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 