Boeing Boeing and farce

We saw a preview of Boeing Boeing at the Longacre Theatre last week, and laughed our heads off! Farce is so hard to write and direct, and this London production of Marc Camoletti's wild play, directed by Matthew Warchus, made me long for the days when writers weren't afraid to tackle the form, and directors knew how to stage them. The fabulous and funny Christine Baranski headlines a cast that includes Mark Rylance, Bradley Whitford, Gina Gershon, Mary McCormack and Kathryn Hahn, all of whom turn in "over-the-top" performances. The sets, costumes, make-up, and lighting all worked together to highlight the mad-cap antics on stage without getting in the way of the actors. I don't know why this play failed on Broadway when it first opened ages ago (no, I wasn't around, bitches!)(okay, well, I was around, but too young to see it.), but I do understand why it was such a hit on the West End last year, and why it should be a hit here when it opens here on May 4th. Tickets were on TDF, so see if you can grab some before you won't be able to after opening.
Saw the new Helen Hunt movie, Then She Found Me, that opened at Chelsea Cinemas (and elsewhere) this weekend. This is Hunt's first directorial effort, and she also stars, along with Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, and Colin Firth. Hunt plays a 39-year-old mother-wanna-be, and marries Broderick's wimpy mamma's boy character for what seems like a day before he runs away without reason. While the storyline is somewhat bland and often confusing, the performances are worth the ticket price. Midler plays her natural-birth mother who gave her up for adoption after a year, and now reconnects for reasons unknown. Bette's rather toned down, emotionally, even if she's looking a bit plump physically, but gives a great performance. The character played by Broderick is too underdeveloped to really judge his performance, which is at least competent. Firth plays the new love interest for Hunt's character, and his is an interesting and many-layered character and performance. The film is often funny and wise, and sometimes very moving. The ending, unfortunately, seems to fit a little too nicely, as if in previews some focus group didn't like what would have been a more logical but sad conclusion. I won't give it away (not that it's anything grand), since you'll enjoy the film better without knowing.
We're seeing Endgame at BAM tomorrow night, and Little Flower of East Orange at The Public Theatre later this week, so stay tuned!