Off Broadway
A Thousand Clowns
(Roundabout/Criterion Theater, New York 499 seats; $55 top)
Cast: Dov Tiefenbach (Nick Burns), Judd Hirsch (Murray Burns), Jim Fyfe (Albert Amundson), Marin Hinkle (Sandra Markowitz), David Margulies (Arnold Burns), John Procaccino (Leo Herman).
A longtime Gardner vet, Hirsch stepped in last month to replace Robert Klein, who reportedly was dismissed along with original director Gene Saks after the playwright caught a rehearsal. Roundabout alum Scott Ellis stepped in as director.
One can only guess at what Gardner observed that displeased him so; one can only wish that what wound up onstage could inspire such strong feelings one way or another. The production's nearly three-hour running time is considerably longer than any theatrical afterglow audiences are likely to feel. Save for a charmingly crotchety performance by young Dov Tiefenbach as the "middle-aged child" under the care of his even more crotchety uncle, "A Thousand Clowns" is a fairly unremarkable affair.
Hirsch, of course, plays the eccentric uncle, Murray Burns, an out-of-work gag writer who has dropped out of the rat race of penning words for TV's Chuckles the Chipmunk (John Procaccino). Gardner's anti-conformist speeches must have seemed more daring, or at least novel, in 1962, and certainly the playwright even then was smart enough to catch the selfish flip side of the character's headstrong individualism.
Murray has raised 12-year-old nephew Nick (Tiefenbach) since the boy's mother abandoned him six years earlier. The unconventional upbringing (by 1962 standards, anyway: Nick writes essays on the advantages of unemployment insurance, and his favorite toy is a hula-dancer doll with flashing lights for breasts) has come to the attention of the fancy school he attends, and two child welfare workers are dispatched to check out the boy's home environment.
Cartoonishly played by Jim Fyfe and Marin Hinkle, the social workers take a dim view of the cluttered apartment (good set by Henry Dunn and Ben Edwards) and Murray's lenient standards, reserving special disdain for his unemployment. The female half of the pair, however, soon melts under Murray's charm (audience just has to take its existence on faith), moves in, redecorates and encourages Murray to get a job to ensure continued custody.
Play's conflict is whether Murray will eat crow and work for the chipmunk, or hold to his principals and lose custody of the boy. It takes him much longer than the audience to arrive at an answer. The script is partly at fault, since Murray's moral revolt is unconvincingly explained. At least in that respect, Hirsch's casting doesn't help: The actor, who first played this role in 1964, comes off more as a burned-out crank than a starry-eyed idealist.
The play itself is of the early Neil Simon school, though not often as funny under Ellis' workmanlike direction. As the shrink who falls for Murray, Hinkle, a good actress, at times flails a bit too hysterically, though a similar over-the-top turn by Procaccino as the kiddie-show star (played by Saks in the original production) injects some energy late in the game.
But none of the Gardner veterans is as amusing as the 14-year-old Tiefenbach. This kid looks and sounds like a kvetching Garment District tailor, his comic timing nicely in sync with Hirsch's well-honed delivery. Audience at the reviewed performance responded accordingly. He's a real find, even when "A Thousand Clowns" seems a bit lost.
Sets, Henry Dunn, Ben Edwards; costumes, Jennifer von Mayrhauser; lighting, Rui Rita; sound, Richard Dunning; production stage manager, Jay Adler; casting, Pat McCorkle. Artistic director, Todd Haimes; general manager, Ellen Richard. Opened July 14, 1996. Reviewed July 10. Running time: 2 hours, 40 min.
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