The Constant Wife Reviews

Theatermania.com is a Rave (I am SO pleased that this show is getting good reviews!):
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/6194

Need to see this and The Paris Letter soon!

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The Times (Isherwood) is Mixed:

"Broadway has been in the reupholstering business for a long time, but producers do not often forage deeply in the antiques fair of theatrical history for material as obscure as this to restore to the repertory. Although Maugham, best known as a novelist, wrote many popular plays in the early decades of the century, none have landed a berth on the unofficial list of enduring classics. In comparison with most of Maugham's other plays, "The Constant Wife" has actually been a fairly frequent visitor to Broadway: It has previously served as a vehicle for Ethel Barrymore (in 1926), Katharine Cornell (1951) and Ingrid Bergman (1975).

A jaunty, efficient Kate Burton undertakes the role of Constance for the stylish new Roundabout Theater Company production, directed by Mark Brokaw, which opened last night at the American Airlines Theater. Ms. Burton is not a star on the order of Barrymore, Cornell or Bergman, of course - who today is?

That's a small pity, since a shot of high-voltage glamour would probably help disguise signs of decay in Maugham's play, which is merely an elaborate comic trifle, all glittering surface shellacking an emotional void. But Ms. Burton's brisk professionalism - her crystalline elocution and assured British accent, her robust but never vulgar sense of comedy - will do fine, thank you, until they start manufacturing the likes of Cornell and Barrymore again. (Fat chance.)
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Everybody talks frankly, smartly, sometimes wittily of love and sexual passion, of the naughty things that men do and the wicked or noble women who accommodate them, but for Maugham's characters these turbulent life forces do not seem to have a tangible reality that would justify postponing a game of tennis. Like Constance, Maugham seems to suggest that human nature, in its silly squalor, is not a thing to get worked up about when there are more serious matters to ponder, like the weather or the wallpaper."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/theater/reviews/17wife.html?8dpc

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Isherwood has reviewed a few Broadway shows for the Times before (Laugh Whore, Spelling Bee -- he reviewed Broadway full-time as lead critic for Variety before he got to the Times). Brantley, as lead critic, gets first pick of what he wants to review -- Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, regional etc.... He can designate Isherwood to review any Broadway shows he'd prefer not to for whatever reason (he doesn't want to review the show, he's on vacation, etc...). Brantley also can and does review important Off-Broadway shows when he wants to.

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Updated On: 6/16/05 at 11:55 PM

The Bergen Record is Mixed to Positive:

""The Constant Wife," which opened Thursday night at the American Airlines Theatre, is a drawing-room comedy that has echoes of Shaw, Coward and Wilde but hasn't the depth of the first, the fizz of the second or the razor wit of the third.

The play is neatly plotted, though, with distinctive characters and clever comic moments, and these virtues are made the most of in a merry, beautifully acted production."
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Burton more than holds her own with that company. Known as an actress of serious intelligence, she reveals a zest and talent for high comedy, elegantly commanding the stage with no visible effort.

She gives a wise and funny performance in a superb production of a middling play."


The Bergen Record

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Updated On: 6/17/05 at 01:02 AM

Newsday is Mixed-to-Positive:


"Don't tell the decency police - or, on second thought, please do.

You see, marital fidelity and conventional morality are being mocked and abused without apology by the Roundabout Theatre Company on 42nd Street. A refined London society wife named Constance seems not to care that her husband, John, has been cheating with her very best friend. "If you no longer desired me," she confides with the cheerful composure of self-sufficiency, "I was no more than a costly and inconvenient ornament." In fact, she observes before taking a job, a vacation and a lover, the only important freedom is economic freedom.

Audacious? Racy? Anti-family? What a relief. But "The Constant Wife," which opened last night in Mark Brokaw's adequate if hardly dazzling production, was written by W. Somerset Maugham in 1926. Ethel Barrymore first said those fighting words on Broadway the same year, followed by Katharine Cornell in 1951 and Ingrid Bergman in 1975."
Newsday Review

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The Daily News is a Rave:

"Hollywood actresses often complain that there are no roles for them, which may be why we have a steady stream working on Broadway. Given their hunger for meaty parts, it's strange that we don't get annual revivals of Somerset Maugham's 1926 "The Constant Wife," done here for the first time in 30 years.

The play goes well beyond the confines of what we consider "drawing-room comedy." It is stimulating as well as enormously entertaining.

Its title role is a gem, and, under Mark Brokaw's splendid direction, Kate Burton performs it dazzlingly."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/319613p-273324c.html

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Thank you, Margo. I'm not surprised that I forgot about Laugh Whore, but I'm not sure why I forgot about Spelling Bee.

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I had the pleasure of seeing this wonderful show on Sun. The entire cast was perfect. Kate Burton was a joy as Constance. She portrayed her perfectly. Lynn Redgrave was hilarious as her mother. I loved the show and was laughing the entire show. I met Ms. Redgrave and Ms. Burton afterwards and they were quite nice.