When The Royal Family opened right after Christmas in 1927 it wasdish hailed as masterpeice of affectionate fun. In it's 1975 revival it was still capital fun in a wonderfully cast and staged production, but in 2009 this George S. Kaufman,Edna Ferber play about a famous theatrical dynasty [modeled after the Barrymore family] shows it's age,and this mostly frantic production doesn't help.
The Royal Family pokes good natured fun at the every day goings on of the Cavendish clan, an acting family. They go about the business of choosing scripts,performing, and stealing kisses from the opposite sex,but the fun seems to be missing from it this time around.
The direction by Doug Hughes is loud and busy but not very impressive and the acting company is for the most part ordinary.The one exception is Rosemary Harris who gives a beautifully shaded performance as the head of the clan. The rest of the cast seems to be overdoing the campy bit,and after a while it becomes rather tiresome.
The Royal Family is still worth looking at, but the humor of it's famous authors is shortchanged in this flat, noisy and unhappy production.
At THE SAMUEL J. FRIEDMAN THEATRE 261 WEST 47th STREET N.Y.C
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