Fish in the Dark
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Cititour.com Review
Don’t worry, the Fish doesn’t stink to high heaven at the Cort Theatre. Nor is it the freshest catch of the day. More accurately, “Fish in the Dark,” the much-anticipated Broadway writing and acting debut of television favorite Larry David, is a bit of a warmed-over dish; part TV sitcom, part vintage Neil Simon, with a dash of Woody Allen thrown in. Yet in many ways, as my fellow Jews like to say, you could do worse.
The show, which has already racked up over $13 million in ticket sales, delivers exactly what the fans of Mr. David – the co-creator of “Seinfeld” and star/creator of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” – are apparently yearning for: a chance to spend two hours with this oddly loveable curmudgeon. Better still, he’s savvy enough to both write some very good one-liners and surround himself with top talent both on the stage and behind it (especially his Tony-winning director Anna D. Shapiro and her design genius Todd Rosenthal). His biggest flaw, as it turns out, is that he can’t project to the back of the house.
David’s alter-ego here is Norman Drexel, a semi-successful urinal salesman married to shiksa Brenda (Rita Wilson, saddled with a badly developed role) and surrounded by a crazy Jewish family, including shrewish mom Gloria (the always reliable Jayne Houdyshell), selfish younger brother Arthur (a well-cast Ben Shenkman), loud uncle Stewie (the perfectly hammy Lewis J. Stadlen) and goofy aunt Rose (the daffy Marylouise Burke).
These people are destined to behave badly in the best of situations, so you can only imagine how they act when Drexel patriarch Sidney (Jerry Adler) passes away. They fuss, they feud, they bring up past grievances, they argue over a Rolex, they nosh a little. To quote Stephen Sondheim, they could drive a person crazy.
Oddly, the bastion of semi-sanity in the midst of the tumult is longtime housekeeper Fabiana (the delightful Rosie Perez), who formerly worked for Sidney and Gloria, now works for Larry and Brenda, and who’s been keeping a big secret for almost 20 years about the parentage of her son Diego (an excellent Jake Cannavale). Most of the show’s second act has to do with Fabiana’s financial plight, and, even with a few good laughs, the play begins to make both Norman and Arthur extremely unlikeable and stretch plot contrivances to the point of non-credulity.
As for the ending, (spoiler alert), it’s both happy and horribly written. As for what the title means, you’ll have to see the play. Unlike most of “Fish in the Dark,” it’s actually slightly unexpected.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://fishinthedark.com
Cast
Larry David, Rita Wilson, Rosie Perez, Ben Shenkman, Lewis J. Stadlen, Jayne Houdyshell, Jake Cannavale, Marylouise Burke, Jerry Adler, Jenn Lyon, Jonny Orsini, Molly Ranson, Maria Elena Ramirez, Rachel Resheff, Joel Rooks, Jeff Still, Kenneth Tigar, Richard Topol
Open/Close Dates
Opening 3/5/2015
Closing 8/1/2015
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 2/2/2015
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
James Earl Jones Theatre
138 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
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