"The Little Dog Laughed"

This has been such a great week of theatregoing. Yesterday was the delightful Mary Poppins, and tonight was The Little Dog Laughed, a new play by Douglas Carter Beane about a closeted gay actor who, while under pressure from his publicist to stay closeted while playing a gay role, falls in love.

The play stars Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do) as the movie star, Julie White as the publicist, Johnny Galecki (David on Roseanne) as the love interest, and Ari Graynor as the female complication to the story. It was a very entertaining play, so utterly non-stop that there wasn't really a moment to get bored. Julie White (pictured at right) was a standout in the hilarious role of the lesbian publicist who wants to make great things happen. She was the actor who really stole the show, however, the acting was great all around.

The set design by Allen Moyer (who also impressed me with his design for Grey Gardens) was also spectacular. Settings for the bedroom slid on and off, and panels in the wall slid open and shut to reveal characters who would deliver wonderfully funny monologues. Everything was very minimal and functional without being bare-bones. The underscore music by Lewis Flinn, beautiful costumes by Jeff Mahshie, and lighting by Donald Holder all came together with the other design elements to just make a very polished, wonderful production.

The play felt a lot like a movie in its pacing, yet it retained its theatricality in its gimmicky and ultimately entertaining use of direct address toward the audience and toward unseen characters. Though not the absolute best play I've seen so far this semester (I think that goes to Seven Guitars at Signature Theatre thus far), it was definitely the most entertaining. I recommend it to anyone with an open mind looking for a night of laughter and fine theatre.