BWW Reviews: Shaw Festival's LIGHT UP THE SKY: Aging Script Not So Bright

Aging Script Not So Bright

The Shaw Festival is known for dusting off old chestnuts and breathing new life into them. Unfortunately, its new production of Moss Hart's LIGHT UP THE SKY is a chestnut better left in the attic to continue gathering dust. Compared to his successful plays, like THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (with 739 Broadway performances) and YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (838 performances), LIGHT UP THE SKY is a second string comedy that seems stale and dated. It's initial run on Broadway was only a modest success, running 200 performances, and revivals have not fared much better.

Hart's 3 act comedy takes us to Boston's swanky Ritz Carlton Hotel in 1948 on the eve of a new play's out of town tryout. We meet the director, producer, playwright , leading lady and various family members along the line. It's story unfolds treating us to the behind the scenes look at the gritty life in the theatre world, but instead beats us over the head with dated jokes, theatrical stereotypes and a hotel full of Shriners. By today's standards, what once was funny in 1948, now seems like a bad sitcom script.

Director Blair Williams appears unsure as to whether the proceedings should be played as a screw ball comedy or melodrama. The decision to combine the first two acts into one actually slows down the evening and impedes the timing. Our leading lady Irene Livingston is played by Claire Jullien. Her histrionics and affected voice were modeled on Tallulah Bankhead, no doubt, but her caricature of a grande dame of the theatre grew tiresome by Act II. Steven Sutcliffe, as director Carleton Fitzgerald, is given little to work with besides a not very funny one line running joke-- "I could cry!" Sutcliffe and Jullien never fully develop into believable theatrical characters until they are joined by the production's producer, Sidney Black (Thom Marriott).

Marriott played his part less for out and out laughs, and more as a business man out to lose his shirt. His portayal of the money man was honest and it was refreshing to see someone act like a true human, pitted again these theatre neurotics. Regrettably the part of the playwright Peter Sloan ( Charlie Gallant), as written by Hart, is so serious that it interrupts the surrounding comedy. The intrinsic humor regarding his first play, an allegory, is at odds with his brooding nature, while his bits of hysteria seem like they were from an entirely different play altogether.

The secondary characters fared much better. Kelli Fox portrayed the producer's wife, Frances Black, with naïve ditziness. She shared some great scenes with the leading lady's mom, Stella, played by Laurie Paton. Ms. Paton delivered one liners with a deadpan delivery that hit the perfect note of cynicism and comedy. The Act III scene between Frances and Stella discussing the after effects of a theatrical flop was impeccably timed and acted. Unfortunately the true laughs didn't come until the the end of the last act, and by then it seemed too little, too late.

Graeme Somerville was perfect as the sage playwright Owen Turner, who happened to be in town on the opening night of the play. His wisdom on the trials and tribulations of a playwright were utterly believable and his attempt to mentor the young playwright on his opening night led me to believe that Moss Hart may have modeled Turner after himself. Kudos to Shawn Wright as the earnest Shriner William H. Gallegher, whose innocence and awe struck nature made for some great comedic moments.

Designer William Schmuck began with some extremely creative projections that melded with the stage pieces and appeared as if we were snooping through the windows of the hotel's exterior.

His unit setting was serviceable, but his design didn't much convey furnishings of the 1940's. His costume designs were evocative of the period, but color choices often were at odds with each other, especially in many of the pajamas worn in the final act.

Many of the drawing room comedies of the 1930's and 40's were written as an escape from the dismal life of the depression and World War II, but were often best served being presented in that era.Theatre goers could escape to watch glamorous people in posh surroundings dealing with elitist problems. Meanwhile OKLAHOMA, with it's brash optimism for a developing America, thrived during this era, and it's success is even mentioned during the Hart's play. Noel Coward had great success with this genre, but even he had some lesser successes, i.e, FALLEN ANGELS. Unfortunately today, in the case of LIGHT UP THE SKY, this old chestnut would be better off tossed into the roaster.

LIGHT UP THE SKY plays at the Shaw Festival in the Festival Theatre until October 11, 2015. Further information and tickets are available at SHAWFEST.COM or by calling 1-800-511-SHAW.

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