“The Little
Dog Laughed”-
And He Had Every Reason To!
“…And the dish ran away with
the spoon” completes the nursery rhyme couplet that Douglas Carter Beane uses for
the title of his hilarious farce about the entertainment business soon to open at
the Cort Theatre. And you would be absolutely crazy not to run like hell to get
tickets for what may be one of the funniest shows of this or any Broadway
season in recent memory.
Moving
from a successful run at Second Stage earlier this year, “The Little Dog Laughed” lampoons
talent agents, their would–be emerging stars, The Broadway system, the
Hollywood system, homosexuals, heterosexuals, bi-sexuals, and everybody in
between. They may not have ridiculed cloistered nuns, but I was laughing so
hard something may have slipped by me. Thematically, it seems to take aim at
anyone or any structure that tries to use their power to manipulate other
people. The nursery rhyme underscores the pointless, often ridiculous
machination And in the entertainment industry of Broadway/New York, that covers
a lot of territory. And so does Mr. Beane.
On
a pink/orange stage of sliding panels with a proscenium arch of gold party chairs
(brilliantly crafted by Allen Moyer), we meet our narrator/deus ex machina talent agent, Diane, brilliantly played by Julie
White. She regales us with the trials and tribulations of promoting a sexually confused,
emerging stud of a star, Mitchell, (Tom Everett Scott), who is a closeted gay man. Mitchell has just received an award and has celebrated by
announcing publicly his love for his agent and by privately getting drunk and
hiring a rent boy lover, Alex (Johnny Galecki). Alex has an ongoing
heterosexual relationship with Ellen (Ari Graynor) who has just been dumped by
her elderly “Sugar Daddy.” Most of the action takes place on or around a large
sliding double bed (which neatly appears and disappears into the panels), which
aptly symbolizes the goal of the various characters. The agent wants the star
to option a new play about a gay couple (but they’ll fix that in the rewrite).
The star can’t decide if he’s gay or straight (but he’ll figure that out given
enough time with the male prostitute). The male prostitute has a girl friend
but he may be in love with the star (which he’ll figure out if the star will
stay in New York and not go to Hollywood to make the agent’s movie). And the
girl friend who has just been dumped by her sugar daddy may or may not be
pregnant by the rent boy (a problem to be solved by Mitchell’s agent.
Scott Ellis directs this cross between a
modern comedy of manners and a Feydeau farce with energy, speed and the vigor
that emulates the high-speed world of modern American entertainment. But it’s
the company that carries off the split second timing, the comic reversals, and
the break neck pace. Somehow in all the shenanigans, one empathizes with each
of them - from Ms. White’s ballistically emphatic wheeler-dealer agent to Mr.
Scott’s charmingly confused actor, from Mr. Galecki’s “metro- sexual” rent boy
to Ms. Graynor’s “after hours” club girl. As in all good farce, they get what
they want and not what they deserve and happily they do. There are several
likely Tony nominations in this production so do not wait or …the plate will run away with the spoon.
Performance Schedule: Tuesday - Saturday @
8 p.m.
; Wednesday and Saturday @
2 p.m.
; Sunday @
3 p.m.
Tickets: Pricing: $26.25 - $96.25
Box Office: Tele-charge: (212) 239-6200; Outside NY: (800) 432-7250
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