Xie Xie and Present Laughter

Xie Xie. Yum. Finally. Tried to find this place awhile back with Gwen but no luck. Turned out it hadn't opened yet. Met J at this gem of an Asian sandwich shop. It was the perfect place pre-theater. Chef Angelo Sosa, who is a visual treat himself, has put together a fun and varied selection. The lobster roll was flavorful but a tad too sweet for a full-sized portion. Luckily I was splitting everything with J. The sweet glazed pork was good if a bit lackluster but the bun was disappointing and dry; would have preferred fresher flavors. The standout winner, and worth the trip alone, was the tilapia Chanca La Vong - fresh baguette, wonderful fish, fantastic flavors of sweet and sour. Both desserts are also standouts offering very different palate and taste sensations. For the sweet chocolate lovers, the black caramel ice cream sandwich is fantastic, it's gooey center carefully contained in a perfect amount of balancing ice cream held in form by thin and crunchy, thin, chocolate wafer cookies. Yum. The big fortune cookie comes with the yuzu lemony curd giving crunch to this heavenly sour tangy cream. More yum. Definitely a good find on 9th Ave.

Noel Coward gets a revival. In Present Laughter, an aging stage star deals with the women in his life, and one very strange male fan. All the action is staged in Garry Essendine's apartment, lavishly appointed in deco high-style. His wife, his dalliances, and his secretary all make appearances to add comedic wit to his dealings with his servants, male colleagues, and one very queer fan who likes to flit about with gusto and sometimes a teddy bear.

Victor Garber seemed a little campy but the script allows for such interpretations; "You're overacting now!" claims one of the women. I like all the strong female roles and both Harriet Harris, as his acrid secretary, and Lisa Banes, as his wife, are wonderful in their timing, delivery and inflection. They both seem to bring out all the texture in their characters and underneath it all, look like they enjoy their time on stage. Pamela Jane Gray is slightly disappointing as the femme fatale but perhaps this is due to all the buildup of her as the ravishing and seductive Joanna in the first act yet she doesn't appear until the second half; it's a hard expectation to live up to.

The most annoying character was easily Roland Maule, who is an irritating, and mauling, fan and aspiring playwright. Brook Ashmanskas plays it to the hilt. The audience may love this comic relief but I find it jarring and so silly as to be distracting and cringe-worthy. The butler Fred (James Joseph O'Neil) and housemaid (Nancy E. Carroll) added a more palatable and appropriate comic relief I appreciated more, at it really wasn't all that subtle.

Victor Garber seemed a little old for this part but it didn't harm the production or plot. Perhaps his age even added to the absurdity of his appeal to 20-something gals. When he sang, I sort of felt sorry for him. He wasn't bad but he looked so pained. He also seemed to sweat profusely but I was rather close to the stage. For some strange reason I kept thinking how much fun this role could be but Garber seemed to not really grab at that opportunity.

So I have this classic theater family farce to compare against Royal Family or the other Noel Coward revival Blithe Spirit. All had moments of humor, transportive fun, and silliness. There were some standout performances in each and some lackluster renditions in places. Any three would do but all in one year is a bit too much for even this theater fan to handle. But is I had to bet on Tony nominations, I'll give odds to Angela Landsbury in Blithe Spirit.