Broadway headliners star in wise and witty play at Hartford Stage

Broadway Headliners star in a Hartford Stage wise and witty period drama

By Don Church and Tony Schillaci, Critics On The Aisle

(Photo of Boyd Gaines, Sierra Boggess and Andrew Veenstra courtesy Hartford Stage)

The Hartford Stage on Church Street in Hartford, CT is presenting the world premiere of The Age of Innocence, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1921 for Edith Wharton and has been adapted from the novel for the stage by Tony Award nominee Douglas McGrath.

Tony Award Winner Doug Hughes directed this engaging play set in New York City during the Gilded Age of the 1870s.

McGrath’s powerful, poignant and often funny adaptation introduces us to the rigid social structure of New York’s “best” families, often tainted by gossip and scandal.

Four-time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines leads the cast, which features Olivier Award Nominee Sierra Boggess; Julliard’s Houseman Prize winner Helen Cespedes; and Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival award winner Andrew Veenstra.

As the Old Gentleman, narrator of the piece, Boyd Gaines gives a controlled portrayal of a man who has spent his life in turmoil, battling to choose between love and honor. Mr. Gaines fully understands and inhabits the character, and at times can bring the audience to tears. It’s a radical departure from his effervescent Tony Award winning role in Broadway’s She Loves Me.

Sierra Boggess originated the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid on Broadway. In The Age of Innocence, she portrays the Countess Ellen Olenska with elegance and mature grace - while still managing to insert into her performance a few moments of her glorious singing voice. She carries the role of a determined woman, ahead of her time in a restrictive society, with a quiet, refined dignity. (Boggess is also well-known for her portrayal of Christine Daaé in numerous productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera.)

As attorney and eligible society bachelor Newland Archer, Andrew Veenstra is perfectly cast as a young man torn between two worlds – one of proper manners and family obligations, the other of passion, longing and the presumed danger of giving in to his suppressed individuality. Veenstra played the lead role of Albert Narracott in the first U.S. tour of the Tony Award-winning play War Horse. He is perfectly cast here and gives a consistently excellent performance.

Helen Cespedes portrays the likeable, decent and fairly dull May Welland, Newland Archer’s intended bride. Cespedes gives a lovely characterization of a woman whose world consists mainly of following all the rules and quietly smelling the roses. May’s conservative and traditional values often stifle Archer’s budding lust for life.

The company of The Age of Innocence consists of a group of terrific actors who contribute beautifully to the success of the play. Darrie Lawrence as Mrs. Manson Mingott could easily have stepped into the shoes of any actress in “Downton Abbey.” Mrs. Mingott is the matriarch of a dynasty which she rules with humorous good cheer. Read your program notes to watch for Deirdre Madigan as Mrs. Welland, Mrs. Van Der Luyden and Florist; Haviland Morris as Mrs. Archer; Josh Salt as Thorley, Riviere and Dallas; Tony Ward as Mr. Van Der Luyden, Larry Lefferts and Letterblair; and Nick Wyman as Julius Beaufort, Sillerton Jackson and Mr. Hickey. These Actors Equity members each have a long list of credits which have served them well in achieving excellence in this current production.

Students from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford - Sara Norton, Daniel Owens, Sara Schwab and Alessandro Gian Viviano – are cast as the ensemble.

Tony Award winner John Lee Beatty has designed a soaring set which not only represents New York society’s grandeur, but also locks the characters into the iron and steel Gilded Cage for which the era is named. Tony Nominee Ben Stanton designed the lighting to enhance the set – from the brilliant chandeliers to the perfect follow spots, the lighting helps to move the story along. Tony winner Linda Cho’s gorgeous costumes give Sierra Boggess and Helen Cespedes the perfect silk and satin gowns to illustrate their characters’ personalities, while wrapping Darrie Lawrence in Mrs. Mason Mingott’s matronly brocaded elegance. Charles LaPointe’s design of hair and wigs are so very 1870’s.

Sound Design and Original Music by Mark Bennett are perfect for the period, and Pianist Yan Li provides the loveliest accompaniment to the play and to Ms. Boggess, Mr. Veenstra and Ms. Cespedes as they sing an 1864 Stephen Foster song. A few lively steps here and there in the ballroom scenes have been skillfully choreographed by Peter Pucci.

When the play began, a hush came over the audience – with nary a cough - that continued until the conclusion of the one-hour-forty-minute performance. As though in a library reading a great book from beginning to end, there was the silent enjoyment of an unfolding story that captured the interest and the imagination of what it was like to live in a bygone age, and how that lost period of time is not so very different from our own. Edith Wharton deserved her Pulitzer Prize.

Performances are Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun at 7:30 p.m.—Fri, Sat at 8 p.m.—Sat, Sun at 2 p.m. Wed matinee at 2 p.m. on April 18 only. Final performance: 2 p.m., Sunday, May 6. Weekly schedules may vary. For details, www.hartfordstage.org.

Tickets for all shows start at $25. Student tickets: $18.

For group discounts (10 or more), email groupsales@hartfordstage.org or call 860-520-7125.

For all other tickets, please call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 or go to the website. Follow Hartford Stage online here:

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For archived reviews by Don and Tony, go to www.criticsontheaisle.org