Date: Fri 27-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Barrymore-Shubert-Plummer

Full Text:

(rev "Barrymore" @the Shubert)

THEATRE REVIEW -- A BRILLIANT, ALBERT SHORT-LIVED, "BARRYMORE"

(with cut)

By June April

NEW HAVEN -- The legacy of a legend can be a heavy burden to bear. The great

actor John Barrymore had a life that was littered with regrets and self-doubt,

even though he seemingly had it all. Like the Huston family, the Barrymore

dynasty had acting in its blood, but the price of their fame and fortunes was

insecurity, and great highs and lows.

Award-winning actor Christopher Plummer could not have been a better choice

for assuming the mantle of the roguish, handsome screen idol. Mr Plummer

recently offered a six-day reprisal of his multi-award-winning

characterization at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven. At age 71, Mr Plummer's

vitality and good looks have only seasoned him for offering a more powerful

performance than ever.

Set at the end of his life, Barrymore is peppered with personal family

recollections, dirty ditties, and brilliant flashes of Shakespea re's Richard

III and Hamlet , both roles serving as standards of dynamic thespian

excellence.

The play is a pre-performance rehearsal wherein Plummer's sonorous voice is

first heard from off-stage reciting from Richard III. He then stumbles onto

the stage, pushing a rack of costumes and singing a popular song of the times,

clearly in an inebriated state. From off stage we hear the voice (and

occasionally footsteps) of Frank, played by John Plumpis, who has been hired

by Barrymore to feed him lines and help him prepare for that evening's

performance.

Barrymore , written by William Luce, is well constructed, giving the audience

a peek into the last year of the actor's life. What is highlighted is

Barrymore's indulgences, his genius and his frustrations.

He mischievously recalls and impersonates his sister Ethel and old brother

Lionel. Their father, Maurice Barrymore, was an actor who also had quite the

reputation as an alcoholic and womanizer. Some of young John's recollections

from his childhood were of being brought along with his father of some of his

"outings."

Georgiana Drew, Barrymore's mother, claimed an acting heritage harkening back

to Shakespeare's time since her parents and her grandparents and

great-grandparents had been actors.

The sets and costumes, both designed by Santo Loquasto, set the tone and mood

for mood-shifts and zeniths of this poignant role. Natasha Katz' lighting

design also factored into making this a dramatic experience of great pleasure.

Listening to Christopher Plummer's vocal range is an exciting experience in

its own right. The classically-trained actor has rightfully garnered many

awards in his illustrious career, most recently in 1997 for his Broadway

performance of Barrymore. Receiving Best Actor in a Play, the Drama Desk and

Outer Critics' Circle Awards for this role, he also has to his credit The New

York Player's Club Edwin Booth Award and the National Art Club of America Gold

Medal for Life Achievements.

Directed by the outstanding and creative talent Gene Saks, Barrymore enjoyed

full houses, both in its Broadway and road shows. It was unfortunate the

Shubert run was only for six days. To have watched Barrymore was to enter the

soul of an actor and to observe what acting, at its finest, is all about.