BLITHE SPIRIT

This is a light little comedy;  nothing brilliant about the play, but well realized in this tidy revival.  Angela Lansbury takes a very juicy role and plays it juicily.  That is to say, Tony notwithstanding, a younger actress could have brought more physical punch to it.  Lansbury, who will be 84 in October, does bring her considerable experience and talent to the role and does, with moderate success, attempt to bring physicality to it.  I am not one to retire people when age slows them down, or to minimize their achievement, so I will accept that Ms. Lansbury does a creditable job and that many other actresses could as well.

Tonys, Oscars and the rest of the awards are often more popularity contests than actual credits for performance, particularly in weak fields or when the granting academy wishes to honor one of their own.

At one point, playful first wife Elvira turns poltergeist and upsets second wife Ruth who can’t see her.  At the end the set totally collapses leaving stagehands the considerable task of replacing all the books in the bookcase.

So the well-known, oft performed “Blithe Spirit” about a medium who is instrumental in bringing two deceased wives of the same man together to nag him from the beyond, works in this competent revival.  A high spot for me was Susan Louise O‘Connor’s portrayal of Edith, the nervous, eager to please, yet incapable of pleasing maid in her Broadway debut.  I expect to see much more of Ms. O’Connor in the future.

If you want a light, airy evening of comedy which will leave you smiling but not uplifted, check it out.

Blithe Spirit is at the Schubert Theatre.