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?

Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays

Short plays about gay marriage playing in the West Village in NYC.  The moment I heard about it I thought, "Not likely to have an un-sympathetic ear in the audience".   Truth be told, this play is a poem and a celebration of New York and the gay community here and more importantly on the road wherever it is likely to head next.


Nine short plays written by contemporary masters presented by six talented and attractive actors in an elegant staged reading format - don't you just love it already?

It's funny, satirical, poignant, relevant and most importantly inspirational.  I laughed mostly, cried once and was filled generally with joy the entire time.  It's not the stars that matter in this play - it's the terrifically entertaining material penned by Mo Gaffney, Jordan Harrison, Moises Kaufman, Joe Keenan, Neil LaBute, Wendy MacLeod, Joe Keenan, Paul Rudnick and Doug Wright.


The New York City production - at the Minetta Lane Theatre - is being presented by: Craig Bierko, Mark Consuelos, Polly Draper, Harriet Harris, Beth Leavel, and Richard Thomas.

Don't miss a feel-good night out.  A portion of the proceeds from this production goes to Freedom to Marry.

Race

A Naked Girl on the Appian Way

Goodie-two-shoes, be warned. Subject matter not for narrow-minded conservatives. However, for all you bleeding-heart lberals out there - don't be running down the block to get your tickets either! While I enjoyed many a laughs, the play didn't seem to come alive. The actors all felt like they were... well... "acting" - as opposed to "interacting". Many a one-liner, but it often felt like they were reading the lines - waitng for the laughs - then moving on to the next.

I don't think you could have written a story about a more dysfunctional family with so many social taboos to be revealed over the course of 100 minutes (can you say "sit-com"?). Richard Thomas, as the father, seems to have predictably brought an adult John Boy Walton to the stage - the brilliant, talented, liberal, stuck-to-his-convictions writer. The only difference here is that he is successful and lives in a large house in the Hamptons! Jill Clayburgh, the mother, is the neurotic, at times overbearing and in-denial mother who certainly got plenty of laughs. The 3 adopted children - a neurotic, bi-sexual, Korean librarian in the suburbs, a WASP-y (and gorgeous) dumb jock (Matthew Morrison - "Light in the Piazza"), and an intelligent, educated, well spoken Dominican girl - all in their 20's - all completely different- seemed to complete the very mis-shapen circle known as the Lapin Family!

The actors, much like the family and the two off-beat neighbors - were stiff and uncomfortable in their own shoes. Was that a purposeful instruction from the director (Doug Hughs) to cause you to draw that parallel - or just bad ensemble acting? Through the periodic laughter - I'll leave that decision to you.

** Now - I really didn't read Ben Brantley's review (much more elloquent than mine) before I published this - - but I thought you might like to read what a true professional actually published just yestarday!!

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/10/07/theater/reviews/07nake.html