Broadway Blogs - Review Roundup: Exit the King and More...

Exit the King is a hilarious and poignant comedy about a megalomaniacal ruler, King Berenger (Geoffrey Rush) whose incompetence has left his country in near ruin. Despite the efforts of Queen Marguerite (Susan Sarandon) and the other members of the court to convince the King he has only 90 minutes left to live, he refuses to relinquish any control.

David Rooney, Variety: "'Nothing's abnormal when abnormal has become the new normal,' declares Geoffrey Rush, a short distance into his astonishing performance as the dying monarch in "Exit the King." It's that state of pervasive uncertainty, in a world thrown into chaos as an empire crumbles, that rescues Eugene Ionesco's 1962 absurdist tragedy from the dusty vaults and infuses it with unexpected currency. But the play's relevance is secondary to the virtuoso work of its lead actor, who unleashes a dazzling arsenal of mime, clowning and physical techniques to swerve in an instant between comedy and pathos, keeping the audience riveted to him through every hairpin turn."

Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "Geoffrey Rush, making his Broadway debut, manages a mesmerizing high-wire act of balancing outrageous comedy and overwhelming tragedy in a fascinating revival of Eugene Ionesco's absurdist 'Exit the King.'"

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "For some, Exit the King will offer a welcome respite from real-life woes; others may find its tale topical, even cautionary. Regardless, Ionesco's account of a ruler who squanders his time is well worth yours."

Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal: "Ionesco called "Exit the King" "an attempt at an apprenticeship in dying," a description that, though perfectly accurate as far as it goes, fails to convey the macabre gusto of this now-ludicrous, now-terrifying parable of dissolution and resignation. Mr. Rush, however, gets the point right in the heart: The decayed flamboyance of his performance as the dying king is the stuff Tonys are made of. Neil Armfield's slapstick-tinged staging is full of bold slashes of color, and the supporting ensemble, led by the increasingly incomparable Lauren Ambrose, leaves little to be desired."

Ben Brantley, New York Times: "Mr. Rush is not only more entertaining than the usual never-say-die bogeyman but also more frightening. That's not because you're worried that the 400-year-old Berenger might come after you in your dreams, Freddy Krueger style; it's because you know that the seedy, power-addled egomaniac onstage - who's working overtime to dodge his own mortality - is, quite simply, you."

Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly: "The cast is uniformly strong, but this is Rush's show. He commands the stage from the opening to his final spotlighted death throes, toggling easily between tragedy and comedy, not to mention between high comedy and low. At one point, he collapses with his back bent over a stool, precariously close to toppling onto his head, and then struggles to roll his royal scepter down his legs to his feet so that its weight will tip him upright again. It's a small bit of mime, wonderfully executed - not only does it grab your attention, it also remains absolutely true to the character of this wobbly, impossibly vain monarch. Of such small moments are great performances are made. "

Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: "Guiding us through denial, resignation and the childish senility that precedes the ultimate oblivion, Rush is never less than virtuosic without lapsing into showboating. In the first act, for instance, he rolls a craggy Lear, a cocky man-child and a capricious master of the universe into one increasingly decrepit package."

Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: This revival comes to Broadway via a production done in Melbourne, Australia, and directed by Neil Armfield, who demonstrates skill and originality in orchestrating this human circus. But there are issues. The adaptation by Armfield and Rush is a lot like the trains adorning the royal robes (by Dale Ferguson, who also did the tapestry-filled set). It swirls playfully and lickety-split in the first half, but it drags repeatedly and gets tangled after intermission. Even so, this unusual, seldom-seen play, in its first Broadway revival since 1968, is worthy of an audience."

Linda Winer, NY Newsday: "And later, when the king realizes, "One can't live badly - it's a contradiction in terms," the play feels not just absurd, but absurdly wise.'

Though probably best known to theatre folk as author of the long-running Broadway comedy, Luv, Murray Schisgal first hit it big with the Off-Broadway double bill of one-acts, The Typists and The Tiger, and the short play form continues to be a steady part of the 81-year-old humorist's repertoire.

The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene features three of his one-act selections in a charming evening of music and comedy titled Shpiel! Shpiel! Shpiel!  As is the company's tradition, the plays are performed in Yiddish (translations by Moishe Rosenfeld) with English and Russian supertitles flashed above the stage, giving the nostalgic feel of Second Avenue Yiddish Theatre to material written long after its heyday.

The company's Associate Artistic Director, Motl Didner, directs the opener, The Pushcart Peddlers, which does take place at a time when Yiddish was the dominant language of Lower East Side theatre.  Greenhorn banana peddler Shimmel Shitzman (Michael L. Harris) is not having an easy go of it selling his produce so a more experienced hawker, who calls himself Cornelius J. Hollingsworth (Stuart Marshall) offers to sell him a new American-sounding name; a surefire way to success.  It's all a con, of course, as is his offer to sell the lad his own business but when a blind flower girl named Maggie (Dani Marcus) enters the picture and shares her dream of being a musical comedy star, Shimmel tries to make her believe he's a producer.  But Maggie didn't get off Ellis Island yesterday and as the amusing piece progresses it's not easy to tell who's conning who.  The three actors play their broad-stroked characters with swift vaudevillian flair.

Broadway director Gene Saks helms the brand new, The Man Who Couldn't Stop Crying, about a very successful businessman (I.W. "Itzy" Firestone) who not only cries at weddings but also at parades, Jerry Lewis movies and just about anything else.  His wife (Suzanne Toren) tries to get to the bottom of his emotional outbursts but despite a game effort by the actors, the play rarely offers laughs and barely offers plot or theme.

Finishing strong, 74 Georgia Avenue, directed by veteran character actor Bob Dishy, offers the most interesting and well-acted third of the evening.  Set in the Brooklyn apartment of Joseph (Tony Perry), a black man who lives with his bedridden, long ailing wife, it takes place the evening he receives a visit from Marty (Harry Peerce), a Jewish man who grew up there.  This one is performed in English, though it switches to Yiddish when the characters actually speak the language.  While it's not clear why Joseph lets Marty inside, the two men start bonding when it's realized they both knew the same long-gone members of the local synagogue where the Jew attended services and the black man's father was the janitor.  "Those old Jews," as Joseph calls them, are a shared spiritual heritage for the two men who otherwise have little in common.  The unusual way in which Joseph shares a part of their mutual past may seem a bit contrived, but it is very touchingly played by Perry.

Between plays Lisa Fishman heartily sings a collection of songs from the Yiddish Theatre, including Sam Lowenstein and Joseph Rumshinsky's subway tribute, "Vatch Your Step," and Joseph Lateiner, Perlmutter and Wohl's "Amerika!"  In a more contemporary vein, Rosenfeld provides a translation for Bob Theile and George David Weiss' "What A Wonderful World."

Photos by Michael Priest:  Top:  Dani Marcus, Michael L. Harris and (Stuart Marshall; Bottom:  Tony Perry and Harry Peerce