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Regional Reviews: St. Louis Bell, Book and Candle Also see Richard's review of Million Dollar Quartet Christmas
Van Druten's other best-known plays were I Remember Mama and I Am A Camera. At Stray Dog Theatre, Artistic Director Gary F. Bell adds every thoughtful dimension in directing Bell, Book and Candle, infusing it with a genuine sense of the wonder of New York. Claire Coffey supplies all the glamor of a bygone time as Gillian in a charming play that's said to have inspired TV's "Bewitched." I've always loved the actress Liz Mischel, and she's great here as Gillian's comical Aunt Queenie, in Endora-style flowing gowns by Colleen Michelson. Victor Mendez, while wonderfully fresh, likewise suggests an Uncle Arthur from another world (as Gillian's brother Nicky) in this adorable, two hour and ten minute production with two 10-minute intermissions. There's quite a lot to be said for actors who know how to add invisible elements to a scene, and Mischel and Mendez make it look easy and spontaneous. The show first appeared on Broadway in 1950, directed by the playwright and featuring Lilli Palmer and Rex Harrison, running for 233 performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Here, Joel Wilper is right out of an Arrow shirt ad, upright and endearing as the young man Gillian sets her pointy hat for. You can feel his universe reel in their first scene together, when she entrances him upon his exit. It's as if the whole stage is suddenly twisted and flexed in odd directions, as he walks back up to leave by her front door in his first scene. And Gary Wells is excellent as a tipsy writer exploring–and exposing–the world of witches and warlocks in the play. It also bears mentioning that Ms. Coffey was totally different this past February in The Mousetrap and in 2023 in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at this same venue, and in July in Clayton Community Theatre's Twelfth Night. And Van Druten's script remains a delight. There's even a joke that's still startlingly clever about the Army-McCarthy hearings, which were deemed a "witch hunt" in the Truman years. Going back to "Bewitched" for just a moment, people debate whether Dick York or Dick Sargent was the better Darrin Stephens. Here, Mr. Wilper (as Shepherd Henderson) finds a third path in the source material, warm and solid and comforting, cast alongside the infinitely swanky Ms. Coffey. Though, like most modern young women, she seems a bit numb and tentative in heels, walking across thick area rugs. Gillian and Shepherd have a very grown-up romance, but also have their own great "stomp on the brakes" moments in the course of true love. In fact, late in the game, we in the audience are thrown out into the bitterest cold, psychologically: watching the couple navigate the worst, most untenable moments of any relationship, bargaining fiercely over who they are and who each of them is. Even in an impish comedy like this, with this playful director and cast, the break-up scenes carry their own kind of terrible suspense. And as they get pushed apart again and again, we begin to feel the loneliness of the big city, behind all the glitter. Bell, Book and Candle runs through December 21, 2024, at Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee Avenue, St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.straydogtheatre.org. Cast, in order of appearance: Production Staff: |
