Broadway Theater Review: It's Only a Play with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick

Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane. Photo by Joan Marcus

It’s Only a Play, but Nathan Lane Makes it Something More

By Lauren Yarger

If you wanted to write a play designed to give comic genius Nathan Lane a chance to shine in the spotlight, Terrence McNally’s It’s Only a Play, getting a revival on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre, would be it.

McNally’s original 1978 play predated Lane’s triumph in The Producers, (he is reunited with co-star Matthew Broderick here), but seems the perfect vehicle for him. Even a facial expression brings laughs.

Lane is James Wicker, an actor who turned down the lead role in the play of his best friend, Peter Austin (Broderick), ostensibly because the shooting schedule of his popular TV program conflicted. But really, he didn’t want to be in such a turkey. He shows up for Peter’s opening night party where everyone awaits the all-important review from Ben Brantley in the NY Times.

The real action isn’t at the party.  It’s upstairs in the townhouse of Producer Julia Budder (Megan Mullally) where partygoers go to escape. Especially nervous is the play’s star, Virginia Noyes (a lusciously lushy and vibrant Stockard Channing), who is hoping some stage work will reinvigorate a waning movie career.

Not nervous, and actually hoping for some bad reviews instead of the boring ones he always gets calling him a genius, is odd British Director Frank Finger (Ruper Grint, of  Ron Weasley, “Harry Potter” film fame). Finger also has an uncontrollable urge to steal small trinkets from the townhouse…

Joining the entourage are drama critic Ira Drew (F. Murray Abraham) and Gus P. Head (Micah Stock in an impressive Broadway debut), a new-to-town, wannabe actor who was hired to take coats and pour drinks, but who finds himself in the middle of the opening-night angst.

Humor abounds – it is a group of self-obsessed actors, after all – and the play elicits out-loud guffaws throughout, thanks much to recent updates by McNally to replace out-of-date names and references with modern ones. One prayer scene is particularly funny. And Brantley’s review is hysterical. If you’re not a theater aficionado, you might miss some of the meaning, but you’ll probably still laugh.

At the heart of it all is Lane, who doesn’t miss a beat and who attacks the role with anything but a lackluster energy that would have you believe it’s only a play. He’s totally enjoyable, and truth be told, I took very few notes since I was simply enjoying watching him work. Kudos to Director Jack O’Brien for letting that happen. It also was fun to see some of the actors trying to keep a straight face on stage.

Channing is a hoot and a treasure (as always). Young Stock as the stage-struck kid gives a performance that proves he is a star in the making himself.

Some notes I did take however (and maybe O’Brien could have grabbed the reins a bit more on these):

·         Didn’t like Mullally’s Southern accent and didn’t quite buy her as the ingenue producer

·         Costumes by Ann Roth were puzzling. Julia looks like she’s wearing a wedding dress, for example. Not sure what the heck the suit Finger wears is supposed to be.

·         Grint is a bit over the top as the eccentric director (though he may be just as much a box-office factor as the Lane/Broderick combination -- folks stopping outside the theater to gaze at a massive cast photo plastered on the stage door were stopping to say, “Hey, isn’t that the guy from Harry Potter?”)

·         Surprisingly, there isn’t any magic between Lane and Broderick, who seems oddly subdued.

It's Only a Play runs at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 West 45th St., NYC. http://itsonlyaplay.com.

Christians might also like to know: 
-- Language
-- Lord's name taken in vain
-- Sexually suggestive dialogue and actions