Lilian Hellman's The Little Foxes

The only thing I did not like about this production was its title.  I hate it when an author feels that their name needs to be attached to the title - ala Edward Albee.  Now, onto all the good stuff.

Daniel Sullivan's directorial job could not have been more different from the last time I saw this show at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2010 with Ivo Van Hove at the helm.  This time, with Mr. Sullivan's fine vision, I really felt I was in the South.  The set (kudos Scott Pask) was a magnificent reproduction of a fine southern home.  (Boy those stairs seemed very steep!). Completely contrary to Mr. Van Hove's bare set and modern costumes - context really does make the story come alive in a way Mr. Van Hove could not replicate although his production certainly succeeded in many aspects that I won't go into now.

As you may know, The two leads, Regina Giddens (Laura Linney on my night) and Birdie Hubbard (Cynthia Nixon on my night) trade roles regularly!  I immediately thought that the casting as I saw it may have been the better combo - but these two actresses are masters of their craft and I left the theater thinking what a different person each one must inhabit as they trade roles.

And what a tremendous supporting cast these two marvelous actresses get the pleasure of working with.  Regina's brothers, Michael McKean (Ben Hubbard) and Darren Goldstein (Ben Hubbard) are the perfect mix of evil and jocularity.  Richard Thomas (Horrace Giddens) doesn't appear until Act II and when he does it is evident he knows how to inhabit his deceptively revengeful character with aplomb.

Ms. Hellman really does bring this family to the brink and then back again.  What a pleasure it was to watch these fine actors take their evil and deceptive journey each night deep in the south way back in 1900.  Which cast did you see?

The Real Thing

Tom Stoppard is certainly on a roll.  He, like his compadre Terrence McNally, has two plays running concurrently, in this case, both at the Roundabout Theatre Company.  His latest installment at American Airlines Theatre, on Broadway, is The Real Thing.

This one is heady.  Make no mistake.  Mr. Stoppard is a linguist and writes very, very smart dialogue.  In my brief reading before the show I discovered that this particular show may be a bit autobiographical too.

Henry (Ewan McGregor) an erudite playwright (some might call a snob although his wife uses another similar British slang word), as is Mr. Stoppard.  This play is quite the intellectual study of love, marriage, commitment, and relationships.  He's first married to Charlotte (Cynthia Nixon), but quickly changes gears and falls in love and marries Annie (Maggie Gyllenhaal).  Josh Hamilton plays Max, an actor and first husband of Annie. A tangled web indeed.

We get tangled up in Henry's relationship, views on commitment and love and how those may differ from both Charlotte (his first wife) and Annie (his second wife).  What is jealousy?  Does one person's commitment equate to how the other person sees it?   Can we really just love one person in life?  These and dozens of other lofty questions are batted around during the play - which by the way features the "play within a play" format at the opening with quite a satisfying effect.

I'm pretty sure Mr. Stoppard didn't originally write in the music to the original script and likely (although I can''t really be sure) it was the creation of the brilliant director, Sam Gold.   I understand there may be some additional gimmicks with the music, the cast, and a digital display in the theatre.  There's always a gimmick these days.

Smart, heady, intelligent - this play aims high and delivers on it's promises with a remarkably competent and dazzling cast along with the choices of music both during the show and between the scene change breaks.

An interesting trivia note, Ms Nixon was featured in the original production when she was a mere teenager (as the daughter) and now returns triumphantly as her mother.  The small world of theatre just got even more so.

Wit

A play about cancer and dying is probably not something that is first on your uplifting winter "must see" list.  But don't click the back button on your browser just yet.  Attention must be paid.  This play is a modern watershed of issue and emotion.  Cynthia Nixon may be compared to the prior leading ladies in this work, but without ever having seen those other leading ladies (whom I also adore),  I give Ms. Nixon a standing ovation right here - not only for her acting, her emotion, and ownership of the role, but for her giving life to the words on the page and to all those who are touched by cancer.

I'd like to highlight something that I have not seen in many of the other reviews - which tend to focus on Ms. Nixon's performance and the intelligent play on literature, poetry, grammar, God, and yes, wit.   What I found so biting was Ms. Edson's condemnation of doctors and, frankly, the entire health care system in general, while at the same time, the defense and promotion of the care giving of nurses.  Time and time again, to quite a successful humorous result each time, we hear uncaring, unobservant, superficial doctors go about their business of talking above a patient's head, asking "How do you feel today" to a patient suffering the pains of chemotherapy.   I found, quite often, Ms. Edson's dual emotions toward the situation - the superior intelligence and necessity of academics and researchers in the medical field and at the same time her bitter disdain for the lack of warmth, observation, and comfort by those same people.

The bitter pill she is forced to swallow is that she herself is forced to transition from (literary) expert to subject, teacher to student, artist to model.  She intelligently and rationally comes to the conclusion about what her life was and what it was not.  How she lived it and just how it may end.

There are many layers to this play and Ms. Nixon and director Lynne Meadow have chosen some of its finest most relevant to showcase in 2012.  Bravo Ms. Nixon, Ms. Meadow and to the entire cast for a top notch performance of a touching work!

Distracted

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Cynthia Nixon delights! Jean Brodie was an outspoken, progressive teacher at a very conservative girls school in Scotland. She's in top form (her self professed "prime") and the girls simply adore and idolize her. She intends to make them the Creme de le Creme. She preaches art, love, beauty, and independence. She is bold and brazen. Did she go too far? Did her jealousy end up destroying her? You be the judge. Come see her mezmorize the girls at the Acorn Theater.

Just on thing... don't expect the best Scotish accent. It comes... and goes....

Rabbit Hole

Well they just don't tell you on the posters just how biting this show is going to be! After about 20 minutes you come to realize that Cynthia Nixon and John Slattery have lost a child - and the drama doesn't stop there. The younger, quite irresponsible sister finds out she is pregnant - quite an inappropriate time for it, as you would imagine. Mom (Tyne Daly) doesn't help out with her meddle-some nature and insistance that the family seek help with their greif. Dad wants his son's dog back from the family they sent it to right after the accident, but wants to sell the family house and move to a new place. Throw in a visit from the young boy who actually killed the son (a car accident) - and you have one evening of high drama and tension in the family house!

In the end - it seems that the message is that everyone deals with greif in their own way and in their own time. Well - that may be true - but you'd better buy your ticket to see this show on ITS timeline - or you'll miss a true gem and an extremely talented cast!

The Women

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Women_(play)