Tag: James Earl Jones

‘You Can’t Take It With You’ on Broadway

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It’s been said that home is where the heart is. In that case, home should be the Longacre Theatre where a joyous Broadway revival of You Can’t Take It With You is currently playing. When the houselights came up after the preview I attended, I wanted to become one of the household. (The last time I had such a feeling in the theater was after MTC’s gorgeous 2009 revival of The Royal Family). The characters inhabiting the home of Martin Vanderhof are so beautifully drawn and so lovable, that I wanted to spend a fourth or even fifth act with them. While topical references may sail over some heads, and the play’s Depression-era escapism might seem naive for 2014 sophisticates, the Kaufman and Hart classic is still warm and funny. Dated, yes, but as a romantic comedy it’s timeless.

Grandpa, as Martin is more commonly known, decided one day that he didn’t like going to work so he just stopped. He doesn’t pay income tax, but he does like to collect snakes and listen to commencement exercises. Having gently dismissed a stressful life for 35 years, he has fostered in his entire extended family (they pick up dreamers like strays) the desire for each to do what makes him or her happy. His daughter writes plays, a granddaughter studies ballet, and his basement is a fireworks factory. Problems arise when his other granddaughter (sort of the Marilyn Munster of the family) falls in love with her boss’ son and her carefree family must soon meet her fiancé’s conservative, monied parents.

The Pulitzer Prize-winner first appeared on Broadway in 1936, starring Henry Travers (Clarence in It’s a Wonderful Life) as Grandpa. The 1938 film adaptation, directed by Frank Capra and starring Jean Arthur, James Stewart, and Lionel Barrymore won the Oscar for Best Picture. The play has since become a staple of high school and community theaters. This current production is the 5th Broadway revival, the first since an acclaimed all-star production in 1983.

At the heart of the play is its cast, made up of a Who’s Who of New York theatre. James Earl Jones, 83 years old and a genuine national treasure, plays Grandpa with a warm smile and an irresistible twinkle in his eye. Rose Byrne is charming in her Broadway debut as lovestruck Alice, though at the early preview I attended, she didn’t seem as comfortable as the rest. Kristine Nielsen, who is one of the best things to happen to Broadway in the last decade, follows up her Tony-nominated triumph in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike with another delectable performance. Meanwhile legends Julie Halston and Elizabeth Ashley provide some of the biggest laughs the play has to offer. Annaleigh Ashford delivers a performance that is quite literally fully choreographed (Liz Ashley’s reaction to Ashford’s greeting is worth the price of admission). Reg Rogers is delightfully over the top as a Russian dance teacher. Mark Linn-Baker, Fran Kranz, Byron Jennings, Johanna Day, Will Brill, Crystal Dickinson; they’re all superb.

The play looks beautiful. I want to spend time in the sprawling, cluttered Upper West Side living room David Rockwell created, though I don’t think it needed to be on a turntable. Jane Greenwood had a designer’s field day with the various period costumes. Jason Robert Brown provided a sensational period pastiche score, so enjoyable that my friend and I stayed around to hear the extended exit music. Scott Ellis’s production moves at a brisk pace. His direction never lets the energy flag, yet he also finds the right balance between the sheer anarchy of the play’s farcical moments and the more tender, impassioned sections of the third act.

I don’t think I stopped smiling for two and a half hours. My only qualm: the adorable kittens should have more stage time.

You Can’t Take It With You is a limited engagement through January 4, 2015.

On the Town: May Edition

When I was a senior in high school, I had the great pleasure of playing Freddy Eynsford-Hill in our spring production of My Fair Lady. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the school’s performing arts center. It was a thrilling experience for the principal cast; an experience we still recall with each other fondly. It seemed to us that no expense was spared to make the production as thrilling as possible, including fully realized sets, costumes and the presence of the entire licensed orchestration in the pit (including harp!). Much was made of this weekend in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Walter Panas High School’s performing arts center, and I have to say it was a special experience to see these kids take on this American classic with such brio.

Kudos to Jim Filippelli, who has been directing shows at the school since 1978, and without whom the Panas Players wouldn’t be what it is today. At intermission, the normally unflappable Mr. Filippelli was stunned by the senior class’ announcement that they were going to petition the Lakeland School Board to put his name on the school’s performing arts center. I can’t think of a greater honor for the man who made that building a reality, and for the man who makes sure that these kids put on two musical productions each year and insists that any student who wants to be involved is involved.

SarahB was officially endorsed by The Best Man and part of her responsibilities included seeing the show currently in revival at the Schoenfeld Theatre. I was quite fortunate enough to attend with her, and see Gore Vidal’s staggering play in this volatile election year. The most amazing thing about the play, and something I’ve heard from many people, is how relevant this text – written in 1960 – is today. James Earl Jones seems to be having the time of his life as the old school ailing former President, Angela Lansbury gives a master class in how to steal a scene with nothing but a bottle of Coke and a newspaper. Candice Bergen offers a fascinating portrait of a candidate’s wife who is uncomfortable with the entire process (and gets one of the best lines), while Kerry Butler  plays a Southern tart who’ll do anything to help her husband get elected. Angela Lansbury proves once again she’s one of our treasures with the rather small role as party dowager (and manages to steal a scene with nothing but a bottle of Coke and newspaper). Leave it to Gore Vidal to have a conclusion that is simultaneously inspiring and cynical. (Also, sending my best wishes to the always-excellent Michael McKean for a speedy recovery).

I find I’ve been listening to one new score more than any others. One Man, Two Guvnors. I loved the play when I saw it in April but didn’t expect to fall for the music. The skiffle band which plays a set before and during the show consists of entirely new songs, all of which were written by Grant Olding (who also functions as the lead singer in the UK production, and is featured on the original cast album of the score. It’s tuneful, entertaining with some clever lyrics. Mr. Olding is a Tony-nominee for Best Score Written for the Theatre. The general consensus is that Newsies will win because it’s an Alan Menken Disney hit and a musical. However, with apologies to Mr. Menken and Mr. Feldman, I think Mr. Olding takes the cake this season.

Picked up Maureen Stapleton’s biography at the Strand and devoured it. A Hell of a Life was published in 1995 and offers the Tony, Oscar and Emmy winning star’s usual candor and straight talk. She’s ferociously funny, salty and compelling. Her observations of the Actors Studio are fascinating, including the scene she did with Marilyn Monroe in the mid-50s. When she won her Oscar she famously quipped in her thank yous, “…and to everyone I ever met in my life.”  When she won her second Tony for The Gingerbread Lady, she was asked how it felt to win her reply was, “What the hell, it’s better than getting hit with a wet fish.” Those are just some of the choice one-liners that appear throughout. Pulling no punches, Stapleton (who died in 2006)  openly talks about her successes and failures with equal abandon. When not filling us in on fun anecdotes from her storied stage and screen career, she is also not afraid to talk of her alcoholism, failed marriages and the insecurities and problems that plagued her life. A hell of a life, indeed.

Mendacity

Went to see the revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof this afternoon. It was an extraordinary experience, as the Broadhurst was completely sold out and the audience was alive and kicking. Truth be told, this is my first Wednesday matinee since I saw Urinetown on, would you believe it, Wednesday March 12, 2003.

I was fascinated by the mixed critical response. The ways in which they were divided only made me want to see the production more. Many critics singled out one of the four leads as the chief asset of the play; making you wonder if they saw the same production. I thought that it was a decent production; well staged, well-acted. It could have used some tightening and reigning in at points, but the experience was never ultimately hindered. In fact, my only problem was the tendency for broadness. The ever-youthful Anika Noni Rose of Caroline, or Change is all grown up as the sexually frustrated Maggie the Cat. Rose is alluring, sensual and really manages to convey her character’s sincerity. Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones are forces of nature as Ida and Big Daddy. Rashad storms onstage during the first act like whirling dervish and you just can’t help but adore her. Her third act arc is beautifully realized with pain and humor. Jones is having more fun than should be allowed by law – and he makes no attempt to hide it. Big Daddy is the scene-stealer of the piece; he gets the bawdier jokes and has the most dynamic character arc. When he’s raunchy, he is RAUNCHY, but is incredibly poignant in the second act when confronting Brick for the truth behind his problems. Terrence Howard made an impressive stage debut with a subtly nuanced turn as Brick. I’m hoping that he continues to look for stage work as he could amass an impressive body of theatrical credits; and become an even more stellar stage actor in the process. Giancarlo Esposito and Lisa Arrindell Anderson are Gooper and Mae (Sister Woman), the conniving brother and sister-in-law, who are characters straight out of melodrama, and go overboard far too often.

The change in the characters’ race adds a fresh perspective on a classic work; it is also bringing out a larger African-American audience, who were the majority of the audience at this afternoon’s performance and were thoroughly engaged. The audience as a whole had an energy that may have surpassed the high-octane charge onstage. What surprised me so much was the amount of laughter that has been the response. I’m not sure it was directed as such; I think it just happens. We’ve grown used to hearing shocking and depraved things on TV, the news, etc. that our sensibilities have softened. The frank talk of sexual desire and homosexual overtones that shocked audiences in 1955 (and had to be toned down for the highly entertaining film adaptation of 1958) doesn’t have the same impact today. Our tendency nowadays is to laugh at dysfunction rather than let it shock us. A couple of times I felt uncomfortable – laughter when Brick was chasing Maggie around the bedrom with the crutch and during the candles exchange between Ida and Big Daddy (Rashad is heartbreaking in that moment, I might add). Later on at dinner I thought more about that: the characters and themes at August: Osage County are much more dysfunctional and shocking than anything in Cat and the audiences are howling even more at that one. Just the way things are. And that’s okay. It’s fun to be at a matinee crowd that wasn’t saddled with students or elder theatre patrons. This performance was alive on and offstage and that kind of energy just fuels the fun factor in such an experience. If not the perfect production of the play, it’s a highly entertaining and engaging experience.

And it might be insidious to add, but Tennessee Williams sure writes fantastic and memorable dialogue. Always a good time.