'It's Only a Play,' but fiercer, funnier with Lane
9 / 10
Some artists mellow with age. And then there's Terrence McNally...Part of what gives the new edition its sting and zing is McNally's keen awareness of how stage business has come to intersect with the broader celebrity culture, and how much more pervasive and, frankly, sillier the latter has become...As always, though, it's Lane we marvel at. Working with a playwright and a director -- Jack O'Brien, at his most delightfully mischievous -- who know the range of his comedic gifts and how to fully tap them, Lane whips the audience into fits of laughter, both jaded and joyful, from the moment James enters, promptly dialing his Hollywood agent to wax snarky about his buddy's show.
