Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

Let's be real: Annaleigh Ashford  is the best thing about the revival of Sylvia , A.R. Gurney 's play about an empty nest couple, Greg ( Matthew Broderick ) and Kate ( Julie White ), whose marriage is tested when Greg brings home a stray dog, the titular Sylvia, played to perfection by Ashford. ( Robert Sella also appears in a few different roles throughout the play.) Ashford is a comedic genius (she rightfully won a Tony for her performance in You Can't Take It With You ), and is fearless on stage. She seemingly leaves all traces of vanity behind, rolling around on the floor, chasing other actors on the stage and just generally giving her body over to the hilarity that is a person playing a sentient, speaking dog. She is simply aces, and always a delight to watch on stage. (She's great on screen, too. Catch her on Masters of Sex .) Aside from Ashford's performance, w hat I found particularly interesting about the play (directed by  Daniel Sullivan ) was ho...

(I saw the show again; scroll down for an update!) The brief review of Love Letters : It's great to see two living legends on stage. The slightly longer review of Love Letters : Over the course of a brisk 90 minutes, we get to know Melissa (Carol Burnett) and Andy (Brian Dennehy), but only from a certain perspective, and only a certain part of their lives. And that focus is actually what make this intriguing. I saw this with my parents, and as we continued to discuss the play the following day, my mom commented that she wanted to know more about Melissa, and what happened to her in California. (The character writes to Andy saying she doesn't ever want to talk about California.) We realized that, even with just a glimpse into Melissa's and Andy's lives, we were so invested in these characters that we wanted to know more. We wanted a sequel (or prequel or whatever it would be—an addendum, maybe?), to fill in what was left out of the letters. (The play is also, ...