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This article by Simon Saltzman was prepared for the April 30, 2003 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Broadway Review: `Tea at Five’
During the gossipy, but hardly revelatory two halves
that make up the tepid "Tea at Five," Kate Mulgrew impersonates
Katherine Hepburn. In this non-essential non-play by Matthew Lombardo,
Mulgrew (of "Star Trek: Voyager" fame) gives us posturing
glimpses of the legendary star at her family’s Connecticut shore home
in two different eras. The first act takes place in 1938. A sassy
and svelte red-haired Hepburn is visibly agitated as she paces about
in tailored white slacks. She is keen on telling us how and why she
has been labeled "box-office poison" by the motion pictures
exhibitors of America. Hint: Seven flops in a row will do it every
time.
Mulgrew, who cannot be faulted for capturing all the superficial characteristics
of this idiosyncratic star also captures some of the less appealing
aspects of the star’s personality. She spends an inordinate amount
of time on the phone with her agent campaigning for the role of Scarlett
(in "Gone With The Wind"). She also spends a lot of time twisting
her dexterous legs about the furniture while exchanging some foolishly
insinuating phone messages with Warren Beatty. The second act takes
place in 1983, which now gives Mulgrew a chance to wear gray hair
upswept to frame a frighteningly familiar face. Now notable for its
ticks and tremors, Mulgrew’s performance not only sustains the debilitating
effects of Parkinson’s disease (on Hepburn, now 95), but also serves
to intensify Hepburn’s upper crust breeding.
There is the obligatory scene in which Hepburn rehashes her relationship
with her long-time alcoholic abusive lover and co-star Spencer Tracy,
but it does not provide any new insights. Neither does her protracted
and not particularly poignant recollections of her brother Tom, who
committed suicide at age 15. You’ve heard it all before, even if you
haven’t heard Mulgrew, under John Tillinger’s direction, adopt the
right-on New England twang and the Hepburn twitches. Two stars. Maybe you should have stayed home.
— Simon Saltzman
New York, 212-239-6200. $60.
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