member without distraction, but doesn't add much either. I did have a bit of trouble with Amy in a black wedding dress and veil - seemed a bit strong even for her in spite of her fear of the commitment she's about to make. I think with the occasional shades of grey and white that were already there, a white (or at least grey) veil might have softened the impact.

Mr. Doyle is a talented man with a definite vision. I sure would like to see him interpret something like "A Little Night Music" on a full budget, leaving the orchestra in the pit.

(Star-watch: Susan Stroman in the house. With her hair down, I almost didn't recognize her - no ponytail through a black baseball cap.)

Did You Hear the One About....?

"The Clean House" at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, Lincoln Center, January 23, 2007

Lane (Blair Brown) is a doctor. She likes things neat, tidy and organized. Matilde (Vanessa Aspillaga) is her Brazilian maid, depressed over her mother's death a year before. Virginia (Jill Clayburgh) is Lane's home-maker sister with too little to do. Charles (John Dossett) is Lane's surgeon husband who's just left her for an older woman, Ana (Concetta Tomei) on whom he recently performed a mastectomy. (Spoiler Alert)

Opening with Matilde (dressed in all black) standing on a white set, telling a joke in Portuguese, the show tries to get to shades of grey but never quite did for me. Ms. Aspillaga looks like a human version of comfort food - buxom and zaftig (is that redundant?). She longs for the kind of love her parents had - based on affection and most of all, humor. But she's torn by it - - her mother died laughing from a new joke her father told her. Her father immediately commited suicide from he guilt. As a result, she has no interest in cleaning. Still, Matilde seeks to make up the funniest joke, ever.

Along comes Ms. Clayburgh, also depressed but who finds purpose in cleaning up after others. Her own husband doesn't need her anymore and with no children, there's little to be cleaned at home that hasn't been scrubbed beyond recognition already. So she adopts Matilde and gladly begins doing her job for her. Ms. Clayburgh's Virginia is a little manic, and eager to mother someone - anyone. I wonder if her character's name is symbolically tied to her lack of children?

As Lane, Ms. Brown is in her typical fine form, brusque and busy in an effort to avoid the messiness of life. Her efforts are unsuccessful, both literally and figuratively. By the end of the show, she's pushed/plowed into her estranged husband's life, taking care of his new love when her cancer comes back. (He's gone off to find a rare artic tree, whose bark is supposed to contain a curative chemical compound - and yes, he drags the whole tree into Lane's no-longer clean, white house.)

Mr. Dossett and Ms. Tomei play both the husband and lover, respectively, as well as Matilde's parents in flashbacks. Mr. Dossett, always in solid form, seems a little lost at times. Not sure if that's because of Sarah Ruhl's writing or Bill Rauch's direction here. His role does seem a bit of an apology lost among the high estrogen levels of cast and script. Ms. Tomei comes off stronger, with a nice display of accent for her South American roles.

There is the trashing of the "clean house" as Lane's pristine world falls apart. I thought the symbolism of the whole apple-picking sequence was particularly heavy-handed from Eve's original sin (Charles and Ana's affair) the "apple a day keeps the doctor away" (Ana's illness), followed by the littering of the stage with said apples.

Christopher Acebo's set and James F. Ingalls' lighting work nicely for most of the action - the artic trek is a bit of a stretch, but with the apron stage of the Newhouse, there are going to be limitations. There are also projections of supertitles for the Portuguese dialogue, but these aren't effective for some of the audience - again because of the auditorium's design.

Nevertheless, there were plenty of laughs and a few nice moments of catharsis.

(Starwatch: Jane Alexander in the audience - she seemed to have a lovely time.)

A Bit of Dirty Business

"The Voysey Inheritance" at Atlantic Theatre Company, January 16, 2007

David Mamet's adaptation of the Harley Granville Barker play points out to me that Mr. Mamet loves a bit of dirty business. (Spoiler Alert)

Edward Voysey (Michael Stuhlbarg) has just figured out that his father Mr. Voysey (Fritz Weaver) has been cooking the books in the family trust business for at least the last ten years. When confronted about it, Mr. Voysey informs Edward that he "inherited" the same situation with the business from his own father many years earlier. Nearly apoplectic about the ramifications in 1905 London, Edward is cut to the core on how to proceed. If he announces the matter to his clientele, the result will be disgrace and bankruptcy for the entire family, including his brothers the pompous one, Major Booth Voysey (C. J. Wilson), the practical one, Trenchard Voysey (Christopher Duva), and the sensitive one, Hugh Voysey (Todd Weeks), as well as sisters Honor (Rachel Black) and Ethel (Tricia Paoluccio). Further, both Edward and Mr. Voysey would likely end up in prison. Frozen by the decision, Edward begins working to restore the missing money, but within a year, Mr. Voysey has died. It is then he learns that there were many others, including his own mother (Judith Roberts), who knew of the ongoing fraud. One skill Mr. Voysey, and now Edward, had mastered was never missing scheduled distribution payments to the beneficiaries of each trust.

I heard an interview with Mr. Stuhlbarg about the play, who commented that after reading the original, there were large sections left untouched by Mr. Mamet in his adaptation. I'm not sure whose work it is on which I'll be commenting. There's somewhat of a "Chekhovian" feel to the premise of the play - once rich folks still acting so and able to take desparate measures to keep their status quo. What seems key to making such a situation compelling is that one cares about the characters either in spite of, or because of their flaws. This was only partly successful for me, and I think more as a result of the performances than of the writing.

Mr. Stuhlbarg's Edward is so overwhelmed in the first few scenes that he can hardly speak without betraying his own feelings of misery and woe over his recent discovery. He does, however, keep Edward at somewhat of a whimper, even when the company secretary, Mr. Peacey (Steven Goldstein) asks for his annual "bonus" after helping Edward begin the recovery of their clients' assets the year after Mr. Voysey has died. Once might have expected Edward to show more strength, and even though he still refuses the request, it is the potential freeing of the burden by exposure that lets him go head to head with Mr. Peacey. Mr. Stuhlbarg remains torn over the higher concept of the rich protecting themselves and each other to maintain one's station in life, as it were. During a conversation with brother Hugh, the artist, Edward says "...the poor are always with us." Hugh replies "But does it follow that we must betray the rich?" Edward's fiancee Alice (Samantha Soule) also factors in with her own situation. Having inherited her own money which she also manages herself (making her quite modern for the era) she shares what she was told upon taking control of it, "You did nothing to earn it. Don't be surprised if someone tries to take it away from you."

The rest of the cast were solid. Notable was Mr. Weaver as the elder Mr. Voysey, regal and charming, even when confronted with his own misdeeds. Ms. Roberts as Mrs. Voysey recalled a certain Julie Christie quality for me. Ms. Soule as Edward's fiancee Alice was warm and loving. Ms. Paoluccio and Ms. Black as sisters Ethel and Honor, respectively held true to their contrasts - Ethel, somewhat selfish and immature - Honor, silent and above reproach.

Director David Warren does his best to keep the action moving, but it's still an Edwardian era drawing room melodrama. I found the occasional opening of scenes with singing a bit forced for the proceedings. Derek McLane remains a master of sets, well supported by Jeff Croiter's lighting. I had a few questions on some of the men's dinner wear choices in the first act - perhaps Gregory Gale's research time was limited to the gorgeous black jet-beaded gown worn by Ms. Roberts in the first act. Much of the rest seemed like an afterthought.

(Starwatch: Estelle Parsons in the audience at this performance)

Lost in Translation

"A Spanish Play" at Classic Stage Company, January 13, 2007

(Spoiler Alert) The Classic Stage Company presents Yasmina Reza's latest play in its English-language debut. From the Theatre Communication Group's website:

A Spanish Play is a meta-drama about a group of five actors rehearsing a foreign play (a Spanish one) that they will stage in their native language (French). Which is to say, they are performing a play in translation. For American audiences, the actors won't be speaking Spanish or French, but English, which is of course what is always spoken in Reza's plays when they're performed in the U.S.

For more from this article about Ms. Reza and this translation by David Ives, click here.

Director John Turturro has taken on the play, using a clever technique to capture some of the actors as they step out of their "Spanish Play" roles and talk about their characters or speak to one or another member of the play's creative team. To accomplish this for the two younger women and the younger man, he uses a hand-held video camera projecting the image on the back wall of the set following the actors, sometimes backstage, sometimes onstage, in a confessional manner. Why he didn't follow through with this for the older couple is not clear. That lack of clarity foreshadows the rest of the production. It also may have helped Mr. Turturro provide structure instead of a rambling series of scenes and monologues. The whole notion of translating the Spanish to French (and then to English for this production) starts to remind me of an old SNL skit set in the smallest restaurant in NY in which the live entertainment sings "Send In The Clowns" in English translated into French, translated back into English. "I'm not that rich. Aren't you a queer?"

The premise of the play within the play is that recently widowed Fernan (Larry Pine), a real estate building manager has begun an affair with an older woman Pilar (Zoe Caldwell) who lives in one of the buildings he manages. She has three daughters, Nuria (Katherine Borowitz), Aurelia (Linda Emond) and Crystal (unseen). Nuria and Aurelia are both actors, but only Nuria has achieved success. Aurelia is married to Mariano (Denis O'Hare) a math teacher with a teeny, tiny, little drinking problem. Nuria is up for the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Award and has come home to visit for the weekend. Aurelia is rehearsing a Bulgarian play from the '70s and is struggling with sibling rivalry. Both daughters are concerned about their mother's affair with Fernan. The play within the play is conventional and does reduce the mother-daughter and sister-sister relationships to stereotype, though there are some great lines. Following Aurelia's panic attack, a drunken Mariano says "The brain needs a mess. Nothing good comes out of clarity." The real interest should be in the transitions to and from the rehearsal we're watching - if only those transitions were more clear.

Riccardo Hernandez' set is a wash of bright yellow punctuated with red that provides two areas sometimes used to delineate whether we're watching the rehearsal or listening to the actor discuss his role. Again, consistent use in this manner would have helped. Christopher Akerlind's lighting provides proper emphasis to make these accomodations as well. Credit must be given to Donna Zakowska for creating two of the ugliest dresses I've seen onstage, candidates for Nuria to wear to her awards ceremony.

The company is consistently strong throughout, communicating their various insecurities and control issues both in and out of character. I'm particularly impressed with the moments when the actors speak directly to the video camera - this close proximity brings their performance even closer than the apron stage provides. In the end, though, there wasn't much substance presented - - form over function, as it were.

Tangent of Tales

"The Fever" presented by The New Group at the Acorn Theatre, Theatre Row, January 13, 2007

I missed the invitation to join Mr. Shawn onstage for champagne when I arrived at today's matinee of his new play, "The Fever." Given the nature of the material, I couldn't help but wonder if that was part of the intended effect.

It was also difficult at first to tell when the "pre-show" ended and the play began. Mr. Shawn warns the audience against short people as dangerous. He offers examples that include Napoleon and Wagner. He then gave a quick overview of his vision of plays today, a clever poke in the eye at Stoppard's Coast of Utopia running at Lincoln Center. He makes the following points:

• Plays are too long
• Stages are too big, taking the actors too long to get in place for their next scene
• Too many characters to follow, too many actors onstage
• Too much preparation required to follow the story
• Too many scenes

He then takes his place in the slice of a set (a clever execution of Pottery Barn/West Elm decor by Derek McLane along with clever lighting by Jennifer Tipton) seated in a leather chair accompanied by a glass of red wine. A one-man show, he begins speaking in total darkness, describing his illness during a visit to an unnamed country in the midst of a revolution. It is here that his "fever" gets the play going.

At times, he speaks in something akin to stream of conscious, but then veers into rambling a la Bette Davis but is generally more pithy than entertaining. He spends a great deal of time talking about the role of poor people and how their lot in life is controlled by the rich, which of course, is for their own good. Without them, how would the rich people know that they're still rich. (It was during this part that I wondered if I were supposed to feel like the poor, on the outside looking in during the pre-show champagne.)

It's a long one-act, roughly an hour and forty-five minutes during which Mr. Shawn never leaves the stage. His performance is quite compelling. He carries the audience along his tale from the fevered moments lying on the floor of the hotel bathroom, unable to return to bed, through his memories and visions (for lack of a better word) of his world. He captures the dream-like momentum and skillfully plays the transitions.

Who's Getting Married in the Morning?

"Regrets Only" presented by the Manhattan Theatre Club at City Center, January 9, 2007

(Spoiler Alert)

Paul Rudnick's new play asks a rather pertinent question, given the current these days on gay marriage in the US: What would happen if every gay and lesbian took the day off?

As confrontational as that sounds, Mr. Rudnick uses the upper crust of NYC society to set up events leading to just that.

Hank Hadley (George Grizzard) is a world-class clothing designer. He arrives at the top of the show to pick up his dear friend Tibby McCullough (Christine Baransky) to resume their tour of society parties and events. Hank's "longtime companion" of 38 years, Michael, has recently died and Tibby is anxious to get Hank back into life. Tibby's husband Jack (David Rasche) and daughter Spencer (Diane Davis) arrive in short order, both with exciting announcements. Spencer is getting married and Jack has been asked to come to Washington to work on a new constitutional amendment which would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This is what sets off Hank, that his best friends would take on a project that overtly discriminates against him.

If all this sounds a little serious and even dark, remember that it's written by Paul Rudnick. Every character, including Myra the Jewish maid, the only one in NY (Jackie Hoffman) gets at least a couple of bon mots to toss out from time to time. Spencer gets one of the first when reflecting on her pending nuptials "...because I'm a lawyer, I can write my own pre-nup." As the topic moves to something more important to this group, that of the dress, Hank is immediately commissioned. During this discussion, Hank gets in a number of pokes at some of the more current popular designers. On Donna Karan: "You should have Donna do your gown. Then you can wear it to work." On Vera Wang: "...always perfect, because they're always the same." On Ralph Lauren: "...love the little embroidered polo players that he puts on everything. Did you know that's really a portrait of him - life size?" Myra gets her own jab in here, when Hank is reminded that he'd done one of Nancy Reagan's inaugural gowns, "... a 98 pound , sun-damaged, 64 year old woman in a strapless gown. Your country thanks you!"

Hank does come back to life by casually organizing a gay strike the day before Spencer's wedding. No service organization, from caterers to florists to Hank's design studio are open and those depending on them are unhinged. Marietta had gone to Hank's for her final gown fitting and was abandoned unclothed. Improvising an outfit of garbage bags and shoe boxes, she runs into a friend on the street who asked, "Prada?" When Spencer's fiance goes missing the same day, Marietta offers: "There is no shame in marrying a gay man as long as he went to a good school." (Tibby responds: "That's true.")

Ms. Baransky returns to NY after a praised run of "Mame" at the Kennedy Center last year. Her Tibby is a graceful, empathetic, thoughtful "rich white woman." She wears the wounds of a girl whose teenaged bout with anorexia was praised by her own mother, but does so with style and panache.

Mr. Rache's Jack is a proper foil to Ms. Baranky's Tibby, handsome, well-dressed, well-educated, well-mannered, but falls a bit into stereotype as a man whose supposed self-awareness covers his lack of it. He says all the right things, but only because he's fallen into the timing of Hank and Tibby's conversations, not their subtext.

As Spencer, Ms. Davis makes one of the most frenetic entrances I've seen onstage. She's truly the product of her parents' contradictions. Ms. Phillips' Marietta is rather two-dimensional, coming across in appearance as a poor man's Marlena Dietrich.

Jackie Hoffman's Myra gets to have the most fun in this show, popping in and out with a world (literally) of accents, tossing verbal hand grenades with each exit.

As Hank, Mr. Grizzard captures the poise and elegance of the premiere designer. His contained grief is touching as he asks Tibby not to spout the platitudes usually bestowed on the grieving, which of course, she can't help but get at least one out. His polite discomfort masks his outrage as Jack announces his plan to help with the marriage amendment.

Michael Yeargin's NY apartment set is just terrific. Contemporary without looking overtly modern, he uses warm tones that serve as a neutral background for the color in the dialogue. William Ivey Long is perfectly in his element with some gorgeous gowns, particularly Tibby's first act red beaded and strapless sheath with a short train. (It doesn't hurt to have an actress with Ms. Baransky's body either.) I was slightly disappointed with Spencer's wedding gown. I found it didn't quite have that unique flair that I would have expected a "Hank Hadley original" would demonstrate.

Overall it's quite a fun show, lots of laughs. I think the political jabs are singing to the choir, though. It plays very well in NYC. I'll be interested to see how it travels to other productions across the country.