TAKE BACK THE NIGHT

We knew the evening was in trouble from the minute our cab driver stayed on Second Avenue, choosing to join the horrific 59th Street Bridge traffic rather than cross the Park. It became apparent at 6:45 that we were not going to make our 6:30 reservation at Redeye Grill. This would be the second time this week that the horrendous holiday traffic in the city was forcing us to have pizza for dinner. Note to you: one of our pet peeves is cab drivers who do not understand and/or pay attention to directions! Note to selves: next year do NOT buy tickets to shows the 2 weeks preceding Xmas!

In an effort to be eat more healthfully than a couple of slices of pizza and with a significant lack of time, we elected to have dinner at the Astro Restaurant on 6th & 55th, just one-half block from the theatre. A tiny booth (keep in mind that Jeff is not a tiny guy) in front of a door that kept opening to twenty something degree cold, very noisy and uncontrolled little kids and nearly inedible food made for a simply horrible “dinner” that disappointed us as much as the hour plus long cab ride to get there.

Now you may wonder why we are so focused on the horrific cab ride and dinner. OK…you caught us. We confess. We are stalling because we are really unsure of what to say about NIGHTINGALE. We had great seats in the first row, which is clearly a plus in the Manhattan Theatre Club’s NYC Center Theatre and as we were seated we were actually excited to be just a few feet from the iconic Ms. Lynn Redgrave. This is a one woman show, an hour and a half of Ms. Redgrave, seated at a table facing the audience, at times reading from a script she wrote. The fact that Ms. Redgrave was seated and reading is apparently the result of recent medical treatment. For for having the courage to do this, we applaud Ms. Redgrave. Frankly, the best thing that we can say about this play is that it actually was enjoyable to just watch this actress. She has aged so gracefully, remains fully engaged with the audience for much of the performance, notwithstanding her malady. Ms. Redgrave’s perfect English diction was a delight to listen to - most of the time.

From the outset, the “play” appeared to be autobiographical as Ms. Redgrave spoke of her famous family, including references to her sister and recently deceased niece. However; after the first fifteen minutes or so the script rambled. As she spoke of her son who went off to war in the 1940’s, we realized that the 66 year old actress could not possibly be speaking of herself (we’re pretty good at math, you know). It wasn’t until an hour AFTER we left the theater that we finally figured out that at this point in her story she had taken on the persona of her grandmother.

The last fifteen minutes of NIGHTINGALE were actually as enjoyable as the first fifteen minutes however; the hour in between just left a great deal to be desired. Ms. Redgrave’s acting talents clearly outshine her writing talents.

Next up: “SO HELP ME GOD!”