Review - Act One

(My home laptop has died, so now I'm typing this post from my new tablet, and we'll just have to see how this goes.)

I've been very interested in seeing Act One since it was announced - of course I've read Moss Hart's book, though it has been years, and I am generally a fan of Lincoln Center, especially when they produce large cast plays like this.  When the production came up on TDF, I pounced.

Act One is adapted from Moss Hart's 1959 memoir, which is still an amazingly popular book in theater circles.  It tells the story about how Hart got started in the theater and ends after the opening of his first big success Once in a Lifetime.  This play, written by James Lapine, uses two narrators and a 20+ person cast to relay the same story.

The play, which runs about two hours and 40 minutes, starts with the young Moss Hart being bitten by the theater bug and being encouraged by his eccentric aunt, beautifully played by Andrea Martin.  In fact, Martin plays three women who greatly influenced Hart's life and career, and her portrayals of all three are warm and real.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

Santino Fontana and Tony Shalhoub share the role of Moss Hart, though the bulk of the scenework is done by Fontana - Shalhoub also plays Hart's father and the role of collaborator George S. Kaufman.  Fontana and Shalhoub play off each other brilliantly, showing real chemistry and connection in all of their scenes together.  Shalhoub is especially amazing as Kaufman, wonderfully eccentric but never false.

I'm not exaggerating when I say I had a smile on my face and a tear in my eye throughout most of the play.  I completely identify with the child who doesn't belong anywhere until they find the theater, plus the joy and rapture and agony of putting on a show are wonderfully depicted here.  Having said that, I found the play dragged a bit throughout and suffered from a lot of the afflictions the character of George S. Kaufman kept trying to fix in his collaboration with Hart - it's funny how the big light bulb that helps Hart fix his play within this pkay is actually also a problem with this production.   I also found the set to be much too much, moving and distracting me from the central story.  Plus, from my seat, all that set really blocked my view too frequently.

So, do I think Act One is a great play?  Probably not.  But it tells a great story that I adored and I loved the experience of being there.  If that even makes sense.  The love for the theater is amply on display and sometimes, all that affection and recognition can be enough...