Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – John Lithgow slowly unspools STORIES BY HEART, nostalgically and masterfully

• By drediman
• January 15, 2018
• No Comments

John Lithgow in “John Lithgow: Stories by Heart” at the American Airlines Theatre.

The first show to open on Broadway in this new year of 2018 was John Lithgow: Stories by Heart, a production at the American Airlines Theatre under the auspices of Roundabout Theatre Company. I’m happy to report that its a winner, albeit a conservative, slow-burning one. The one man show, starring none other than stage and screen star John Lithgow, has two agendas. The first, to honor the memory of his parents, particularly his father, Arthur Lithgow, a classical actor and the former artistic director of both the Shakespeare Under the Stars festival and the McCarter Theatre at Princeton University. By his son’s account in this show, Arthur was a boisterous, larger-than-life personality. The second, to conjure for his audience the singular magic of immersive, animated storytelling (i.e., theater itself) via reciting, “by heart”, classic short stories by the likes of Ring Lardner and P. G. Wodehouse.

The warm, classy production, unassumingly and unobtrusively directed by veteran Daniel Sullivan, takes time to find its stride. As necessary, the first act, burnished in nostalgia, contains much exposition; one by one, we meet the members of the Lithgow household. The first act is also comprised of a “performed recital” of Lardner’s Haircut, which, alas, ultimately amounts to nothing more than diverting fluff. The second act, however, connects Mr. Lithgow’s two agendas in an elegant, truly heartfelt manner. In this second half, Mr. Lithgow masterfully performs Wodehouse’s Uncle Fred Flits By with mirthful glee and infectious generosity that sweeps the audience along in the characters’ wacky adventures, as it did his aging father many years ago. It’s clearly a personal, cathartic ritual for Mr. Lithgow, and it’s moving to behold.

RECOMMENDED

JOHN LITHGOW: STORIES BY HEART
Broadway, Play
Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre
2 hours (with one intermission)
Through March 4