London Assurance - NT Live, The Grand Manner, A Night at the Tombs

 
The wildly popular inaugural season of London’s National Theater broadcasts, NT Live, concluded with Nicholas Hytner’s sold-out production of Dion Boucicault’s 1841 comedy of manners, London Assurance. Filmed and broadcast on June 28, this superbly cast and staged production sparkled throughout thanks to the delicious, over-the-top comedic performances of Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw as Sir Harcourt Courtly and Lady Gay Spanker, two of the greatest comic roles in English theater. Assurance was last seen on Broadway in the Roundabout’s excellent 1997 staging that was nominated for Tonys for Best Revival of a Play, as well as Best Actor and Best Featured Actress for Brian Bedford and Helen Carey, who played Courtly and Spanker, respectively. Since a transfer of Hytner’s pitch-perfect production seems unlikely, this invaluable document of Boucicault’s hilariously funny play was a welcome treat! A second season of NT Live will launch in fall 2010 with Shakespeare’s Hamlet starring Rory Kinnear, Danny Boyle’s production of Frankenstein and the Tony winner Fela!, among others.
 
A.R. Gurney’s latest play, The Grand Manner, is a charming but flawed memory piece based on Gurney’s real-life 1948 backstage meeting with Katharine Cornell while she was starring in Antony and Cleopatra. Bobby Steggert stars as Gurney’s doppelganger while Kate Burton plays Cornell, Brenda Wehle portrays her lover and general manager, Gertrude Macy, and Boyd Gaines is her director-husband, Guthrie McClintic. Director Mark Lamos’ production looks terrific and the cast is fine, especially Steggert, who continues to display his depth and range. But Gurney’s play is superficial where it should be substantial and Cornell and McClintic’s relationship is given short shrift, with Cornell’s bold but absurd admission to the young Pete that she’s a lesbian and her husband a homosexual. Theater aficionados may like it, but The Grand Manner isn’t grand enough.
 
Theater Askew’s A Night at the Tombs, written and performed by transsexual actress Bianca Leigh,  is a madcap recounting of the events surrounding Leigh’s arrest for prostitution.  A stunning beauty (with flawless make-up, p.s.), Leigh throws in six songs that aren’t really needed to tell her story. But since her collaborators include such acclaimed artists as Jeff Whitty and Taylor Mac, we’re delighted to listen. Like Zsa Zsa Gabor, Leigh’s a jailbird whose story is priceless.    N
 
The Grand Manner plays through August 1 at Mitzi Newhouse (150 W 65th St, 212-239-6200). A Night at the Tombs plays Thursdays through August 5 at Bowery Poetry Club (308 Bowery, 212-352-3101).