When the playwright and director, Moss Hart, published his autobiography, "Act One," in 1959 it was a sensation, filled with vivid recollections of colorful characters, especially Hart's first great collaborator, the brilliant George S. Kaufman.
The book gave a fascinating insider's view of how a show really gets to the stage. Many people feel it has never been bettered. "Act One" was more than just a Broadway tale, though. It was a bestseller for almost a year, topping the New York Times list for 41 weeks. Why would this story of the playwright and director's early years be so wildly and widely popular?
We think it's because "Act One" is not just the ultimate valentine to the theater. It is also a Dickensian story of a young immigrant and his family, struggling to escape poverty in the early 20th century. From tenements to glamorous townhouses, from Buffalo stages to Catskills summer camps, and finally to the Broadway of his dreams, Hart's masterful telling captures the hope, misery and comedy of the climb, but also the glee of making it - because he did! A classic New York story.
Now, almost 75 years after Moss Hart's first Broadway success, James Lapine (who knows a thing or two about collaboration from his many shows written with Stephen Sondheim) brings ACT ONE to the stage. He has written and directs this world premiere production at the Beaumont. Tony Shalhoub, playing both George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart as an adult, is familiar to LCT audiences as the father in Golden Boy for which he was nominated for a Tony Award last season. Santino Fontana (the Tony-nominated prince in Broadway's Cinderella) portrays Mr. Hart as a young man. Andrea Martin (Tony winner for her spectacular turn as Berthe in Pippin, and also for LCT's My Favorite Year) plays Aunt Kate, a pivotal figure in Hart's early life.
Moss Hart's autobiography 'Act One' was big news in 1959. But are people interested in a man whose fame on Broadway happened well over a half-century ago? If they're not, it's hard to see what they'll find to savor - other than a delightful performance by Tony Shalhoub - in James Lapine's stage adaptation of the book, which opened Thursday night at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.
To paraphrase Moss Hart, it's a brave writer who would contrive this show: Japes Lapine's adaptation of Act One, playwright-director Hart's best-selling 1959 autobiography that's become an object of inspiration/adoration for anyone seeking a career in front of-or behind-the footlights. (Ask any actor, playwright, director, or designer you know if they've read Act One. If they haven't, give them a copy.) And it's fitting that Lapine would be the one to transfer this ultimate showbiz story from page to the Lincoln Theater Center's Broadway stage. Like Hart, Lapine is both a playwright-he penned the libretti forFalsettos and Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park With George, Into the Woods, and Passion-and director, helming a variety of shows from those musicals to a revival of The Diary of Anne Frank.
2014 | Broadway |
Lincoln Center Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Play | James Lapine |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Play | Dan Moses Schreier |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Tony Shalhoub |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Tony Shalhoub |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Andrea Martin |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Act One |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical) | Beowulf Boritt |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Jane Greenwood |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Tony Shalhoub |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Play | James Lapine |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Lincoln Center Theater |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Andre Bishop |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Adam Siegel |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Hattie K. Jutagir |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Beowulf Boritt |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Dan Moses Schreier |
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