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Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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Archives for March 18, 2016

Lonergan’s travels

March 18, 2016 by Terry Teachout

In today’s Wall Street Journal drama column I review the off-Broadway premiere of Kenneth Lonergan’s Hold On to Me Darling and the new Broadway revival of She Loves Me. Here’s an excerpt.

* * *

Kenneth Lonergan, the most talented American playwright of his generation, has done something unusual—he’s written a play. That makes six in 20 years, not nearly enough from so gifted an author, so I’m glad to report that “Hold On to Me Darling” is as fine as its first four predecessors. It’s also surprising: I wasn’t expecting Mr. Lonergan to return to the stage with a comedy, especially since his last effort, “Medieval Play,” was a too-broad spoof that didn’t quite work. Not so his new play, exceedingly well directed by Neil Pepe, in which he blends satire with strong, straightforward emotion to complex and poignant effect.

90With a writer as subtle as Mr. Lonergan, appearances are usually deceiving. “Hold On to Me Darling” initially appears to be a comic retelling of the thrice-told tale of the corrupting effects of celebrity. Strings McCrane (Timothy Olyphant) is a country singer who came from nowhere and now has everything—except for his mother, who has just died, leaving him operatically bereft: “I been dead inside for years, and now Mama’s passin’ away has woke me up and I don’t like it.” So he decides to ditch his career, marry his masseuse (Jenn Lyon), return to his home town, buy the local feed store, go into business with his half-brother (C.J. Wilson) and his fawning personal assistant (Keith Nobbs) and live happily ever after.

All this foolery has a smart, piquant screwball flavor reminiscent of Preston Sturges’ “Sullivan’s Travels.” But Mr. Lonergan also has a pair of hole cards, Strings’ cousin Essie (Adelaide Clemens) and his long-lost father (Jonathan Hogan), who have not previously been part of his life and so are untouched by his wealth and fame. Accordingly, both characters are played straight—the laughter stops each time they take the stage—and their arrival blasts Strings out of his self-obsession and forces him to see himself as he really is.

If “Hold On to Me Darling” sounds like two unrelated plays that have been uneasily yoked together, that’s how it feels at first. But Mr. Lonergan knows what he’s doing…

Perfection needs no commentary, so I’ll make it short and sweet: The Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of “She Loves Me” is ideal. The show itself, a 1963 stage version of “The Shop Around the Corner,” Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 romcom about two perfume-store clerks who love each other but don’t know it, is the most romantic of all Broadway musicals. Scott Ellis’ fleet, warm-hearted staging and Warren Carlyle’s witty dances do complete justice to Joe Masteroff’s charming book and the delicious Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick score: Every number pays off and every laugh lands with a bang. The sublime cast is led by Zachary Levi and Laura Benanti, who are as good onstage as Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan were in the film….

* * *

To read my review of Hold On to Me Darling, go here.

To read my review of She Loves Me, go here.

Kenneth Lonergan and Timothy Olyphant talk about Hold On to Me Darling:

Highlights from the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of She Loves Me:

Replay: Lang Lang plays Bartók’s Piano Sonata

March 18, 2016 by Terry Teachout

TV CAMERALang Lang plays Bartók’s Piano Sonata at a concert in Japan:

(This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.)

Almanac: Winston Churchill on perfectionism

March 18, 2016 by Terry Teachout

INK BOTTLE“The maxim ‘Nothing avails but perfection’ may be spelt shorter: ‘Paralysis.’”

Winston Churchill, memorandum to General Hastings Lionel Ismay, December 6, 1942

Terry Teachout

Terry Teachout, who writes this blog, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the critic-at-large of Commentary. In addition to his Wall Street Journal drama column and his monthly essays … [Read More...]

About

About “About Last Night”

This is a blog about the arts in New York City and the rest of America, written by Terry Teachout. Terry is a critic, biographer, playwright, director, librettist, recovering musician, and inveterate blogger. In addition to theater, he writes here and elsewhere about all of the other arts--books, … [Read More...]

About My Plays and Opera Libretti

Billy and Me, my second play, received its world premiere on December 8, 2017, at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, Fla. Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play, closed off Broadway at the Westside Theatre on June 29, 2014, after 18 previews and 136 performances. That production was directed … [Read More...]

About My Podcast

Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I are the panelists on “Three on the Aisle,” a bimonthly podcast from New York about theater in America. … [Read More...]

About My Books

My latest book is Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, published in 2013 by Gotham Books in the U.S. and the Robson Press in England and now available in paperback. I have also written biographies of Louis Armstrong, George Balanchine, and H.L. Mencken, as well as a volume of my collected essays called A … [Read More...]

The Long Goodbye

To read all three installments of "The Long Goodbye," a multi-part posting about the experience of watching a parent die, go here. … [Read More...]

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