The Great McShane!

Last night I finished watching the four-part British TV series about Benjamin Disraeli. It's a little slow-moving, and dated, but Ian McShane really gives an amazing performance. (Not to mention the fact that in his youth, he's cute as a button and wears as many gold chains as any self-respecting rapper) He goes from the young Ben the novelist to the elder statesman who Queen Victoria sends flowers from her Windsor garden. It was made by the BBC in 1978, and it's on Netflix.

The Homecoming

Last week, we were lucky enough to catch one of the last performances of “The Homecoming.” It’s not my favorite Pinter, but it’s damn close to it. Ben Brantley’s rave review in the Times in December was well-deserved. I don’t write that sentence; here’s the link to the review: http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/theater/reviews/17home.html?scp=1&sq=the+homecoming&st=nyt.

Ian McShane was really wonderful; he did not chew the carpet as he might have. I never believed for a minute that he wasn’t really Max. Eve Best was good as Ruth, as was Michael McKean as Sam (a far, far away from “This Is Spinal Tap”) and James Frain (he plays Cromwell in “The Tudors”- we see him every Sunday). Raul Esparza was just about perfect. I never remember seeing a Teddy that dead-on. Nor a set so right as Eugene Lee's. I liked the costumes as well, despite the fact that Jess Goldstein yelled at me for buying Kate Burton the wrong color ballet shoes, but that was many years ago.

Produce more Pinter, I say!

The link above is to his website.