Cat on a Hot Tin Roof!

During the whirl-wind winter break, Jen and I tried to catch up on a season of theater going...and then some. Not in chronological order...impressions follow.

Our Christmas celebration included a treat of theater: Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof which was everything you could hope it to be. Brilliantly cast and acted with a set that would make the late John Scheffler proud. Would love to see it again.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Benjamen Walker, Scarlett Johansson, Ciaran Hinds and Debra Monk! A memorable experience we will cherish for a life time. Fully engaged, delivering the play, Walker as Brick and Scarlett Johansson as Maggie rock Broadway.

Johansson's take on Maggie is a bit trashy, a lot sexy and way smart as she plays down the blatant sensuality of Williams' frustrated femme fatale (if that's possible as she struts and bellows about for the first third of the play in a slip), but she plays up where Maggie comes from and what's at stake for her. Walker's Brick is quintessential, totally detached and looking for the "click" in the bottom of a bottle of Bourbon until Maggie pours a little salt on his open wound. Just to make sure he is still "alive" as she is. Ciaran Hinds as Big Daddy and Debra Monk as Big Mama give fresh takes to the legendary icons of theater history. We saw it in pre-views, it opens January 17th.



A close second to Cat,a recently closed Playwrights Horizons production of the Whale, written by Samuel D. Hunter and directed by Davis MaCallum, the power of this play is not so much in its text but in the visceral tragedy played out on stage which made us all feel like we were together with the cast in the belly of a whale along with Jonah seeking redemption.

Thirdly we saw Peter and the Star Catcher (finally) delighted by the perfect performance of all and especially none other than a personal favorite of ours Matt Saldivar. Closing January 20th, but re-opening at New World Stages! A great family show.

I also saw, on my own, American Bard Theater Company's production of King Lear by Shakespeare, which I absolutely loved. So good!!!

And last...an historic revival of 1960's era: The Killing of Sister George A Naughty Comedy by Frank Marcus and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher at Long Wharf Theatre. Starring and directed by...Kathleen Turner. Two things. British comedy is hard. Really, really, really hard. Directing yourself...even harder. Valiant attempt, high production value.