Art (The Music Box)

By Harry Forbes

Yasmina Reza’s 1994 crowd-pleasing comedy about art and friendship has gotten a first-rate revival 29 years after Christopher Hampton’s translation from the original French premiered in London in 1996. 

I saw that West End production with its gold chip cast of Albert Finney, Tom Courteney, and Ken Stott, replaced by a panoply of other top name actors who fitted the play to their respective personalities. The 1998 Tony-winning Broadway production with Alan Alda, Victor Garber, and Alfred Molina also led to a succession of excellent replacements.

And now this revival -- skillfully directed by Scott Ellis - joins its distinguished predecessors. The plot revolves around three longtime friends whose relationship starts to unravel when Serge (Neil Patrick Harris) pays an enormous price for an abstract painting -- for all intents and purposes, a white canvas -- to the contemptuous amazement of Marc (Bobby Cannavale) who can’t resist derisive laughter when he’s first shown the canvas and learns the astronomical pricetag. When Marc attempts to enlist their mutual friend Yvan (James Corden) to his point of view, the latter tries in vain to remain steadfastly neutral. 

Eventually, bitter resentments surface and midway through, when Yvan is late for a dinner date with the others, the complacent Yvan delivers a tour-de-force hysterical monologue explaining his tardiness, and earning Corden well-deserved applause. 

Nothing else reaches that emotional peak, and Corden’s performance is really spectacularly good here, but Harris and Cannavale provide excellent and highly accomplished contrast, Harris petulantly offended by Marc’s response, and Cannavale, neatly balancing his character’s vulnerability and outward bluster. 

Several critics seem to be finding “Art” a lightweight and dated trifle, but I think Reza crafted a superb 100-minute vehicle that has held up brilliantly. Finney, Courtney and Stott brought a different vibe to the text, but the balance of humor and pathos is equally potent here, and Reza’s work remains satisfying as ever. 

The current design team provides a sleek, contemporary look, including David Rockwell set design (the three men’s apartments) brightly lit by Jen Schriever, while Linda Cho’s apt costumes, Mikaal Sulaiman’s sound design and Kid Harpoon’s music are likewise first-rate.

(The Music Box, 239 W 45th St; Telecharge or 212-239-6200; through December 21)

Photo by Matthew Murphy: (l..r.) James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris and Bobby Cannavale