Last March I was at the TKTS line with my wife, Gail, and my sister-in-law, Helaine, and we were trying to figure out what to see.  Nothing on the board grabbed us.  What we really wanted was A View from the Bridge, but with the ecstatic reviews and the movie stars Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson in the lead roles it would be absurd to imagine that seats would be available for half price.  We contemplated walking to the box office and seeing if there might be three seats left at the absurd full price, but Gail suggested we ask one of the TKTS line people if it ever appeared on the board.  In the interest of a harmonious marriage, I have learned to not roll my eyes at my wife’s foolish ideas.  So we asked.

The TKTS line is staffed with young people who love Broadway, are ready with recommendations and information, and have seen these shows so many times they can mouth the words with the actors.  When we asked a young man if A View from the Bridge ever appears on the board, I saw that I was not the only person who is practiced at not rolling his eyes.  “No,” he told us with tolerant bemusement, “A View from the Bridge is never available.”  He recommended going to the box office early in the day to ask about same day rush tickets, but just as he explained this the board behind him refreshed, and miraculously,  with Abbott and Costello timing, A View from the Bridge appeared over his left shoulder.  The line guy was as surprised as I was, and he hustled us to the relatively short “play only” line where we acquired three tickets, not together, in the back row of the orchestra.

I have a history with A View from the Bridge.  Thirty years ago when I was an undergraduate in my “Intro to the Actor’s Art” class, the gruff, rumpled, bespectacled, mustachioed acting teacher coached us through four pivotal scenes from this play.  I did the Eddie/Alfieri scene, in which the obsessively jealous longshoreman looks for legal ways to keep his niece at his side.  My terrible performance inspired my teacher to get up and do the part for me.  A few minutes later when I was given a chance to repeat the scene, I made the actor’s choice of imitating the instructor.  After a moment of pipe chomping reflection, the master determined that my work now showed great promise.  Thirty years later I looked forward to seeing if Liev’s performance could match my imitation of my instructor’s.

Turns out Liev did just fine.  He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a play, and while the Tony voters sometimes show unjustified reverence for movie actors who grace us with their presence, I have to say he was funny in parts that I didn’t expect to be funny, multi-layered in what could be described as a not-very-subtle role, and terrifying in the threatening scenes in act 2.  Scarlett Johansson was also excellent, though in a less complex role as the somewhat-but-not-completely naïve niece and she won the Tony for Best Featured Actress.  As good as Johansson was, though, I felt that her cast mate, Jessica Hecht, was better in her role as Beatrice for which she was also nominated.  Hecht played the sweet, suffering wife of the self-destructing longshoreman.  What astonished me most about her performance was how she managed to pull off a Brooklyn accent that seemed absolutely real but also over the top.  She was loopy and charming and heartbreaking and kind of sexy all at the same time.  If she had been a movie star, maybe she would have won.

Which brings us to our quiz from last week:

Fred already has tickets for his 100^th Broadway show (sic), which he will see later this month.  This limited run features an internationally known star whose name rhymes with a garnish commonly used in cocktails.  What is the garnish, who is the star, and what show does Fred have tickets to see?

First of all, the “sic” is because of my friend, MJC, who reminded me that we had seen Hairspray in its last months on Broadway.  So, the play in question is my 101^st play, and not my hundredth.

The garnish is maraschino, the star is Al Pacino, and the play is The Merchant of Venice.

“Broadway Fred” appears every Wednesday.

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