Yes, your intrepid Admin braved blizzards and bed bugs last weekend to see the Sunday matinee of Close Up Space. I’m very glad I did.

Before I go on I want to warn of minor SPOILERS in case any of you plan to see the play before it closes on Sunday, January 29. Otherwise read on…

Theatre is by nature a communal experience.

We were a bunch of back row renegades. Next to me on my left, two seats away, was an amply proportioned elderly guy who’d apparently booked an extra seat for his friend, an almost equally ample Bag of Food – much of it crunchy.

Before the play began the man attacked his companion with alarmingly noisy gusto. Thankfully the munching stopped, more or less, once the play began and the only sound I was aware of on my left was the man’s frequent laughter – and intermittent feedback from his listening aid.

Beside me Bag of Food remained inscrutably silent throughout.

It was during a key scene between David Hyde Pierce and Rosie Perez that I became aware of Snoring Lady two seats to my right. In a moment of panic I wondered if she was in fact experiencing breathing difficulties. Would this be the moment when I’d have to stand up, interrupt the players on stage and project from the back of the room the legendary words,
“Is there a doctor in the house”? A lady on her far side shook her gently awake.

Ah, the quirky charm of the matinee audience!

I have to say that New York City Center Stage 1 is a pleasant compact space with good sightlines from all seats, including mine at the very back.

Now for the play

David plays obsessive literary editor Paul Barrow. The opening scene is David at his sublime best. Using an old-fashioned transparency projector Paul, with savage red pen, pares down a letter from the principal of his daughter’s expensive boarding school to one succinct line.

“Your daugher Harper has been expelled.”

David is needless to say pitch perfect as the slightly intimidating, fussy, buttoned-up, professorial type who’s determined to ‘emaciate prose and make it obey’. He has a John Cleese-like exasperation that life refuses to submit in similar fashion. His frustration is punctuated by earthy language that made the ancient maiden aunt to my right flinch. David’s comic timing is a thing of joy to watch. He was hilarious!

Many of us will feel some sympathy for Paul’s despair at the modern world’s sloppy grammar and punctuation. We quickly discover that his wife died four years ago and that since her death Paul has been incapable of communicating with his troubled teenage daughter, Harper.

Paul also has to deal with his star author, Vanessa Finn Adams (no hyphen!), a feisty feminist with the hots for Paul, played with zest by Rosie Perez. She has some great one-liners. “Gotta get em on the no fly list, Paul”, when talking about teenage children is one that springs to mind. She’s upset with Paul, for editing a huge chunk from her latest manuscript – he dismisses it as bloated chick lit – and for not making any moves on her.

Add to the mix the hapless, monosyllabic intern Bailey, played by Jessica DiGiovanni. She is basically terrified of Paul who treats her with disdain in the odd times that he notices her at all. At one point someone asks why she’s wearing a scarf indoors. She mutters, “Urban Outfitters…” by way of explanation, which for some reason made me laugh.

Then we have Steve, the office manager. I had reservations about office Steve when I read about the play in advance. ‘Wacky’ can often mean simply annoying. I was very wrong. Michael Chernus’s Steve is a wonderfully warm, scene-stealing, off-the-wall goofball. Paul discovers Steve camping in the office. You see, he’s been having relationship problems with his pit bull terrier, Xena (the Brooklyn Warrior Princess). Xena has taken a shine to his roommate and Steve is distraught.

Steve is the kind of person who befriends everyone, including Harper. He reminded me of a big friendly mutt. He is the antithesis of the reserved, buttoned-up Paul, whose bemusement at Steve’s antics is played brilliantly by David. Steve shows Paul how he uses his tent, a 2010 Black Diamond, as a safe and secure place to open up about his deepest feelings, as Steve says, “to purge”.

When Harper, played with energetic relish by the delightful Colby Minifie, enters speaking Russian and throwing snow balls from a cooler at her father, Paul’s meticulously ordered world starts to spin spectacularly out of control. Harper later completely empties and destroys his office in an extreme attempt to get his attention, and we realise this crazy, fast-paced, absurdist play has a very dark core.

Paul’s wife, a talented author, committed suicide. It’s clear when Harper finally talks to her father (in English) that her mother was suffering from bipolar disorder. Harper is distressed that Paul made no attempt to help her mother and seemed to refuse to acknowledge the seriousness of his wife’s condition. When Harper’s mother splashed the walls of a room with yellow paint Paul had painted the whole room over in beige again by morning. Paul, in an attempt to edit life to it’s simplist elements, insists to Harper that her mother died because she didn’t take her medication.

The tragedy in the midst of this comedy is that Paul, in locking up his emotions has locked out his daughter. Harper’s actions are so extreme that we wonder if she’s inherited her mother’s condition. We also see that she’s intelligent and sensitive and understandably damaged by the tragic loss of her mother and rejection from her father. She explains to Paul that she has self-exiled herself to ‘Russia’. She quotes her favourite poet, Anna Akhmatova, who was persecuted under Lenin and Stalin and calls her father a ‘tyrant’.

Goofy, loveable Steve is the unlikely hero of the hour. When he finds Paul shivering in a corner of his freezing, empty office he is at once the light relief and Paul’s saviour. Paul has hit rock bottom. His star author has walked out and his daughter has left for St Petersburg in actual Russia. Paul ends up rolling on the floor in despair, which is funny despite everything. David throws himself about quite a bit in this play. But Steve has Harper’s address and after some resistance Paul agrees to dictate to Steve what he’d like to say to Harper – from the safety of the 2010 Black Diamond tent. As there’s no paper in the empty office Steve writes on his arm.

Paul finally opens up to Harper.

I was transfixed as I watched David on stage. An unforgettable experience. It’s a deeply poignant scene as Paul, his vulnerabilty exposed at last, explains as he wipes away tears that he just didn’t know how to deal with his wife’s illness, and how much it hurt him that Harper was old enough to realise that he was a failure. Steve resorts to writing on his bare leg as Paul’s true feelings come tumbling out at last. I was laughing at Steve and crying with Paul all at the same time. Perhaps some light relief was necessary, but maybe the message is that, in life, tragedy, comedy and even farce cannot be compartmentalised – or edited.

I know you were wondering, so yes, Steve and Xena worked everything out. Steve’s going to find his own place, but until he does the newly purged and mellowed Paul agrees to take him – and Xena – in. Paul makes up with Vanessa and is able to tell her that she is a good writer and he might even like to kiss her.

The Final Scene

Picture St Petersburg at night. The only light from street lamps. Snowflakes are falling gently. Paul and Harper pass each other in the street – then look back and give each other identical exquisite little half-smiles that express hope, connection, love. Close up space? Gorgeous!

The play moved at a brisk pace and had a good rhythm. I loved it and I hadn’t been sure that I would. The play worked for me particularly because of the appealing and highly talented cast who found truth in the characters, which meant that no matter how extreme things got you believed in these people’s stories. I would like to thank the whole company of Close Up Space.

Finally, I’d like to say it was a privilege and a pleasure to sit in the theatre and watch the incomparable David Hyde Pierce act.

Variety on Close Up Space -
“There’s something so sympathetic about David Hyde Pierce’s wry portrayal that he comes to resemble Bob Newhart in his finest hour—an intelligent and sensitive man forced to suffer fools and idiots with patience and grace.”

For more reviews and some cool photos and videos check out the official Close Up Space website.

Close up Space will run until Sunday January 29.

In the meantime watch David on ‘Live! with Kelly’ as he makes the exciting announcement, talks Close Up Space and how he’s finding it harder to get up when he falls over.

On behalf of all DHP fans we’re sending our very best wishes to David and the whole company. Break legs tonight!!!

This from Playbill.com

World Premiere of Close Up Space, With David Hyde Pierce and Rosie Perez, Begins Dec. 1 in NYC

By Kenneth Jones
01 Dec 2011

Molly Smith Metzler’s Close Up Space, a new comedy starring Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce as a harried book editor, begins previews Dec. 1 in a Manhattan Theatre Club staging at New York City Center Stage I.

Leigh Silverman (Well, From Up Here, Chinglish) directs the world premiere of the play that features Tony Award and four-time Emmy Award winner Hyde Pierce as Paul Barrow, “an obsessive book editor on a major deadline,” according to MTC. “With an assistant (Michael Chernus) who’s been camping in the office, a famous author (Rosie Perez, the Oscar and Emmy nominee seen in Broadway’s The Ritz) threatening to bail on him and an intern (Jessica DiGiovanni) who is no help at all, Paul’s just about had it! But when his fiery daughter (Colby Minifie) shows up and lambasts him in Russian, Paul faces a glaring personal error that can’t be corrected with red ink.”

The MTC staging opens Dec. 19 and continues to Feb. 5, 2012.

The creative team for Close Up Space includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Emily Rebholz (costume design), Matthew Frey (lighting design) and Jill BC Du Boff (sound design).

Perez is known for the films Fearless, It Could Happen to You and Lackawanna Blues; DiGiovanni makes her Off-Broadway debut here; and Minifie’s New York City credits include The Pillowman and Landscape of the Body. Hyde Pierce won his Best Actor Tony for Curtains and was the star of TV’s Frasier (he was fussy Niles Crane). Chernus’ New York credits include The Aliens and In the Wake.

Development of Close Up Space was supported by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center during a residency at the National Playwrights Conference of 2010.

Molly Smith Metzler is the author of Elemeno Pea, which recently premiered at the 2011 Humana Festival at Actors Theatre in Louisville. Her plays — which include Training Wisteria and Carve — have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club 7@7, Playwrights Horizons, The O’Neill Theater Center, Ars Nova, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Chautauqua Theater Company, Summer Play Festival (SPF), Cherry Lane Mentor Project, hotINK, London’s Tristan Bates Theatre, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and the Kennedy Center, where she was the recipient of three KCACTF Awards (The Kennedy Center National Student Playwriting Award, The Mark Twain Comedy Award and The David Mark Cohen Award).

She is a member of EST, the Ars Nova Play Group and Primary Stages Writing Group; she has been in residence at New River Dramatists, Montana Rep, Williamstown and Hedgebrook. She holds an MFA from Tisch and is a recent graduate of The Julliard School, where she was a two-time recipient of the LeComte du Nuoy Prize from Lincoln Center. She lives in Brooklyn Heights with her husband and their Boston terrier.

For more information, visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

While we’re excited here at DHP.org that David’s directing debut was so well received, as fans we’re delighted to see David getting back where he belongs, on stage (at New York City Center – Stage 1) entertaining theatre-goers in the world premiere of Molly Smith Metzler’s comedy Close Up Space. To whet appetites for the play, which begins in previews on December 1st, we’re posting the snazzy banner we found on the
Manhattan Theatre Club website.

The meaning of the play’s title had intrigued us. The banner explains all. David plays an obsessive book editor – ‘close-up space‘ is an editor’s red ink instruction. Billed as ‘a funny and poignant new play about how hard it can be to communicate… in any language‘, the phrase ‘Close Up Space‘ obviously signifies much more besides.

Official opening is scheduled for December 19th. Further info on the play including performance times and how to get tickets can be found via the New York City Center website.

DHP.org would like to send very best wishes to David and the whole company.

It Shoulda Been You
October 4 – November 6, 2011

Book and Lyrics by Brian Hargrove
Music by Barbara Anselmi
Based on a concept by Barbara Anselmi
Directed by David Hyde Pierce

with Tyne Daly, Tom Deckman, Carla Duren, Harriet Harris, Jessica Hershberg, Edward Hibbert, Curtis Holbrook, Lisa Howard, Mylinda Hull, Matthew Hydzik, David Josefsberg, Richard Kline, and Howard McGillin

A musical comedy for anyone with parents.

The bride is Jewish. The groom is Catholic. Her mother is a force of nature, his mother is a tempest in a cocktail shaker. And when the bride’s ex-boyfriend shows up, the perfect wedding starts to unravel faster than you can whistle “Here Comes the Bride!” Plots are hatched, pacts are made, secrets exposed – and the sister of the bride is left to turn a tangled mess into happily ever after!

We are thrilled to welcome Tony Award and four-time Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce (from TV’s Frasier) to direct this exciting new musical comedy.

Produced in Association with Scott Landis, Michael Hanel, and Daryl Roth

sponsored by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation

Special dates for this production
10/4/2011 Post Performance Talk-Back
10/5/2011 Post Performance Talk-Back
10/6/2011 Post Performance Talk-Back
10/13/2011 Audio Described Performance
10/20/2011 Marriage Equality Pride Party; 6:30pm
10/23/2011 Sunday Symposium; 2pm
11/5/2011 Open Captioned Performance

As reported in Playbill.com in Spring 2012 David will star in the Vineyard Theatre’s Developmental Lab production of John Kander and Greg Pierce’s The Landing.

DHP.org very much likes the sound of this. Sadly for David fans it might be difficult to get tickets as Developmental Lab Productions at The Vineyard are limited runs for which only Vineyard members are guaranteed a seat.

Fun fact: Greg Pierce, emerging writing talent and John Kander’s new collaborator is David’s nephew.

David Hyde Pierce Will Appear in Developmental Test of John Kander’s New Musical

By Kenneth Jones
06 Sep 2011

Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce will perform in Vineyard Theatre’s spring 2012 Developmental Lab production of The Landing, the new musical by John Kander and Greg Pierce.

Scott Ellis, who directed Hyde Pierce to a Best Actor Tony win for Curtains, will direct the lab staging. David Loud (The Scottsboro Boys) will be music director.

The Landing is “a collection of three related one-act musicals” with music by Tony-winning composer Kander (Chicago, Cabaret, Zorba, Kiss of the Spider Woman) and librettist-lyricist Greg Pierce.

According to the Sept. 6 announcement by Vineyard Theatre, “Based on stories written by John Kander and Greg Pierce, The Landing — which will mark Mr. Kander’s first full new theatre collaboration with another writer since the passing of his long-time collaborator Fred Ebb in 2004 — is comprised of three one-act musicals thematically-linked and performed together by an ensemble of four. These gripping and soulful pieces invite audiences into richly imagined worlds, in which characters must confront what it means to get what they think they want.”

Additional cast and information will be announced at a later date. Developmental Lab Productions at The Vineyard “are limited runs for which only Vineyard members are guaranteed a seat. Developmental Lab Productions have minimal production values and are not open for review by critics.”

Kander’s relationship with The Vineyard dates back to 1987 with the theatre’s revival of the Kander and Ebb musical Flora The Red Menace. Most recently, Vineyard Theatre presented the world premiere of Kander and Ebb’s musical The Scottsboro Boys, with book by David Thompson, in March 2010.

Greg Pierce is a playwright and fiction writer. His stage adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (co-written with director Stephen Earnhart) premiered at The Ohio Theatre in New York City, and was performed at the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival. His plays include Slowgirl, Kickstop, Odyssey Room, Smack the Wagon and The Suburbanoids.

The Vineyard, an Off-Broadway resident not-for-profit theatre, presents at 108 E. 15 Street.

For more information about The Vineyard, visit www.vineyardtheatre.org

Rosie Perez, David Hyde Pierce, et al. Set for MTC’s Close Up Space
By: Andy Propst · Sep 8, 2011 · New York

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced complete casting for Molly Smith Metzler’s Close Up Space, which will begin previews at New York City Center – Stage I on December 1 in anticipation of an official opening on December 19. Leigh Silverman will direct the production.

The play centers on an obsessive book editor on a major deadline, who has to deal with numerous distractions.

The company will feature, as previously announced, David Hyde Pierce and Michael Chernus, along with Rosie Perez, Jessica DiGiovanni, and Colby Minifie.

The creative team will include Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Emily Rebholz (costume design), Matthew Frey (lighting design), and Jill BC Du Boff (sound design).

It Shoulda Been You opens next Tuesday, October 4th at the George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Anyone going to see it?

All the details from Playbill.com

Complete casting has been announced for the George Street Playhouse’s 2011-2012 season opener, the new musical It Shoulda Been You, which will be directed by Tony winner David Hyde Pierce.

The production, which runs Oct. 4-Nov. 6, will boast a cast that comprises Tyne Daly, Harriet Harris, Edward Hibbert, Richard Kline, Howard McGillin, Tom Deckman, Carla Duren, Jessica Hershberg, Curtis Holbrook, Lisa Howard, Mylinda Hull, Matthew Hydzik and David Josefsberg.
The new musical features book and lyrics by Brian Hargrove and music by Barbara Anselmi.
It Shoulda Been You is billed as “a musical comedy for anyone with parents. The bride (played by Ms. Hershberg) is Jewish. The groom (played by Mr. Hydzik) is Catholic. Her mother (played by Ms. Daly) is a force of nature, his mother (played by Ms. Harris) is a tempest in a cocktail shaker. And when the bride’s ex-boyfriend (played by Mr. Josefsberg) shows up, the perfect wedding starts to unravel faster than you can whistle ‘Here Comes the Bride!’ Plots are hatched, pacts are made, secrets exposed – and the sister of the bride (played by Ms. Howard) is left to turn a tangled mess into happily ever after! Thrust in the middle of the marital mishegas is Albert, the wedding planner (played by Mr. Hibbert). Mr. Kline will portray the bride’s father Murray, and Mr. McGillin will portray the groom’s playing opposite Ms. Daly and Ms. Harris, respectively.”
The creative team also includes choreographer Noah Racey, music director Greg Anthony, three-time Tony Award-winning orchestrator Douglas Besterman, scenic designer Anna Louizos, five-time Tony Award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long, lighting designer Paul Gallo and sound designer Acme Sound Partners.
George Street Playhouse is located at 9 Livingston Avenue. For ticket information visit GSPonline.org.