You Can't Take It With You

Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's stale and dated play is currently exploding (literally) on stage at the Longacre Theatre in a 3rd Broadway revival since it was written in 1936.  This is a commercial run that was somehow caught up in the non-profit theatre vortex of Roundabout Theatre Company at the same time (I'm sure this was another trick up Roundabout's leave to keep costs low by not having to produce an original work this season).  

While the plot is madcap (frankly, crazy), the mayhem level and star level on stage is quite substantial.  The only problem is that it's frankly too stupid with a rather banal message of simply "be happy".  There is a love story going on amongst all the hubbub and but the Carol Burnette and Saturday Night-like sketch and physical comedy simply overpowers the message and muscles its way through all 3 acts with laughter often the result but never much satisfaction past that.

The cast is huge and stars abound - James Earl Jones (Martin Vanderhof) could read the phone book and we'd all be happy and the role of the patriarch fit him age wise, but not quite stylistically.  Kristine Nielsen (Penelope Sycamore) simply knocked it out of the park with her physical comedy and infectious personality.  Annaleigh Ashford (Essie) was a bit too over the top for me as the incessant ballet dancing ditsy daughter, Mark-Linn Baker (Paul Sycamore) seemed lost in the overall mix for his talent level, Elizabeth Ashley (Olga) came in at the very end and it seemed her voice was straining to make sound.  Plus by the time she entered, the endless cast of characters parading on stage simply got me tired.  There were no less than 10 other cast members who all looked good and seemed to complement the ensemble but after a while too many characters are introduced.  I applaud a producer who undertakes such an ambitious production and employs such a large cast, but this old firecracker is a dud.  I could go on... as did the play for over 2 hours and 30 minutes over  three acts... but I won't.  

In traditional Roundabout style, the set was magnificent (kudos David Rockwell).  I do not think the actors were mic'd and it was pleasing to hear real people speaking in non-electonicized tones on stage for a play.

You could skip this production, save a few bucks, and leave the audience-going to the Roundabout subscribers who paid good money into their subscription only to find out they were subsidizing a commercial run of a Broadway production.

The Best Man

Quite possibly the most star-studded success story ever to grace the Broadway stage.  Gore Vidal's The Best Man has been resurrected once again in an election year where it seems that, as the play testifies to, nothing seems to change.  And what a cast!  The budget for this show must be astronomical - and in this case - worth every penny and more in ticket prices!  Broadway, with more than its fair share of star-vehicle disappointments to grace the stage these past few years - That Championship Season and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown come to mind - this show, a history lesson unto itself, allows each star to shine individually and collectively ignite the political bonfire known as politics.  

The outstanding cast - James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack, Kerry Butler, Jefferson Mays, Michael McKean, and Angela Lansbury - are firing on all cylinders to make one magical evening in the theatre.  Mr. Jones and Ms. Lansbury bring gravitas to the subject matter.  Mr. Larroquette and Ms. Bergen bring intelligence, wit, and incredible presence to the characters.  Mr. McCormack brings youth and a very believable do-anything, say-anythig attitude.  Ms. Butler, Mr. Mays, and Mr. McKean being high quality character acting back into fashion.  All combined, they electrify the evening culminating in a riveting climax.

The entire theatre is decked out in convention regalia from orchestra to the rear mezzanine.  A box seat is taken over by a Walter Cronkite-like news broadcaster who periodically covers the goings-on in classic old-fashioned style which is also broadcast onto period black and white television sets though out the theatre.  Rotating sets (whose design and form may have been borrowed from Chinglish) are outstanding - kudos to Derek McLane.  Director, Michael Wilson, keeps the action crisp and the momentum always edging forward.

All around a not-to-be-missed evening in the theatre with a once-in-a-lifetime assembled cast entertaining you from the first minute to the very last.  Like any devoted conventioneer - you'll be on your feet, cheering in the aisles for this revival.

Driving Miss Daisy

If you count yourself among those that saw the 1989 Oscar winning film by the same name staring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy, you're probably going to have the same reaction to the play that I did.  "So that's it"?  

I can't say I know the original play, but I can tell you that it is most probably pretty similar to this incarnation, its Broadway debut, than the movie.  The original play was part of a trilogy written by Alfred Uhry named the Atlanta Trilogy which dealt with Jewish residents of the aforementioned city in the early 20th century.  The movie certainly had a more sentimental, gentle, and quaint appeal.   As with many works that go from stage to screen, Driving Miss Daisy gained a great deal of cinematographic depth and character development that would never be possible on stage.  The play, as presented, is a series of vignettes - seemingly more detached than the flow on the big screen - certainly less colorful and much here is left up to the imagination, including the car itself - represented by merely a chair, a bench and the skeleton of a steering wheel. 

While it was the treat of a lifetime to see these two national treasures (James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave) on stage together for the first time, I must admit that I thought it was more about the strategy of putting these two mega-starts together to perform, not necessarily fulfilling the author's intent of a much younger Hoke to the more elderly Miss Daisy.  That aside, not a second passed that the two of them, aptly complimented by 4 time Tony award winner, Boyd Gaines, failed to delight. 

As movies go - this one was top notch.  It's hard to beat that on stage the second time around.

On Golden Pond