Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Grossly Talented

Paul Gross and Kim Cattrall in Private Lives.

I never realized I knew so many people so enamored with Paul Gross. Unless you've caught some of his films, or TV series like Due South, He doesn't have the kind of name recognition south of the Canadian border that he does on his home turf. But when I mentioned that I was interviewing him for Time Out New York, I was peppered with questions like, "How did the interview go?" "What was he like?" "What did he have to say?" He is as charming and witty as the Broadway revival of Private Lives that he's currently starring in with Kim Cattrall.

Incidentally, at the performance I attended there was a light but noticeable murmur in the audience when Gross's character, Elyot, uttered the words, "Thank you kindly"--a line that became a catchphrase for Constable Benton Fraser, the Mountie mired in Chicago that he played on Due South. Did that line really come from Noel Coward, I wondered? Or was Gross having a bit of fun with his fans? And when I got home and looked it up, I discovered that, sure enough, "Thank you kindly" did indeed come from Coward. Almost makes you believe Gross was destined to play Elyot, which, judging by his funny and commanding performance, could very well be the case.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The Demon Puppet of EST

Steven Boyer and Scott Sowers in Hand to God.

Steven Boyer delivers a deliciously attuned performance as a shy teenager and the devil puppet who comes to control him in Hand of God, a very funny, if somewhat uneven, play by Ensemble Studio Theatre Youngblood member Robert Askins.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Kids Back in the Day

Margaret Nichols, Richard Thieriot and Darrie Lawrence in Children.

A.R. Gurney's 1974 play Children takes place on an island off the coast of Massachusetts, and under the auspices of the sure-handed TACT, it's aged quite well.