My review of the new Broadway revival of David Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre starring Patrick Stewart (above) and T.R. Knight has just been published online by CultureVulture.net. It says, in part:
“The best thing can be said about it is that it supplies an opportunity for [Stewart’s] legion of fans to worship him in person. And boy do they! At the matinee I attended, the audience hung on his every word, prepared to greet every tiny piece of stage business with loud appreciation. When he came out in tights and purple leggings for a scene in which he and his fellow actor do their stretches at a ballet barre, you would have thought that no funnier sight gag had ever been performed on a Broadway stage. OMG, Captain Picard in tights and purple leggings!!! Not being a Trekkie myself, I was expecting a more nuanced performance, but no, it’s pretty much of a personal appearance for the fans.”
You can read the whole review online here.
The play is not one of Mamet’s best, but I have fond memories of the original New York production, beautifully directed by Gerald Gutierrez and starring the late great Ellis Rabb and the dearly departed Peter Evans (above). I saw the show at the intimate Lucille Lortel Theatre (then called the Theatre de Lys) with my friend Ed Townley, who knew one of the actors, so we went backstage and met them. I kinda fell in love with Peter, had a big crush on him for years, got to be friends with him, and was very very very sad when he died in 1989 (a casualty of AIDS).
another eye opens 
November 7, 2010 at 9:04 pm
I also remember Peter Evans as a wonderful actor. Not only in
“A Life in the Theater,” but also in Stoppard’s “Night and Day”
on Broadway and Innaurato’s “. . . Blenno Blimpie.” Sorry I didn’t
get to know him personally, as you did, Don. Thought you might
be interested in reading your friend Stephen Holden’s obit of
Peter Evens in the Times.
Peter Evans, an Actor in Theater, Films and Television, Dies at 38
By STEPHEN HOLDEN Published: May 22, 1989
Peter Evans, an actor who originated leading roles in plays by David Rabe, David Mamet and Arthur Miller, died of complications from AIDS Saturday at Century City Hospital in Los Angeles. He was 38 years old.
A versatile actor who was acclaimed for a wide range of roles, from classical theater to musical comedy, Mr. Evans made his New York theater debut in 1975 in David Storey’s play ”Life Class.” The next year, he won his first critical acclaim, playing Richie in Mr. Rabe’s ”Streamers.” The work, which was directed by Mike Nichols, was first produced at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven and moved to the Mitzi Newhouse Theater in Lincoln Center.
The performance won him the 1976 Clarence Derwent Award and a nomination for a Drama Desk Award as outstanding actor. Performing on Broadway
In 1977, he co-starred with Ellis Rabb in Mr. Mamet’s ”Life in the Theater” at the Theater de Lys, and in 1979, he played opposite Maggie Smith in Tom Stoppard’s ”Night and Day” on Broadway.
In 1982, after touring for a year with the national company of Mark Medoff’s ”Children of a Lesser God,” he took over the lead role in the Broadway production. In The New York Times, John Corry wrote of Mr. Evans’s performance: ”Peter Evans now has the male lead in ‘Children of a Lesser God,’ and it has become something of a new play. It is now infinitely more moving.”
Mr. Evans also originated the role of the son in Mr. Miller’s ”American Clock” at the Spoleto Festival. His last major role on the New York stage was as Paul Verlaine in Christopher Hampton’s play ”Total Eclipse.”
Important Off Broadway appearances included roles in ”Endgame,” ”Geniuses,” ”The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie” and the Playwrights Horizons revival of ”Company.” For several seasons, he was a resident actor at the Williamstown Theater Festival. A Comedy Series
Mr. Evans’s film work included appearances in the movies ”Arthur” and ”Imposters.” On television, he appeared in ”A Life in the Theater” and in the PBS series ”Best of Families.” For the last several years, Mr. Evans lived in Los Angeles and played the continuing character of Russ Merman on the television comedy series ”9 to 5.”
He was born in 1950 in Englewood, N.J., and attended Philips Academy Andover. He graduated from Yale in 1972 and studied for three years at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
He is survived by his parents, Dudley and Caroline Evans of Demarest, N.J.; a brother, John Randall Evans of Severna Park, Md., and a sister, Elizabeth Temple Evans of Portland, Me. Services will be held Friday at St. Paul’s Church in Englewood.
November 8, 2010 at 12:30 pm
I’m glad you remember Peter as fondly as I do, Steve. He was very proud of his work in “Night and Day” — he told me the show ran for 250 performances and that Maggie Smith gave 250 different performances, which he found very admirable…kept him on his toes.
I so wish I’d seen him in Streamers.
And yes, I was living with Stephen when he wrote Peter’s obit for the Times. Peter was also very good friends with our friend Craig Lucas.
November 8, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Peter’s comment about Maggie Smith reminded me of something Uta Hagen said about seeing Laurette Taylor
in “The Glass Menagerie.” She said, if I recall correctly,
that she’d seen the play seven times and that Taylor never
gave the same performance twice. I wonder of how many actors that can be said? I also wonder how many wonderful performances we in the audience have been deprived of, by Peter and so many others, due to AIDS. If we knew, our sense of loss would be even greater.
November 8, 2010 at 11:58 pm
yes, I think about that a lot. God, I miss Peter and all the performances he might have given. Ditto Charles Ludlam — can you imagine what he would be up to now?