BLITHE SPIRIT with Angela Lansbury a Must-See Performance Now thru Feb. 1!

Ever wanted to speak to a loved one recently deceased? Have you ever experienced a show with ghosts brought back from the afterlife by Angela Lansbury?! No? Well, now's your chance because SHNSF is hosting an "After-life-party" of Noel Coward's 1941 spoof, Blithe Spirit playing now through February 1st.

Starring Angela Lansbury as the eccentric Madame Arcati, Blithe Spirit is a Noel Coward comedy that has stood the test of time quite admirably if the smiles on patron's faces are any indication. British socialites Ruth and Charles Condomine are a charming couple who invite medium Madame Arcati to perform a séance so Charles can learn details of the "mystic" for his next novel. Charles, Ruth and their two guests, Dr. and Mrs. Bradman, do not believe in such nonsense and are ready to have a little giggle at the expense of old Madame Arcati. Little do they know what lies in store for their hosts as Charles's first wife Elvira returns to haunt them and do everything in her ghostly power to intervene in his marriage.

Hodges and Hodges were shivering with anticipation at the theatre doors for this laugh-out-loud classic comedy to begin!

Linda: Ok. I'm just going to get it out of the way now - I can't believe that we got to see Angela Lansbury perform live on stage.

Nick: I know! Among her many accolades, she's a five time Tony Award winner and we got to see why in this performance. To be able to see her live in the limelight was such an honor and something I won't soon forget. It was just a dream come true.

Linda: I agree and now that we we're done fawning...on with the review.

Nick: Quite right.

Linda: The show neatly captures the 1940s feel and tone with the Condomine's country home in Kent (set design by Simon Higlett) and the use of silent-film-like projections to introduce each Act.

Nick: It really did and as we entered Act I Scene one in their living room, we see housemaid Edith (played by Susan Louise O'Connor) hurrying about the stage.

Linda: It doesn't hurt to start off with a laugh. Tony-winning director Charles Blakemore brought out the best in this small but hilarious cast. O'Connor was wonderful as the comic relief. With her physicality and comedic timing she was made for this role.

Nick: She really was. Her timing was impeccable. I would have had a hard time not laughing if I was onstage with her! When I caught up with her after the show she said, "I don't usually do this; get a chance to do physical comedy. I've never had a role so based on [it]." Well Susan O'Connor, you made me laugh every time you were on the stage and were a pleasure to laugh at - you know what I mean.

Linda: Absolutely. The show was brilliantly cast all around, Charles (the charmingly British Charles Edwards), Ruth (Charlotte Parry was the perfectly stuffy socialite), and deceased first wife Elvira (a funny Jemima Rooper) were a great love triangle.

Nick: Parry's Ruth acted as the "straight man" in a sense, but that said, she was really funny, too. I was impressed by her ability to completely ignore Elvira's ghost and dialogue in such a convincing and seamless manner. But I have to give props to Rooper's ghostly Elvira. She swept around the stage seeming to float on air. She moved about the space with assertiveness quite worthy of a spirit.

Linda: And her sassy dialogue and sharp wit made her quite an enticing character to watch as she plots a way of reuniting with Charles. To help round out the cast was Simon Jones as Dr. Bradman and Sandra Shipley as Mrs. Bradman.

Nick: I thought they really helped tie together the whole show. With so many aspects of this show that require the audience to suspend their disbelief to believe in the improbable, they provided links between the mystical and the mundane and really helped ground the show. They were a great pair.

Linda: And finally! Last, but not least, Dame Angela Lansbury (invested on April 15, 2014) as the unconventional and quirky Madame Arcati. Just hearing her voice off-stage provoked sustained clapping that only increased when she made her entrance on opening night.

Nick: And every entrance thereafter. And she never broke the fourth wall! I would have never guessed that she is eighty-nine years old! The energy that she brings to this role is why she is one of the greats. And that wig! I loved that she is a bright redhead in this show. It really made her look much younger and you were able to see her as her character and not the famous actress performing in front of you. And her costumes by Martin Paklendinaz were beautiful too. Very fortune-teller mixed with an air of Victorian class with a dash of crazy thrown in for laughs.

Linda: She truly is a master of the art. Her Madame Arcati carried with her a whiff of disdain for all unbelievers, but then she promptly underscores the reason for said unbelief with her way of getting ready to go into a trance.

Nick: It was a combination of goose-like neck-stretching, strange gestures and facial contortions and it was absolutely hysterical! And she wasn't funny because you were watching the great Dame Angela Lansbury do a funny dance. She was comically brilliant because of how truthful she was to her character. Madame Arcati doesn't think it's silly and she isn't doing it for laughs. She truly believes that she is reaching the great beyond through this ritual. That is the reason why the audience laughed so hard throughout her performance.

Linda: The entire cast was right there with her though. They were a true ensemble who put on an outstanding play. Noel Coward, who wrote this entire play in under a week, would have been proud to see this production.

Nick: The Finale, which we won't give away here was the perfect dénouement.

Linda: I couldn't agree more.

If you and your family are looking for an amazing performance by a terrific cast that will have you laughing till the end, do not miss Blithe Spirit.

BLITHE SPIRIT
Written by Noel Coward
Directed by Michael Blakemore
Starring Dame Angela Lansbury
Now through Feb 1, 2015
Golden Gate Theatre
www.shnsf
Photos courtesy of Joan Marcus