Review - Shows for Days

Do you realize it's been more than a month since I went to a show?  Yikes!  That's a long time.  We'll see if I'm even able to express my thoughts coherently...

Ever since Douglas Carter Beane's new play, Shows for Days, was announced, I knew I wanted to see it.  I've enjoyed his work in the past and once Patti LuPone and Michael Urie were announced for the cast, that sealed the deal for me.  Since the show is playing in Lincoln Center's smaller theater, tickets sold out quickly.  But nearing the end of the run, tickets have finally shown up on TDF.  Most of them were for Saturday matinees, which is not my favorite day to see a show, but when a random ticket for last night appeared, hurrah!

My seat was actually terrific.  I'm guessing it was a subscriber seat (sixth row, just off-center!) that was cancelled at the last minute - the seat next to me was the aisle seat and it remained empty.  The house looked pretty full otherwise.  I'm sure you've heard, if you follow theater-y backstage news, that Patti LuPone has been especially vigilant about making sure people turn off their cell phones during the show (she actually took a phone away from a rude gal who wouldn't stop texting during a performance).  When you arrive at the theater, your Playbill has a big insert asking you to shut off your phone, and Patti LuPone does the recorded pre-show announcement.  It's actually a wonderful announcement and I think every theater should use it.  She talks about the communal experience of the theater and we all love theater, that's why we're there, so we should immerse ourselves in the world and leave the phones alone.  It was terrific and I heartily agree. 

Oh, and about my arrival at the theater - I guess The King and I, playing upstairs at Lincoln Center, had a 7pm curtain, so when I arrived, I could hear Kelli O'Hara singing a bit of "Hello, Young Lovers."  That was a nice treat.  I picked up my ticket and as I walked down to the Newhouse, I was by a couple looking at the photos that cover the walls in that hallway.  The gent said, "Is that Light in the Piazza?  Are they doing that again?"  And his companion/pill said, "Ugh, no, they already did it.  I left at intermission.  I HATED IT!  It was one of the worst shows I've ever seen!"  Which she was saying at full outdoor voice.  I mean, I try not to get peeved at people with different opinions than mine (yes, I adored Light in the Piazza), but when you're in a theater, try not to denigrate other shows.  Or at least do it in your indoor voice.  I almost yelled at a couple of gals in the ladies room after the show - hello, people, five block rule!  Stop talking about how much you didn't like a show while you're still in the theater!  Not that Patti LuPone will be using that restroom, but maybe her family would!  Geez.  Moving on...

photo credit: Joan Marcus

As for the show:  I found it reasonably enjoyable, especially for a summer evening, but I didn't find it as expertly and movingly put together as I did The Nance or as sharply acerbic as As Bees in Honey Drown or The Little Dog Laughed.  I know I should stop comparing, but I just can't help it.  Shows for Days is sort of an awkward hybrid, trying to be warm and funny, yet sharp and astute.  The hybrid didn't really completely work for me.  That's not to say I didn't laugh, I did.  Quite a bit.  As a survivor of community theater in a small Midwestern town, I found much of the show relatable and familiar.  I was just expecting more, I guess.  Perhaps that's just my problem.

Shows for Days takes place in a small Pennsylvania town, when young narrator (obviously a stand-in for Beane) Car turns up at a community theater, offering to do 'whatever' while he's waiting for a bus.  The other theater folks around quickly recognize a kindred spirit and persuade young Car to stay.  Car is played, both as an adult narrator/Beane stand-in and as the naïve teenager, by the ever-charming Michael Urie.  He has appeal and charm to spare and he is totally truthful as the young boy and the older man reminiscing.  The other actors are all good, but are playing stereotypes and play the stereotypes broadly, so it was hard to care about any of them.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Patti LuPone is a force of nature, of course, as the head of the little theater who will do anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, to keep her theater going.  As always, she's quite good, very specific and detailed in her acting, yet still free and easy.  She had all the best one-liners and she made me laugh out loud a lot.  I've known people like her (well, maybe not quite so extreme), and she mined as many layers as she could out of this character.  I was a bit surprised that there didn't seem to be any question about, or consequences to, some of the appalling things she does.  I mean, I guess she was one of those people that you forgive anything, but it was hard to wrap my brain around.

Again, I did enjoy myself and I can certainly see Shows for Days becoming quite popular at smaller theaters across the country.  I just wish it had been...more.  More what, I don't know.  That's why I'm not a playwright, I guess.  More moving, maybe.  Fewer subplot points.  I don't know.  It runs another few weeks, and there are worse ways you could spend a summer evening.  The pre-show announcement and quite a few laugh lines are worth the price of a discounted ticket, I would say...