Nathaniel R on one of the season's biggest Tony nominees and the most important for Actressexuals
Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes first debuted on the New York stage in 1939 with instantly classic characters, most notably the spiteful Regina Giddens and mousy drunk Birdie Hubbard, who Regina's brother married for her considerable fortune. The show was a hit and immediately scored a classic film version, released in 1941. In the intervening years the show seemed to disappear from the public consciousness a wee bit, despite being revived several times. It didn't help that the awesome 1941 film version was out of print for a long stretch. It's always a treat for fans of actresses since the roles are tailor made for starpower divas...
Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis, Greer Garson, Anne Bancroft, Elizabeth Taylor, Stockard Channing and now Laura Linney / Cynthia Nixon have all played Regina. MVP character actresses like Patricia Collinge, Margaret Leighton,Eileen Heckart, Maureen Stapleton, Frances Conroy and now Laura Linney/Cynthia Nixon have all played Birdie in past productions on stage and screen.
The new Tony-nominated production (which runs through July 2nd only so hurry!) reminds us of what a firecracker the play remains.
Linney, Goldstein, McKean, Nixon and Thomas as the Hubbards and Giddens family in THE LITTLE FOXES
The entire three act play takes place within the home of Regina Giddens (Laura Linney on the night I saw the play though she and Cynthia Nixon, pictured as Regina above, take turns with the role). She's a well-to-do ambitious woman who is cooking up a business deal with her two brothers Oscar and Ben Hubbard (Darren Goldstein and Michael McKean) that will make the entire family tremendously wealthy. The les than ethical business deal has numerous catches, though. Caught up in the money and moral struggles are three relative innocents, chief among them mousy drunk sister-in-law Birdie (Cynthia Nixon, wonderfully sad and distracted)... who has already been victimized once by the greed of the Hubbards. Through her alcohol fog, she manages to see that the same thing may happen to Regina's daughter Alexandra (Francesca Carpanani) if good-hearted Horace (Richard Thomas) doesn't catch on to the fine details of the plan.
Laura Linney's apple-cheeked loveliness has pigeonholed her somewhat, at least in the mainstream imagination, as a upstanding American, a wholesome woman if you will. Beneath her cherubic beauty, though, there's always been enough depth of character acting and sly wit to subvert first impressions. She's shown, frequently in fact, that you underestimate her characters at your own peril. She aces more bitingly funny or more treacherous roles (think The Savages or The House of Mirth) fairly regularly. Regina proves a perfect fit. She deploys Southern charm with elegant ease towards the family's acquaintance and potential business partner in the play's opening act but her conversational cheer darkens when there's less need for pretense and there's only family around thereafter. Playful banter starts feeling less playful and more like a cat getting bored with its mouse in act two. Is it a spoiler for a nearly 80 year old play to say that she's chilling when it's time for the kill in act three?
Smart if subtle lighting and blocking choices, and an altogether fine ensemble (including the terrific Caroline Steffanie Clay as the family's observant maid Addie) keep the long play simmering before its full act three boil. This night of theater flies by despite two intermissions! The Little Foxes has never been perfect, with its starkly drawn lines between good and evil -- the role of Alexandra, for example, is still impossibly simplistic (Carpanani tries but like Teresa Wright in the film version there's only so much you can do) -- but it's ferociously strong where it counts. If anything Hellman's den of vipers drama feels startlingly prescient. It couldn't be a better fit to our current times of economic disparity and empathy deficiency with its laser focus on the scorched earth narcissism and greed of the uber wealthy.
P.S. I had hoped to see The Little Foxes twice, as two of my friends did to compare and contrast (each had a different response to who was rocking Regina and/or Birdie hardest) but realized I couldn't justify the expense. Actressexuality™ on a budget can be so humbling! However, if you'd like to try it The Little Foxes website has an easy-to-read calendar detailing who plays the lead role each day and evening.
P.P.S. Tony Nominations for the Little Foxes
- Best Revival of a Play (Manhattan Theater Club)
- Best Direction of a Play (Daniel Sullivan, 8th nomination / 1 win for Proof)
- Best Leading Actress (Laura Linney, 4th nomination)
- Best Featured Actress (Cynthia Nixon, 4th nomination / 1 win for Rabbit Hole)
(The difference in the lead/feature nominations is due to opening night credits. Linney plays Regina slightly more often each week) - Best Featured Actor (Richard Thomas, 1st nomination)
- Best Costume Design of a Play (Jane Greenwood, 21st nomination but she's never won a competitive Tony (!!!) / 1 Lifetime Achievement)