by Roger Friedman
I've been to a lot of Broadway openings, but last night's premiere of The Real Thing was most memorable. Tom Stoppard's brilliant play, which first ran on Broadway in 1982 with Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close and Christine Baranski, is now the most impressive hit of the 1999-2000 season.
This is a British production, presented on Broadway by Anita Waxman and Miramax Films. Miramax got involved because of Stoppard, who wrote Shakespeare in Love for them. As you know, everyone got Oscars on that deal. Come June 4, all involved will be receiving Tony Awards.
The Real Thing is a comedy with dramatic overtones, set in London approximately 20 years ago. But even sticking with the original script, director David Laveaux has managed to make the story as contemporary and moving as ever.
The real heroes though are the cast - all brought from London's Donmar Warehouse Theatre, the same company that gave us Nicole Kidman in The Blue Room last year.
Without question the real star of The Real Thing is Stephen Dillane. Mostly unknown to American audiences, Dillane starred a couple of years ago in the little seen film Welcome to Sarajevo. As the conflicted, articulate, sardonic playwright Henry, Dillane turns in a starmaking performance that just crackles right through the house. Where Irons, who originated the role of Henry, was aloof and elegant, Dillane is so actively engaged in the material that the other actors seem pulled to him as if he were a magnet and they were metal.
The other principals in the cast, Jennifer Ehle, Sarah Woodward and Nigel Lindsay are all impeccable. Ehle has the hard task of holding her own in scene after scene with Dillane, especially in lengthy, funny speeches. I think further viewings of this production will reveal that she is every bit as good as Dillane, but for right now, Broadway has a new star.
The big question will be how to replace these British actors in August. That's when by contract American actors must take their roles. Producer Waxman told me she's already starting to consider some names. Expect the cr�me de la cr�me to be fighting for these parts - every major actor in the 35-to-45 range will want a chance at being part of The Real Thing.
And here's a little trivia: Waxman, who's a dish with five adult children, bankrolled her first business with money she won on Hollywood Squares 27 years ago! She took home around $1500 - "and no refrigerators or appliances." The rest is history. This season she has four plays running on the Great White Way.
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