BRIEF ENCOUNTER EXTENDS RUN

Responding to rave reviews and strong ticket sales, Brief Encounter has extended it's run at St. Ann's Warehouse[38 Water Street dumbo Brooklyn] thru Jan 17th.
This is a magical stage adaptation of Noel Coward's 1945 classic film employing live action with classic film footage, and should be at the top of everyone's must see list.
Theatre magic like this happens all too rarely,and is worth anyone's time,so a word to the wise.DON'T MISS IT.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL. I WILL BE BACK ON JAN.11th.

ELEKTRA A THOUGHT

There is some powerful music by Richard Strauss, and some fabulous performances in Elektra[last night's opera at the Met] but I found this adaptation of a Greek myth a distant and uninvolving work.
The stage direction by David Kneuss is remarkably able, and sets by Jurgen Rose are wonderfully effective, but even with all that is good in this production, I found Elektra to be a remote and unsatisfying work.
At THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE LINCOLN CENTER N. Y.

THE TALES OF HOFFMANN A THOUGHT

It was snowing outside but inside the Met Opera House the mood was sunny and magical. The Tales Of Hoffmann was the attraction and it was wonderful.
It has some of Jaques Offenbach's best music [and that's saying alot] and is beautifully presented.
Bartlett Sher has directed this fairy tale for grownups splendedly,and the performances are all top notch.
The weather may have been stormy, but The Tales Of Hoffmann provided an afternoon of pure sunshine.
at THE METRTROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE LINCOLN CENTER N.Y.C.

MISALLIANCE A THOUGHT

This afternoon I went to a performance of one of Bernard Shaw's early plays Misalliance, and it was given an enthusiastic and stylish production by the excellent off-Broadway Pearl Theatre Company.
It's amazing how much life is left in this almost 100 year old play, and Shaw's comments on sex, love; marriage, and children are remarkably modern and fresh.
The play is staged and acted in high style, and is off-Broadway theatregoing at it's best.
I had a fine afternoon at Misalliance.
At the PEARL THEATRE COMPANY N. Y. CITY CENTER STAGE 2 131 WEST 55th STREET N. Y. C THRU JANUARY 24th.

THE ORPHAN'S HOME CYCLE PT.2 A REVUE

The good news is that nothing has changed. Part two of The Orphans Home Cycle [subtitled The Story Of A Marriage] is just as magical as the first part. This is the continuation of Horton Foote's nine hour cycle of autobiographical plays about his family. This one deals with the courtship and marriage of his wife, and ends with the birth of their first child,and it tells it's story with the same honesty and beauty that was so evident in the first part.
As usual, Michael Wilson's staging is beautifully conceived and his acting company is first rate from top to bottom.
The last episode of this magical saga will be presented next month. As I said before, The Orphan's Home Cycle is essential viewing for the serious theatregoer. If there are still seats to be had, go at once.
At the SIGNATURE THEATRE CO.____PETER NORTON SPACE 555 WEST 42nd STREET N. Y. C.

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC A REVIEW

Let me begin this blog by saying that I was not exactly bowled over by A Little Night Music when I saw the original production in 1973,but in director Trevor Nunn's exquisite bandbox production that won rave notices in London last year,it is now a beautifully conceived and elegently written show.
The book by Hugh Wheeler [suggested by the classic film Smiles Of A Summer Night] is all about finding finding the perfect soulmate and and developing true love at whatever the cost,and it is bright and witty,and Stephen Sondheim's music remains a thing of beauty and his lyrics are among his best.
One of the evening's pleasures is the way the cast blends with their roles. As a touring theatre actress Catherine Zeta-Jones makes a smashing Broadway debut. She looks great, is a wonderful actress, and sings well. As her aging and wise mother,Angela Lansbury is perfectly cast and as usual gives a superb performance, and Alexander Hanson is excellent as the long lost love of the actress, recreating the role he played in London last year.
The staging is exquisite and David Farley's sets and costumes are just right.
I wish they could have used the original orchestrations instead of the skimpy ones they are using now, but this is a small complaint. A Little Night Music is an elegent show exquisitly presented.
At THE WALTER KERR THEATRE 219 WEST 48th STREET N.Y.C.

RACE A REVIEW

David Mamet has always been one of our more prolific playwrights. Weather his plays succeed or not is beside the point, because most of them are distinguished by sharply drawn characters and punchy dialog. Race is his latest work and while it has all the typical Mamet strengths I can't[for the life of me] tell you what it's about.
From what I have read, and what I can figure out the play takes place in a plush law office and concerns three lawyers [two black and one white] who are given a chance to defend a white man accused of committing a crime against a black woman. It's an interesting idea but I am at a loss to explain what goes on. The gimmick is good, the dialog crackels, Mr. Mamet has directed his own play most effectively, and the four member cast is excellent.
James Spader , David Alan Grier, and Kerry Washington are fine as the lawyers and Richard Thomas is effective as the hopeful client,so the play lacks nothing in the acting or staging department.
What the play lacked for me was clear plot development, and the good things in Race didn't make up for the problems it has.
While Race is totally involving, It's cloudy plot development, and emotional coldness make it interesting but unsatisfying theatre.
At THE ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATRE 243 WEST 47th STREET N. Y. C.

BRIEF ENCOUNTER A REVIEW

Back in 1936 Noel Coward wrote a tender and witty one act play called Still Life which concerned the chance meeting of a doctor and a married woman and their ensuing romance.Ten years later he adapted it into a screenplay called Brief Encounter which was made into a memorable film by director David Lean. Now the story has been beautifully adapted and directed by Emma Rice, and is being given an enthralling production by the same people who presented it in London last year to hats in the air acclaim.
Switching seamlessly between live theatre and film footage,Brief Encounter transports it's audience back to the age of romance and the silver screen, and provides one of the most enchanting evenings that this jaded theatregoer has had in ages. It is so brilliantly conceived, acted, and designed that it sometimes goes beyond greatness and approaches genius,and the use of many of Mr. Coward's old songs [performed live by a talented group of onstage musicians] is a great asset.
Brief Encounter is magical theatre, and essential viewing for serious playgoers.Seldom has any theatre offering been presented with such a joyous theatrically as this is .
So, if possible, don't miss it.
At ST. ANN'S WAREHOUSE 38 WATER STREET dumboBROOKLYN N.Y. Thru Jan. 3rd.only.

THE HEART IS LONELY HUNTER A REVIEW

The need to be accepted in society has always been a favorite subject of novelists and playwrights. Carson McCullers was taken with this subject enough to base her best-selling novel The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter on it, and from this famous novel Rebecca Gilman has written a moving and eloquent play.
It follows the story of a deaf -mute man who moves to a small southern town during the great depression to be near his best friend who has been committed to an insane asylum. His isolation is mirrored by some of the townspeople he meets who are looking for friendship and compassion just as he is.
What could have become a mawkish and sudsy story has become a moving and exalted play due to the love and understanding Ms. Gilman has for her subject, and it has been directed to perfection by Doug Hughes.
The acting company from top to bottom is superb, and the sets by Neil Patel catch the mood of the play perfectly.
This is one of those theatre evenings where every thing goes right, and The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is a tasteful and moving play done with all the skill and compassion it needs. Go see it.
At THE N. Y. THEATRE WORKSHOP 79 EAST 4th STREET N. Y. C. thru Dec. 20th.

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE A REVIEW

In his play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams wrote what many people consider the great American tragedy, and some consider it his best play. This tale of unbridled passion and the destruction of it's central character was a sensation when it was first done on Broadway in 1947, and became a memorable movie in 1951. It is now being offered by the Sydney Australia Theatre Company in a highly anticipated if uneven and leisurly production.
Most of the anticipation is because the actress Cate Blanchett is appearing in the central role of Blanche Dubois the tragic lead,and she gives a stunning performance in one of the theatre's most demanding roles.
She is backed up by an Australian company of actors who give their all and are mostly effective in their roles.
Liv Ullmann directs the show intellegently if a bit leisurly permitting lags between scenes that swelles the show's running time to almost three and a half hours, but this approach does pay off in the play's shattering final scene,and the use of New Orleans jazz is used most effectivly.
Is this streetcar one for the ages? Maybe not, but it is an effective and emotionally engaging production of a classic American play and one of the better ones that I have seen.
At THE BAM HARVEY THEATRE 651 FULTON STREET BROOKLYN N.Y. Thru December 20th and seats are hard to get, but it's worth trying to get them.