THE BEST MAN  at the Schoenfeld Theatre

(Seen April 12, 2012)


This glittery revival of Gore Vidal's 1960 look at the political shenanigans that go on behind the choosing of a presidential candidate is both timely and highly entertaining.

Producer Jeffrey Richards and director Michael Wilson have stacked the deck with a combination of theatre luminaries and theatre stalwarts.  And although sometimes there seems an over-exuberance on the part of some players, it works very well on the whole.  With its parallels of how our political system works, there are solid moments of contemporary recognition.

James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, and Candice Bergen join John Larroquette, Michael McKean, and Eric McCormack in setting the pace for this slick drama, hitting on all the humor and political maneuvering that Vidal has built into what might have once seemed like a period drama.