The Best Man

The Best Man, at Broadway's Schoenfeld Theatre
Gratuitous Violins rating: **** out of ****

Usually I know way too much about a show going in, so I'm glad I restrained myself with The Best Man before seeing the Broadway revival. I was amazed at how Gore Vidal's 1960 play about a presidential campaign feels like it could have been written in 2012.

Set on the eve of their party's convention, when the nominee is still in doubt, The Best Man pits John Larroquette's Secretary of State William Russell, a rumpled, cerebral New Englander, against Eric McCormack's Sen. Joseph Cantwell, a handsome, charismatic Southerner.

As a history and politics junkie, I loved every minute of all three acts. What makes The Best Man so fascinating for me is that the play, which premiered on Broadway in March 1960, foreshadows changes that would take place in American politics in the coming months and years. It's uncanny.

Granted, political conventions today are scripted down to the tiniest detail and the nominee is no longer in doubt. But Vidal's writing is witty and his characters are sharply drawn. Fifty-two years later, the candidates are familiar and the issues seem so timely.

The plot involves allegations about each of the two men that could derail their campaigns. No spoilers here but they have parallels in more recent presidential bids. The only difference is that today, there's no way they'd stay private. (Another difference that jumped out at me - neither candidate is wearing an American flag pin on his lapel.)

If Cantwell is the future of presidential campaigns - slick and telegenic - then former President Artie Hockstader, "the last of the hicks" he calls himself, represents the past. James Earl Jones was riveting as the blunt and no-nonsense Hockstader. This was my first time seeing him onstage and I was awestruck by his unmistakable voice and commanding presence.

In fact, the entire cast of The Best Man is terrific - Candice Bergen as Russell's wary estranged wife; a delightful Angela Lansbury as the shrewd head of the party's "women's division"; Michael McKean as Russell's trusted campaign manager. (I saw the play before McKean's injury and I wish him a speedy recovery.) Jefferson Mays is great as a meek and intimidated figure who has some dirt on one of the candidates. And Kerry Butler plays Cantwell's Southern belle wife to the hilt.

The play takes place mostly in the candidates' hotel rooms in Philadelphia but Derek McLane's set design extends to the audience - the Schoenfeld Theatre is decorated with lots of red, white and blue bunting and the signs with state names on them that you see at conventions.

Vidal reportedly modeled Russell on the liberal Illinois governor and two-time Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson. Cantwell is supposedly a combination of John F. Kennedy's charm and Richard Nixon's ruthlessness.

But you don't have to think too hard to come up with contemporary politicians who fit those descriptions. Cantwell, with his populism and emphasis on his working-class roots, reminded me of John Edwards. (He has Edwards' hair but not his particular moral failing.) And Russell's intellectual demeanor reminded me of John Kerry.

My favorite example of how The Best Man resonates occurred when the play ended.

After the curtain call, McCormack came back onstage to make a pitch for donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Someone shouted from the mezzanine "I'd vote for you!" McCormack, a look of astonishment on his face, said, "Really?"

It's Tony night 2010!

The 64th annual Tony Awards, recognizing the best of Broadway, are tonight!

Despite the exclamation mark, my anticipation level is a little lower this year since I haven't seen any of the shows that opened on Broadway in 2010.

Still, I'll be looking forward to a glimpse of the ones I haven't seen and rooting for the nominees from the first half of the 2009-2010 season.

I enjoyed them all but I'd be especially delighted if Jon Michael Hill wins for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Superior Donuts and Montego Glover for Best Actress in a Musical for Memphis.

And hearing Angela Lansbury sing in A Little Night Music was such a thrill, I'll be cheering if she raises one of those new taller, heavier Tonys over her head in triumph.

What's amazed me in the run-up to the Tonys this year is the coverage - in print and from online sites, in blogs and on Twitter.

While it's been tough to keep up with all of the interviews and predictions and looks back at the Broadway season, what a great feast from which to pick and choose.

Among the absolute best pieces I've read is today's New York Times interview with Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Marian Seldes. I had the great honor of seeing her and Angela Lansbury on Broadway in Deuce in 2007.

Finally, I want to send my congratulations to David Hyde Pierce, recipient of the Isabelle Stevenson Award in recognition of his work with the Alzheimers Association.

One of my favorite Tony moments was jumping up from the couch and cheering three years ago when he won for Best Actor in a Musical for Curtains, the very first musical I saw on Broadway.

The non-televised portion of the Tonys - where awards for design, book of a musical, score and choreography are handed out - will be at 7 p.m. You can watch online at Broadway.com. The prime-time portion, hosted by Promises, Promises nominee Sean Hayes, begins at 8 p.m. on CBS.

In defense of applause

I've watched New York Times film critic A.O. "Tony" Scott on At the Movies and he seems like a pleasant fellow. But part of his essay comparing theatre and movies hit a nerve. (Thanks to Jonathan Mandell, who writes about New York theatre at The Faster Times, for the link.)

Here's what Scott had to say about the current Broadway revival of A Little Night Music and the Ingmar Bergman film on which it's based, Smiles of A Summer Night:

"You watch Bergman, whether at home or in a revival house, in a state of solitude, but you go see “A Little Night Music” in a crowd and partake of its rituals. Many of these strike me, after 10 years of moviegoing with little time for theater, as bizarre, from the apparently obligatory ovations — is there nothing New York audiences won’t stand for? — to the practice of applauding after every number."

He describes seeing A Little Music as "an encounter with celebrity" and the applause as "an act of communal congratulation for having done so."

Okay, maybe audiences are a little too quick to jump to their feet at the end of the show. In a perfect world, we'd only stand for the most incredible, memorable, take-your-breath-away performances and applaud for the most emotionally gripping songs.

But do the applause and the standing ovations really hurt anyone? Do they detract from anyone's theatergoing experience compared with, say, talking during the show or being seated late or unwrapping a piece of candy? I don't think so.

Scott has some good points - seeing a movie and going to the theatre are different experiences. But his allusion to theatre and its bizarre rituals strikes me as needlessly snooty and dismissive of an art form he admits he's barely made time for in the past decade.

Unlike movies, the people up on stage are right there in front of you. They're human beings, not larger-than-life images on celluloid. When they come out at the curtain call after having made you laugh or cry for the past 2 1/2 hours, it's natural to want to give them an ovation. It's kind of a catharsis.

Besides, I don't think people are applauding to congratulate themselves. They're doing it to acknowledge performances that they've enjoyed. (And since most of the tickets are bought by tourists for whom a Broadway show is a treat, I think part of it is the excitement of simply being in the audience.)

If people want to stand and applaud Catherine Zeta-Jones or Angela Lansbury as they take their bows at the conclusion of A Little Night Music, I don't think it's bizarre. Seeing an actor onstage whom you've loved from movies or TV is thrilling. (And is it so difficult to imagine that the audience may simply have enjoyed their performances?)

While I enjoy a good movie, it's too easy to do in solitude. Going to the theatre forces me to be part of a crowd. The fact that it's a communal experience is a good thing. Too much solitude is not a good thing.

A Little Night Music

Gratuitous Violins rating: ***1/2 out of ****

Except for "Send in the Clowns," I went into the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music with pretty much a blank slate.

How blank?

I panicked when I saw an unfamiliar name listed for the role of Fredrika Armfeldt on the understudy board at the Walter Kerr Theatre. I was afraid that meant either Angela Lansbury or Catherine Zeta-Jones was out.

Not to worry. The entire cast was in and the role of Fredrika, granddaughter to Lansbury's Madame Armfeldt and daughter to Zeta-Jones' Desiree Armfeldt, is alternated by two young actresses.

My ignorance meant that I didn't have any preconceived ideas about how A Little Night Music should look or sound or how the characters should behave. I only wanted what I hope for every time I go to the theatre - to be entertained, to be moved. And I was captivated.

First of all, it's an absorbing, romantic story of how we all yearn for love - from youth to old age, from a nobleman to a maid.

The characters are involved in various romantic entanglements in turn of the 20th century Sweden, which culminate in a weekend at a country house. The waltzes, the singers who shadow the main characters and the subdued lighting by Hartley T.A. Kemp give the musical a dreamlike, fairy tale quality.

The book, by Hugh Wheeler and based on the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, offers a look at love in its different stages - from the clumsy inexperience of youth to the reminiscences and regrets as we get older. The characters are so interesting and very funny - there's much more humor than I thought there would be in a musical based on a Bergman film.

Oscar winner Zeta-Jones, making her Broadway debut as actress Desiree, is beautiful - actually beyond beautiful, she's radiant. You can't take your eyes off her, yet she doesn't overpower any of her fellow actors. And she looks like she's having a great time.

Desiree is still a star, still able to attract men, but you get the sense something's missing from her life. She's warm and vibrant and so loving with her daughter, played at the performance I saw by the very sweet Keaton Whittaker.

This production has a seven-piece orchestra, and I can't say how A Little Night Music would sound with more musicians. But it was was exciting to hear the first strains of "Send in the Clowns." Zeta-Jones sings it in a way that's a lament: poignant and fits perfectly with the story.

Lansbury is wonderful as Madame Armfeldt, stern, wise and regal, who doesn't quite approve of her daughter or how things are done today. She takes charge of Fredrika while Desiree is touring. I could almost envision the musical as a grandmother's story to her granddaughter. (Ok, admittedly some things you probably wouldn't tell a a preteen girl.)

And what an absolute thrill to hear Lansbury sing, practically in front of me from my third-row orchestra seat. I was literally holding my breath during "Liaisons," in which she recounts some of her past relationships. This is my third time seeing her on Broadway but the first time I've heard her sing and it was an unforgettable experience.

I also enjoyed Englishman Alexander Hanson as lawyer Frederick Egerman, a gentle widower who may have made a mistake in taking a very young bride; Aaron Lazar as the self-important, womanizing officer Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm and Erin Davie as Charlotte, his long-suffering and conniving wife.

Newcomers Ramona Mallory and Hunter Ryan Herdlicka are Anne and Henrik, Frederick's wife and his son from his first marriage. Their performances are a bit over the top but accentuate their youthfulness, and I thought they were fun to watch. Herdlicka is hilarious as a lovesick seminary student. And Mallory is so bubbly as Anne, still a child despite her marriage.

And the score - gorgeous and witty and complex. It was fun thinking about connections to other Sondheim musicals. The group of singers and some of the songs reminded me of Sweeney Todd - not the lyrics themselves but the way they were styled, their rhythm.

A Little Night Music opened on Broadway in 1973, won the Tony for Best Musical and ran for 18 months. From what others have written, I gather that was a more lavish production in terms of the set and costumes and orchestration.

The revival, directed by Trevor Nunn, has a bare-bones set by David Farley to go along with its bare-bones orchestra. It originated at London's Menier Chocolate Factory, although the only holdover in the cast is Hanson. The Menier also has fewer than 200 seats and my guess is it played very differently in that setting.

Personally, I thought the set design and costumes, also by Farley, were fine. Neither seemed out of place for the time. My biggest concern was that I'd heard it had a nearly three-hour running time. But the time just flew by.

I don't know how this production of A Little Night Music compares to any other. All I can say is, it was daylight when I entered the theatre, dark when I got out. I felt like I'd been transported someplace for the afternoon. And I'd go back again anytime.

I sure hope there are clowns!

I'm excited about the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, because, well, everybody else is excited about it!

No, seriously, while the enthusiasm of my fellow theatergoers plays a big part in my desire to see this revival, directed by Trevor Nunn, that's not the only reason.

I've seen several Sondheim musicals on stage. Two were in Boston - Sweeney Todd on tour at the Colonial Theater and Follies at the Lyric Stage. I saw Road Show at New York's Public Theater. (Not to mention West Side Story and Gypsy on Broadway.) Three others I've only seen on dvd - Company, Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George.

I like how Sondheim deals with weighty themes in a way that's entertaining but also makes you think: the injustice of the legal system in Sweeney Todd, the creative process in Sunday in the Park with George, what happens as we age in Follies, our ability to remake ourselves and our desire for riches in Road Show.

I know that A Little Night Music is based on the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, which I haven't seen. And it has Sondheim's most well-known song, "Send in the Clowns," which for most of my life I didn't know was from a musical.

Other than that, I don't know too much about the plot and I've tried to stay a little in the dark. Usually, I know way too much about a show before I even set foot in the theatre. I think A Little Night Music takes place in the 19th century and there might be a love story involved, and Swedes, or at least Scandinavians.

When I think about Sondheim and relationships, what comes to mind are the bickering couples in Company. Could this a more romantic side? Plus, I'll finally hear "Send in the Clowns" in context, and I'm excited about that. Are there actual clowns? I'm not sure, but there ought to be.

Previews for A Little Night Music begin at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Nov. 24 and it opens on Dec. 13.

Blithe Spirit

Gratuitous Violins rating: *** out of ****

The final performance of Blithe Spirit on Broadway occurred while I was in New York, so I didn't have a chance to write my review. But for the sake of blog posterity I thought I'd mention a few things about it anyway.

Written by Noel Coward and first produced in London's West End in 1941, Blithe Spirit centers around novelist Charles Condomine, who has a seance conducted at his home as research for a book. The spirit of his deceased first wife, which only he can see, is summoned, much to the dismay of Charles and his current wife.

Rupert Everett played Charles and Jayne Atkinson was his wife Ruth. I'll admit I thought Atkinson seemed too old for the part - before I realized she and Everett were so close in age! Maybe it had something to do with her hairstyle. Christine Ebersole was the flirtatious Elvira. And Susan Louise O'Connor made me laugh as Edith, the Condomines' timid maid.

This was the second production of Blithe Spirit I've seen and I had the same reaction both times: I enjoyed it but it's not one of my favorite plays - just a little too upper crust and well-mannered, a little stilted and creaky. The novelty of Elvira upsetting everything wore off after awhile. I don't know, maybe I'm simply not a big Noel Coward fan.

Still, what made the experience memorable and thrilling was a chance to see Angela Lansbury portray the wacky medium Madame Arcati, in the role that won her a fifth Tony award.

It's pretty remarkable - I've only been a regular Broadway theatergoer since 2007 and in that time, I've had two chances to see Lansbury. I was enthralled watching her and Marian Seldes in Deuce, where they played two retired tennis pros looking back on their career.

And now, I've had a chance to see some of her remarkable comic timing, which I love so much when I watch her Mrs. Lovett on the Sweeney Todd dvd. It's those comic touches as she moved around on stage that brought Blithe Spirit to life.

My thoughts on the 2009 Tonys

Last year, when it was just me, myself and I on the couch, I had plenty of observations about the Tony Awards. This year, I don't actually have many observations because I was very busy having fun making my debut at the annual Tony party hosted by Sarah.

It was so great being with friends, fellow theatre fans and fellow bloggers in a swanky Regency suite. We kept the conversation and the bubbly flowing. We feasting on pizza, cucumber sandwiches, cupcakes and Rice Krispy bars, among other treats. (While Kevin kept us all up to date on the Tweets.)

Plus, I was trying to keep up with my first-ever Tony drinking game. In my case, that involved taking a sip of champagne whenever Angela Lansbury appeared on the big-screen tv, which was a lot. I think I did pretty well!

Here's a list of the 2009 Tony winners. Now, a few of the thoughts that did enter my mind in between sips of champagne:

How wonderful to see Angela Lansbury take her fifth award, for Best Featured Actress in a Play, tying her with Julie Harris for the most-ever wins. I'm excited about seeing Blithe Spirit next month, as well as all three parts of The Norman Conquests, winner for Best Revival of a Play.

And even though I was rooting for Will Swenson - because I was rooting for Hair for everything - I was happy that Gregory Jbara won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Billy Elliot. As Billy's dad, his attitude toward his son evolves in such a moving way over the course of the musical.

I was less happy that Kiril Kulish, Trent Kowalik and David Alvarez won Best Actor in a Musical for Billy Elliot. Yes, the three actors who share the role of Billy are amazing dancers and they're adorable. But I don't think they're as compelling actors as they are dancers and they don't perform eight times a week. It's almost like the voters gave the award to the character.

But I was thrilled that Roger Robinson won for Best Featured Actor in a Play for portraying the mystical root worker Bynum Walker in Joe Turner's Come and Gone. I saw the play the evening before the Tonys and I loved it. What compelling characters and storytelling. (Watch for my review soon.)

Geoffrey Rush clearly deserved the award for Best Actor in a Play for Exit the King. He gave a performance that alternated between brilliantly comic and incredibly poignant. But I loved all of the nominated performances I saw in that category, as I did in so many other categories. And I wish there could have been more than one winner.

Loved host Neil Patrick Harris and his black leather suit and his 11 o'clock number. (Which I think was at 11:03.) Wish there were more of him on the show.

Liked it when award-winners remembered to thank spouses, significant others and children as well as agents, lawyers and managers.

Thought the Angry Dance didn't really show off Billy Elliot all that well. Although I guess the winner for Best Musical didn't really need the Tonys to boost sales.

The one performance that made me want to see the show is the one that I've already seen and loved - Hair, winner of Best Revival of a Musical. Which leads me to believe that performances on the Tonys don't win converts but merely confirm opinions you already hold. At least in my case.

Catching up on theatre TV

The only time I watch The View is when they have Broadway-related guests. Otherwise, I'm not really into the banter. But this week featured a great lineup. You can watch the interviews here.

On Thursday, the guest was Angela Lansbury, currently appearing as the medium Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. Miss Lansbury looked wonderful - so fit and full of energy. "I love being back on stage again," she said. "It gives me a tremendous lift and it's made me feel not my age - which you probably all know." I do, but I'm not going to tell.

Then today, Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon, the royal couple from Exit the King, made an appearance, walking into the studio looking appropriately regal in their floor-length robes. It was hilarious, and what a great way to promote the play. "We had to wear them today," Rush explained, "because Susan and I are both deeply method actors." Although Rush's crown did look like something they hand out at Burger King.

And Theater Talk took a road trip from New York to visit the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Since I made my first trip to the Guthrie in September, to see the Little House on the Prairie musical, it was neat to learn a little bit more about its history from artistic director Joe Dowling.

A highlight: Getting to see the backstage area where the sets and costumes are put together. This video shows how the Guthrie craftspeople made the individual stalks of wheat for the Little House on the Prairie set.

"It's all illusion"

This was a very nice surprise in my Sunday Parade magazine: an interview with Angela Lansbury! Here's what she has to say about her role in the Broadway revival of Blithe Spirit, with Christine Ebersole and Rupert Everett, which begins previews Feb. 26 at the Shubert Theatre.

"I had no intention of coming back to work, only of coming back to New York to enjoy the city as a part-time resident," said Angela. "But my agent called, saying, 'They're interested in having you play the psychic, Madame Arcati.' I'm a bit long in the tooth [83], but that's the great thing about the theater - it's all illusion."

Here's a link to the interview, by James Brady, and a slideshow of Ms. Lansbury through the years. And you can take a 50-question movie musicals quiz here.

Angela Lansbury back Broadway - again!

I can't believe I'm going to have a second chance to see Angela Lansbury on Broadway!

Ponder this: she's away from Broadway for nearly 25 years, returns in 2007 - the very same year I attend my first show on Broadway - and now is about grace the New York stage again, for the second time in two years. Coincidence?

I loved Lansbury and Marian Seldes in 2007's Deuce, where they portrayed former professional tennis players looking back on their lives. What terrific conversation! What memorable characters! Deuce is simply one of the most enjoyable experiences I've spent at the theatre. It was 90 minutes of pure joy and I could have listened to them talk for another 90 minutes.

And now comes word that Lansbury will join British film actor Rupert Everett and Christine Ebersole in a revival of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, which begins previews in February. I was on the fence about this one. I saw a production of Blithe Spirit earlier this year and while it was good, it didn't quite grab me.

But Angela Lansbury changes everything. She'll play Madame Arcati, the psychic who conducts a seance at the home of a novelist, played by Everett, who hopes to use it as material for a book. Arcati ends up summoning the spirit of his late wife, who will be portrayed by Ebersole.

In addition to Blithe Spirit, 2009 will bring the Broadway premiere of the new musical 9 to 5, on the heels of its Los Angeles tryout. Plus, revivals of Hair, Guys and Dolls and West Side Story. Plus, two more play revivals: David Hyde Pierce in Accent on Youth and Matthew Broderick, whom I've never seen on stage, in The Philanthropist.

Toss in a couple of new plays and I'll be very happy. I probably won't get to see the political play Farragut North, with Chris Noth and John Gallagher Jr., off-Broadway, so I'm crossing my fingers that it'll transfer. I'd love to see Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen in Michael Jacobs' play Impressionism, described as "the story of a world traveling photojournalist and a New York gallery owner who discover each other and also that there might be an art to repairing broken lives."

Okay, I know we're not even through fall yet, but I think there's quite a bit to look forward to on Broadway in the spring. (In my next life, I definitely want to come back as a New Yorker.)

Happy birthday Marian Seldes!

Thanks to Sarah at Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment, I know that Marian Seldes turns 80 today. (Sarah's created a great photo montage of Seldes' career and her lengthy list of stage credits.) Of course, I can't let the day go by without paying my own tribute to this legendary and gracious actress.

Before I made my first trip to Broadway last year, I was vaguely familiar with her name. I knew that her father, Gilbert Seldes, had been a famous literary critic and Kevin Spacey had mentioned in an interview that she was one of his teachers at Juilliard. But when I decided to see Deuce, I was much more excited about Angela Lansbury, who was making her return to Broadway after an absence of 25 years.

I know a lot of people felt that Terrence McNally's Deuce was sort of thin as a play, but I have to disagree. I enjoyed it so much that I wish it had lasted twice as long as its 90-minute running time. I was enthralled the entire time listening to Seldes' and Lansbury's characters, former tennis professionals who hadn't seen each other in decades.

Granted, there isn't much action. At one point, each of them stands up. But they're mostly just sitting in chairs, in a stadium, reacting to imaginary tennis balls whizzing back and forth as they watch a match at the U.S. Open. Occasionally, the play-by-play announcers chime in and an adoring fan stops by.

But most of the play is simply the two women - former doubles partners - sitting and talking, reminiscing about their lives. And I think that's what made it memorable for me. It's so basic - two people telling a story in front of an audience. It's the world they create with their words that's important, not car chases or special effects. And it's probably one of the most difficult acting jobs because all you have is language, in all of its nuances.

I felt so privileged to be in the company of these two great actresses. I was immediately caught up in their characters. It could easily have ventured into Grumpy Old Men territory and been completely jokey, but it didn't. It was sweet and funny. I liked hearing them talk about the old days, about how things had changed for women, for female athletes, about their hopes and disappointments.

I saw the play on a chilly April evening, and of course I waited at the stage door afterward. Despite the cold, both women were incredibly gracious and accommodating to the crowd that was waiting for them. They signed Playbills and Seldes went down the line, talking to people. They are troupers in every sense of the word.

While Lansbury signed her name in bold strokes, I was especially struck by the fact that Seldes, such a strong figure on stage, has such tiny, delicate handwriting. She signed her name using a blue ballpoint pen and when someone offered her a thick, black marker, she politely declined, saying that she couldn't possibly use it.

Three months later, when I was back in New York, I went to City Center to see Gypsy, and who should come down the aisle, taking a seat almost across from me, but Marian Seldes! I was a little hesitant about approaching her. I mean, yeah, I know you're supposed to leave actors alone when they're on their own time. But what can I say? I'm starstruck! I'm a fangirl!

People kept coming up to her before the show, at intermission, some of them staying way too long in my estimation. The woman barely had a moment to herself. But finally, I saw an opening. I figured, I'll go over for a quick hello and tell her how much I loved Deuce. What could it hurt, right?

I had just listened to a wonderful interview with Seldes on the American Theatre Wing's Downstage Center program. So I went over to where she was sitting, bent down, told her how much I'd enjoyed the interview and how much I loved her in Deuce. She smiled so sweetly, thanked me, and told me how much she loved being in Deuce. She started to talk about Gypsy, saying "Isn't it wonderful," and then she nuzzled my cheek. How awesome is that!

What I admire most about Seldes is that she has maintained such a deep commitment to the theatre over the decades and is so passionate and eloquent when she talks about her craft. At the same time, she's so gracious. And talk about a trouper - she was in Deathtrap during its entire Broadway run and never missed a performance in four years. That's 1,793 performances!

So, a very happy 80th birthday to Marian Seldes. Thank-you for a memorable performance on stage and being so welcoming off stage.

From stage to screen - and back

Last night I watched "Private Practice," the spinoff of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." I've never seen "Grey's Anatomy." I'm not terribly interested in medical shows. And it turns out that this one is pretty forgettable. But Audra McDonald is in it, and that's a big attraction for me.

I saw the four-time Tony winner on Broadway in July in "110 in the Shade." Wow. What an incredible, rich, operatic voice. (Ok, I've never actually been to an opera, but her voice is what I imagine an opera singer's would sound like).

Plus, she's just a great actress. She's a beautiful, confident woman who makes us believe through sheer force of her acting skills that she's awkward, unattractive and insecure. I'd never seen her in anything before, and she totally won me over. Unfortunately, I don't think your average TV-show dialogue really demonstrates the full extent of her talent.

Audra McDonald isn't the only theater veteran I've watched on television this week. I'm at the beginning of a "Sex and the City" marathon, and it was a wonderful surprise to see Marian Seldes playing Mr. Big's mother.

I've seen a few movie and television actors on stage so far. The ever-growing list includes Kevin Spacey, Colm Meaney, David Hyde Pierce and Angela Lansbury. Next month, I'll add Kevin Kline in "Cyrano" to the roster. (Jennifer Garner's in it, too, but I never watched "Alias.")

I have to admit that for me, that's one of the thrills of going to a Broadway show. I enjoy watching an actor whose work I've admired on television or in the movies perform on stage. Now, I'm realizing it works the other way around as well - I enjoy watching an actor I've liked on stage perform on TV or in a movie.

To hear a terrific interview with Audra McDonald, check out this Downstage Center program from 2005. In it, she discusses getting her start at a dinner theater in Fresno, Calif., when she was 16, playing Eva Peron in "Evita," and the relief she felt at finally not winning a Tony Award.