I went last night and I honestly had a blast. The cast is clearly having the time of their lives because this is essentially Moliere as a party game. Everyone in the cast makes the audience feel like they are very much part of the action and they will play off the audience reacting (as what happened to me since I tend to make faces out loud).
I happened to be sitting right next to the aisle where André made his entrance (about 45 minutes in) and he comes in dripping in a long red cape, obnoxiously large diamond jewelry, and sunglasses, belting out “Feelin’ Good”. At 80 years old, this man knows how to make a damn ENTRANCE and I could’ve left happy right there. But he just was giving his all the whole night. There was a surprising amount of physical comedy that he did and I was gobsmacked at how lithe and limber he still is. At one point, his character was on the floor face down and I was concerned for a sec because I’m like “Oh god, do I need to help him up” and then he jumped up and kept going. His scene in the parlor where he is chasing a (absolutely hilarious and ravishing) Amber Iman around the divan like a sexual cheetah was comedy gold. Special mention goes to Todd Buonopane as Madame Pernelle, who turns her first act monologue into basically a reading challenge a la Drag Race, and Tyler Hardwick, who was both dashing and hilarious as a misguided himbo version of Clèante.
André was still on book for a good portion of the show, but he appeared to mostly just have it available for reference, only seldomly reading straight from it, and he managed to build it into the character as a placeholder for a Bible. I think he will eventually get there, but it’s certainly not an easy part given all he is asked to do. Honestly, the man could’ve been standing there and reading the phone book in rhyming couplets and I would’ve been entertained. (And considering the last time I saw Matthew Broderick on stage, he looked so thoroughly constipated and monotonous, I can’t imagine that he would be better than André on a bad day)
Sidebar: Me and a few others were talking to Keaton Wooden, the director, last night, and he actually mentioned that 1/3 of all the ticket sales actually are reinvested into the mission of the House of the Redeemer, which houses traveling clergy, as well as those who are needing housing assistance while dealing with terminal illnesses like cancer - so when you buy a ticket, a good part of it is going to a fantastic cause.
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