Accent on Youth 4/26 7pm preview

[renaibr]

Posted: 4/27/09 at 9:42am

We saw the play last night and had second row seats in the orchestra. David Hyde Pierce is Steven Gaye a middle aged playright. The cast is very small with only nine members but they all seem to have a great time and are very talented.
As others have stated , the first act is only about 35 minutes.
Acts 2 and 3 run about an hour. The show makes you think about age, actions and what defines youth. Rosie Benton and Mary Catherine Garrison steal the show. I loved the old fashioned gowns that they wore, the costumes were beautiful.
Charles Kimbrough played the butler and he was hysterical also.
we met him outside the theatre and he was very nice.
I have never been to this theatre before and it was amazing.
the seats were comfortable and there was plenty of legroom.
there were elevators that went up to the balcony and the lower lounge. The lounge was really nice with a full bar and photos with the history of the theatre. we had an enjoyable night out at the theatre.

[nearthestage]

Posted: 4/27/09 at 5:35pm

We saw this yesterday as well - 2PM show, the house looked full, but I wouldn't swear on it. Most of the audience was having a good time. There was plenty of laughter, some applause, some chuckles, and a few ohs and aws, in the more poignant parts (yes it has poignancy).

Daniel Sullivan has elected to stick entirely to the original script with not even a sniff of updating, so if you're not fond of period pieces, this is not the show for you. For myself, I enjoy period pieces and so found ACCENT on YOUTH to be a delightful afternoon at the theatre. Not great - just easy and enjoyable.

It's fairly short by today's standards - coming in under 2 hours. The curtain drops that I had read so much about are 3 in number, one for the end of each scene. Okay. There's piped in electronic music that is both obnoxious and unneccesary. The plot isn't typical of your May/Dec romance and carries within some surprises. I won't say too much about that since some may not have seen the show.

David Hyde Pierce is adorable. Physically in ACCENT, you can see him bounding about the stage with the excitement of a little boy at the park, as he [Gaye] prepares to embrace his retirement, or playfully dance around the room with his butler as he [Gaye] readies to be married. He runs a full gambit of emotions and does so with a slight tilt of his head, a confused blink, a sly smile or the raise or dropping of an eyebrow. He accents (no pun intended) the plays poignant moments with marked stillness and does it all with his trademark infinite timing.

Charles Kimbrough is perfection as Gaye's devoted butler. He's an obedient, loyal and charming gentleman's gentleman, and like Mr. Pierce, he serves up humor - both physical and spoken, on a silver platter; all you need to do is listen, watch and laugh.

Mary Catherine Garrison plays her role as Linda Brown with such ease one wonders if she's acting. Her first act confession of love for Playwright Gaye drew applause from the house and rightfully so. It was funny and pathetic all at the same time. She's fabulous.

Rosie Benton as Genevieve Lang is very simply - a hoot! She's wonderful as the past love of Gaye's life and she and Mr. Pierce have an amazing amount of chemistry. I enjoyed each and every time they shared the stage.

Lisa Banes as Miss Darling is also very good - she fits the role and plays it to a tee.

Byron Jennings is a script perfect Frank Galloway.

Now to David Furr. Here is the absolute biggest problem with this show. Not only is his acting stiffer than a piece of 3/4 plywood; but his total lack of any hint of comedic ability or timing brings down each scene in which he appears. You're sitting, having fun, laughing, listening - he enters and down the toilet goes the scene taking with it the other players laughs. He continually talks over laugh-lines. He apparently doesn't know about letting a laugh build or allowing a laugh to die down. I found him irratating. Thank God his scenes aren't long. Jim Newman would have been perfect for this role anyway, but that's just a wishful aside.

The set is very nice. Well designed, clean and simple.

All in all a nice way to spend an afternoon or evening at the theatre. The actors all seem to be having a great time with one another. A plus for any show. I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a couple of Tony nominations here - no winners, just nominations.

So there it is. My first full review. Enjoy it and please be kind, it's just my opinion.



Updated On: 4/27/09 at 05:35 PM