Tattle
Tales
By Lenny Traube

TEST PLAY REVIVAL OF THE YEAR: That was the Tony Award honor accorded Tom Stoppard’s "The Real Thing," which opened this past April 17 at the Barrymore Theatre. Having also won two other major Tonys, Best Actor In A Play (Stephen Dillane) and Actress In A Play (Jennifer Ehle) the immensely appealing Stoppard play has been a near- sellout for the past several weeks since the announcement of the Tony Awards. Not too suprising when one considers it is one of the most acclaimed plays of the past 20 years and returns to Broadway following an overwhelmingly successful engagement at London’s famed Donmar Warehouse, where it won a slew of Olivier Awards. Probable reason for all the awards and success at the box office is the play’s central subject: marital infidelity.

Tony winner Dillane has the central male role of Henry, who is (of all things) a playwright. The play is obviously autobiographical. Stoppard readily admits, "I suppose there is some of me in it." In real life, Stoppard and his first wife divorced 10 years before he wrote "The Real Thing." Marriage to a second wife followed before he began seeing actress Felicity Kendall from whom he is now separated. Thus, it’s no surprise when Stoppard’s present dramatic examination of modern love opens with a scene from the play within the play: a husband discovers his wife has been unfaithful. From that point, playwright Henry ponders points of love, trying to determine what is The Real Thing.

Helping him in this quest is the play’s other major Tony Award winner, the concupiscent Ehle, whose chief rival in the Best Actress competition was Rosemary Harris, of "Waiting In The Wings"—her mother.

Dillane and Ehle head an all-British cast from the lauded Donmar production, with all making their Broadway debuts for this limited engagement of 20 weeks, arranged by American and British Equities.

TOPS IN QUEENS: Of course, I mean the top new movie, "Gone In 60 Seconds," which I saw over the weekend in a crowded auditorium at the College Point Multiplex in Whitestone. This definitive car chase movie stars Nicholas Cage as the ultimate car thief, who accomplishes the amazing feat of stealing 50 cars in a single night. Car owners will tremble when they see how easily Cage turns on an ignition without benefit of the key. Angelina Jolie, playing Cage’s girl friend, doesn’t contribute much to the plot, but is more decorative than the most expensive Volvo. The climactic car chase will make you appreciate the bus and the subway.