Theater: St. James Theatre / 246 West 44th Street, New York, NY, 10036
Synopsis:
Kevin Kline returns to Broadway in Noël Coward's classic comedy.
Present Laughter follows Garry Essendine, a self-indulgent actor who receives a visit from a young admirer, initiating a parade of intruders and interruptions, including his ex-wife, his manager and an aspiring playwright.
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It’s high time we were reminded again of what a great physical comedian Kevin Kline is. Playing an aging matinee idol in the bouncy new revival of Noël Coward’s “Present Laughter,” Mr. Kline blissfully plies the witty athleticism and derring-do that won him two Tony Awards (“On the 20th Century,” “The Pirates of Penzance”) and an Oscar (“A Fish Called Wanda”) in his youth.
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I’ve just learned what it takes to create an absolutely splendid revival of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter: Step 1: Cast Kevin Kline; Step 2: Hire a director whose name sounds like a punch line Coward might have considered—Moritz von Stuelpnagel. But not any Moritz will do. Find the one who helmed the equally hilarious but tonally rather different demon-possessed–sock-puppet satire Hand to God. There are further details (inviting design, surrounding Kline with a smashing cast), but the simple act of handing America’s greatest exemplar of comic suavity a role he was born to play is half the battle.
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From Nathan in Sophie’s Choice to Otto in A Fish Called Wanda, Kevin Kline built his career portraying over-the-top hams. Now he’s playing a glistening, honey-baked version, the matinee idol Garry Essendine in Noël Coward’s venerable farce Present Laughter. It’s a role Coward, a playwright, composer, actor, and bon vivant, created for himself, based on himself, and Kline — whose movie career includes turns as both Cole Porter and Errol Flynn — takes to it like, well, a pig to slop.
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With all due respect to Noel Coward’s classic English comedies of the 1920s through 1940s, do they really merit being revived so regularly? Sure, they’re witty, classy and charming, but also insubstantial and tame by today’s standards, and not especially relevant anymore.
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Dressing gown enthusiasts can rejoice at the return of Garry Essendine in the latest Broadway revival of Present Laughter. Not that Garry ever stays offstage very long. Noël Coward’s creation, he made his debut in 1942, played by his author, and hasn’t strayed far from the boards ever since. Has he aged well? Yes and no, as demonstrated by Kevin Kline’s silky turn in the current production, a performance of stupefying charm that reveals some of the wrinkles and sag in the surrounding play.
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