ACT ​ONE

at the Vivian Beaumont on Broadway


I really loved this play. It tells the story of Moss Hart and his against all odds journey to becoming an accomplished playwright. There are three actors playing Moss at different ages and it was nicely put together. Tony Shalhoub narrated as the eldest Moss. The young Moss was played wonderfully by Matthew Schecter, who also plays Moss’s younger brother Bernie. But it’s the handsome and articulate Santino Fontana of Cinderella fame that is actually the Moss of central focus. Many of the actors played multiple roles, and they did so very well. Speaking of playing multiple roles, shall we talk about Andrea Martin? She was all over this production, and while she only played three roles, you would have thought it was 10. She’s just a delight in every way. 

 

The second act shows Moss Hart getting his play produced, and working with George
S. Kaufman to produce the play. They painstakingly worked to bring it to perfection, which took some failure to finally get it right. So all of a sudden I thought that the production of this play about producing a play was a pretty darn perfect production itself. It did everything you would want a play to do. It flowed, it was touching, it was funny, and while it  might have been a tad too long, I was never bored. Tony Shalhoub as George S. Kaufman brought such a natural wit to the character. He was a strange fellow, but he was brilliant and you were drawn to him.


In addition to some great acting, the set was magical. I just love this theatre in the half-round venue.  There was a grand four-story spinning stage that took you from tenement to Tacoma (ok, Brighton Beach). It seemed to never stop transforming.


I choked a little at the end of the show when there was no standing ovation but this has more to do with that particular element that inhabits Lincoln Center Theatre. The subscriber. They are a tough crowd, not only for the producers, but also for the NON-subscribers. I know there would have been a standing ovation at any other theatre on Broadway -thisbroadSway 4/6/2014