The fall season is here, the fall season is here! :)

Hooray!  It's time for the new theater season!  It seems like forever since I've seen a show (wow, I just checked my calendar - I haven't seen anything since July 31!  that's forever ago!!).  I was so intrigued by the Signature Theatre season that I actually bought a subscription (reason # 4,587,923 why I don't have any money on a day-to-day basis).  My first subscription ticket, and first show of the new season, was supposed to be Horton Foote's The Old Friends, which I saw with some chums yesterday afternoon.  BUT, even before that, I was offered a free ticket to one of Lucy Thurber's Hill Town Plays, the series Rattlestick is presenting around town.  I happily took advantage of the offer and chose to see Stay at the New Ohio Theatre.

 

I'd never seen a Lucy Thurber play before, but I had heard of her, of course, and many of my friends speak quite highly of her writing.  So I was looking forward to checking out Stay.  I had read a little about this play cycle and found the premise very intriguing.  According to press, "...The [Hill Town Plays] cycle is an examination of the culture of poverty in America; how we are always a part of where we come from, and yet our future is determined by who we choose to be...the Hill Town Plays examine how, in order to overcome the past, we have to accept the fact that it takes courage to live in the present."  Fascinating stuff, and definitely subject matter that I find compelling.  I've had those examinations in my personal life many times.  Stay is the last play in the five-play cycle.   

 

Unfortunately, I don't think this particular production lived up to the provocative description.  I really feel as if the direction and the cast let the script down.  I found much of the writing very compelling and poetic, and I always love a play that uses magical realism.  I was completely onboard for the supernatural-ish elements and thought they expanded the script nicely.  But the heavy-handed direction and even heavier-handed acting bothered me.  Frequently, the actors would speak in this portentous way that signaled I AM ACTING AND SAYING IMPORTANT THINGS NOW.  I find that performance (and directorial) technique a real turn-off.  It seems to me, when you're dealing with heavy subjects, a lighter touch might go further to engage the audience.  I understand we were dealing with some serious topics and sad sad stories, but mono-intoning was not the way to go.  In my opinion, of course.  There was a woman sitting near me who was convulsing with sobs, so clearly the production moved her.  It just didn't touch me that profoundly.

 

Again, though, I loved so much of the dialogue and the ideas being tossed around, just not the execution.  I did think the set design was ingenious, and, actually, the scene between the two men towards the end of the piece was done with a lighter touch and I thought it was very successful.  And I admit that I found the ending quite moving.  But it was a long slog to get there, since I wasn't engaged by the acting or the directing choices.  I hope to see Stay again someday in another incarnation, and if I can dig up some funds, I may check out one or two of the other plays in the cycle.  I was that intrigued by what I heard from Lucy Thurber.

 

Yesterday afternoon, I met two of my darling besties and saw The Old Friends at my favorite spot in town, the Signature Theatre.  As you may recall, I adore a Horton Foote play.  I was a little surprised to hear that my besties weren't sure if they had seen a Foote play before, but they adore Betty Buckley, so that was their motivation to come.   And it was interesting to hear their thoughts on the play, since they didn't have my previously conceived notions about Foote's work.



In the program notes, the earliest draft of a play that ultimately became The Old Friends is dated January 1964.  He went through numerous drafts, but didn't have a staging until 1982.  In 2002, Signature did a reading of The Old Friends that inspired Horton to do some rewrites and create the version that we're seeing today.  It's quite a wonderful road and so thrilling to think we're seeing a world premiere of a play of a much-loved, and much-missed writer. 

Signature has put together an amazing cast for this production, which is lovingly directed by Michael Wilson.  Each actor is so profoundly real, but, of course, that's the way Horton wrote them.  He was such a great storyteller and knew that great stories had great characters in them.  Each of these characters has an arc and their own universe, and watching how these universes both gelled and bumped into each other was wonderful.
 
The humanity and the resilience of Foote's utterly American people is again on display in The Old Friends.  I really marvel at how Horton captures these people so perfectly - their speech patterns and cadences are all completely right.  And I could've listened to their stories and conversations all day.  His characters are always so familiar and so lived in - it's like you've known them your whole life.  I simply adore that.  [the production shots are from Signature's Facebook page; they were all taken by Joan Marcus and I will of course take them down if asked.]

Having said all that, I will say that Act One and the first scene of Act Two were much more successful than the last two scenes of the play.  For me.  And I found the ending a tad unsatisfying.  But, hey, if Horton were alive, I'm sure he would've tightened things up and made them better.  And the play is so good now!  But it could've been even better, imho.  Oh, and I wasn't really fond of the music choices used between scenes.  But, again, quibbles.

The actors were all fantastic.  First among equals?  Lois Smith.  She is a genius.  End stop.  She can bring a women to life with so few words.  Just watching her rock, and smile, was worth the price of admission.  Betty Buckley is a fascinating force of nature, so complex - funny and hateful, all at the same time.  Veanne Cox also has many layers going on, though perhaps a little less backstory.  And Halle Foote is again a sublime interpreter of her father's work.  It's wonderful how he created these rich, complex women, who can stand on their own.  I always enjoy that in a play.  Though the men were also fantastic - Cotter Smith was terrific as the brother who has been coasting through life, and Adam LeFevre was amazing as the bitter and tragic husband of Veanne Cox.  I pitied him and hated him all at the same time.  Hurrah for the entire cast.

 

The show opens Thursday, so you should all run out and get your tickets now before the reviews come out.  I'm seeing it again at the end of the month.  I'm going to take every opportunity to revel in Horton Foote's world.  OH, and they're selling artwork by a friend of mine in the gift shop!  Go, buy Mark Krauss' wonderful notecards right now!!

 

After the show, my gal pal and I had dinner at a new-ish restaurant, Tavola.  We got there about a half hour before the dinner menu would be served, so we had a glass of wine and a couple of appetizers.  We opted to try the burrata and the Mediterranean chopped salad.  Both were DELICIOUS!  I'll put the food photos at the bottom.  But they were both so fresh and light and tasty.  The glass of sangiovese I had was also yum yummy.  Once it was time for the kitchen to open for dinner, our charming server Kevin also informed us it was happy hour, so...half price wine!  OK!  :)

I have been jonesing for some pasta alla vongole lately, so that's what I got.  And, jeepers, it was one of the tastiest dishes I've had in a long time!  Definitely a contender for my end-of-the-year best dish awards!  It was briny and garlicky, with a little bit of acid and perfectly seasoned pasta.  Really really terrific.  As I'm writing this, I feel as if I need to go back right now and have it again...  My beautiful gal pal got the lasagna and it was amazingly good, too.  And the portion sizes were perfect.

 

We were awfully full, but, yes, we had to try dessert.  We got the chocolate cherry mousse (great) and the pistachio gelato with an amaretto cookie and chocolate crust (even greater).  The entire meal, and dining experience, was terrific, top to bottom.  We had a nice seat by the window, our server was adorable, and we just had the best time.  Plus, we watched a little tennis on my phone, and then I walked a bit through the gorgeous weather and got a nice glowy shot of the Empire State Building. Thumbs way up for the entire day.  :)

 

I'm so happy the new season is here.  There are so many shows to look forward to, and so many restaurants to try.  Raise a glass to some great experiences coming our way...