The Third Act Of Marian Seldes Has Officially Begun
While I'm on the subject of one of Broadway's most beloved actresses, Marian Seldes, allow me to turn your attention to an absolutely captivating June 7 New York Times piece from Alex Witchel, along with a incredibly fascinating video from Rick Rodgers' upcoming documentary, "The Third Act of Marian Seldes."
Here's to a very lengthy third act!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.
On Sunday evening, in accepting the Tony Awards' Lifetime Achieve-ment Award honoring her 63 years on the stage, Broadway legend Marian Seldes offered what was arguably the single most elegant acceptance in the history of the Tonys.
As noted yesterday, Seldes didn't utter a single word. Instead, she opted to soak in the enormously deserved standing ovation before exiting the stage with her rarefied dignity intact. Some say it was the best speech ever. And since she spoke volumes more with her eyes and sweeping gestures than most actors can ever verbalize, I think they're right.
Today, we learn why Seldes chose to keep it simple, yet ultimately as grand as could be. Blogger Steve Schalchlin writes this morning on Living In The Bonus Round:
We were invited Sardi's and sat at a table with Marian Seldes, who caused a puzzled sensation the night before at the Tony Awards when, after receiving her Lifetime Achievement Award, looked at the microphone, struck a pose and then walked off, saucily twirling her cane.
We had to ask her about it, of course. A. J. Shively, who was sitting on my other side, and who is in the cast of La Cage, said that he was upstairs with the Cagelles, who all were screaming in delight at her "speech."
With a twinkle in her eye, she said to Jim, "They told us, 'keep it short, keep it short, keep it short,' so I decided I would just say nothing."
And, of course, hers was the most memorable moment of the entire evening. She is, indeed, one of the great stage actresses of our time.
I'll second that, Steve. Marian Seldes is the epitome of a class act. There is no one else like her. Thanks for sharing that wonderful anecodote with the rest of us!
To view Marian Seldes' acceptance, go here and scroll down the menu to the twelfth item.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.
(Click here for the full list of Tony Award winners).
Yes, there will be the carping about Memphis' big win as Best Musical, but let's face it -- the show has what it takes to be a huge success on tour, and lest we forget, a large number of the Tony voters represent the touring class. But it was telling that for the first time in years, the Tony-winning Best Musical earned less awards (four) than the year's Tony-winning Best Play, Red.
Red earned a total of six well-earned Tony Awards, including a first ever for estimable director Michael Grandage, who has become a master of both musicals and plays. Eddie Redmayne surprised (me) as the winner in the Best Featured Actor category, but given his astounding Broadway debut, I could not quibble with the choice of the Tony voters. I had hoped his co-star Alfred Molina would win in what was arguably the evening's most competitive category, but as I predicted, Denzel Washington won for his superb performance as Troy Maxson in Fences.
Which brings me to the photo above. In addition to also accurately predicting Fences would win Best Revival of a Play, Washington's co-star Viola Davis proved to be the most deserving winner of the evening for her bravura performance. In fact, so absolutely certain was I that Davis would win that I had made a twitter wager with @BroadwayGirlNYC that I would eat my Fences Playbill if she failed to take home the Tony. Although that Playbill looked mighty tasty on my plate, I knew all along that I never needed to worry about actually eating it.
In terms of overall predictions, I got 17 out of 26 correct or just over 65%. In the categories that were broadcast, I accurately predicted 11 out of 15 or just over 73%. Not bad, but after entering producer Ken Davenport's contest, I blew his tie-breaker question that asked how long (without going over) Marian Seldes' Lifetime Achievement Award speech would be; I thought I was being modest by predicting it would clock in at a bit over 2 minutes.
I'm sure all of us were wrong as she didn't utter a single word, opting instead to soak in the enormously deserved standing ovation before exiting the stage. Some say it was the best speech ever. And since she spoke volumes more with her eyes and sweeping gestures than most actors can say in a blue streak, I think they may be right.
Speaking of blue streaks, there were plenty to be seen in the hair of numerous cast members via the number of performances afforded American Idiot, which took home two Tony Awards in creative categories. But were all those televised numbers enough to move the needle on its struggling box office? I'm sure we'll hear soon enough. But let's just consider this. For the week of June 6, the show attracted a capacity of 52.6%, which was very anemic for a Best Musical nominee. If there isn't a box office boost for this tuner, you can expect to see closing notices posted very shortly.
Same goes for Come Fly Away, which failed to walk away with any awards. Like American Idiot, this Twyla Tharp tuner has been losing its audience and was down to 56.8% capacity for the week ending June 6. Million Dollar Quartetis in the danger zone, too (it attracted just 57.8% capacity during that same period), but at least Levi Kreis to score a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and the show didn't come off too shabbily during the broadcast.
But it's Next Fall I predict will post the first closing notice. The show grossed a paltry $116,150 for the week ending June 6 and attracted just 52.3% capacity in what is already one of Broadway's smallest houses. Perhaps they thought they could eke it out through the Tonys, but the producers may feel it's time to finally pull the plug after going home empty-handed. Expect a closing notice at any moment.
For the second year in a row, I spent my Tony Awards evening in the comfort of my own home where I tweeted the night away. Among my tweets that resonated most with my fellow Twitterers (by virtue of how frequently they were retweeted) were the following comments:
(Upon Tony Awards entrance of Angela Lansbury:) There's no legend quite like Angela Lansbury. She's not an overnight sensation ... she's a lifetime sensation! #Tonys
(As Catherine Zeta-Jones was singing "Send In The Clowns":) Catherine Zeta-Jones inexplicably became a bobble-head #Tonys
(During performance from cast of Come Fly Away:) Still think COME FLY AWAY looks like an after-after-after party where all the decent people already went home #Tonys
(As Cate Blanchett was presenting:) Could someone figure out a way to bring Cate Blanchett to Broadway? She's 1 of the best actresses of our time, stage or film. #Tonys
(At start of Lea Michele's rendition of "Don't Rain On My Parade":) Now for the biggest Broadway audition in history as Lea Michele has high hopes for FUNNY GIRL revival. #Tonys
(Just after it the winner was announced in this category:) Best Actress in a Musical: Catherine Zeta-Jones in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. All the other actresses were robbed, but I predicted this #Tonys
(When Memphis' Best Musical acceptance speech was cut-off:) It's over?! Most awkward finish to a Tony Awards show goes to Sean Hayes. What just happened?! #Tonys
Speaking of my Twitter comments, about halfway through the Tony Awards, my friend Esther at Gratuitous Violins alerted me that my Twitter feed was appearing on the New York Times' online Tony coverage (her tweets were there as well).
I was so honored, yet flabbergasted, that I couldn't help but tweet, "I feel like the folks from [title of show] in learning that my tweets are live on NYTimes' #Tonys Twitter feed. Will this go on site, too??"
And sure enough, it did.
So, what did you think of the Tony Awards? Thrilled? Disappointed? Somewhere in between? I'll be curious to know what you thought.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.
Want to know what one of my greatest entertain-ment pleasures is aside from seeing live theatre?
It's seeing some of the stage's greatest talents on the silver screen. Every now and then, a film comes along that surprises with the number of decidedly un-Hollywood actors in them.
Yesterday, in an effort to catch up on some of the most talked about flicks from 2008, I finally saw the tender little New York City-based gem called "The Visitor," for which Richard Jenkins has earned an Academy Award nomination. What an absolute delight to see cameos from the likes of Marian Seldes as a bluntly honest piano teacher, Michael Cumpsty as Jenkins' university colleague and Richard Kind as an exuberant next door neighbor.
The moving film itself is an examination of an unexpected friendship that develops between a less-than-hardworking college professor and Muslim émigrés over a shared loved of music. Broadway itself also makes a surprising cameo as one of the characters expresses a desire to see The Phantom Of The Opera -- placing that 21 year old tuner in the most touching light I've seen it in years.
I've often lamented the fact that more American films don't feature more of the great stars of the Great White Way. But thankfully, every now and again, the stage actors and actresses we've come to love have their chance to shine for the whole world to see. "The Visitor" certainly provides one of those rare opportunities.
Deuce (The SOB Review) - Music Box Theatre, New York, NY
*** (out of ****)
There's a line near the end of Deuceoffered up by an adoring fan (Michael Mulheren) of tennis legends Midge Barker (Marian Seldes) and Leona Mullen (Angela Lansbury) in which he implores the audience to "Look at them. You will not see their likes again."
From the moment the curtain was raised on this Michael Blakemore-helmed play by Terrence McNally, I did exactly that...no prompting necessary. I relished the opportunity to sit in the presence of these two theatrical treasures, both of whom delivered their lines flawlessly and from the heart. I realize that this was a moment to cherish.
While the play itself is no great shakes, the performances offered by these two leading ladies of the stage far transcended the mediocre material they were given, enough to make for an enjoyable -- and yes, entertaining -- evening at the theatre.
While less accomplished actresses may have double-faulted with the material, these two kept the volley of conversation ranging from past loves to the indignities of growing old mostly in bounds -- save for the occasional jokey utterance of a four letter word.
Without question, Deuce offers one of McNally's slightest pieces of work: a story of a celebrated yesteryear tennis doubles team who together nearly had it all -- including a near grand slam -- during an era preceding one when the game provided giant payouts and endorsement deals to its female stars. Thirty-some years after they retired, the two champions are reunited at a present-day tennis tournament where they're about to be honored.
Seated throughout most of the show, Midge and Leona reminisce about what was and might have been, as well as what had long been misunderstood. Their repartee is punctuated throughout the ninety-five minute performance by a daft, egocentric pair of ESPN-lite sportscasters who provide additional details on their backstory.
While the audience never sees what's happening on the court, a brilliant video and projection design by Sven Ortel, coupled with Paul Charlier's sound design, enables the audience to see what little action there is in the stands.
Naysayers will charge that there is no action or dramatic tension. Make no mistake, this is more of a star vehicle than one built for major awards. But I for one enjoyed an opportunity to take in these great actresses' back and forth banter -- a sometimes funny and often moving conversation between old friends. Maybe it's wise not only to look at the likes of these legends, but also to listen.
Calling it a "wisp of a play," Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press is probably the most upbeat: "The reason we are at the Music Box Theatre, where Deuce opened Sunday, is to see Lansbury and Seldes, and McNally supplies them with enough witty lines and rueful insight to keep the audience content during the play's 90 or so minutes....The chief problem with Deuce is that it doesn't go anywhere. Dramatically, it marks time. Unlike Love! Valour! Compassion! or Master Class, both McNally Tony winners, there aren't any fireworks."
Complaining that the show is "deucedly unexciting," Bloomberg's John Simon finds some good things to say: "Michael Blakemore has directed expertly, Peter J. Davison's set is ingenious and Ann Roth's costumes, like Mark Henderson's lighting, are up to snuff. And you couldn't ask for better principals than Marian Seldes (Midge) and Angela Lansbury (Leona)....Sorely missing is a plot. Two women attending a tennis match might work as a snappy revue sketch; stretched out into an evening's entertainment it is both too much and not enough."
Lamenting that the "script is one long feathery tease that never delivers," The New York Times' Ben Brantley pans: "No, the true tension in Deuce arises from the fight between two valiant, vibrant actresses against a swamp of a play that keeps trying to suck the life out of them. And even a director as assured as Mr. Blakemore, who has done so brilliantly by the plays of Michael Frayn, can’t make us pretend otherwise....Deuce feels lazy. It’s a grab bag of synthetic scraps of sentimental truisms and grumpy-old-broad humor.
Criticizing the show as a "criminal waste of talent" in her two star review, Elysa Gardner of USA Today says: "Most of the banter is numbingly trite, whether the subject is the indignity of old age or the proliferation of lesbians in pro tennis, a topic that McNally milks with a fascination and fervency you'd expect from an old Borscht Belt comedian....Watching the leading ladies try to breathe life and wit into these near-caricatures, you're torn between marveling at the actresses' transcendent grace and wondering what led them -- particularly the long-absent Lansbury -- to take on this project."
Derisively calling the show "a double fault," New York Post's Clive Barnes deadpans: "So what happened? Unfortunately, nothing! Nothing happened. The 81-year-old Lansbury and the 78-year-old Seldes could read the proverbial Forest Hills or even the Flushing Meadows telephone directory and make it sound like . . . well, like something more than just a telephone directory....McNally, 67, normally one of our best and certainly one of our most reliable playwrights, may have written a worse play, even one with such minimal plotting and languid, desultory writing, but I can't recall it."
Referring to it as a "moldy new comedy," Eric Grode of The New York Sun is dismissive: "During 95 intermissionless minutes, the well-born Margaret 'Midge' Barker (Ms. Seldes) and the blue-collar Leona Mullen (Ms. Lansbury) tell Viagara jokes, get trembly-lipped about mortality, and drop the sort of four-letter words that would have sent dear Jessica Fletcher -- the gumshoe played by Ms. Lansbury on 'Murder, She Wrote' -- hurtling over the handlebars of her bike. That these exchanges generate even a tiny handful of laughs has everything to do with the formidable pair of actresses and virtually nothing to do with Mr. McNally or director Michael Blakemore, who appears to have staged the play when he had a few hours to kill one afternoon."
Despite the reviews, one could probably correctly assume that this show would be critic-proof from the point of view that fans wishing for one more chance to see legendary actresses will turn out regardless. I'll be sharing my own SOB Review shortly.
This evening marks not only the Broadway opening for Terrence McNally's Deuce, but also the return of the legendary Angela Lansbury to a Great White Way stage after an absence of nearly a quarter century.
Making it even more of an event is that theatre great Marian Seldes stars opposite Lansbury. The limited run of Deuce is slated for performances through August 19 at the Music Box Theatre.
Directed by Michael Blakemore, Deuce is described as, "The story of two former doubles stars who reunite at a championship tennis match after many years...Deuce follows this duo as they remember past successes, rehash old rivalries and reveal astonishing secrets."
For the most part, the blogosphere buzz over the show has actually been more of a noisy racket -- reviews of the previews have been anything but positive. Whether or not the show has been adequately whipped into shape by Blakemore will soon be known as critics render their verdicts.
Having seen the show myself just last evening during its last preview, I'll be providing my own SOB Review along with a round-up of critics' reviews, sometime tomorrow.
Rain: A Tribute To The Beatles Limited run extended through May 31, 2011 (Show will go on hiatus starting January 15 and reopen at Brooks Atkinson Theatre on February 8)
Rock Of Ages - Open-ended run (Show will go on hiatus starting January 9 and reopen at Helen Hayes Theatre in March)
As someone who has been involved in both politics and public relations, it's no wonder I love watching theatre. Good or bad, it's the raw energy of seeing a live performance that gets my adrenaline pumping. From the moment I saw my very first Broadway show ("Annie" in London in 1979), I was hooked. Now I see as many as 70 shows each year ranging from soaring musicals to two-hander plays. And these eyes just may be in an audience near you!
