Few have captured the magic of the theater better than Moss Hart, a poor kid from the Bronx who became a lion of Broadway. Now James Lapine reinvents Hart's memoir for the stage, creating a world as vivid and transformative as the stage itself. The life of Broadway playwright, director and lyricist Moss Hart came full circle as the new Broadway play Act One, adapted and directed by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner James Lapine, began previews March 20 at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater. Diffuse with many characters, Lapine's dramatization often is cumbersome with exposition and not always true to the autobiography's events, characters and tone. That is, if they're still awake. New streaming dates for Carousel and The Nance will be announced at a later time.
Act One: Theater review by David Cote. Read Full Review, "......if you're not likely to learn a great deal from this exceedingly safe adaptation...you're also guaranteed an evening that's as genial and likable as it is averse to insight or innovation � the story seldom screams for the splashy treatment it's received here � Lapine's writing leaves you little chance to breathe, and his staging makes dizzying use of Beowulf Boritt's constantly moving, turntable-mounted unit set � That Kaufman is constructed and played (by Shalhoub) very cartoonishly � without much deeper shading, enormous chunks of time pass with either few or no words being spoken � Fontana, who's been good for years and just keeps getting better, is delightful as the most major Moss � It's difficult not to wish that Lapine had subjected the script to the same rigorous fat-cutting that his version of Kaufman insists upon � but if a story must be this robotically familiar, you could do worse than to have too much of Hart's good thing." Season 40 Episode 7. Season 40 Episode 7 | 2h 19m 38s And the invaluable Andrea Martin is underused despite handling three (small) roles � All this multitasking reflects the show's busy fussiness and lack of focus � But the worst part is that Lapine misses out on the book's heart � If you think watching paint dry is boring, try watching two men edit a long-forgotten play." As a producer (Bob Stillman) astutely remarks of Lifetime, ''It's a tiring play for the audience to sit through.'' Act One, the play, is too mild for the former and too credulous for me. Read Full Review, "......there's a fundamental problem in bringing "Act One" to the stage: The episodic story isn't structured as a drama. James Lapine's Act One, the 2014 stage production based on the memoir of Broadway playwright, director, and lyricist Moss Hart, launches Lincoln Center for … The cast also features Bob Ari, Bill Army, Will Brill, Laurel Casillo, Tony winner Chuck Cooper, Steven Kaplan, Will LeBow, Mimi Lieber, Charlotte Maier, Noah Marlowe, Greg McFadden, Deborah Offner, Lance Roberts, Matthew Saldivar, Matthew Schechter, Jonathan Spivey, Wendy Rich Stetson, Bob Stillman, and Amy Warren.
THE BOTTOM LINE Lincoln Center Theater and James Lapine do right by a sacred Broadway text. You can't fault the likable cast � But splitting the part creates unnecessary distractions � [Shaloub's] highly amusing as the kooky, nitpicking Kaufman, but this doesn't take us far. Lincoln Center 150 West 65th Street New York .
There's tension but little suspense � on stage this roller coaster journey, unable to induce butterflies of excitement, seems unduly repetitive. Chronicles the playwright/director's impoverished childhood and his determined struggle to escape poverty and forge a career in the theater which led to his collaboration with George S. Kaufman and their first great success, Once In A Lifetime. Live from Lincoln Center: Act One is featured in the 2015 PBS Arts Fall Festival. That concert production, featuring Tony winner Kelli O'Hara, was postponed; the June 12 stream of Douglas Carter Beane's dark comedy The Nance, starring Tony winners Nathan Lane and Cady Huffman, was also postponed. “Act One” at Lincoln Center stars Tony Shalhoub and Santino Fontana and Matthew Schechter as the theater artisan Moss Hart, from his Bronx childhood to Broadway glory. Read the Playbill.com story. Lincoln Center
... Live From Lincoln Center. At close to three hours, it's also bloated for no good reason � Fontana (the voice of Hans in Disney's Frozen), as always, has an appealing stage presence, but his characterization is entirely generic � While the multitasking Shalhoub is given little to do as the older Moss and his father, he mines welcome humor out of his portrayal of the fastidious, soft-spoken George � The closest Lapine comes to finding some heart in the material is in the gradual bonding of these two..."
The Tony-nominated play stars three Tony winners: Santino Fontana (Tootsie), Tony Shalhoub (The Band's Visit), and Andrea Martin (Pippin, My Favorite Year). Indeed."
Thru - Jun 15, 2014
Directed by Matthew Diamond. Plus: PS Classics will release never-before-heard tracks on. ... Act One. Read Full Review, "......Lapine's stage adaptation is appropriately thick with the kind of sentiment that warms the heart � The episodic nature of the play works better as a love letter than as a drama, but Lapine's direction is a visual treat played with rich humor and affection by a terrific cast � the story really picks up in the second half � Shaloub is hilariously exacting as the fastidious Kaufman..." Problems Playing Video?
Chronicles the playwright/director's impoverished childhood and his determined struggle to escape poverty and forge a career in the theater which led to his collaboration with George S. Kaufman and their first great success, Once In A Lifetime. Read Full Review, "...Nearly every element of this play promises sparkling entertainment � but somehow Act One � doesn't even begin to deliver on that promise until, ironically, Act II � The scenes between Hart and Kaufman as they try to hammer out the script offer a liveliness and a lightness that are the most rewarding parts of the play. Before you submit an error, please consult our Troubleshooting Guide. Autobiographical peaks and valleys that read with such charm and intensity in Hart's words are translated here into almost three hours of busy, flatline narrative � Lapine seldom captures the urgency in the storytelling here. Read Full Review, "......a thrillingly well-staged play that runs for two hours and 40 minutes but feels much shorter. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. The book hasn't been distilled into a workable dramatic form � the story whirls about in a rapid succession of scenes that could desperately use another round of editing � But there are rewards to the production � All three [Moss actors] are terrific, but Shalhoub... is outstanding.
Read Full Review, "...The new Moss Hart bioplay, Act One, � is affectionate, handsome and overstuffed � A narrator is a typically creaky device and this show uses two � The superior first half packs a lot of heart � The play's long-winded second act sags � The odd-couple dynamic between the writers is fun, but watching scribes in action isn't exactly dynamic � Even though Act One � could use pruning, there's something missing: It never reveals what made Hart special."
Not only is "Act One" light on its theatrical feet, but it has the open-hearted impact of a melodrama one that has the advantage of being true.
The Cold War is at its peak and the opponents are hostile. Act One.
Read Full Review, "... � one must report that this play about the theater has a dazzling theatrical set but a dispiriting lack of drama. His budding relationship with the veteran Kaufman, which flourishes in the second act, is the most beguiling part of this problematic play obsessed with the fixing of a troubled play. Read Full Review. Virtually every actor smoothly doubles and triple in their roles in Lapine's production � but somehow never gets to anywhere satisfying."
Few have captured the magic of the theater better than Moss Hart, a poor kid from the Bronx who became a lion of Broadway. Now James Lapine reinvents Hart's memoir for the stage, creating a world as vivid and transformative as the stage itself. The life of Broadway playwright, director and lyricist Moss Hart came full circle as the new Broadway play Act One, adapted and directed by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner James Lapine, began previews March 20 at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater. Diffuse with many characters, Lapine's dramatization often is cumbersome with exposition and not always true to the autobiography's events, characters and tone. That is, if they're still awake. New streaming dates for Carousel and The Nance will be announced at a later time.
Act One: Theater review by David Cote. Read Full Review, "......if you're not likely to learn a great deal from this exceedingly safe adaptation...you're also guaranteed an evening that's as genial and likable as it is averse to insight or innovation � the story seldom screams for the splashy treatment it's received here � Lapine's writing leaves you little chance to breathe, and his staging makes dizzying use of Beowulf Boritt's constantly moving, turntable-mounted unit set � That Kaufman is constructed and played (by Shalhoub) very cartoonishly � without much deeper shading, enormous chunks of time pass with either few or no words being spoken � Fontana, who's been good for years and just keeps getting better, is delightful as the most major Moss � It's difficult not to wish that Lapine had subjected the script to the same rigorous fat-cutting that his version of Kaufman insists upon � but if a story must be this robotically familiar, you could do worse than to have too much of Hart's good thing." Season 40 Episode 7. Season 40 Episode 7 | 2h 19m 38s And the invaluable Andrea Martin is underused despite handling three (small) roles � All this multitasking reflects the show's busy fussiness and lack of focus � But the worst part is that Lapine misses out on the book's heart � If you think watching paint dry is boring, try watching two men edit a long-forgotten play." As a producer (Bob Stillman) astutely remarks of Lifetime, ''It's a tiring play for the audience to sit through.'' Act One, the play, is too mild for the former and too credulous for me. Read Full Review, "......there's a fundamental problem in bringing "Act One" to the stage: The episodic story isn't structured as a drama. James Lapine's Act One, the 2014 stage production based on the memoir of Broadway playwright, director, and lyricist Moss Hart, launches Lincoln Center for … The cast also features Bob Ari, Bill Army, Will Brill, Laurel Casillo, Tony winner Chuck Cooper, Steven Kaplan, Will LeBow, Mimi Lieber, Charlotte Maier, Noah Marlowe, Greg McFadden, Deborah Offner, Lance Roberts, Matthew Saldivar, Matthew Schechter, Jonathan Spivey, Wendy Rich Stetson, Bob Stillman, and Amy Warren.
THE BOTTOM LINE Lincoln Center Theater and James Lapine do right by a sacred Broadway text. You can't fault the likable cast � But splitting the part creates unnecessary distractions � [Shaloub's] highly amusing as the kooky, nitpicking Kaufman, but this doesn't take us far. Lincoln Center 150 West 65th Street New York .
There's tension but little suspense � on stage this roller coaster journey, unable to induce butterflies of excitement, seems unduly repetitive. Chronicles the playwright/director's impoverished childhood and his determined struggle to escape poverty and forge a career in the theater which led to his collaboration with George S. Kaufman and their first great success, Once In A Lifetime. Live from Lincoln Center: Act One is featured in the 2015 PBS Arts Fall Festival. That concert production, featuring Tony winner Kelli O'Hara, was postponed; the June 12 stream of Douglas Carter Beane's dark comedy The Nance, starring Tony winners Nathan Lane and Cady Huffman, was also postponed. “Act One” at Lincoln Center stars Tony Shalhoub and Santino Fontana and Matthew Schechter as the theater artisan Moss Hart, from his Bronx childhood to Broadway glory. Read the Playbill.com story. Lincoln Center
... Live From Lincoln Center. At close to three hours, it's also bloated for no good reason � Fontana (the voice of Hans in Disney's Frozen), as always, has an appealing stage presence, but his characterization is entirely generic � While the multitasking Shalhoub is given little to do as the older Moss and his father, he mines welcome humor out of his portrayal of the fastidious, soft-spoken George � The closest Lapine comes to finding some heart in the material is in the gradual bonding of these two..."
The Tony-nominated play stars three Tony winners: Santino Fontana (Tootsie), Tony Shalhoub (The Band's Visit), and Andrea Martin (Pippin, My Favorite Year). Indeed."
Thru - Jun 15, 2014
Directed by Matthew Diamond. Plus: PS Classics will release never-before-heard tracks on. ... Act One. Read Full Review, "......Lapine's stage adaptation is appropriately thick with the kind of sentiment that warms the heart � The episodic nature of the play works better as a love letter than as a drama, but Lapine's direction is a visual treat played with rich humor and affection by a terrific cast � the story really picks up in the second half � Shaloub is hilariously exacting as the fastidious Kaufman..." Problems Playing Video?
Chronicles the playwright/director's impoverished childhood and his determined struggle to escape poverty and forge a career in the theater which led to his collaboration with George S. Kaufman and their first great success, Once In A Lifetime. Read Full Review, "...Nearly every element of this play promises sparkling entertainment � but somehow Act One � doesn't even begin to deliver on that promise until, ironically, Act II � The scenes between Hart and Kaufman as they try to hammer out the script offer a liveliness and a lightness that are the most rewarding parts of the play. Before you submit an error, please consult our Troubleshooting Guide. Autobiographical peaks and valleys that read with such charm and intensity in Hart's words are translated here into almost three hours of busy, flatline narrative � Lapine seldom captures the urgency in the storytelling here. Read Full Review, "......a thrillingly well-staged play that runs for two hours and 40 minutes but feels much shorter. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. The book hasn't been distilled into a workable dramatic form � the story whirls about in a rapid succession of scenes that could desperately use another round of editing � But there are rewards to the production � All three [Moss actors] are terrific, but Shalhoub... is outstanding.
Read Full Review, "...The new Moss Hart bioplay, Act One, � is affectionate, handsome and overstuffed � A narrator is a typically creaky device and this show uses two � The superior first half packs a lot of heart � The play's long-winded second act sags � The odd-couple dynamic between the writers is fun, but watching scribes in action isn't exactly dynamic � Even though Act One � could use pruning, there's something missing: It never reveals what made Hart special."
Not only is "Act One" light on its theatrical feet, but it has the open-hearted impact of a melodrama one that has the advantage of being true.
The Cold War is at its peak and the opponents are hostile. Act One.
Read Full Review, "... � one must report that this play about the theater has a dazzling theatrical set but a dispiriting lack of drama. His budding relationship with the veteran Kaufman, which flourishes in the second act, is the most beguiling part of this problematic play obsessed with the fixing of a troubled play. Read Full Review. Virtually every actor smoothly doubles and triple in their roles in Lapine's production � but somehow never gets to anywhere satisfying."
Fans, on the other hand, may want to throw their well-thumbed copies at James Lapine, who adapted and directed this show.
James Lapine's tribute to a life in the theater, starring Tony Shalhoub and Andrea Martin. Read Full Review, "......Lapine's adaptation handily wrangles this Broadway Odyssey into two fluid acts that maintain the original text's humor and hearty sentimentality � Fontana beautifully captures the portrait of a dreamy, energetic young man � Act two of Act One, however, may not be for the theatrical faint of heart. Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley's daily series benefits The Actors Fund. The second half of the play focuses exclusively on Kaufman and Hart's process of writing �and rewriting �.and rewriting � Unfortunately for us, this means a heaping spoonful of tedium that we must endure until we are finally rewarded with the fairy-tale ending we've been waiting to see." The archival broadcasts are available Fridays on Lincoln Center’s online arts portal #LincolnCenterAtHome and on Lincoln Center’s Youtube and Facebook pages. James Lapine's Act One, the 2014 stage production based on the memoir of Broadway playwright, director, and lyricist Moss Hart, launches Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' new Broadway Fridays series, featuring free digital streams of past Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts, June 19 at 8 PM. But it's a love letter written in disappearing ink." We can remove the first video in the list to add this one. Part of what makes "Act One" so potent is that Mr. Lapine disdains all irony in describing Mr. Hart's rise to fame � None of this would matter were it not for the unerring skill with which Mr. Lapine has condensed and compressed Mr. Hart's 444-page book, staying faithful to its spirit while simultaneously solving the daunting problem of turning a memoir into a play � Andrea Martin making an especially bold impression � Mr. Fontana, who sticks to the single role of the young Moss Hart, is at once earnest and appealing, while Mr. Shalhoub � serves the play, not himself � Is it sentimental?
Few have captured the magic of the theater better than Moss Hart, a poor kid from the Bronx who became a lion of Broadway. Now James Lapine reinvents Hart's memoir for the stage, creating a world as vivid and transformative as the stage itself. The life of Broadway playwright, director and lyricist Moss Hart came full circle as the new Broadway play Act One, adapted and directed by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner James Lapine, began previews March 20 at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater. Diffuse with many characters, Lapine's dramatization often is cumbersome with exposition and not always true to the autobiography's events, characters and tone. That is, if they're still awake. New streaming dates for Carousel and The Nance will be announced at a later time.
Act One: Theater review by David Cote. Read Full Review, "......if you're not likely to learn a great deal from this exceedingly safe adaptation...you're also guaranteed an evening that's as genial and likable as it is averse to insight or innovation � the story seldom screams for the splashy treatment it's received here � Lapine's writing leaves you little chance to breathe, and his staging makes dizzying use of Beowulf Boritt's constantly moving, turntable-mounted unit set � That Kaufman is constructed and played (by Shalhoub) very cartoonishly � without much deeper shading, enormous chunks of time pass with either few or no words being spoken � Fontana, who's been good for years and just keeps getting better, is delightful as the most major Moss � It's difficult not to wish that Lapine had subjected the script to the same rigorous fat-cutting that his version of Kaufman insists upon � but if a story must be this robotically familiar, you could do worse than to have too much of Hart's good thing." Season 40 Episode 7. Season 40 Episode 7 | 2h 19m 38s And the invaluable Andrea Martin is underused despite handling three (small) roles � All this multitasking reflects the show's busy fussiness and lack of focus � But the worst part is that Lapine misses out on the book's heart � If you think watching paint dry is boring, try watching two men edit a long-forgotten play." As a producer (Bob Stillman) astutely remarks of Lifetime, ''It's a tiring play for the audience to sit through.'' Act One, the play, is too mild for the former and too credulous for me. Read Full Review, "......there's a fundamental problem in bringing "Act One" to the stage: The episodic story isn't structured as a drama. James Lapine's Act One, the 2014 stage production based on the memoir of Broadway playwright, director, and lyricist Moss Hart, launches Lincoln Center for … The cast also features Bob Ari, Bill Army, Will Brill, Laurel Casillo, Tony winner Chuck Cooper, Steven Kaplan, Will LeBow, Mimi Lieber, Charlotte Maier, Noah Marlowe, Greg McFadden, Deborah Offner, Lance Roberts, Matthew Saldivar, Matthew Schechter, Jonathan Spivey, Wendy Rich Stetson, Bob Stillman, and Amy Warren.
THE BOTTOM LINE Lincoln Center Theater and James Lapine do right by a sacred Broadway text. You can't fault the likable cast � But splitting the part creates unnecessary distractions � [Shaloub's] highly amusing as the kooky, nitpicking Kaufman, but this doesn't take us far. Lincoln Center 150 West 65th Street New York .
There's tension but little suspense � on stage this roller coaster journey, unable to induce butterflies of excitement, seems unduly repetitive. Chronicles the playwright/director's impoverished childhood and his determined struggle to escape poverty and forge a career in the theater which led to his collaboration with George S. Kaufman and their first great success, Once In A Lifetime. Live from Lincoln Center: Act One is featured in the 2015 PBS Arts Fall Festival. That concert production, featuring Tony winner Kelli O'Hara, was postponed; the June 12 stream of Douglas Carter Beane's dark comedy The Nance, starring Tony winners Nathan Lane and Cady Huffman, was also postponed. “Act One” at Lincoln Center stars Tony Shalhoub and Santino Fontana and Matthew Schechter as the theater artisan Moss Hart, from his Bronx childhood to Broadway glory. Read the Playbill.com story. Lincoln Center
... Live From Lincoln Center. At close to three hours, it's also bloated for no good reason � Fontana (the voice of Hans in Disney's Frozen), as always, has an appealing stage presence, but his characterization is entirely generic � While the multitasking Shalhoub is given little to do as the older Moss and his father, he mines welcome humor out of his portrayal of the fastidious, soft-spoken George � The closest Lapine comes to finding some heart in the material is in the gradual bonding of these two..."
The Tony-nominated play stars three Tony winners: Santino Fontana (Tootsie), Tony Shalhoub (The Band's Visit), and Andrea Martin (Pippin, My Favorite Year). Indeed."
Thru - Jun 15, 2014
Directed by Matthew Diamond. Plus: PS Classics will release never-before-heard tracks on. ... Act One. Read Full Review, "......Lapine's stage adaptation is appropriately thick with the kind of sentiment that warms the heart � The episodic nature of the play works better as a love letter than as a drama, but Lapine's direction is a visual treat played with rich humor and affection by a terrific cast � the story really picks up in the second half � Shaloub is hilariously exacting as the fastidious Kaufman..." Problems Playing Video?
Chronicles the playwright/director's impoverished childhood and his determined struggle to escape poverty and forge a career in the theater which led to his collaboration with George S. Kaufman and their first great success, Once In A Lifetime. Read Full Review, "...Nearly every element of this play promises sparkling entertainment � but somehow Act One � doesn't even begin to deliver on that promise until, ironically, Act II � The scenes between Hart and Kaufman as they try to hammer out the script offer a liveliness and a lightness that are the most rewarding parts of the play. Before you submit an error, please consult our Troubleshooting Guide. Autobiographical peaks and valleys that read with such charm and intensity in Hart's words are translated here into almost three hours of busy, flatline narrative � Lapine seldom captures the urgency in the storytelling here. Read Full Review, "......a thrillingly well-staged play that runs for two hours and 40 minutes but feels much shorter. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. The book hasn't been distilled into a workable dramatic form � the story whirls about in a rapid succession of scenes that could desperately use another round of editing � But there are rewards to the production � All three [Moss actors] are terrific, but Shalhoub... is outstanding.
Read Full Review, "...The new Moss Hart bioplay, Act One, � is affectionate, handsome and overstuffed � A narrator is a typically creaky device and this show uses two � The superior first half packs a lot of heart � The play's long-winded second act sags � The odd-couple dynamic between the writers is fun, but watching scribes in action isn't exactly dynamic � Even though Act One � could use pruning, there's something missing: It never reveals what made Hart special."
Not only is "Act One" light on its theatrical feet, but it has the open-hearted impact of a melodrama one that has the advantage of being true.
The Cold War is at its peak and the opponents are hostile. Act One.
Read Full Review, "... � one must report that this play about the theater has a dazzling theatrical set but a dispiriting lack of drama. His budding relationship with the veteran Kaufman, which flourishes in the second act, is the most beguiling part of this problematic play obsessed with the fixing of a troubled play. Read Full Review. Virtually every actor smoothly doubles and triple in their roles in Lapine's production � but somehow never gets to anywhere satisfying."