‘LEFT ON TENTH’: Peter Gallagher & Julianna Margulies. Photo: Joan Marcus.

LEFT ON TENTH
By Delia Ephron
Based on her book Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life: A Memoir
Directed by Susan Stroman
James Earl Jones Theatre
138 West 48^th Street
https://leftontenthbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Playwright, author and screenwriter Delia Ephron certainly knows all about romantic comedies. She wrote the screenplays for such “rom-com” hits as You’ve Got Mail (co-written with her late sister, Nora) and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Ms. Ephron’s new Broadway play Left on Tenth is an adaptation of her best-selling 2022 memoir Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life: A Memoir. Like the book, the play is based on Ms. Ephron’s real-life story of losing her sister, writer Nora Ephron, to cancer and the untimely death of her husband Jerry shortly afterward. Not exactly a winning formula for a “rom-com,” but romance is only part of the story here.

Before the curtain even rises, the audience hears a repetitive recording from Verizon’s customer service department: The annoying, robotic-sounding call-center menu anyone who ever has to call about service on a cell phone, internet or the like has experienced. We see Delia (Julianna Margulies) in her Manhattan apartment, waiting on hold on the phone with Verizon, hoping to speak to someone about her lost internet connection. She recently disconnected the landline of her husband of 33 years, Jerry, who died just six months ago.

Overcome by frustration with the phone carrier and the grief of her husband’s passing, Delia writes an essay about Verizon and it gets published in the New York Times. Shortly afterward, she gets a fan letter from Peter (Peter Gallagher), a Jungian psychiatrist in California. They start emailing each other and then telephoning and she learns he is also single, he’s also Jewish and originally from New York and he wants to come visit her in person. Delia soon learns that she supposedly dated him years ago, but she does not remember him.  Sounds like your typical formulaic Lifetime or Hallmark made-for-TV romantic comedy, right? Not exactly.

When Peter comes to New York, he and Delia hit it off immediately. They fall in love, but things don’t go as planned. Delia is soon diagnosed with AML, the same type of leukemia that killed her sister. Delia has only been dating Peter for four months.

The story takes a sharp turn as Delia starts an experimental treatment for AML and Peter stays lovingly by her side. There’s a lot of sincerity and heartbreak in this sentimental tale, but much of the dialogue is wooden and strained. Something is definitely off as the story segues from a romantic comedy to a serious drama, and the hospitals scenes in which Delia grapples with the agony of chemotherapy come across as mawkish and contrived. Part of the problem is Susan Stroman’s uneven direction. Ms. Stroman is great at directing musical theater, but this is definitely not a musical.

Despite the jagged narrative, most of the cast member transcend the flimsy material.  Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife”) does a nice job portraying Delia. She has the right mix of vulnerability and emotional strength, and the audience definitely roots for her. She also has great chemistry with Peter Gallagher (“Grace and Frankie”) as Peter. Mr. Gallagher is always charming and charismatic as Peter.

Kate McCluggage and Peter Francis James portray multiple roles in the show. Ms. McCluggage plays Delia’s oncologist, a friend in Wales, and another friend in California, while Mr. Francis James plays Delia’s middle-aged gay neighbor and other characters.

So much happens in the 100-minute play with no intermission, but there is little substance or nuance in the story, and the play is, thus, unsatisfying. There is definitely a great story here to tell, but as is, the true subtext is never made clear in this production. Perhaps Left on Tenth was much better as a book than it is as a play.

Published October 29, 2024
Reviewed at October 26, 2024 press performance

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: Julianna Margulies & Kate MacCluggage. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: (left to right) Peter Francis James, Peter Gallagher, Julianna Margulies & Kate MacCluggage. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: Julianna Margulies & Peter Francis James. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: Julianna Margulies. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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MADCAP ‘TWENTIETH CENTURY’: (left to right) Peter Gallagher, Michael McGrath, Kristin Chenoweth, Mark Linn-Baker, Andy Karl. Photo: Joan Marcus

ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Book and Lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green
Music by Cy Coleman
Based on plays by Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur & Bruce Millholland
Directed by Scott Ellis
Choreography by Warren Carlyle
Through July 5, 2015
American Airlines Theater
227 West 42nd Street
(212-719-1300),www.roundabouttheatre.org 

By David NouNou

The thing I remember enjoying most from the original 1978 production was the ultra-deluxe, magnificent Art Deco set by Robin Wagner. Not being the best of musicals in the form of book or score, On the Twentieth Century is getting its first revival in 37 years and what a grand one it is. Under Scott Ellis’ magnificent direction, he has infused so much life into this otherwise throwaway musical that it is one of the must-see musicals of this year. Granted, thus far the musical season has been a bust, so this is the best revival in many years. I will go further and state that since it has never been revived, for most audiences it would qualify for best musical of the year.

Most of us know this screwball comedy as Twentieth Century, in the form of the 1934 movie with John Barrymore and Carole Lombard at their best. The Roundabout did a fun revival of that in 2004 with Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche. Traveling on this particular 20^th Century Ltd from Chicago to NYC, we have to transport ourselves to 1932, when travel had style and elegance and enjoying the pleasure of riding with some of the zaniest characters we’ll have the good fortune with which to travel.

There is Oscar Jaffe, the down-on-his-luck producer (Peter Gallagher), who needs to sign Lily Garland (the fabulous Kristin Chenoweth) who was once his discovery and now a big movie star. He needs her desperately to be able to get back on his feet again. Both unrelenting ego maniacs who derive pleasure in the art of haute ham hijinks, Lily is traveling with himbo/boyfriend/leading man, the narcissistic Bruce Granit (Andy Karl), and Oscar is joined by his two gofers Owen O’Malley (Michael McGrath) his PR man, and Oliver Webb (Mark Linn-Baker), his lawyer. In this loopy mix is Letitia Peabody Primrose (Mary Louise Wilson), the nutty financier who is going to bankroll Oscar’s next show to lure Lily back to Broadway. Also on this ride, we are tended to by four porters: Rick Faugno, Richard Riaz Yoder, Phillip Attmore, and Drew King, all of whom make the ride that much smoother and a pleasure all the way till our final destination.

What makes this journey such a pleasure is that every facet of the production is done with elegance and taste, from the magnificent set by David Rockwell, to the delectable confectionery costumes by William Ivey Long and brilliant lighting by Donald Holder; this is a first-class production with no expense spared.

We also have an exquisite cast. Starting with Ms. Chenoweth, she has never been better. She has elevated Lily Garland to the grandness of Carole Lombard and is certainly a frontrunner for the Tony. Peter Gallagher is having the ham of his life, over the top and a constant delight. Although he got a Tony nomination last year for his role in the short-lived musical Rocky, this is the role that will finally get him the recognition he rightfully deserves. Just as Kevin Kline won his first Tony for this role, Mr. Karl is just as deserving for the featured actor Tony. Mr. McGrath and Mr. Linn-Baker provide humor to their gofer roles, and Mary Louise Wilson is the grand old nutty lady for all seasons.

Kudos to the Roundabout for making this ride On the Twentieth Century a lavish, deluxe one that we will remember for a long time.

ALL ABOARD: (left to right) Andy Karl. Kristin Chenoweth & Peter Gallagher in ‘On the Twentieth Century.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

NONSTOP LAUGHS: Andy Karl & Kristin Chenoweth in ‘On the Twentieth Century.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

SCREWBALL INSANITY: Kristin Chenoweth & Peter Gallagher. Photo: Joan Marcus

ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES OF HER CAREER: Kristin Chenoweth in an absurdly funny number in ‘On the Twentieth Century.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

MON DIEU: Kristin Chenoweth in a preposterous, amusing Parisian production number in ‘On the Twentieth Century.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 18, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on March 17, 2015

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