I saw this wonderful revival last night through the good fortune of my TDF account. I've been in love with Mr. Gross since "Tales of The City", and who didn't adore (and want to be) Kim Cattrall's Samantha in "SATC"? Very solid acting, incredible energy, wonderful pacing, beautiful and appropriate costuming, and the set for Act's II and III I'd move into tomorrow if I had the chance! (The chosen color palette and "fish tank" for Amanda's apartment is absolute brilliance.)
The only thing I felt lacking was the anemic lighting design. The characters would frequently walk in and out of dark spots all over the set; particularly on SL around and below the piano. Hopefully they'll fix this before opening. If not it will be the one low point of an otherwise superb revival. (Also, the period "porthole window" proved a bit problematic last night when the maid attempted to open it in Act III. A minor problem that a stagehand obviously corrected during the scene, as the window was open several minutes after her business.) And speaking of the maid, this was a wonderful comic turn by Caroline Lena Olsson who almost steals the scene by speaking nothing but flawless French.
As a newbie who has lurked here for years, I'm happy to make my first post and say that my first show as a New Yorker once again (it's been 15 years since I was a resident) was this very satisfying, and visually pleasing revival of "Private Lives". (Tonight it's the first preview of "Lysistrata Jones"!)
"All my life I wanted to be somebody. I see now I should have been more specific." ~Jane Wagner for Lily Tomlin in "The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe"