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The stellar cast in this what's old is new again production far outshines the material itself.  Director Jack O'Brien is forced to fill almost 3 hours (including 2 intermissions) with action.  The problem is, the characters are big, the acting is big, the set is big - the cast is big - but the material just doesn't measure up.

Just look at this cast:  Nathan Lane (Walter Burns), John Slattery (Hiddy Johnson), Jefferson Mays (Bensinger), John Goodman (Sherrif Hartman), Robert Morse (Mr. Pincus), Dann Florek (The Mayor), Holland Taylor (Mrs. Grant), Sherie Rene Scott (Mollie Malloy), Micah Stock (Woodenshoes Eichorn), Dylan Baker (McCue), David Pittu (Schwartz), Christopher McDonald (Murphy) plus about 9 other supporting minor characters!  Just take that cast in. Wowza.

Now as for the material - it's a 3 act play - unfortunately.  Act I should be scrapped.  It's useless and unentertaining and mostly unnecessary background material that could be established in about 15 minutes.  Act II gets off to a good start, bogs down in the middle and goes out with a "BANG".  Act III picks up the action but drags it out in the end to a very un-dramatic ending.  In a nutshell, the material stinks and should be re-writtin/adapted.

Theatrically speaking - the comedy was top notch - the assemblage of such fine actors above are able to pull off the physical and over the top comedy.  Nathan Lane is at the top of the bill.  Unfortunately, he doesn't appear on stage until the end of Act II.  Interestingly, twice when Jefferson Mays entered the stage, he got entrance applause which you could tell was because the audience mistook him for Mr. Lane (as did I).  Everyone recognized John Slattery and he gave a top notch performance - as he was really the lead despite sharing the bill with Mr. Lane.  Too much newsroom chatter and nonsense.  Not enough Holland Taylor and Dylan Baker (with a strange agent).  There was just enough time of the uber-dreamy Micah Stock - but someone has to decide what to do with that accent he puts on.  It's all over the map.

This huge cast must be a big expense - and it's a big theater with tiny seats so hopefully the star power will boost the ticket revenues.  But it's an uphill battle these days.   I saw it on a previews discount and was pleased at the value.  Full price ticket to even this show would be a disappointment unless you're just a star-stalker who just sees anything with someone.

The Substance of Fire

Jon Robin Baitz' story is re-told at Second Stage this spring.  I didn't know at the time but it was previously a movie in 1996 with a great cast (Sarah Jessica Parker, Ron Rifkin, Timothy Hutton, Tony Goldwyn, Dick Latessa and Eric Bogosian) and an original play before that in 1991 at Playwrights Horizons - staring both Rifkin and Parker among originals too.

Knowing this now, I have to imagine it was a fairly decent original run for award winning director Daniel Sullivan.  This production, however, left me a bit dazed and confused.  Act I in which the guns are drawn and tensions mount is tight, crisp, and in this production, well acted and packed a punch.  I was hooked.

However, perhaps the downfall of the original production (I don't know) was also the meandering and lackluster, and frankly bizarre act II.  It certainly was here.  Act II introduces a new character and quite honestly a diversion and story line that came out of left field.   So different was act II from act I that I felt it was an entirely different play.  Two of the characters (siblings) from act I simply disappeared and we are only tacitly filled in on the remaining sibling's status.  The 3 siblings - Halley Feiffer (Sarah), Daniel Eric Gold (Martin), Carter Hudson (Aaron) all deserve kudos as does their father Isaac - John Noble.

In the end - it was tremendous disappointment and after such a great act I, it was that much more deflating.  The cast was magnificent and I enjoyed them all.  However, I did think that Charlayne Woodard (Marge Hackett) overplayed the part (or at least she may have been directed to).

A tough topic - Holocaust survivor coming to grips with the demise of his company as his family struggles to keep things going.  I'm still not sure if in the end he was crazy or not.

I presume Mr. Baitz leaves that up to us to judge.

Tigers be Still

Way down - 4 stories below ground on West 46th street - resides an awesome theater experience called Roundabout Underground.  Funded and supported by The Roundabout Theatre Company, RU nourishes new, young playwrights by allowing their works to be presented on a black box stage all the while having the full support and backing of a professional theater company behind them.

In this case, Kim Rosenstock is one of these new, young playwrights.  This story involves Sherry (Halley Feiffer), a young woman seeking success in her first job as an art teacher and art therapist.  Ironically, it seems she and her family need just as much help as does her first client, Zack (John Magaro), the son of the principal (Reed Birney) at the school in which she has started teaching.   Throw in a depressed sister, Grace (Natasha Lyonne), and a mother locked in her room and you have the makings fit for a professional psychiatrist.  Turns out Zack has a secret which we find out only later in the performance, that, only then, fully explains his behavior and anger.

I love attending performances at the RU - it's always art in the true, raw, most pure form.  This script with it's quirky characters and no-so-far-from-reality plot has great potential.  It needs a few nips and tucks, a few adjustments to smooth out the choppy storyline and "oh my god, we have to wrap this up" ending - and I think one day we might even see this one on Broadway.  Kudos to Kim.  I hope we see more from her - and I certainly hope we see more of the adorable John Magaro.

Some Americans Abroad

A darkly funny evening at the theatre. Gordon Edelstein directs a cast of pompous, erudite, and self-absorbed college literature professors on an annual trip to England which degrades from barely entertaining to a debacle to top all debacles. Now, that's the plot, not my review. On the contrary - I thought the intelligent humor was well placed, cleverly delivered both directly and indirectly. Take the scenery - which i believe to be representative of our lives. It kept accumulating on stage from each scene. They brought new stuff out which only served to clutter further with each passing scene. Interpreted by this theatergoer to represent the mess we all leave behind in our lives - physically and emotionally.

The humor was biting, honest, and true. It begs us to look at the decisions we make and what it means to stick to them - and the consequences the flow from them. Kudos to leading man, you all know from TV's Ed - Tom Cavanagh and the entire supporting cast. Tom leads the cast down the toilet on this trip with aplomb. You'll want to see more of him when you leave the theater. There's talent there.

Inside Joke - I made sure to split the bill at 5 Napkin Burger evenly with my theater companion afterwards!

SubUrbia

SubUrbia - Powerful. A dose of social truths. Is this how our kids are really growing up today? I'd say it's pretty darn close. Kids are messed up today. Who and what is the cause? Our parents? Our culture? Did this happen overnight? I think not.

Perhaps some might think it's a bit of everything thrown into the pot and stewed for 2.5 hours... others might say - well.. the same thing and that's just how it is today.

The cast - superb. Peter Scanavino - a shocking and honest standout. Kieran Culken and Michael Esper - Real. Honest. Funny. Fucked up. Like everyone else. All of the above.

We'll see more of these actors. And it was unanimous leaving the theater - the problems portrayed aren't going away any time soon. And lots of kids with these problems are now the adults with more kids... I see a pattern here.