The True

B

This new play by Sharr White (The Other Place), now at The New Group, offers a wonderful vehicle for Edie Falco’s return to the New York stage. For many, including me, that is sufficient reason to celebrate. Better yet, she is supported by a terrific cast that includes Michael McKean (The Little Foxes, Hairspray), Peter Scolari (Lucky Guy, Sly Fox), Glen Fitzgerald (Ripcord, Lobby Hero) and John Pankow (Dada Woof, Papa Hot; "Episodes"). The setting is 1977 Albany where potty-mouthed, no-nonsense Polly Noonan (Falco; Frankie and Johnnie in the Claire de Lune, House of Blue Leaves, “The Sopranos”) has been working as assistant to Mayor Erastus Corning II (McKean) for 35 years. Her long-suffering husband Peter (Scolari) has learned to survive by keeping a low profile and trying to ignore rumors that his wife is more than Corning’s assistant. Corning has been not only a boss but a close friend to Polly and Peter. When the death of the local Democratic Party chairman sets off a power struggle, Corning suddenly and mysteriously cuts off relations with the Noonans. Discovering the reason is the rather weak hook on which the plot is hung. Despite the pain of being frozen out, Polly loyally plows ahead to insure Corning’s success in an upcoming primary. During her efforts, she meets secretly with slick Howard Nolan (Fitzgerald), the man running against Corning, and wily Charlie Ryan (Pankow), the politician pulling Nolan’s strings. In a related subplot, Polly invites Bill McCormack (Austin Caldwell; Intimacy), a dim young man she is attempting to recruit to Corning’s team, over for dinner with hilarious results. Sharr has a flair for snappy dialogue, but resorts to shouting matches a bit too often. The view seen here is enough to make one nostalgic for the heyday of urban machine politics where the worst sculduggery was an envelope with a $5 bill in it on election day. The depiction of how little opportunity there was for a strong woman in 1977 politics reveals one aspect of the down side of that era. The main feature of Derek McLane’s (Jerry Springer — The Opera, Sweet Charity) set is floor-to-ceiling bookcases decorated with a variety of table lamps that initially depicts the Noonan’s home and morphs, with varying degrees of success, to several other locations. The period costumes by Clint Ramos (Sweet Charity, Violet) are spot-on. Scott Elliott (Good for Otto, Evening at the Talk House) directs with assurance. It’s not a wonderful play, but it’s quite entertaining. Running time: one hour 45 minutes, no intermission.

The Little Foxes

A-

While the critics never placed Lillian Hellman in the first rank of American playwrights, her work, at least as exemplified by this 1939 family drama, has much to recommend it and is certainly worthy of an occasional revival. She surely knew how to write a tight plot and juicy roles that allow actors to show their mettle. Manhattan Theatre Club has assembled a first-rate cast for this production, led by Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon who alternate the roles of Regina and Birdie. This tale of an avaricious family greedy to progress from rich to filthy rich bears an extra frisson of timeliness today. We meet the Hubbard family in Alabama in 1900. Brothers Ben (Michael McKean) and Oscar (Darren Goldstein) are wooing a Chicago industrialist Mr. Marshall (David Alford) to build a cotton mill on their property. To keep the deal in the family, they need their sister Regina Giddens (Linney at my performance) to raise a third of the investment. Trouble is her husband Horace (Richard Thomas), who controls the pursestrings, is away in Baltimore convalescing from a heart condition and shows no inclination to return or even to respond to their increasingly frantic letters. Regina skillfully uses her leverage to win a better deal from her brothers and persuades her virtuous 17-year-old daughter Alexandra (Francesca Carpanini) to go to Baltimore to fetch Horace. Leo Hubbard (Michael Benz), the unsavory son of Oscar and Birdie, works in Horace’s bank and comes up with a shady plan that allows the brothers to proceed without Regina. When Horace returns, he discovers their plot and, unfortunately for him, reveals it to his wife. There is more scheming, a shocking scene between Horace and Regina and, surprisingly for its time, an ending in which evil is not punished, at least not explicitly. The role of Regina, catnip for such actresses as Tallulah Bankhead and Bette Davis, suits Linney well; she captures both the steeliness and the traces of charm. However, she is almost overshadowed by Cynthia Nixon’s superb performance as her sister-in-law Birdie, a delicate wounded bird driven to drink by her husband’s abuse; her monologue in the final act is absolutely wrenching. Linney and Nixon are so persuasive in these roles that is hard to imagine them in reverse. Even the servants are well-cast — Charles Turner as the butler Cal and Caroline Stefanie Clay as Addie, the housekeeper whose eye rolls and facial expressions speak louder than words. Jane Greenwood’s costumes are marvelous. Scott Pask’s living room set is fine except that the staircase, focus of a crucial scene, looks strangely cramped. Daniel Sullivan directs with a sure hand. The play is far from subtle, but, with such a fine production,  it is very entertaining. Running time: two hours 25 minutes including two intermissions.

Gore Vidal's The Best Man ****

(Please click on the title to see the full review.)
Ah,  for the good old days before focus groups, 24-hour cable bloviators, nonstop polls and super-PACS. You can escape there for a few hours at the Schoenfeld Theatre, where this star-packed revival of Vidal's 1960 drama is playing. The theater is decorated with patriotic bunting, state delegation signs and black-and-white tv monitors and the sound design by John Gromada recreates the background noise of a lively convention. William Russell (John Larroquette), a principled, patrician, intellectual, womanizing, liberal candidate is competing with Joseph Cantwell (Eric McCormack), a younger, telegenic, unscrupulous, ambitious, straight-laced, populist conservative, for the endorsement of former president Arthur Hockstader (James Earl Jones). Cantwell is prepared to sabotage Russell's campaign by releasing a report on a nervous breakdown in his past. Dick Jensen (Michael McKean), Russell's campaign manager, turns up a witness, Sheldon Marcus (Jefferson Mays), to a potentially damaging episode in Cantwell's past. Russell must decide whether to violate his own principles by using this information to neutralize Cantwell's attack. Russell's estranged wife Alice (Candace Bergen), Cantwell's relentlessly ambitious southern belle wife Mabel (Kerry Butler) and Sue-Ellen Gamadge (Angela Lansbury), chair of the party's women's division, fulfill the traditional roles expected of the distaff side. The action progresses through three well-formed acts to a satisfying conclusion. The play is far less dated than I expected it to be. In a sense, only the forms have changed; politics is basically the same. It's a treat to see actors the caliber of Jones and Lansbury chew up the scenery. Larroquette is more effective than McCormack, although the latter improves as the play progresses. Bergen is to be commended for taking on an unglamorous role and playing it well. Butler and Mays are a bit over the top, in Mays' case delightfully so. Even the minor roles are well-cast. Derek McLane's sets, Ann Roth's costumes and Michael Wilson's direction are all admirable. All in all, it was an enjoyable evening. Running time: two hours, 40 minutes including two intermissions.