Did Butley Capture Critical Buzz?
Last evening, the Broadway revival of
Simon Gray’s
Butley opened with
Nathan Lane in the titular role.
As I’ve previously reported, I caught the earlier incarnation of the
Nicholas Martin-helmed production when it first opened in Boston back in 2003. While I”ve enjoyed Lane in everything from
Guys And Dolls to
The Odd Couple, I frankly didn’t find his portrayal of Ben
Butley particularly convincing. I found that Lane appeared to overcompensate for his marginally decent English accent with over-the-top scenery-chewing.
So it was with great curiosity that I read the New York reviews to see if my three year old perspectives were confirmed or overridden. The result: mixed reviews.
One of the more positive reviews came in the three-out-of-four-star variety from the
New York Post’s
Clive Barnes, who said that fans of Lane’s will not be disappointed. “It's a tribute to Lane that by the end of the play, which opened last night at the
Booth Theatre, actor and character appear totally fused...It's a lovely performance….He has the idiom and the touch….The rest of the cast -- with the exception of
Dana Ivey's gently embittered turn as a female academic who knows more about Byron than life -- is less sure.”
Less sure among critics is
The New York Times’
Ben Brantley: “Mr. Lane being Mr. Lane, one of the best comic marksmen in the theater, he repeatedly hits the bull’s-eye that automatically sets off an audience’s laughter. Somehow, though, the lines seem to exist independent of the character who speaks them…. But if you were expecting a seamless, emotionally stirring marriage between a first-rate actor and a first-rate play, then
Butley disappoints….For this
Butley is one of those Broadway shows that achieves a state of paralyzing self-consciousness by trying to live up to its English accent.”
Also providing a mixed review,
Frank Scheck of
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “The current revival…offers its lead performer great opportunities to chew the scenery…The play itself doesn't seem to hold up particularly well, seeming rather anemic….What makes
Butley's travails interesting to watch is his scathing wit, and Lane delivers his verbal put-downs and sarcastic asides with his trademark expert comic timing and vocal bluster. But he uncharacteristically fails to command the stage here, not managing to convey the authority that would make his character's rapid descent moving. It is a fatal flaw if we are to care for this essentially obnoxious, self-involved figure.”
In saying the play feels “creaky” and “neutered,” the New York
Daily News’
Joe Dziemianowicz laments that “The not-so-good news is that this 35-year-old play -- character portrait, really -- is showing its age…. If you enjoy heaped helpings of the two-time Tony winner, you'll probably like this production…If you're not a Lane fan, on the fence or expecting a characterization that breaks the Lane mold, this probably won't make you a convert. He plays the part with several of the same tics, mannerisms and high-pitched voice -- this time with an English accent -- all too familiar from past roles.”
Of course, Nathan Lane has all but become the crowned King of Broadway -- thanks in part to his now-legendary runs in
The Producers and
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum -- that’s it’s likely that in spite critic’s misgivings, the limited run of
Butley will still prove to be a commercial success.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:Butley Opens Tonight On Broadway (October 25, 2006)
Catching Nathan Lane If You Can (July 6, 2006)
Butley's Back on Broadway at Booth (May 23, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Butley, Critics' Capsule, Nathan Lane, Play, Revival
Butley Opens Tonight On BroadwayNearly three years ago, director
Nicholas Martin teamed up with
Nathan Lane for a heralded Boston revival of
Simon Gray's
Butley, a show first produced on Broadway at the long since razed
Morosco Theatre back in 1972. The original production was not only Tony-nominated for Best Play, but it also garnered a Best Actor in a Play Tony for its star, the late
Alan Bates.
I took in the Boston run of
Butley at Beantown's
Huntington Theatre back in December of 2003. Unlike the critics, I was only lukewarm to that production largely because of Lane's over-the-top scenery-chewing depiction of the title character who loses his wife and male lover on the same day.
Will New York critics hail the long anticipated Broadway revival? Stay tuned for more tomorrow.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets (scroll through selections for Butley).Related Stories:Catching Nathan Lane If You Can (July 6, 2006)
Butley's Back on Broadway at Booth (May 23, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Butley, Nathan Lane, Opening Night, Play, Revival
Catching Nathan Lane If You CanAs if to prove he really is the "King of Broadway," Nathan Lane is literally all over the boards this year. Lane, of course, began the year in his nearly sold-out run of
The Odd Couple opposite Matthew Broderick. While he's already preparing to bring his acclaimed performance as Ben
Butley from Boston's Huntington Theatre to Broadway's Booth Theatre this October,
Playbill.com reports this morning that Lane is set to star next month as Federal Agent Carl Hanratty in the workshop for the upcoming musical version of
Catch Me If You Can.
Based on the 2002 fact-based movie starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio, the
Catch Me If You Can tuner will feature a book by Terrence McNally and original score by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. The workshop will be led by director Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.
Lane's on-stage association with McNally began with 1995's Tony Award-winning Best Play
Love! Valour! Compassion! and continued with last year's Off-Broadway production of
Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams with Marian Seldes.
No word yet on whether a return is imminent for any of the other outstanding actors from last year's initial reading -- Matthew Morrison (
Hairspray,
The Light In The Piazza), Tom Wopat (
Annie Get Your Gun,
42nd Street), Christine Ebersole (
42nd Street,
Grey Gardens), Sara Gettelfinger (
Nine,
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels). But given the talent that is already behind this ambitious project, including that of Steven Spielberg,
Catch Me If You Can is sure to attract major attention when it finally makes its expected debut at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre sometime next year.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Flashback: Best of 2001-02 (May 24, 2006)
Butley's Back on Broadway at Booth (May 23, 2006)
Guys and Dolls Imported to Broadway from London? (May 15, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Butley, Catch Me If You Can, First Word On New Show, Nathan Lane, The Odd Couple
Butley's Back on Broadway at BoothMuch-anticipated confirmation came today that Nathan Lane will reprise his Huntington Theatre (Boston) title role as
Butley on Broadway. Ben
Butley is a professor whose abhorrent behavior results in losing his wife and lover on the same day. The production, helmed by Nicholas Martin, is expected to open on October 28 at the Booth Theatre (current home to
Faith Healer).
Critics showered favorable notices on this revival of the celebrated 1972 play by Simon Gray. The original version of the show garnered three Tony Award nominations, and its original star -- the late, great Alan Bates -- received his first of two Tonys for this particular portrayal.
I caught Lane's Boston performance as
Butley in late 2003. Despite what the critics thought, I thought his portrayal was way over the top and unusually forced. While I have enjoyed Lane's performances immensely in
Guys And Dolls,
The Producers and
The Odd Couple, to say he chewed the scenery as
Butley would be an understatement.
One final retrospective note on that production, there was some poignancy in seeing this show in Boston because it featured Alan Bates' son Benedick, just a month prior to the elder Bates' passing. But it remains to be seen whether the younger Bates will be part of the Broadway production.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Vanessa Redgrave to Make Broadway Return as Joan Didion (May 26, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Butley, First Word On New Show, Nathan Lane, Play, Revival, Transfer
