Putting It Planely: And Another One DownThis afternoon, the producers of the 2008 Tony Award Best Revival of a Play
Boeing-Boeing announced that the show that's been pressurized for laughter will close its cabin doors for good. The show will close at Broadway's
Longacre Theatre on January 4, 2009.
Personally,
I found this show to be one of those rare, laugh-out-loud absurdly funny shows. Making it a joy to see was British actor and onetime Wisconsin resident
Mark Rylance, who earned a very well-deserved Tony Award for his hilarious portrayal of befuddled Wisconsinite Robert. But it was Rylance who ultimately befuddled Tony viewers with what was surely one of the most unusual acceptance speeches in years.
Helmed by
Matthew Warchus, the revival of
Marc Camoletti's farce (translated by
Beverley Cross and
Francis Evans) first landed in London nearly two years ago with Rylance leading the cast. Then, the show opened on Broadway on May 4, 2008, with Rylance reprising his role, alongside
Christine Baranski,
Bradley Whitford,
Gina Gershon,
Kathryn Hahn and the Tony-nominated
Mary McCormack. Rylance and Baranski remain in the show.
In recent weeks,
Boeing-Boeing's box office has been in a holding pattern around the 60% capacity level. But with economy crashing and burning, and having recouped their initial investment, the producers are closing out the very successful revival on a high note, and plans are aloft for a 45-week national tour. When
Boeing-Boeing finally closes, it will have played 280 performances.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Boeing-Boeing, Bradley Whitford, Broadway, Christine Baranski, Closing Notices, Gina Gershon, Kathryn Hahn, Mark Rylance, Mary McCormack, Matthew Warchus, Play, Revival
Boeing-Boeing (The SOB Review) - Longacre Theatre, New York, NY
*** (out of ****)Looking for the funniest, laugh-out-loud comedy currently on the Great White Runway?
Look no further than Broadway's
Longacre Theatre where almost in spite of itself,
Boeing-Boeing has touched down for what looks to be a lengthy layover. It's a mostly fantastic, high-flying farce.
In a season already filled with plenty of this genre, from the frivolous (
The Ritz) to the fraught (
November) to the fanciful (
Is He Dead?), one would be forgiven for thinking audiences would have had enough of the fare. And to be frank, I wondered how New Yorkers would respond to a revival of such a dated show, which
originally closed on Broadway almost as quickly as it opened back in February 1965.
But with
Claire van Kampen's groovy selection of sixties tunes setting the mood, supplemented by
Rob Howell's ingenious red, yellow and blue set and costume designs that are artfully augmented by
Hugh Vanstone's complementary lighting, it's clear from take-off that this is going to be a first-class flight.
Written by
Marc Camoletti (translated by
Beverley Cross and
Francis Evans),
Boeing-Boeing has a fairly simple, silly plot. Bernard (
Bradley Whitford) is a swinging American bachelor living in Paris who's simultaneously balancing three stewardess, er, flight attendant fiancées --
Kathryn Hahn as
TWA's Gloria,
Gina Gershon as
Alitalia's Gabriella and
Mary McCormack as
Lufthansa's Gretchen -- all with the help of a good old-fashioned
OAG (yes, they still print them). Bernard relies on the OAG's schedules to help him keep track of when his ladies would be in and out of his love nest.
Fortunately for Bernard, he has a cunningly complicit French maid Berthe (
Christine Baranski). In a delightful shellgame, whenever it's time for a shift change, Berthe wheels out a special cart with three color-coded boxes to ensure that there's no trace of the last female companion left for the next one to find.
Of course, as one would expect of any farce, all these best intentions come perilously close to crashlanding. Soon after Bernard's friend Robert (
Mark Rylance) unexpectedly comes calling from Wisconsin, the women in Bernard's life, quite predictably, all end up back at the Paris apartment at the same time. Not even a schedule manifest can predict turned-around and canceled flights.
As absurd as the storyline is,
Matthew Warchus portentously propels this
Boeing-Boeing to a new altitude with a turbocharged cruising speed that left me breathless from laughing. Much of the marvelous mirth comes from watching Rylance do his best to create diversions for his buddy Bernard's girlfriends, finding himself mirroring his friend's lust for life just a little too closely. It's hard to believe that this Shakespearean actor could be so capable of slapstick comedy, but in his Broadway debut, he's proving to be a worthy master. This is truly his show.
Nearly as wonderful is Baranski's wickedly funny take as Berthe. In her first Broadway outing since 1991's short-lived
Nick & Nora, this talented actress demonstrates a propensity for broad comic relief, whether it's with an exaggerated roll of her eyes or via her deadpan, droll response.
Regrettably, I can't say the same for Whitford. As a man wrestling to maintain his harem, he certainly gets all of the agitated nerves down pat. Yet they come along just a bit too soon, almost as if he's never flown before. And if you're going to have the testicular fortitude to balance three fiancées at once, you'd better have more than a bag full of nuts and nerves of steel before ever taxiing down the runway.
Among the array of assembled space waitresses, McCormack plays her Gretchen so over the top, I half expected oxygen masks to drop. As shockingly funny as she often is, I just wasn't buying her as a bona fide love interest for Bernard. Hahn's gumsmacking American is played much more credibly, but it's Gershon who wins the day with her glorious Gabriella -- this is the best I've ever seen her and it's hard not to fall for her.
Despite the wildly mixed performances,
Boeing-Boeing is about the wildest ride on Broadway. Fasten your seatbelts!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:And The Tony Nominees Go To... (May 12, 2008)
Whoopi! Tony Eligibility And More Handicapping (May 9, 2008)
Did Boeing-Boeing Have Critics Flying High? (May 5, 2008)
Opening: Boeing-Boeing Lands On Great White Way (May 4, 2008)
Is It Just Me, Or... (Part III) (January 22, 2008)
Boeing-Boeing To Touch Down On Great White Way (September 17, 2007)
Was De La Tour's Latest A Tour De Force With Critics? (February 17, 2007)
London's Boeing-Boeing Flies Into Opening Night (February 15, 2007)
Labels: Boeing-Boeing, Bradley Whitford, Broadway, Christine Baranski, Kathryn Hahn, Mark Rylance, Mary McCormack, Matthew Warchus, Play, Revival, The SOB Review
