‘Act One’: Moss Hart’s memoirs on stage

ACT ONE
Written and directed by James Lapine
From the Autobiography of Moss Hart
Through June 15, 2014
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
150 West 65th Street
(212-239-6200), www.ltc.org

By David NouNou

Adapting a legendary autobiography about the theatre is a risky and tricky matter, especially when the legend being discussed died in 1961, and writing about his early struggles of getting his foot in the theatrical door occurred in 1930. What makes it tricky is Act One came out in 1959, and it became a theatrical bible. People read books and didn’t go on Wikipedia to get instant summarization of a book or a man’s life. The man here is Moss Hart and he is legendary when you read his accomplishments as director, playwright, and screenwriter. He was a giant of his day. After all, he had just directed My Fair Lady, Broadway’s mega hit of 1956 and Camelot was to follow in 1960 just before his death. As a playwright, he co-wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning You Can’t Take It With You and The Man Who Came To Dinner, both with George S. Kaufman. His screenplays consist of 1947’s Oscar-winning best picture Gentlemen’s Agreement and 1954’s A Star is Born, among others. The man was a prolific genius in every sense of the word.

But Act One isn’t about any of those historic events; it’s about his early childhood growing in the Bronx and Brooklyn in total poverty. His parents were Jewish immigrants from England, leading a dreary life, and the theatre was his only outlet. His Aunt Kate took him to a play and the bug bit. His life and passion became the theatre. He worked as a theatrical office boy, actor in the Catskills, wrote horrible plays that flopped and then wrote Once In A Lifetime and started collaboration with the celebrated master of the day, George S. Kaufman. The second act is all about the trials and tribulations of getting this play on its feet and to the Music Box Theatre on Broadway.

As I said earlier, writing about the theatre is a tricky matter, so the biggest challenge here is: Do modern audiences remember Moss Hart? They barely remember Rex Harrison and he was the actor who starred in My Fair Lady on Broadway and the movies. James Lapine has adapted the book into the play and pays reverential homage to the source by not omitting nary a single semicolon, which can be a good thing. Unfortunately, James Lapine the director didn’t take notes from his subject matter George S. Kaufman and delete a lot of his own written pages. For what actor, playwright, director didn’t grow up having a dreary life, being poor and had to work hard to get in the business? Ultimately, if they pay their dues, maybe, just maybe some do end up having the rags-to-riches story. Mr. Lapine had an interesting subject matter to deal with (Moss Hart) but unfortunately the book doesn’t deal with the interesting and later timeframe of his life to which modern audiences could relate. Mr. Lapine needed a Mr. Kaufman to edit a lot of the early unnecessary scenes and repetitious dialogue from Act II.

Having said all that and getting the storyline out of the way, there are a couple of hosannas on their way. Not since 1966 when the Beaumont opened and as a school project we had to go and discover the wonders of Lincoln Center, and the shows they were presenting, Danton’s Death and The Condemned of Altona (yes, I was a drama major) both dreary and bleak, but what struck me the most was the vastness of its stage. The revival of South Pacific tried to fill some of the vastness, but nothing compares to the set designed by Beowulf Boritt. The set is a revolving masterpiece that fills the entire stage and is very reminiscent of Oliver Smith’s sets. Mr. Smith, the premier set designer of his day, did the sets for My Fair Lady, Camelot, Hello Dolly, among many others. To see a show with awe-inspiring sets that is absolutely breathtaking; consisting of tenements, theatres, hotel rooms, offices and posh suites all on a revolving turntable are a vision to behold. Students studying theatrical design should see this show if for no other reason but the sheer magnificence of what Mr. Boritt has designed.

My other kudo goes to Tony Shalhoub, giving what might be his best stage performance to date. He plays three different roles succinctly: the older Moss Hart (who oversees the proceedings and how it all started); Moss’ father; as well as George S. Kaufman. His largest part is that of George S. Kaufman and he plays him to the hilt. Santino Fontana as the struggling young Moss Hart does an admirable  and energetic job as the passionate and charming playwright. Then there is Andrea Martin, also playing three parts: Moss’ Aunt Kate with a cloying English accent; Frieda Fishbein, the agent, the name says it all; and finally Beatrice Kaufman, George’s socialite wife; that’s her best part, she plays her demurely and gives her a quiet touch of class.

The rest of the cast supported unevenly, the worst being Mimi Lieber as Moss’ mother, Lillie. At any given line, she had four accents going on in the same sentence: they consisted of an abominable English accent, Jewish, Bronx and Brooklynese. You never knew with which accent she would start, continue and then end the sentence. Where were Mr. Lapine, the director and the dialogue coach? Was the fake English accent really necessary? I don’t think the audience would have minded if Moss’ mother, father, and aunt, had spoken with a Jewish New York accent because at least that would have been relatable. There is a lot of good in Act One and Moss Hart was a provocative person to write about, but unfortunately it wasn’t the right time of his life that modern audiences could identify with and be riveted by in a long biographical stage drama. I still recommend seeing Act One for Beowulf Boritt’s astounding set and Tony Shalhoub’s remarkable performance.

THE THESPIAN LIFE: Santino Fontana & Andrea Martin. Photo: Joan Marcus

Five Tony Nominations, including: Best Play, Best Actor – Tony Shalhoub, Costumes, Sound

WINNER: Beowulf Boritt, Best Set Designer

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 23, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on April 22, 2014