Straight play

Obviously I didn't take advantage of Broadway's student rush option until after I graduated. Obviously. (Recent graduates - this works. Save your student ID and see how long you can get away with it.)

While it was edged out for two Tony Awards, Talk Radio is still definitely worth an investment of $26.25 and an evening. Liev Schreiber stars as self-important, self-disgusted, megalomaniacal, lovable talk radio host Barry Champlain in this revival of Eric Bogosian's 1987 play. Champlain's whole deal is that he thinks he's better than eveyone else and can therefore do it all alone. What makes this work is that Liev Schreiber is better than everyone else and he can do it all alone.

The best moments of the show were without a doubt those when Barry ruled the booth alone. The many callers, voiced hilariously by Christine Pedi, Barbara Rosenblat, Adam Sietz, Marc Thompson, Cornell Womack, and Christy Pusz, were also a highlight. The eminently talented Schreiber worked together with these voices to turn a seemingly non-theatrical genre, radio, into something not only appropriate for the stage, but positively electrifying to watch.

Eric Bogosian deserves some credit for this feat as well, but I'm hesitant to give it to him because I'm still pissed about his needless violation of the fourth wall. The first time an actor turned out to the audience and began, "I first met Barry Champlain," I nearly swallowed my tongue. When it happened again two more times, I had learned to cope by rolling my eyes and zoning out until Liev came back onstage. Matters weren't helped here by the sliding scale of hard-to-watch acting of Peter Hermann as Champlain's up-tight suit of a boss, Michael Laurence as his long-time buddy turned resentful, and worst of all, Stephanie March (Law & Order: SVU) as his whiny would-be womanfriend.

Despite these admittedly grating shortcomings, go see this play. Ultimately it's a vehicle for Liev, and heis a force of nature on the stage. I have never seen any other actor make 45 seconds of silence so thrilling.

Talk Radio
Written by Eric Bogosian
Directed by Robert Falls
Starring Liev Schreiber
Featuring Stephanie March, Peter Hermann, Michael Laurence, and Sebastian Stan

At the Longacre Theater (220 W 48th Street, btwn 7th and 8th)

Website: www.talkradioonbroadway.com