Love, Loss, and What I Wore

Nora and Delia Ephron have penned a delightful work that focuses on the memories of our lives as seen through the clothes the 5 women on stage have worn at various points in their lives.  It's a reading of sorts - coordinated and choreographed vignettes - not really a play.  It's funny, poignant, and at times may elicit a gasp or a tear.  Taken for what it is - you'll leave with a satisfying smile on your face.

I saw the cast of Jayne Houdyshell, Adriane Lenox, Allison Mack, Kate Mulgrew, and Kristine Nielsen.  Each of them had moments to shine and they all came thru with flying colors - and they really looked like they were having fun on stage.  I presume that each cast plays the characters differently - bringing the subtleties of the individuals to the reading they are performing - so no two casts will produce the same show.  The character on stage right (that's to the left for the audience) who's name is Ginger (Jayne, in this cast) is the main character whose story is woven throughout the other 4 characters' stories - most of which are not connected.  This is an interesting theatrical device used to create a feeling of continuity and story amongst all the other unrelated passages.  A special shout out to Kristine Neilsen - who seemingly had (and nailed) the show stealing reading about the purse).

I love Jayne and Kate - and they were the reason I chose this cast.  But I am going to guess that the underlying stories and memories that Nora and Delia elicit in their words would make just about any talented actress shine.  If this were a move - we'd say "chic-flik".  But I didn't mind.  A smile on your face is just that - a smile.

Equus

Peter Shaffer's homo-erotic play about a young boy raised in a house filled with religious fundamentalism and working class anger who blinds 6 horses made it's debut on Broadway this past week.  Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and Richard Griffiths (History Boys) headline.  Kate Mulgrew (Tea at Five, Our Leading Lady, Star Trek), CarolynMcCormik (Private Lives) and T.Ryder Smith (Dead Man's Cell Phone) are among the stand outs in the supporting cast.  

Martin Dysart (Griffiths), an aging psychiatrist attempts to get to the core issues behind why Alan Strang (Radcliffe) has blinded 6 horses in a stable in a small town.  At first blush, a horrific act, however the story unwinds itself to reveal a young man caught up in religion, loneliness, sexual attraction, and a very sad, yet plausible explanation to the tragedy.  

In the course of the story, we learn that the aging Dysart may indeed be battling his own version of these devils.  Are any of us exempt?  Are we all secretly jealous of those who take the reigns of life? Even if those reigns lead us down a path to hell?  Perhaps Marx had it right. Religion may just be the opiate of the people.

Griffiths and and Radcliffe are aided by remarkable sound, well designed and executed lighting and smoke on the stage - not to mention the very physically fit boys who play the horses.  The horse heads are a clever trick but it was the actors behind those heads executing the subtle horse movements brought their grandeur to life.

Well worth a full price ticket to see this show.  Run, don't walk.  

Our Leading Lady

One minute you're laughing - the next minute President Lincoln is shot! This play has a little of everything - perhaps to its own detriment.

Kate Mulgrew plays the powerful and accomplished Laura Keene who shows up at the Ford Theater in Washington DC to take charge of a "rag-tag" theater company with the ulterior motive of actually taking over the theater itself. She plans to earn this privilege by filling the house and bringing prestige back to the theater on the opening night. And with President and Mrs. Lincoln in attendance how could anything go wrong?! (Well, you know the rest)

Maxwell Caulfield, Barbara Bryne, and Kristine Nielsen comprise the major players in the theater troupe. Their characters all have marginal talent and are nothing "big". Throw in a young (and very cute) stage manager learning the ropes in the theater, who seems to have an inappropriately ultra religious upbringing (along with a closeted curiosity for men) and you have all the ingredients for some laughs and some serious drama.

The back story of how President and Mrs. Lincoln came to be at the theater that night is a clever idea and the use of this historic event as the fabric for the story being told is a credit to Charles Busch's overall creative talents.

With all those ingredients I didn't feel that either was done so well. The laughs were more chuckles... and the drama didn't exactly evoke tears. Overall the show was longer than it needed to be, but not uncomfortably so. On the bright side, the rotating stage proscenium was clever and the classical piano music at the scene changes was brilliant.

Tea at Five