Since the majority of the out-of-towners will only see one
or two shows, they want to be sure that they see the right ones. And that
usually means shows that are familiar to them in some way. So they queue up for
the mega hits their cousins saw (Phantom, War Horse, Wicked) and boasted about when
they visited the city. Or
they choose shows whose music they already know (Jersey Boys and Rock of
Ages). Or they seek out ones based
on favorite movies (which may be why the critically pilloried Ghost saw its
tickets sales levitate 10% during the tourist-heavy July 4th week).
The tourists are willing to pay up to see familiar faces
too. Which probably explains why
Harvey, a fey 68-year-old comedy about a man whose best friend is an imaginary 6
ft. rabbit, has been selling out at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Studio 54. For the actor playing Harvey’s buddy
Elwood P. Dowd is Jim Parsons, the Emmy-winning star of the CBS sitcom “The Big
Bang Theory.” Audiences, at least
the one at the performance my theatergoing buddy Bill and I attended, seem to
adore Parsons.
Or maybe the show itself just has an appeal that escapes the
rationalist in me. It’s another one of those whimsical stories that make the
case that people who seem crazy are actually the most sane because they’re more
in touch with what life is truly all about.
Harvey’s plot centers around an attempt by Elwood’s sister Veta
to commit him to a mental institution so that his eccentric behavior, exacerbated by long, liquid afternoons at the local bar, will stop
embarrassing her and her marriageable-age daughter. Hilarity is supposed to
ensue when the commitment plan goes awry.
I’d seen—and been mildly amused by—excerpts from the 1950 movie with Jimmy Stewart as
Elwood but I don’t think I ever watched the whole thing through and this was my
first encounter with the stage version, which turned out to be too twee
for me.
Yet, to my surprise, many of the critics were quite charmed
by the production (click here to see a roundup of the reviews on StageGrade). And their 1944
counterparts were just as enchanted when Harvey, directed by Antoinette Perry
for whom the Tonys are named, originally opened with the vaudevillian Frank Fay
playing Elwood.
The New Yorker declared that the production and Fay's performance were “touching, eloquent and lit with a fresh, surprising humor
that has nothing to do with standard comedy formulas.” Apparently unable to express fully why he so loved Harvey, the unsigned critic finally resorted to saying, “You’ll just have to take my word for it, you’ll have the
time of your life.”
Audiences back then apparently agreed because the show ran for over
four years. Its playwright Mary Chase even won the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama, beating out Tennessee
Williams and The Glass Menagerie. I've tried to keep my lingering incredulity over that
latter injustice from unduly affecting my response to the current revival.
So I fully acknowledged that director Scott Ellis has put together a handsome production
(David Rockwell did the swanky sets and Jane Greenwood the cheeky costumes). And
I'm happy that he’s cast it with dependable stage vets including Jessica Hecht as Veta (click here to read a piece about her), Charles Kimbrough as the head of the asylum, Tracee
Chimo as the daughter and the always-welcomed Larry Bryggman as the lawyer who
oversees Elwood’s financial affairs.
They all seem to be having a good time. Which is fine but I do wish
they’d been willing to make the supporting characters a little less lovable so that the distinction between
the world in which they live and the one in which Elwood does was sharper edged.
But no matter. As I said, the summertime audiences are
turning out for Parsons. And he
gives a nicely calibrated performance (click here to read about how he put it together) that is totally pleasing to them and even somewhat appeasing to a
jaded New York theatergoer like me.
No comments:
Post a Comment