Last weekend I was attending the opening night of the 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Christopher Durang‘s comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, here in Los Angeles at the Center Theatre Group‘s Mark Taper Forum. I had already heard great things about the play when it was running on Broadway last year, so I was really excited to finally check it out for myself.
Already being a fan of Durang’s work, I had a feeling I would enjoy it, and that’s exactly what happened, it was hilarious. The play (directed by David Hyde Pierce, who played Vanya on Broadway) tells the tale of siblings Vanya and Sonia who were tasked with taking care of their elderly parents in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, while their sister Masha became a big Hollywood star. Without revealing too much, hilarity starts to ensue when Masha drops by to pay a visit for a couple of days, along with her boy toy Spike (played by hunky David Hull who provides lots of shirtless eye candy action).
All of the actors put on incredible performances but I absolutely LOVED star of stage and screen Christine Ebersole who played larger-than-life Masha to perfection, I can’t imagine anyone else playing the part, even Sigourney Weaver who originated the role on Broadway. If you’re in Los Angeles, you cannot miss out on this play, Christine’s side-splitting performance alone is worth seeing. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is running now through March 9th, get your tickets here.
Regret and sibling rivalry fan the flames of laughter in this wickedly wonderful Chekhovian mash-up that equally tickles both the casual theatregoer and the ardent student of the Russian classics. Melancholy turns into mayhem when Vanya and his sister Sonia—along with their clairvoyant housekeeper Cassandra—are paid a surprise visit by Hollywood star sibling Masha and her twenty something boy toy Spike in a play by Christopher Durang. Will Vanya and Sonia ever find happiness? Will Masha sell the Bucks County farmhouse out from under them? And will Spike ever put his pants on?
Original Broadway cast members Kristine Nielsen and Shalita Grant reprise their Tony Award® nominated roles and are joined by two-time Tony Award® winner Christine Ebersole (Grey Gardens, 42nd Street) and Obie Award winner Mark Blum: all directed by original Broadway cast member and Tony Award® winner David Hyde Pierce (Curtains).