REVIEW: Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit, by Noël Coward, is a wonderful play. It is light, funny, and has been performed to death by community theatres from coast to coast. It is extremely difficult to pull off a great production of Blithe Spirit without brilliantly skilled performers. Fortunately, the current Broadway production of Blithe Spirit has a full cast of qualified and brilliant stars.

Angela Lansbury, who plays the eccentric Madame Arcati, is a joy to watch. Her every movement, gesture, or glance reflects an artist who is confident in her abilities and understands the process of developing a character. I’ve been a fan of Ms. Lansbury forever, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see her in this play. I was not disappointed. Her performance is finely honed and exactly right.

Lucky for the audience, Ms. Lansbury is surrounded by brilliant performers. Rupert Everett is Charles, Christine Ebersole is Elvira, and Jayne Atkinson is Ruth.

Rupert Everett is wonderful as Charles. He hits his stride early in Act One and carries it right through to the end of Act Two. Occasionally, an actor who spends most of his time in front of a camera is not convincing on a stage with a live audience. The two crafts are so different; it’s sometime hard to transition from one to the other. Not so with Mr. Everett. He seems at home on the stage.

Christine Ebersole, who won great acclaim for her performance in Grey Gardens, is magnificent as the spirited Elvira. She glides across the stage and is deliciously mischievous. Her movements are beautifully enhanced by the ethereal costume designed by Martin Paklidenaz. Ms. Ebersole also provides the vocals for the delightful interludes between scenes. The clear tone of her voice is unmistakable and the Noël Coward songbook works well to set the mood for the following scene.

Jayne Atkinson’s Ruth is troubled, stern, and venerable. While her character is somewhat unlikeable in Act One, by the middle of Act Two not only has she won us over, we feel sympathy for her.

Susan Louise O’Connor, in her Broadway debut, brilliantly plays the skittish servant, Edith. She is a bundle of energy and is appropriately comical. I look forward to seeing O’Connor in a more prominent role soon! She is a delight.

Simon Jones and Deborah Rush provide serviceable performances as Dr. and Mrs. Bradman.

Peter J. Davison provides a set design full of surprises and magic, and Brian MacDevitt’s lighting creates the appropriately eerie atmosphere for spirits to materialize.

Director, Michael Blakemore must have had fun with this show. Ms. Lansbury is extremely animated and I can only imagine the rehearsals where the two of them created her pre-séance warm-up routine. This cast appears to be having tremendous fun. That fun extends well beyond the proscenium and infects the audience. I thoroughly enjoyed their performances.

Blithe Spirit continues an open-ended run at the Shubert Theatre in New York City.