12/15/2015Theater: Mia Farrow's Broadway Return; LaBute's Cheap 'Shot' | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=478831e5-1767-42e1-bd25-cd64b9cd2527&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&1/5Theater: Mia Farrow's Broadway Return; LaBute'sCheap 'Shot'Theater: Mia Farrow's Broadway Return; LaBute's Cheap 'Shot'LOVE LETTERS ** 1/2 out of **** THE MONEY SHOT ** 1/2 out of ****LOVE LETTERS ** 1/2 out of **** BROOKS ATKINSON THEATREPlaywright A.R.</p><p> Gurney is a talent I've only recently been able to see performed and I like him more all the time.(A fine revival of his play The Wayside Motor Inn is currently offered by Signature through October 5.) Of hismany works, surely the produced most often is Love Letters.</p><p> It's disarmingly simple in conceit and execution.Two actors sit on stage and read the letters their characters have sent to each other.</p><p> The man and the womanare at first a boy and a girl, two kids of privilege thrown together for the girl's birthday party (presumably in partbecause their parents know each other), exchanging thank you notes for the gift given and then a thank younote for the thank you note.That turns into a decades-long exchange of intimacies and friendship, a mashup of Same Time Near and 84Charing Cross Road.</p><p> We see her evolve into a committed liberal and committed artist and sometimes justcommitted full stop.</p><p> We see him evolve into a decent, more conventional man with a somewhat mysteriousromance in the Far East followed by marriage, law and then a political career.Will their friendship ever slide into love? Will they both find happiness? Can they find happiness without eachother? Or is their intimacy possible precisely because it's played out in love letters?Gurney has crafted a solid, almost fail-safe entertainment.</p><p> The letters slide into conversations at certain, briefmoments to speed the story along in a reasonable manner.</p><p> Still, the central pleasure is watching their storiesping pong back and forth letter by funny, challenging, sweet, blunt letter.</p><p> And letters that get no response provethat silence can be awfully powerful too.Mia Farrow hasn't been on Broadway in a run since 1980 (setting aside a benefit performance of Who's AfraidOf Virginia Woolf).</p><p> She's up to the modest challenges here and delivers a florid, flighty butterfly of aperformance.</p><p> To me it seemed too melodramatic...until the play itself became a bit melodramatic towards theend and Farrow's choices proved more justified than I expected.</p><p> Nonetheless, the various pairings of actors thatpepper the show throughout its run are half the pleasure here.</p><p> Certainly Diana Rigg (opposite Stacy Keach) willoffer up a very different take on the part.Brian Dennehy of course is a rock, a solid counterpoint to Farrow's work that nicely underplays the ultimatetension between these two very different people united by their epistolary friendship.</p><p> Director Gregory Mosherhas guided them nicely and the result is a satisfying albeit modest evening of theater.</p><p> Still, there may be morehere than first meets the eye (or in this case, the ear).</p><p> I keep thinking about other combination of actors andwhat they might do with this work.</p><p> Maybe the best way to appreciate Love Letters is to see it again.THE MONEY SHOT ** 1/2 out of **** MCC THEATER12/15/2015Theater: Mia Farrow's Broadway Return; LaBute's Cheap 'Shot' | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=478831e5-1767-42e1-bd25-cd64b9cd2527&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&2/5How churlish to say you went to a comedy, you laughed pretty consistently and yet not rave about the show!And yet, that is the natural response to The Money Shot, a new play by Neil LaBute that takes easy if oftenamusing potshots at Hollywood and some very dumb actors.Typically, LaBute has a catchy premise to his plays, often presented with a twist when you realize what is reallygoing on.</p><p> Here, however, the premise is quite obvious though delayed as if it might shock us.</p><p> Two actors andtheir significant others are meeting to discuss a delicate issue.</p><p> Steve (Fred Weller) and Karen (ElizabethReaser) are the movie stars holding desperately on to their level of fame as younger versions of themselvessprout up seemingly everywhere.</p><p> Karen's true love is Bev (Callie Thorne), her smart and she knows itgirlfriend/lover/partner who is a top film editor.</p><p> Steve's wife Missy (Gia Crovatin) is a would-be actress houndedby her far more famous husband over her weight, but, you know, for her own good.The apparent elephant in the room is what exactly they've all come together to discuss: Steve and Karen arefilming a major movie and their director wants them to actually have sex during their big sex scene.</p><p> Whatspecifically are their partners comfortable with? Oddly, the play keeps coy about this simple issue for quite awhile, though we assume or somehow sense what is going on and are hardly traumatized by the idea.</p><p> Thetension of debating what is kosher for all four soon raises issues of trust and exactly how stable theserelationships truly are.</p><p> And along the way, you'll laugh pretty consistently.Steve and Bev hate each other at first sight.</p><p> And it doesn't help that Bev finds it impossible to hear him spoutnonsense (like claiming David Crosby was the son of Bing Crosby or wondering if Belgium is part of Europe)without correcting him.</p><p> At length.</p><p> Meanwhile, Missy is so hungry she shoves appetizers into her mouthwhenever Steve isn't looking And Karen unleashes some pointed barbs at Bev while acting the vain star withrelish a la Dianne Weist in Bullets Over Broadway.The Money Shot has no problems as such.</p><p> It's a simple premise with some good laughs elevated by a verystrong cast.</p><p> The scenic design by Derek McLane offers all sorts of opportunities for clever staging by directorTerry Kinney and the other elements follow suit nicely.</p><p> But Hollywood stars are low hanging fruit when it comesto cheap shots.</p><p> And these particular Hollywood stars are so dumb it beggars belief.</p><p> Bev is the sole person withthe slightest bit of intelligence and her isolation isn't played for all the laughs it might be.Similarly, Steve may be the only male actor in Hollywood who averts his eyes when two women kiss.</p><p> But thesuggestion of his right-wing leanings (he watches FOX News) hardly comes into play until an inevitable rantwhere Kevin unleashes his real opinions.</p><p> And of course since Missy seems the ditziest of all, you just knowshe'll make some wise observation or prove far more savvy at some key moment by the finale.Despite its mildly outlandish premise, The Money Shot feels awfully familiar.</p><p> Happily, LaBute attracted a goodcast that makes the most of his work here.</p><p> Crovatin has the least interesting role but does her game best.Thorne is always good and here plays frustration quite well, though it's almost impossible to understand whather character is doing with the tiresome Karen in the first place, undercutting any tension over what mightbecome of them.</p><p> Weller is amusingly indifferent to facts and makes Steve an actual character rather than thecaricature he might easily become with a lesser actor in place.</p><p> And Reaser should join rehearsals late on everyshow (as she had to do here).</p><p> Her work is loose and very fun indeed.</p><p> Karen actually is a caricature, but Reasermakes her a fun one.The show builds to a silly climax I enjoyed and an unsurprising twist most will see a mile away.</p><p> To be plain:there's no money shot in The Money Shot.</p><p> But so what? Sometimes an evening with nothing more thanpleasant foreplay can be quite satisfying.THEATER OF 2014Beautiful: The Carole King Musical ***
