I saw the show on Thursday (the night Brantley was there) and I felt the same feel-good energy in the audience as Ed. The play is so well crafted and the performances are so delightful that the laughs and good energy just kept building until the final curtain.
I was exhausted from laughing so much.
I was amazed by just how satisfying the play is. As we reached the 1/2 way point, I was cautioning myself not to get too excited because there was no way the play could keep topping itself, energy and script wise, and I was SO happy to find out I was wrong.
The four leads are, perhaps not surprisingly, all wonderful clowns (as are 2/3 of the supporting cast) and it was such a tonic to see them all having so much fun with the material.
Rupert was practically perfect. He really brought his A game and delivered the farce beautifully, really committing to the insanity more throughly than I thought he could. Angela Lansbury was a treat, too. Giving us snippets of Mrs. Lovett and Mame as well as a bit of the Madwoman of Chaillot. And we were in the palm of her hand. Ebersole was also a delight. Her energy was so different from everyone else's and it totally worked for me. She made "wheeee!" into one of the funniest lines of the evening.
But, Jayne Atkinson slayed me. Like Denis O'Hare in Take Me Out and Julie White in Little Dog Laughed and Nathan Lane in the Producers, her performance is so alive and specific and thrilling, and the connection she has with the audience is so electric and dynamic, that it is something that must be experienced to be appreciated. It's like sex: you had to be there.
I wish them a long and healthy run and I think this production is just what the doctor ordered for these angry, hopeful times.
(disclaimer: I know Jayne Atkinson.)
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(And I'm hoping to see Jayne, Cherry Jones and Patricia Clarkson starring in a play together before I die. Won't someone write it!?)
Updated On: 3/15/09 at 03:16 PM
