ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
How then does the show stand up as a piece of writing? It’s seldom been produced over the past ten years–its big cast and extravagant technical requirements take it beyond the budgets of most regional theaters–and its current revival generated considerable interest because of the success of Coleman’s current Broadway hit City of Angels. Is On the Twentieth Century a neglected masterwork whose brilliance was buried under Broadway glitz? some wondered.
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Of course, Oscar recaptures Lily–but only after a couple of acts’ worth of farcical floundering and tempestuous temper tantrums generated by the high-octane collisions between these two cockeyed narcissists. For extra measure, there are zany Letitia Peabody Primrose, a religious fanatic obsessed with other people’s “dirty doings”; Owen and Oliver, Oscar’s partners in slime; an over-the-hill diva, Imelda Thornton; an adulterous congressman and his payrolled playmate; and a chorus of tap-dancing porters.
