is another man's pleasure. So it was regarding Elling the new, and late, Broadway show at the Barrymore Theatre. It opened last Sunday night; it closed this Sunday afternoon. Christopher Isherwood's review in the NY Times called the show “a puzzling fizzle,” and the two lead characters “overbearing and charmless.” Other reviews were kinder, but the consensus seems to be that this show, very small in its original London run, suffered from being in the 1,100 seat Barrymore.
I had read about it while it was still in previews; it piqued my interest because it starred Denis O'Hare, winner of a well-deserved Tony for his brilliant portrayal of Mason Marzac, the money manager who falls in love with baseball in Take Me Out. That Elling also starred Brendan Fraser, in his Broadway debut, was a plus; Jennifer Coolidge (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Legally Blonde) and Richard Easton (The Coast of Utopia, Henry IV) were also in the cast. It all sounded good to me, so when Ransom said he wanted to go, I got tickets.
We had a delightful time. It's not a great show and it takes a while to find its footing, but it has a lot to offer. Fraser well fits his role of the big-hearted, galumphing dope and Coolidge is a hoot in four roles, the best of which is a cigarette smoking, boozy, pregnant neighbor who falls for the odd Kjell Bjarne (Fraser). Easton, who I enjoyed in The Invention of Love, is here a bit stiff, but mostly pulls off the role of the blocked poet.
It's O'Hare though who once again shines like the searchlights that used to brighten Broadway and Hollywood premieres. He is simply marvelous and says as much with his body as he does with his mouth. Seeing him made our trip to New York absolutely worth it and I think it's a real shame that the producers of this little show didn't give it more time to find an audience. Certainly the folks we saw it with roared their approval.
As a special bonus, Denis O'Hare addressed the standing crowd at the curtain call, thanking us for coming and asking us to sing Happy Birthday to his co-star Brendan Fraser. It was an unorthodox but perfectly lovely way to end the afternoon; no pain at all, just pleasure.
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