Handle With Care

Posted: 12/13/13 at 11:21am

Has anyone seen it?

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 12/13/13 at 1:38pm

I was planning to see it this weekend for Carol Lawrence.

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 11:15pm

I saw it last week. I'm afraid it's not very good. Bad sitcom plot, dreadfully slow pacing, and for those of us who didn't bail at the intermission, a groan-inducing payoff in Act II. I won't bother discussing the inane story, except to comment that the plot has more holes than a piece of Carnegie Deli's Swiss cheese. Let's just say that one's credulity is severely tested.

In the middle of this muddle, Carol Lawrence does a wonderful job as an old woman who comes to the US in search of something from her past. The only time the show comes to life is her big scene in Act II. She looks terrific, decades younger than her 81 years, and unlike her costars, she's a pro who can command an audience's rapt attention with a voice barely above a whisper. When she is offstage, you wish the other three actors would just shut up and go away so Miss Lawrence can come back.

I saw Miss Lawrence in a 2001 production of DO I HEAR A WALTZ? at the Pasadena Playhouse. She played a marvelously world-weary, sexy Signora Fioria. I was hoping HANDLE WITH CARE would be a worthy vehicle for her return to New York. Sadly, it should be stamped 'Return to Sender'.

[After Eight]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 11:37pm

Carol Lawrence was very good. The play was weak, though I thought it had some genuine emotion. The second act was better than the first, if you decide to stick it out.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 11:45pm

This show is a lot of fun. If you like comedies like Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally, then you'll find this a great comedy like I did. The cast is outstanding, particularly Carol Lawrence. Don't pass up the opportunity to see Carol Lawrence up close. Under 2 hours including the intermission. Fast-paced comedy.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 11:45pm

"During the intermission at “Handle With Care,” billed as a new romantic comedy starring Carol Lawrence, the original Maria of West Side Story, I pondered some nearly theological questions: Is there no law, or at least an Actors Equity rule, against misuse of a Broadway legend?
Lawrence plays Edna, an Israeli grandmother visiting the state of Virginia who, we learn within the first few minutes, is dead. But she’s not just dead. Terrence, the yokel DHK delivery man who was supposed to ship her body home, has lost it...."
Handle With Care Review: Carol Lawrence, Misused as Dead Israeli Grandmother