Home for the Holidays

After a Turkey birthday and a blur of bronchitis, it's so nice to be back on the aisle this month. I reviewed five shows in early December--and put together a hefty 2008 theater and film preview--so I'll add links to those as soon as they become available.

I loved the Irish Repertory Theatre's charming retelling of Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales--complete with interpolated Christmas carols. My first mainstage appearance came in a musical adaptation of this piece when I was 12--I played Dylan's "tough and tiny" cousin Glenda; my own father played Uncle Glyn. The Irish Rep's version is a perfect 70-minute shot of holiday cheer.

offoffonline review: A Child's Christmas in Wales

It was also fantastic to see David Henry Hwang's provocative new backstage docudrama (dramedy?) Yellow Face on its feet at the Public Theater. I caught a reading of the play last year and laughed until my stomach hurt. Thankfully, Hwang has managed to retain the unflagging humor; he's also filtered the material with even more poignancy, wit, and controversy.

Show Business Weekly review: Yellow Face

And the award for most promising pre-show that fell flat on its face goes to Charles Mee's ill-conceived new "musical" Queens Boulevard (the musical) (note the parentheses). This was my first outing at the well-appointed Signature Theatre, and the audience was greeted by a raucous wedding reception scene, complimentary Asian candies, and a wise-cracking DJ. Not to mention the eye-candy set and costumes ... Too bad the meandering story and tripped-out scenes didn't match the irresistibly charming opening gimmicks.

Show Business Weekly review: Queens Boulevard (the musical)

But the best thing I've seen this year might very well be the last thing I saw this year: Tracy Letts' so-good-it's-unbelievable new play August: Osage County. In the tradition of Edward Albee's acidic Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the ascerbic domestic dramas of Eugene O'Neill, Letts explores toxic topics within the shaky confines of an American family. Review to come in 2008 ... and keep your eyes on this one. I attended on a particularly star-studded evening: Julia Roberts, Paul Rudd, John Stamos, Bernadette Peters, Kevin Spacey, and Mike Nichols were gasping at the family horrors alongside everyone else. Could there be a film in the works?

Below: Family dinner party from hell in August: Osage County