Did Pygmalion Suffer From Critically Great Deigns?The first revival in twenty years of
George Bernard Shaw's classic
Pygmalion opened last night at Broadway's
American Airlines Theatre. Reviews were decidedly mixed as some critics could have dissed all night.
Proclaiming that it "has plenty of class,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News offers one of the most positive reviews: "[B]y George, it's always compelling and often delicious, even if it does feel a tad claustrophobic.
Claire Danes, making her stage debut as Eliza Doolittle, beams confidence as the Cockney flower girl made into a society lady. Funny and feisty, she turns a scene in which Eliza makes polite conversation about the weather into something with gale-force hilarity....Mays plays the part as a prickly mama's boy prone to tantrums and bad behavior. It's daring. And it works....
Pygmalion all but sings without any music. I could have watched all night."
Dazzled by the "beguiling time" he had,
Michael Sommers of Newark's
Star Ledger is similarly positive: "[I]t's a pleasure to see how nicely the 95-year-old play can still tickle viewers in
Roundabout's first-class revival, which opened yesterday at American Airlines Theatre. The subject for Shaw's social satire -- the superficial nature of class distinctions -- is long outdated. Yet his 1912 story about the unlikely association of a phonetics expert with a Cockney flower girl remains entertaining....Making a lovely Broadway debut, Claire Danes ably traces the heroine's flowering from a 'quashed cabbage leaf' of Covent Garden into a cultivated beauty who enchants an embassy party. Initially performing with a Cockney yowl that sounds as authentic as her later elegant tones -- as well as a consistently graceful physicality -- Danes is a spirited yet sensitive Eliza."
Saying this
Pygmalion is "enjoyable enough," Bloomberg's
John Simon is mostly upbeat: "This being a comedy of manners and ideas, as well as a period piece and British, it requires a good deal from American actors, yet, by George (or Bernard), it pretty much gets it. Only in one place does it fall down seriously: in the casting of
Jefferson Mays as Higgins....There is, however, compensation in a very pleasant surprise: the Eliza of movie actress Claire Danes, who, contrary to preceding malevolent rumors, is a marvelous heroine....She even achieves that elegantly elongated English-rose look."
Despite his awe for the "dazzling Claire Danes"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes gives the show two stars: "
David Grindley's sober, somber, dark reading of the text, joined by
Jonathan Fensom's meager sets and costumes and
Jason Taylor's dimmish lighting, does the playwright few favors....Jefferson Mays, who plays Higgins here, seems more like a shopkeeper than a professor. He is shrill, abrasive and totally sexless."
Citing what he calls a "mothbally, duty-bound heft,"
Eric Grode of the
New York Sun mostly pans: "Mr. Grindley likes to give audiences something to chew on — even choke on — as they leave the theater. And
Pygmalion has always encouraged a director's impulse to tinker, particularly in its final moments....This newly melancholy interpretation runs completely afoul of Shaw's printed directions, and yet it could be psychologically defensible....Mr. Grindley has fallen prey to the frequent habit of defanging Colonel Pickering, Higgins's genteel but only marginally less thoughtless co-conspirator; the poised decency that comes so naturally to
Boyd Gaines actually diminishes the role slightly....Ms. Danes lacks the tonal versatility to rise above this static conception of the role."
Linda Winer of
Newsday laments: "(Danes) has done herself no favors by making her stage debut as Eliza Doolittle....She likes to lunge during excited moments, but her pounce always seems a beat off the narrative....We appreciate Mays' determination to escape the shadow of
Rex Harrison by re-imagining Higgins as a far less dashing fellow. But Mays turns him into a
Richie Rich of a mama's boy, a busy and obnoxious twit with crazy eyes and exaggerated nervous habits, whose feet don't touch the floor when he sits on tables, which he does a lot. Of course, despite the happy end in
My Fair Lady, Shaw never meant this to be a romantic comedy. But without any chemical buzz between teacher and student, Grindley's decision to tack a sentimental spasm on Shaw's clear-eyed final moment feels especially contrived."
Calling it a "misfired revival,"
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times apparently was hoping to dance all night, failing to remember that this non-musical was not about love: "For there is not a whisper of mutual attraction between this production’s Eliza and Henry....(Danes') game, conscientious portrayal doesn’t make much of an impression here. The main event, the performance that’s most likely to provoke heated after-theater discussion, is Mr. Mays’s epicene Henry Higgins. Looking like a cross between the 1930s child star
Freddie Bartholomew and
Nathan Lane at his most impish, the smooth-faced Mr. Mays shatters the cranky-but-sexy mold of Henry Higginses past....Maybe I’m just one of those sentimental fools Shaw held in such contempt."
Well of course you are, Mr. Brantley! At least you hold no pretense about
that.
For the record, I liked it much more than many of the critics.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Pygamalion (The SOB Review) (October 19, 2007)
Come What Mays, My Fair Danes Opens Tonight (October 18, 2007)
Pygmalion Revival: There Is Nothing Like A Danes? (July 10, 2007)
Labels: Boyd Gaines, Broadway, Claire Danes, Critics' Capsule, George Bernard Shaw, Jefferson Mays, Play, Pygmalion, Revival, Roundabout Theatre
Pygamalion (The SOB Review) - American Airlines Theatre, New York, NY
***1/2 (out of ****)
If you're looking for a class act on Broadway -- or five for that matter -- look no further than
David Grindley's splendid five act revival of
George Bernard Shaw's classic
Pygmalion now gracing the stage of the
American Airlines Theatre.
And while
Jefferson Mays as Professor Henry Higgins is delivering yet another flawlessly superb performance, it's film actress
Claire Danes who's a revelation in her Broadway debut. With amazing aplomb and grace, Danes portrays the gutter snipe named Eliza Doolittle, first devouring the common street girl's accent and then morphing into the classy dame who unwittingly helps Higgins win a bet.
At that moment when the indefatigably clueless and rude professor deigns to utter the line, "Silly people don't know their own silly business," to an equally compelling
Boyd Gaines (as his fellow confirmed bachelor, the genteel Colonel Pickering) -- particularly as the former pats Eliza's head as if she were a pet -- Shaw neatly underscores his overarching point that class ain't all it's cracked up to be. It's also the type of delicious Edwardian irony that makes this play such a classic.
Through the boorish and overbearing Professor Higgins -- nicely counterbalanced by the earthy philosophy of Eliza's undeserving poor father Alfred (
Jay O. Saunders in a humorous spot-on performance) -- Shaw not only demonstrates that human decency has little to do with class distinctions, but also that intellectualism and common sense don't necessarily go hand in hand.
And speaking of class,
Helen Carey as Mrs. Higgins is the epitome of noblesse oblige, as she ponders early on what is to become of poor Eliza, long before the flower girl herself realizes that there's no turning back to the life she once had. She serves as a strong moral compass, trying to redirect her errant son.
I adore this show and its genuine blissful humanity that echoes in the music of its lyrical spoken word. Concerns among its characters over swear words like "devil," let alone "buggery," remain quaint chestnuts, reminding us how far we've come or gone.
Thanks to Grindley's sharp direction, accentuated quite literally by
Majella Hurley's dialect coaching, this
Pymalion moves swiftly with focus. Helping the five acts roll is the exquisite scenic design by
Jonathan Fensom that magically transports us from a rainy evening at London's
Covent Garden to the professor's study to Mrs. Higgins' parlor with the ease of his zigzagging sets (Fensom also does the honors with his costume designs).
Pygmalion is one period piece that seems timeless and well-worth revisiting. I strongly recommend this show.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Come What Mays, My Fair Danes Opens Tonight (October 18, 2007)
Pygmalion Revival: There Is Nothing Like A Danes? (July 10, 2007)
Labels: Boyd Gaines, Broadway, Claire Danes, George Bernard Shaw, Jefferson Mays, Play, Pygmalion, Revival, Roundabout Theatre, The SOB Review
Come What Mays, My Fair Danes Opens TonightFirst produced on a Broadway stage almost exactly 93 years ago,
George Bernard Shaw's much beloved
Pygmalion comes to life on the Great White Way for the sixth time at the American Airlines Theatre. Most notable is the casting of
Jefferson Mays as Professor Henry Higgins and film actress
Claire Danes as Eliza Doolittle.
So who exactly was
Pygmalion? Why, he was a mythical sculptor king of Cyprus who fell in love with a statue of his own making, of course.
Some notable actors and actresses have filled the roles of the professor who sculpts a lady out of a common street urchin, including
Peter O'Toole and
Amanda Plummer in the
revival from 20 years ago (Plummer was Tony nominated, while the play received a nod for Best Revival of a Play), as well as
Raymond Massey and
Gertrude Lawrence in the
1945 revival. During the four short performances of the
1938 incarnation,
Frank Daly and
Norma Downey had the honors.
Reginald Mason and the legendary
Lynn Fontanne portrayed the duo during the
first revival in 1926.
All totaled, prior to the new 2007 revival,
Pygmalion has enjoyed 561 regular performances on Broadway, a feat that has, of course, been significantly upstaged by the play's musical progeny:
My Fair Lady, which has been produced four times on the Great White Way. In fact, the original run of the tuner alone enjoyed 2,717 regular performances!
With
David Grindley (
Journey's End) at the helm, this new
Pygmalion also includes
Boyd Gaines as Colonel Pickering,
Jay O. Sanders as Alfred Doolittle,
Kerry Bishé as Clara Eynsford Hill,
Kieran Campion as Freddy Eynsford Hill,
Helen Carey as Mrs. Higgins and
Sandra Shipleyas Mrs. Eynsford Hill.
Will critics hail this latest creation? Find out tomorrow as I provide a critics' capsule. I'll also be providing my own SOB Review as well.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Pygmalion Revival: There Is Nothing Like A Danes? (July 10, 2007)
Labels: Boyd Gaines, Broadway, Claire Danes, George Bernard Shaw, Jefferson Mays, Opening Night, Play, Pygmalion, Revival
Pygmalion Revival: There Is Nothing Like A Danes?
According to
Playbill,
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that
Claire Danes has been cast in the
David Grindley-helmed fall revival of
George Bernard Shaw's classic (and one of my all-time favorites)
Pygmalion.
Known for her riveting performances both on the big and little screens, Danes will make her Broadway debut as Eliza Doolittle opposite
Jefferson Mays as Henry Higgins.
The Roundabout Theatre Company's limited run opens October 18 at the
American Airlines Theatre.
Will she have the chops for the street urchin-cum-debutante? My guess is that she most definitely will, and I predict that this will be yet another Great White Way offering that attracts first-time theatre audiences. Personally, I can't wait to see her spar with Mays.
Which leads me to a friendly reminder that my current SOB Poll in which I ask what motivates you to attend Broadway shows is still available for your voting:
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Casting News That's Anything But De-Bate-Able (May 13, 2007)
Labels: Claire Danes, George Bernard Shaw, Jefferson Mays, Play, Pygmalion, Revival
Did Pygmalion Suffer From Critically Great Deigns?
