‘Grand Manner’ recalls a grand star

Kate Burton portrays Kit Cornell in new A.R. Gurney charmer about bygone theater days

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

In 1948, A.R. Gurney journeyed from his New Hampshire boarding school to New York, where he saw the legendary stage actress Katharine Cornell star in "Antony and Cleopatra." Afterwards, the awed schoolboy went backstage and had a fleeting chat with the gracious "Kit" Cornell.

Some 60 years later and with many fine plays like "The Dining Room" and "The Cocktail Hour" to his distinguished credit, Gurney writes imaginatively and sweetly about his brief encounter with Cornell in his latest work, "The Grand Manner."

Premiering Sunday at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, the new play is a gentle charm piece recalling a bygone theater world. If it's scarcely in a league with "Trelawny of the ‘Wells'" as dramatic literature, "The Grand Manner" is an affectionate study in nostalgia paying homage to mostly-forgotten stars like Cornell, Jane Cowl and the Lunts, who lived obsessively (and almost exclusively) for their stage work.

Gurney begins simply with a scene depicting his three-minute exchange with Cornell (Kate Burton), still robed as Cleopatra. Then his younger self, Pete (Bobby Steggert), advises the audience, "And that's pretty much all that happened. But it stayed with me, and rolled around in my head and I kept thinking that maybe, sometime, it might grow into a play."

The next 90 minutes offers a glorified rendition of this visit as augmented with appearances by Guthrie McClintic (Boyd Gaines), Cornell's adoring director-husband and Gert Macy (Brenda Wehle), her loyal manager-girlfriend. Young Pete learns about these intimate relationships and more as Cornell and her dearest talk about their rapt involvement with the theater, which is undergoing postwar changes.

Fresh stars like Marlon Brando and writers like Tennessee Williams are forging a new style of drama that makes the 50-something Cornell suddenly feel old-hat. "It's a world which has no place for me and my god-damned grand manner," sorrows Cornell, elegantly languishing upon a chaise longue.

Macy bucks ups the troubled Cornell while McClintic enthusiastically talks up the wonderful cultural possibilities of television. Drinking in all this intoxicating stuff, Pete is thrown a casual pass by McClintic but proves to be too straight a lad even to recognize it. An upbeat conclusion forecasts Pete's future.

Crafted with Gurney's usual conversational ease, "The Grand Manner" is nearly as pleasantly old-school in style as its characters, ably rendered by a solid company under Mark Lamos' finely-tuned direction. Swishing about in satins and velvets (Ann Hould-Ward designed the classy period clothes), Burton neatly portrays Cornell as a pragmatic Buffalo gal in spite of all of her great lady airs. While Burton is effectively gracious, her performance requires quite a bit more stardust to capture Cornell's golden glow. Lending McClintic a resonant voice and a mildly raffish air, Gaines is particularly elegant when his character turns seductive. Wehle presents a brisk, sturdy Macy. From his saddle shoes to his shining face, Steggert is the perfect image of a nice young man circa 1948.

Given a handsome backstage setting by John Arnone, Gurney's amiable new play and Lincoln Center Theater's premiere is likely to divert anybody with a taste for vintage Broadway doings. (Be apprised, however, that the "Lincoln Center Theater Review" available in the lobby contains a main article about Cornell by Amanda Vaill that contains several hilarious factual errors. Anybody who thinks they know the field can have some extra fun spotting them all plus the Cole Porter gaffe in a subsequent article.)

"The Grand Manner" continues through Aug. 1 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 W. 65th St., New York. Call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.lct.org.