Expect a ‘Royal’ good time

Manhattan Theatre Club revives a Kaufman-Ferber comedy about super troupers

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BROADWAY REVIEW

Inspired by the Barrymore acting clan during their 1920s heyday, "The Royal Family" is one of those old-fashioned yet ageless comedies sure to beguile audiences now and probably for centuries to come.

More than a mere show-biz spoof, this 1927 collaboration by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber illuminates the passion that artists feel for their craft and how its process can consume them.

This great old comedy is rarely staged because it demands especially expert players, which Manhattan Theatre Club fortunately has secured for its pleasurable revival now on view at the Friedman.

Anyone lucky enough to love what they do for a living can relate to the joyous agonies of the celebrated Cavendish family, whose three generations of egocentric thespians rage about their gloriously cluttered East 50s duplex.

Infirm yet indomitable matriarch Fanny (Rosemary Harris) insists she's going on tour with one of her vintage hits. Reigning marquee goddess Julie (Jan Maxwell) is tempted to retire into marriage with a prosaic tycoon. Rising star Gwen (Kelli Barrett) thrashes out her own quandaries of career versus love. Meanwhile, Fanny's old-school brother Herbert (John Glover) gamely attempts a comeback vehicle despite the interference of his none-too-talented wife Kitty (Ana Gasteyer).

Into their midst crashes Tony (Reg Rogers), a scandalous matinee idol blithely dashing home in the wake of a Hollywood dust-up.

If the three-act saga creaks a bit today, the family's extravagant banter is often brilliantly comical and their madly stage-struck passions prove surprisingly touching. Kaufman's teaming with "Giant" novelist Ferber (six plays, including "Dinner at Eight") dips into deeper emotions than his many works with others. Essentially a light, glamorous piece, "The Royal Family" possesses quite a poignant quality.

Enhanced by John Lee Beatty's perfectly grand setting, director Doug Hughes and 16 beautifully dressed actors serve the comedy very well indeed.

Once an airy Julie in a notable 1975 revival, Harris now etches a sassy, valiant Fanny. Never better, an ever-elegant Maxwell stops the show with stressed-out Julie's meltdown that reduces her to a gasping puddle on the carpet. Rogers drolly channels John Barrymore, Glover gallantly plays the hambone and while her performance tends to be outrageous, Gasteyer sure mines all the laughs out of envious Kitty.

It's very early in the Broadway season to predict the spring's Tony Award contenders, but this classy staging of "The Royal Family" sets a high bar for subsequent shows to beat.

"The Royal Family" continues through Nov. 29 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., New York. Call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.