On and Off Broadway

The Front Page

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Once upon a time, daily newspapers were the primary source of news for Americans. Reporters competed for information and tried to scoop each other. That was when Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur wrote their classic play The Front Page. Years later in 1931, the pairing of Cary Grant and Roz Russell in the movie version added a little sexual tension. Now the revival of Hecht and MacArthur’s The Front Page is selling out nightly on Broadway.

Set in the Criminal Courts Building in Chicago in 1928, the play opens with a group of reporters playing poker, as they await news about Earl Williams, a convicted cop killer scheduled to hang the next day. The men are all seasoned journalists and somewhat calloused about their work. Although a man’s life is on the line, Bensinger, (Jefferson Mays) is negotiating for an earlier hanging date so his story can make the paper’s morning edition.

Suddenly, Hildy Johnson, a star reporter, arrives to announce he’s quitting the business to get married and move to NY. When asked what he’ll do there, Hildy, played by John Slattery, notes that he’ll work in advertising (which elicits a laugh from “Mad Men” fans.) Slattery who has had an illustrious TV career is charming and suave but a bit bland.

The conniving local politicians, the Mayor and the Sheriff, are eager for the execution. They are up for reelection and feel that the hanging will ensure them the votes they need. So when a clueless official (Robert Morse) comes with a pardon, they keep his message a secret. If no one knows about the reprieve, the hanging can still take place.

Nathan Lane plays Walter Burns, the editor of Johnson’s paper. Although he doesn’t really do much until Act 3, his presence is felt as he continually calls to cajole and badger Hildy into staying with the paper. When Lane finally enters (and the applause abates) Hurricane Nathan makes landfall. He blusters, blows, curses and commands everyone, taking over the pressroom and the stage. Wheedling and conniving, he will do anything to get the story. When Hildy discovers the escaped killer and hides him in Bensinger’s rolltop desk, Burns offers Bensinger a bogus job to get him to leave the building. Lane’s antics are comical, but the problem with Lane is that, despite his great talents, he’s always the same, loud and booming. He can nurse a single word for a laugh and he’s a comic force to be reckoned with. Yet this show offers little that we haven’t seen of him before.

Each time Hildy is about to leave for NY, some exciting news breaks and compels him to stay. Burns doesn’t really have to manipulate to keep him. There’s no surprise in the way the plot plays out, but the fun of The Front Page is in watching the consummate professional actors onstage.

The Front Page audience is decidedly more excited by the cast than by the play itself; it’s no wonder why. Seven of the performers are prestigious enough to have their names above the title. They range from Holland Taylor (Johnson’s mother-in-law to be), Sherrie Rene Scott (local tart,) John Goodman (the comically obtuse sheriff) to the names below the title (familiar faces that we kept trying to place) Dann Florek (the crooked mayor) Christopher McDonald and David Pittu, Dylan Baker and more. The murmuring and whispering as each performer entered added to the excitement. “Who is that?” He looks familiar.” “He was in that TV show.”

The Front Page may be classic but sadly, it feels dated. As directed by Jack O’Brien, the show could have been trimmed (it has two intermissions) and updated but wasn’t and that was a mistake. One can make comparisons to today’s politics and journalism. One can also consider the impact that cell phones and the Internet have had on reporting.However, most in the audience wouldn’t care. They were there to see the stars, particularly Lane in this short run, hot Broadway ticket.

We are all a bit star-struck. The excitement of the audience was palpable and I’m sure most people weren’t disappointed. They got what they came for — up close.