Who wouldn't be impressed with the cast of this show? Angela Lansbury (Madame Arcati), Rupert Everett (Charles), Christine Ebersole (Elvira) and Jayne Atkinson (Ruth). In addition to that, the material was written by playwright Noel Coward, one of the wittiest writers of the English language.
The show is an utter delight! Blithe Spirit involves the story of Charles, a writer, who wanted to do research about a book he is writing about contacting people from the other world. Enter Madame Arcati who facilitates this learning process and oversees a seance. Well, things don't go so well which results to Elvira (Charles' first wife) being called back from the other world. This of course not only spooks Charles, but also his current wife, Ruth. A perfect recipe for an awkward but hilarious living situation for everyone.
I've only seen Ms. Lansbury on Murder She Wrote and so this is my first time seeing her live. It's such a privilege witnessing a living legend on stage. She is such a comic genius! The mannerisms, tone of voice and mere physicality she assumes for this character is so absurdly amusing we were giggling whenever she's onstage (particular mention to the seance scenes). She's a riot. Equally amusing is Christine Ebersole as the ghost of the first wife, Elvira. An added bonus is hearing Ms. Ebersole's crystal clear voice as she sings Noel Coward's songs during the scene changes. The songs incidentally will be recorded and available soon according to playbill.com. Rupert Everett and Jayne Atkinson were also great in the play. Everyone was great even Susan Louise O'Connor who plays the maid. So try to catch it while you can. It's such a delight!
poster outside the Shubert Theatre
We then walked around the area and stumbled upon other actors coming out of the stagedoor for their respective shows. You could actually call it a.......Stagedoor crawl!
J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal
Megan Hilty, 9 to 5
And then I saw this display at the Theatre Circle Store on 44th St. that I just had to take a picture of:
