Blithe Spirit

I didn't know for sure if I could upload these photographs, but apparently I can. These are scenes from the 2009 Broadway revival of "Blithe Spirit," starring Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett and Christine Ebersole.

I attended the play in early March, while it was still in previews (see previous posts.)

Blithe Spirit is a 1940 farce by Noel Coward. The "drawing room" comedy is about a remarried widower who accidentally summons the spirit of his first wife during a seance. The resulting chaos and tension between first wife and second wife is the basis for the laughs. Angela Lansbury portrayed the psychic, Madame Arcati, who engineers the ghostly deed. Lansbury brought an incredible and very literal, physical energy to this role. This particular performance was as much-anticipated as that of any actor I have ever seen in live theater. She received an ovation every time she appeared or exited a scene, no exceptions. She elicited guffaws from the audience as she danced and pranced and gyrated about the stage with delicious abandon transitioning into her pre-seance, psychic trance. Every word, every gesture was perfection -- equal parts of comedy and pathos.

Angela Lansbury has fascinated me since she first scared me as the brittle mother in "The World of Henry Orient."

This was Rupert Everett's Broadway debut and he was everything I'd hoped he be in the role of the urbane, put-upon Charles.

Jayne Atkinson played his second wife, the charmingly capable Ruth. I knew her name, but not her work. Then again, she looked so familiar, but I couldn't place the face. Finally, it came to me: Law and Order. The lady seated next to me, Sarah Roberts, who writes a wonderful blog about theater in New York, affirmed this.

(I suppose every New York-based stage or soap star gets a Law and Order star turn sooner or later.)

I had only one opportunity to see a theatrical event while I was in New York. I considered them all: Billy Elliott, Shrek the Musical, South Pacific, God of Carnage -- the whole panoply of theatrical experience presented itself that first week of March, 2009. However, I am very glad I chose Blithe Spirit. It's not that Angela Lansbury went on to claim a Tony for this role (she did) but rather that it was the perfect juxtaposition of everything I love: the Noel Coward piece, the amazing talents of Lansbury, Rupert Everett's Broadway debut and, oh my gosh, Christine Ebersole.

I forgot to mention Christine Ebersole as the ghostly first wife, Elvira.

I've been a Christine Ebersole fan for decades, since her days on the CBS sitcom, "The Cavanaughs," and on Saturday Night Live. But her singing voice is what delights and inspires awe. When she sang the "Queen of the Night" aria in the movie, "Amadeus," it became instantly my favorite piece of music. Although "Blithe Spirit" is a play, not a musical, the audience was treated to recordings of Ebersole singing Noel Coward songs between acts.

Too quickly, it was over. The play ended to a tremendous ovation from an obviously partisan (for Lansbury) audience. And, it was one of my best memories of 2009.