CurtainUp
The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
Annotated Listings
| |
CurtainUp The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
Annotated Listings |
|
A CurtainUp Review
John Lithgow: Stories By Heart
By Elyse Sommer
While this is Mr. Lithgow's debut with the Roundabout, various versions of this combination memoir/dramatized audio book reading has been part of his Tony and Emmy award winning resume for a decade. It's one of those easy to produce and widely appealing pieces that have been akin to an actor's annuity. (For specifics, see my 2-part feature on the solo play: Part 1 and Part 2). There's no question that Mr. Lithgow is terrific. He's charming and a physically as well as vocally masterful storyteller. Director Daniel Sullivan has given his show's Broadway arrival a handsome but wisely unfussy production. But whether two recreated remembrances of stories his father told to him at his siblings when they were young, is really a theatrical outing worth the high price of admission depends on whether you share Mr. Lithgow's enthusiasm for this type of storytelling and these particular stories, one of which actually helped the senior Lithgow to emerge from a deep depression. To repeat my own full disclosure in the first part of the above mentioned solo play feature give me a choice between spending a couple of hours with a cast of at least two or three relatively unknown actors on stage and a solo with a big box office name attached to the title, and I'll pick the one with the cast of more than one. You see, somehow I tend to find it off-putting to have an actor, no matter how famous, break down the fourth wall and enlist me as partner. That said, I'm always ready to be won over, which indeed happened quite a few times mos recently with Billy Cruddup in Harry Clarke. And in the case of Mr. Lithgow's Stories by Heart, there were times when his charisma and skill did draw me in. To add to my full disclosure about solo shows, I'm not an audio book fan; also, while I love short stories and probably read and liked some of the selections of that Maugham anthology that serves as Mr. Lithgow's only prop, neither the Lardner the Wodehouse stories would be my top choices for re-reading. In fact, admirable as Mr. Lithgow's morphing into the various voices and personas is, I was much more engaged by his personal recollections and would have been more so throughout if the piece had a more biographical focus, shades of Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays which was also a tribute to his parents. Lithgow certainly embodied that gossipy barber and Wodehouse's Uncle Fred, who actually appeared in other Wodehouse stories and novels. And, judging from the enthusiasm of the packed house at the matinee I attended, the Roundabout's choice to bring this show to Broadway is financially sound. But for all of the very effective championship of storytelling, a repeat element in everything about this production seems out of sync with the times we're living in: The writer and star is a much lauded older white man and the stories he tells were written by successful white writers. The Roundabout's artistic director and the play's director too are successful older white guys —ditto for the entire team, with the exception of assistant stage manager Denise Cooper. Lithgow does mention that a Colette story is in the Maugham anthology he so treasures (rightly so as available copies are hard to find and could cost even more than a ticket to see the show). If she were still alive, she'd surely demand more than a Me-Too moment. |
Search CurtainUp in the box below PRODUCTION NOTES John Lithgow: Stories By Heart Written and performed by John Lithgow Directed by Daniel Sullivan. Sets: John Lee Beatty Lights: Kenneth Posner Costumes: Jess Goldstein Sound: Peter Fitzgerald Stage Manager: Roy Harris Assistant Stage Manager: Denise Yaney Running Time: 2 hours, includes 1 intermission American Airlines Theater 227 West 42nd Street From 12/21/17; opening 1/11/18; closing 3/04/18 Tuesday through Saturday evening at 8:00PM, Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2:00PM and Sunday matinees at 3:00PM. Reviewed by Elyse Sommer at 1/12/18 press performance REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted at http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter |
