Ken Neufeld: Unscripted June 8, 2010
I was recently reminded what great acting looks like.
Late last month I was in New York for the Broadway League’s Spring Road Conference. (You can see pictures at http://bit.ly/SpringRoadConference2010.) As part of the conference agenda, you get to see four or five shows on Broadway. It’s kind of a lottery where you pick a whole bunch of shows and then based on availability you get tickets–if you’re lucky you get all your picks.
One of the shows I was interested in seeing was the new revival of La Cage Aux Folles. I had never seen the Broadway version of this musical with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Harvey Fierstein, and this transplant from a very small theatre in England sounded very interesting–and the reviews have been great. The story is pretty well known as it was adapted into the popular film The Birdcage featuring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. Anyways, this production featured television star Kelsey Grammer in the role of Georges (the Robin Williams role in the movie), and British actor Douglas Hodge in the role of Albin (the Nathan Lane role.)
I truly can’t remember enjoying a show this much! I was very pleased in the whole conception of the production making it a little smaller, seedier and more focused than past productions I had heard about. It all seemed truer to what it should be. Mr. Grammer was very good and very funny. But the thing that really impressed me (and impressed is not the right word, as it was so much closer to astounded, or excited, or “blew me away”) was the incredible skill of Douglas Hodge. This is an actor so at the top of his creative game that every moment he was on stage was absolutely mesmerizing. And when he wasn’t on stage, I found myself waiting for him to come back. It was a performance that was so inventive, spontaneous, warm, funny, touching and completely captivating, that I found myself laughing hysterically at an inspired comic bit, then chuckling at a little move that was so subtle and perfect, or getting choked up over a beautifully communicated gesture. Mr. Hodge, it’s not surprising, is one of England’s most accomplished actors and a leading figure at the National Theatre and a major interpreter of the work of Harold Pinter. I can truly say it was one of the finest performances I have seen in the last 10 years–or maybe ever.
If you get a chance to go to NYC in the next four months or so (Mr. Hodge is only in the show for six months), check out this production. I wasn’t disappointed and I don’t think you will be either.
-Ken
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 10:46 am and is filed under Unscripted. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
What was the last show that just blew you away?