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.

Why Grey Gardens makes me queasy

So, the Grey Gardens movie premieres on HBO tonight, with Jessica Lange as "Big Edie" Beale and Drew Barrymore as her daughter, "Little Edie."

I won't be watching, since I dropped HBO a few months ago. All of their original programming is available on dvd soon enough and I can just get it from Netflix. Also, I'm not totally on the Big Edie, Little Edie bandwagon.

When I saw the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens about the Beales - aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - my initial reaction was, these women are mentally ill. They're living in squalor in a decaying Long Island mansion and clearly have trouble coping with everyday life. I felt that filmmakers Albert and David Maysles exploited them a bit.

I guess I'm not the first person to raise the issue because it's addressed on the commentary track. The producer and director argue that Big and Little Edie were nonconformists, that their lives were examples of how opportunities for women of their era were constricted. If they were British we'd be calling them eccentric and their behavior would be considered charming.

Later, I saw Christine Ebersole on The View. She played the older Edie in the first act and the younger Edie in the second act of the Broadway musical Grey Gardens, and won a Tony award. One of the hosts brought up the same question: Wasn't there something emotionally wrong with these women? Ebersole gave pretty much the same answer, that they were artistic types, nonconformists, etc.

But leaving food out for the raccoons in your attic is not normal behavior. Neither is leaving bags of garbage - and worse - around your house. I felt these women were being romanticized and their plight explained as "nonconformity" when it was really closer to mental illness.

I've softened a little bit. There's an audio interview with Little Edie that was recorded a few years after the documentary came out. On it, she talks about how much she and her mother liked their portrayal. And she actually sounded more lucid than she did in the film.

Also, I subsequently saw Grey Gardens on Broadway and Ebersole was great. She absolutely channels Little Edie in the second act. And she creates a memorable Big Edie in the first act, really out of whole cloth, with no documentary to guide her. I think Little Edie would have been thrilled and flattered by her performance.

Still, I couldn't get away from the fact that I'd seen the documentary. The way those two women lived was not okay. No one would want to live in those conditions. Check out this 2002 New York Times obituary for Little Edie for the details.

I'm definitely curious about the movie. But I just have a tough time seeing the Beales as icons, as cult figures to be lionized. To me, they were two lonely, troubled women who needed help. And there's nothing charming about their circumstances.

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.)

Can Ebersole lift Broadway's spirits?

The first cast member has been announced for next spring's Broadway revival of Noel Coward's 1941 farce Blithe Spirit, about a socialite haunted by the ghost of his first wife. Christine Ebersole has snagged role of sexy Elvira, who causes all sorts of mischief after a seance summons her from the spirit world. The first preview is scheduled for Feb. 26.

I'm usually pretty excited when I hear about plans for a new Broadway show, but I was pretty indifferent about this one. I saw Blithe Spirit earlier this year at Trinity Rep. While it was a fine production, it left me bored at times. A little witty banter goes a long way, after all. Or perhaps, drawing-room comedies simply aren't my cup of tea.

Now, I like Christine Ebersole and I'm sure she'll be great and her participation piques my curiosity. Maybe she'll bring a spark to the play that I felt was missing in the production that I saw. But what would really put this on my list of must-see shows is that according to Variety, Angela Lansbury (and Rupert Everett) are on the producers' wish list.

No offense to Mr. Everett, but I loved Miss Lansbury's performance in Deuce, not to mention that she's my favorite Mrs. Lovett of the three I've seen on stage and screen. I'd jump at the chance to see her on Broadway again. Although, I thought she said Deuce would be her last Broadway role, so I'm not really holding out any hope.

But the larger question is - why another revival? I wish the producers had found a new play they wanted to bring to Broadway. So far, things are pretty slim: To Be or Not to Be and Dividing the Estate, which begins previews Oct. 23. I checked Playbill's list of upcoming shows, and there's Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Pretty and Michael Jacobs' Impressionism. (With Jeremy Irons!) Am I missing something?

Okay, I understand, it's hard to attract investors - and an audience - for a new play, especially a drama, especially at a time when Wall Street is imploding. Perhaps Blithe Spirit's humor, which helped raise the spirits of the British people during World War II, is just the thing Broadway needs right now.

Denny and Edie

I've got kind of a soft spot for William Shatner. Sure, he's an easy target. He's been around so long, and in so many incarnations - the iconic Captain Kirk, T.J. Hooker, game-show contestant, Priceline.com pitchman. Not to mention his singing career.

I'm not a huge fan of Star Trek or police shows, but I like Shatner as Denny Crane, the eccentric lawyer he plays on ABC's Boston Legal. He's often misogynistic, bigoted, needlessly combative, obnoxious, and downright clueless. Despite everyone telling him that, he never changes. Denny's a train wreck waiting to happen every week, and it's fun to watch what he'll do next.

I'm especially looking forward to tonight's episode, the show's first in its new 10 p.m. Wednesday time period, because Christine Ebersole is a guest star. It's kind of fun now to see actors I've enjoyed on stage do guest spots on television or in movies. And I'm kind of interested to see how she'll play off Shatner.

I haven't seen Ebersole in anything since last summer, when I watched her Tony-winning performance in the musical Grey Gardens. She was terrific playing socialite Edith Bouvier Beale in the first act and her daughter Little Edie in the second act, as their lives moved from comfort to squalor in their Long Island mansion. If you've ever seen the documentary, it's especially amazing the way Ebersole brought Little Edie, with all of her eccentricities and bizarre fashion sense, to life.

On Boston Legal, she's playing a cattle rancher who hires Denny to sue the FDA to stop the sale of cloned meat. Ebersole told the New York Daily News: "It's funny, it's touching, and it was just a blast to do it." While this is a one-time shot, Ebersole says that she'd be interested in returning. "It sure would be a lot of fun," she said. "The show is incredibly clever and well- written. It's smart."

But first up, according to this story, Ebersole is making a pilot for a Lifetime situation comedy called Libertyville, where she plays a divorced woman whose grown daughter and father both live with her. And she's releasing an album, Sunday in New York, on May 13. You can hear the title track at her Web site. There's also a free mp3 download of Ebersole singing "Lullaby of Broadway,'' from the album In Your Dreams.