Archive for April 27th, 2006

It was announced yesterday in the NY times that Jan Maxwell, the female lead of Entertaining Mr Sloane is leaving the show because she’s scared of Alec Baldwin’s temper. But there’s still one great reason to go see it:

Alec Baldwin

It’s a strange play about a violent, but good looking, drifter who rents a room from an middle-aged woman and becomes the object of her affection — and of her brother’s.
Baldwin is a caricature of the wealthy, closeted, Englishman; he plays it over the top and full of bravado. He couldn’t be more cliche if he added a lisp. But, this is the Alec we’ve grown to love; the Alec from Glengarry Glen Ross, Working Girl and Married to the Mob (well, maybe not quite as light on his feet as he was then. . . )
I don’t care if he did throw things, punch a hole in the wall, or write demands to the stage manager on his dressing room mirror in permanent marker (that last one’s not in the Times article, but it’s true . . . I know things). He’s crazy and he’s a Broadway diva and I love him for it.
My only disappointment with the play? Not enough Alec Baldwin.

So go ahead and leave, Jan Maxwell. You were good, but you weren’t the reason I was there.

As long as Alec’s in, I’m in.

Oh, and Chris Carmack (of The O.C.) walks around for half the play with his shirt off. That’s a good reason to go see it, too.