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

Noises Off , Michael Frayn 's backstage farce, has been one of my favorite plays since I was about 11. I remember first being exposed to the movie, and, ever since, I can't get Carol Burnett saying, "Take the sardines" out of my head. (This is a good problem.) I had the pleasure of seeing a production in DC several years ago, and now Roundabout and director Jeremy Herrin are bringing the hilarity to Broadway with a cast that is simply an embarrassment of riches. At rise, it's the final dress rehearsal before opening night of Nothing On , and director Lloyd ( Campbell Scott , a roguish frayed knot) is exasperated. (Herrin has Scott stalking around the theatre, even making his way into the mezzanine so one of Lloyd's cries of despair was delivered right next to me!) Nothing On , the show within the show, is, itself, a farce, and Lloyd's actors and stagehands aren't quite helping the cause. Dotty (Andrea Martin) can't get her stage directions ...

A life in theatre. Act One is a theatre story for theatre lovers, but like all good plays it’s about something much more universal: pursuing a dream. I haven’t read Moss Hart ’s eponymous autobiography, from which this James Lapine play is adapted (Lapine also directs the play). That is to say that I can’t speak to the play’s fidelity to the source material, but I don’t think that matters. What matters is that Hart had a dream, and with tenacity and some remarkably lucky breaks, he carved out a fulfilling and rich life for himself.  We watch as Moss (Santino Fontana) falls in love with the theatre and sets out to become a contributing member of the community. He talks his way into a producer’s assistant job and starts making connections. While working various assistant-level jobs and working in the Catskill Mountains during the summer, he continues to write, and with the help of his friends and an adventurous producer, is connected to the great George S. Kaufman (T...