Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test

The Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test is our personal and highly opinionated Commuter's Guide to New York theater and cultural events, with an emphasis on Broadway and Off-Broadway theatrical productions. The test is simple: is an event worth the always expensive, time consuming, and too often horrendous struggle to commute to New York City from New Jersey, Long Island, Upstate New York or Connecticut? Only truly great or near-great performances and productions may meet this stiff challenge!

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Location: Princeton, New Jersey, United States

James Camner is an antiquarian dealer of autographs, manuscripts and printed music and books of Opera, Classical Music, Theater, Dance, and Film, as well as a published author of more than 10 books on the performing arts including "How to Enjoy Opera" (Simon and Schuster), "The Great Opera Stars in Historic Photographs" (Dover), "Stars of American Musical Theater in Historic Photographs" (Dover - with Stanley Appelbaum); was for over 20 years a reviewer for Fanfare Magazine and has written feature articles and reviews for Opera News.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Royal Family, a play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Directed by Doug Hughes, starring Rosemary Harris, Jan Maxwell, Ana Gasteyer, Reg Rogers, Larry Pine, Kelli Barrett. We saw the 1975 revival of The Royal Family, an unforgettable experience featuring magical performances by Eva Le Gallienne as Fanny Cavendish and Rosemary Harris as her daughter Julie. So it is an indescribable and rare pleasure to see the radiant Ms. Harris ascend to the role of Fanny. And if Le Gallienne brought a unique aura, redolent of the actual period of the play, then Harris brings her own special warmth to the role based on Louisa Drew, the matriarch of the real Royal Family of Broadway, the Drew-Barrymores. Harris's role of Julie, the Ethel Barrymore part, has passed to Jan Maxwell who is wonderfully sweet and vulnerable as the hard-working and long-suffering reigning queen of the theater. As Tony Cavendish, Reg Rogers does a hilarious riff on John Barrymore's whacky Oscar Jaffe persona while John Glover brings off the John Drew stand-in, over-the-hill Herbert Dean. As faithful agent Oscar Wolfe, ailing Tony Roberts's understudy, Anthony Newfield, is excellent. Lovely Kelli Barrett makes an auspicious debut as young Gwenn Cavendish. No expense has been spared in this deluxe production. The sets by John Lee Beatty and the costumes by Catherine Zuber (my favorite is a "tea dress" worn in Act III by Julie) are spectacular. The incidental music is by no less a composer than Maury Yeston. There are many special moments in this pitch perfect revival, our favorite of which is when the actors become the audience and vice versa (or so the script goes). The moment is priceless. The play is hardly a masterwork, but it is such a pleasurable vehicle that it's been revived four times. There is no actress on the stage today more beloved than Rosemary Harris and seeing her in this entertaining valentine to acting and the theater is an opportunity not to be missed. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade B+

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