Master Thespians

Recently, I've been lucky enough to see some truly brilliant performances, some master classes in acting, and they have inspired me to include this post:

Current Performances Every Actor Should See!

Liev Shreiber in Talk Radio (assisted by some very talented voice-over artists as callers who do anything but phone it in) virtually carries the entire weight of this production on his capable shoulders, and he does it with pure artistry. This is the first time I've ever seen Mr. Shreiber on stage (I missed Glengarry Glenn Ross to my chagrin), and he is a force. What this man can do with his voice is incredible. He sounds, looks, and acts purely authentic as a downward spiraling shock jock. It is as well-crafted and well-lived in a performance as you are likely to encounter on any stage anywhere. The play I'm only so so about, but I am ga ga about Liev.

Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens has been giving, in my estimation, the finest musical theatre performance ever for a while now. Hurry up and give this woman her next Tony! She almost single-handedly overcomes an unremarkable first act as matron of the arts Edith Bouvier Beale, but her triumph comes in the much better second act as she channels "Little Edie" from the documentary. Every gesture and nuance of delivery is precise and funny and astounding; however the way she expresses Edie's dashed hopes in song is heartbreaking.

Kevin Spacey and Eve Best in Moon For the Misbegotten are giving this stirring revival its full due. The New York Times didn't seem to cotton to Mr. Spacey's brisk delivery, but I think he navigates Jim Tyrone's abrupt shifts with finesse and aplomb. Also, I appreciate the qualities of humor he mines out of what could be a relentlessly glum piece; the saving grace about the laughs he elicits are how hollow they ring when the audience realizes they are watching a drowned man. His James Tyrone has a bit of the salesman/performer, a bit of the misogynist, a bit of the lover, a bit of the spoiled child, and a bit of the ghost about him. Eve Best is nothing short of captivating. Her emotional honesty in charting Josie's doomed course of love is a sight to behold. Watch how Ms. Best takes on physical characteristics of a woman described as being larger than herself. She is the sun of this production and Kevin Spacey is the wild star that orbits her.

Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon may be giving the performance of his career as the only President in U.S. history to resign from his post. He is really that good, possibly my favorite performance of the year. (He might be tied with Liev Shreiber actually, but I like Frost/Nixon as a play better than Talk Radio.) Mr. Langella achieves the kind of feat Philip Seymour Hoffman did with Capote; he goes beyond effective mimicry and uncovers the soul of an enormously complicated, tortured, lonely man. By the end, you might actually feel sorry for Nixon; a possibility that might completely innervate some of his harshest critics.

Honorable Mentions

Paul Sparks in Essential Self Defense shows an unswerving commitment to his offbeat characterization of the automaton renegade Yul. Such commitment and fearlessness is to be admired.

Mary Louise Wilson in Grey Gardens is a study in patience. She has to wait through a whole act before she gets to show her stuff, but damn her corn is good! No second banana, her turn as the elder Edith Beale is half the reason Grey Gardens' 2nd Act is a tour de force!