Lansbury Returns to the Broadway Stage In Coward Classic

Pictured, clockwise: Deborah Rush, Rupert Everett, Angela Lansbury, Jayne Atkinson, Simon Jones in "Blithe Spirit."

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It is a rarity for a performer to elicit unconditional love and reverence from audiences that span generations. The iconic Angela Lansbury is such a performer, and she is now the subject of glowing, genuine affection – if thunderous applause is any indication – when she takes the stage of Broadway’s Shubert Theatre as the larger-than-life Madame Arcati in the current revival of Noel Coward’s seminal classic “Blithe Spirit.”

The dry, witty British comedy is a fine showcase for Lansbury, but she is joined by formidable talent onstage, most recognizably film star Rupert Everett and Tony award-winner Christine Ebersole, who earned vast acclaim in 2007 for “Grey Gardens.” The material is a bit dated and the humor sunny but understated, yet under the tight guidance of director Michael Blakemore the cast mostly succeeds in oiling the creaks of Coward’s ingratiating vehicle. “Blithe Spirit” shows it age, yet the meat – the hilarity – is timeless.

Charles Condomine, Everett’s character, is a misanthropic novelist researching the occult. He and his wife Ruth, played by Jayne Atkinson, commission the eccentric, bubbly, highly notorious Madame Arcati, a medium of highly questionable talent, to perform a seance at their home. Only Arcati can sense that something significant has transpired, that is, until Charles’ deceased first wife Elvira, played by Ebersole, not only makes an appearance, traipsing gingerly through the draperies, but delights in making herself at home. No one but Charles can see the playful, lighthearted ghost.

Coward’s script is droll and daffy; while serviceable, it is not particularly scintillating. For that reason the dexterity and believability of the actors’ delivery can make or break its successful rendering. However, with such formidable casting magic ensues here in more than one manner of speaking. The story and its execution are unrestrainedly fanciful – Coward, after all, subtitled it “an improbable farce” – but this only amplifies the hilarity.

Atkinson is wonderful as the beleaguered, long-suffering Ruth. She plays off the remote, staunch, cool-as-cucumber Everett with impeccable ease. Her comedic skills are formidable, evidenced when Arcati sends her into a fit of frustration.

“Do you mean to sit there and tell me,” she cries, “that having mischievously conjured up this ghost or spirit or whatever she is and placed me in a hideous position, you are unable to do anything about it?!”

“Honesty,” Arcati says with a cautious gleam in her eyes, “is the best policy.”

Ebersole is hilarious, wringing combustible laughter out of her sketchy lines, and Simon Jones and Deborah Rush are delightful as Doctor and Mrs. Bradman, guests of the Condomines. Rush is instantly recognizable from scores of character parts, most notably that of Mary Flaherty in “American Wedding,” and she has great chemistry with Lansbury.

It is no secret that Lansbury is the greatest incentive to set one’s sights on the Shubert Theatre. Those who know her only from the long-running CBS hit “Murder, She Wrote” may be surprised to learn that she transformed from photogenic character actress to show business phenom on Broadway in the 1960s and 70s thanks to musicals such as “Mame” and “Sweeney Todd.” She announced her stint in 2007’s “Deuce” as being her final Broadway run, so it is likely her zany, thoroughly arresting performance as Arcati will cap off her legendary stage career. Her unexpected reemergence from retirement is good fortune for all theatergoers, particularly those unaware of her adeptness at comic delivery.

“I think I’ll have a small whiskey and soda,” remarks a downtrodden Charles late in the play.

“Make it a double!” Arcati says with a grand flourish. “Enjoy yourself!”

The Shubert Theatre is located 225 W. 44th Street in New York. Student rush tickets, subject to availability, are available at $26.50 two hours prior to each performance at the Shubert Theatre box office. Two per valid ID.

Interview with The Amazing Kreskin

Last month I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to chat with The Amazing Kreskin, a man whose list of contributions to our culture runs longer than my arm, for an article I decided to pen for Seton Hall University's Setonian. A mentalist, he has the ability to read peoples' thoughts; he is not a man one should lie to - at all. I was a bit intimidated, but he was a complete delight and very giving with his time.
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He Reads You When You're Sleeping

He is a well-versed scholar of life who speaks enthusiastically on many topics and as personable a fellow as one can ever hope to meet. Just show up with him at a local racetrack or gaming resort, however, and you could find yourself escorted off premises with your name and photo kept on record. This, however, is something The Amazing Kreskin has come to laugh about over the course of an exciting, highly visible career as mentalist that spans six decades.

The Seton Hall alumnus offers predictions every New Year’s on CNN and remains active not only as a workaholic concert performer but as a presence on late night television, having endlessly perplexed Johnny Carson and, most recently, Jimmy Fallon. His ability not only to predict events with great accuracy but to eavesdrop and exert control on the mental ether of others continues to leaves mouths gaping in stunned disbelief.

Kreskin recently took time out of his busy schedule to speak with the Setonian about his current projects and the fresh limelight surrounding him in the wake of the Magnolia pictures film “The Great Buck Howard,” now playing in limited release. Oscar-nominated actor John Malkovich plays the title character, heavily inspired by Kreskin.

“The writer of the movie, Sean McGinley, came to work for me in 1994,” said Kreskin. “The actual story itself has nothing to do with me except for the first 12 minutes.”

He nevertheless found Malkovich’s dedication to the character, which included days of effort to immerse himself in Kreskin’s persona, fascinating to witness.

“All the nuances, the gestures, the handshakes – it killed me,” said Kreskin. “Try to imagine turning on a computer or a television screen and suddenly somebody’s there that doesn’t look like you, but with all the mannerisms– the vocabulary, the words you use every day. You see that, and it’s extraordinarily disarming. He’s a really remarkable actor – so modest and quiet in real life...what a grand person to play me.”

Kreskin said he fondly recalls the first time he tapped into his abilities. When a third grader in Montclair his brother Michael told him he hid a penny somewhere in the household. The young Kreskin came home from school, climbed a chair and immediately reached for the penny on a windowsill.

“Then I realized I had forgotten to call him and ask him if I was warm or cold!” he said. “Of course, my grandmother, being from Italy, must have thought it was some evil eye thing.”

As a Psychology major at Seton Hall in the 1950s Kreskin said he immediately turned heads with his uncanny abilities. One of his professors, Frank Murphy, not only let him take charge in some classes (“You know more about hypnosis and ESP than I ever will”) but also made an assessment of Kreskin’s abilities (“Kreskin has developed a unique and strikingly different method of communication which may take more than 50 years to become common”) which gave a tremendous boost to the credibility of the young mentalist.

Many different professors tested his abilities. Kreskin said he recalled one class where the professor took out a deck of cards and polled students for one randomly chosen word per each of the 52 cards in the deck while Kreskin’s back was turned.

“Two weeks later I went before the class and fully recalled all the 52 cards, the positions they were in and the words on the blackboard,” he said.

While he always carries a deck of cards Kreskin works in more sophisticated things in this phase of his career. He officially predicted the election of Barack Obama in December 2007 and is available for professional assistance in locating missing persons. He also has a new book, “Kreskin Confidential,” soon hit bookstore shelves. With public fascination for his talents and showmanship still abundant, he said he remains enthused and has no plans of putting his career on the wane.

“I could have retired years ago, but I did 198 appearances last year,” he said. “My life has been kind of an adventure. I think that’s how you have to treat life. If you meet someone who says that they are bored, you can think in your mind you’re looking at a boring person. There is so much in life, and there is no excuse for not being interested in anything because there’s always a book to pick up. I just have such a zest for what I do. I’m only home four days a month, and I’ve flown over 3 million miles – that’s a record.”

In appraising the landscape of his mental capacities, however, Kreskin took a moment to reflect.

“I don’t predict peoples’ lives; I read peoples’ thoughts,” he said. “And if your friends would like to play poker with me...no, I’m only kidding! And by the way, they’re (Seton Hall) overdue in booking me. You just tell them they’re overdue.”

For more on the Amazing Kreskin including tour and talk show appearances visit his Web site at amazingkreskin.com.

http://www.thesetonian.com/the-amazing-kreskin-1.996
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Also check out the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Kreskin, a quick source on his life and career.
http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2009/05/the-amazing-kreskin-makes-his-return-to-late-night-tonight/, video of his first appearance on Jimmy Fallon's new TV program. Actor Jason Segel is featured. See it to believe it.

Amazon.com Reviews

Over the years I have written many customer reviews on Amazon and have had the excellent fortune of being particularly well-read. My review of Coldplay's Viva La Vida, for instance, has garnered nearly 200 helpful votes as of this writing. I take criticism very seriously; at its best, it is very nearly as important as the art itself. That includes all art forms - film, theatre, music, stand-up comedy, comic strips, television, etc.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A3O8YT41TDXL0B/ref=cm_pdp_rev_title_1?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview#R1QSKZN2VZDE04

The Start

After some thought the importance of enacting a blog to catalogue my writing would be of crucial importance, and so here it is - RUminations.

I am not quite sure how it will all take shape just yet, but the idea is to catalogue my writings soon after they are written or ready to be unveiled, in the hopes that some may show up to offer respective criticism. I welcome critiques sweet, sharp-tongued and all in-between, that is, so long as they are sincere and coherent. In the case of my reviews, I suppose that would open the doors to the possibility of critiques of critiques.

I am not sure to what extent I will post fiction, if any at all. I will make postings when I add new works to my poetry page on www.postpoems.com/members/rudyalbums, but I add new poetry sparingly, and thankfully so.

For the moment, I will post links to my Amazon page, which contains all reviews I have written since January 2001 - then I was 13 and did not know what the hell I was doing, yet I have been compelled to erase so little of that early work - as well as a few recent articles I have written for Seton Hall University's Setonian.