Review - Phylicia Rashad & Marilyn Maye (Though Not Together)

While the casting of Phylicia Rashad as the manipulative, pill-addicted matriarch of Oklahoma's abundantly dysfunctionAl Weston family in Tracy Letts' epic comedy/drama, August: Osage County may seem an odd choice for those who only know the actress from her television roles as the elegant Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show and... uh... Clair Huxtable II on Cosby, she might be considered a natural for the part by New York playgoers who have seen her rip up the stage as the anguished and dominating Bernarda Alba or have observed her communicating silent volumes as a symbol of African heritage in Gem of the Ocean.

There is, of course, the biology-defying factor of casting a black woman as the mother of three white children, but while certainly a playgoer has the right to object to the color-blind casting as unrealistic, there's nothing in the play's content that didn't allow me to suspend disbelief and accept the production's parameters of reality.

This is my first visit to Letts' swiftly played (under Anna D. Shapiro's direction) three and a half hour Pulitzer winner since its Broadway opening and the production is in solid shape with a mixture of original cast members and well-known replacements. John Cullum, so masterful at these grizzled and literate characters gets us started "round a prickly pear" as poet Beverly Weston, the family patriarch whose disappearance brings his three daughters and their families together under one roof, where issues of betrayal, abandonment, infidelity, pedophilia, addictions, incest, suicide, family secrets and inheritance threaten to blow the roof off the place.

At the center of the play is the struggle for control of the household between Rashad's Violet (whose addictions to her assortment of cancer-treating medications have left her mentally unstable) and the wonderful Amy Morton as eldest daughter, Barbara. As played by the role's originator, Deanna Dunagan (who won a Tony for her efforts), Violet's abrasive behavior seared with a sometimes outlandish anger-on-her-sleeve intensity. Rashad, however, gently simmers. There is more a sense of deep hurt in her Violet; a quiet vulnerability and sadness that draws you in. This interpretation offers a change in the dynamic between the two characters, especially when Barbara's forceful actions meant to restore family order start to look like bullying. The play is less funny this way, but more involving.

Picking up some of the laugh slack is Elizabeth Ashley, who has been playing a broadly comical Aunt Mattie Fae since shortly after her Dividing The Estate engagement. Original cast members Sally Murphy and Mariann Mayberry (as the younger Weston sisters) and Kimberly Guerrero as the peacefully serene Cheyenne housekeeper, deliver strong character work.

Sadly, a June 28th closing date has just been announced for the Broadway production of August: Osage County. This sterling piece of drama shall be missed.

Photo of Phylicia Rashad by Robert J. Saferstein

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I fear I'm running out of superlatives with which to describe the sublimely sophisticated (see, I've used that one already) Marilyn Maye. Now playing her sixth brand spanking new Metropolitan Room engagement since ending a fifteen year hiatus from Gotham back in '07, I've already described the 81-year-old vocal miracle (another recycled quote) as "sweetly intoxicating" with "pipes a 25-year-old would envy," and praised her combination of "exacting, versatile tones" with "phrasing artistry and emotional insight that comes from decades of wisdom." I suppose I can dig up an old chestnut like how she makes any stage she performs on "the coolest spot in town," but since her newest gig is dedicated to the lyrics (and occasionally music) of Johnny Mercer, I suppose the most appropriate plaudit to hand Ms. Maye is that she's just too marvelous for words.

Also quite marvelous is her regular accompanying trio of music director Ted Firth on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass and Jim Eklof on drums. There's a heck of a lot of titles covered in this one so much of the show consists of medleys, such as the peppy jazz arrangement combining "My Shining Hour," "Day In Day Out," "Too Marvelous For Words," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," "Jeepers Creepers" and "Something's Gotta Give."

Her delicacy with dynamics floats a saloon standard like "One For My Baby" into sonnet-like poetry, but her money notes are firm and sure, as in the brassy tornado she makes of "Blues In The Night." Firth's solo on the latter is one of the many times throughout the evening he and the vocalist feed on each other's jazz stylings to whip the music into frenzied peaks.

Her "Skylark" lands on the ear like a soft rain, but she can bust out the fun with a combination of "I Wanna Be Around" and "Goody Goody," surrender to the optimistic joy of "Come Rain Or Come Shine" and just get a little silly with "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In A Hurry."

By the time she's wrapping things up with "Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home," you'll probably have a few fresh superlatives of your own with which to describe Marilyn Maye. Do me a favor and send some over to me. I'm sure I'll need them for her next engagement.

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