Wait Until Dark

with Marisa Tomei, Quentin Tarantino, and Stephen Lang
Directed by Leonard Foglia
by Michael McCarthy

On March 4th, I caught the “Broadway in Boston Presentation” of Frederick Knott’s classic suspense thriller Wait Until Dark staring Marisa Tomei, Quentin Tarantino, and Stephen Lang under the direction of Leonard Foglia. I’ve never written a theatre review before and, come to think of it, probably haven’t read more than a half dozen theatre reviews in my lifetime, so excuse me while I kiss the freakin’ sky if this review doesn’t meet your expectations.

So, how did Ms. Tomei compare to Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, who played the famous blind character in the film versions? Quite well. I was equally pleased with Tarantino’s performance, which should silence even his harshest critics. Well, a couple of ’em anyway. Amusingly enough, he comes out using a pathetic, exaggerated accent that had the audience shaking their heads… until the audience realized his character was deliberately faking an accent! Remember, Wait Until Dark is about three thugs who, uh, do some serious acting as they try to find a doll filled with heroin in a suspicious blind woman’s apartment. Rather than threaten her with a knife to the throat, the nicer of the three criminals (in this case Stephen Lang) pretends to be a friend of her husband and, um, gets acquainted with her in hopes that she’ll reveal the darn doll. When that doesn’t work, another of the criminals pretends to be a cop. Eventually, the infamous Harry Roat (Tarantino) decides to, well, let’s just say he’s not much of a gentleman.

Now, this rendition of the classic suspense play has supposedly been updated for 1998. Thing is, I really can’t believe any criminals in 1998 would devise such a lengthy, calculating scheme when a knife to the throat (or gun to the head) would’ve worked equally well. Also, nobody swore once throughout the entire play. Not once, damn it! Find me three criminals looking for heroin who never swear and I’ll buy them all the heroin they want. Of course, I’m kidding, before anyone decides to take me up on that offer, but you get the point. The lack of “shit,” “fuck,” and “asshole” severely hampered the suspension of disbelief here. Especially since Quentin’s mug serves as a constant reminder that modern-day criminals sure do like their cuss words.

Overall, I must say it was a treat, and an exciting one at that, to see a suspense thriller performed live. The Crucible aside, suspense thrillers really aren’t being performed on stage these days. Perhaps that’s because they’re so difficult to pull off? Wait Until Dark has a tight, well-plotted script, an impressively detailed set, and engrossing performances, not to mention great sound and visual effects. If any one of these aspects wasn’t up to par, it just wouldn’t captivate audiences as intended. Fortunately, the above mentioned plausibility problems aside, it’s fairly flawless. So watch for it on Broadway. [http://www.waituntildark.com]

Oh yeah, I hung out in the alley outside the Wilbur Theatre after the show to get Marisa and Quentin’s autographs. Before Marisa came out, her agent/manager/whatever announced that she’d be coming out and would sign whatever we wanted, but that she was requesting there be no photographs. Fine by me, I took out my Untamed Heart video box and forked it over when she reached me. Her response? “I hate that picture.” Does that mean she hates the film? The picture on the box? Christian Slater? Wish I knew. She grabbed my Playbill from my hand and signed that, quickly hurrying past me, before I could ask her. About ten minutes later, Quentin came out, unannounced, and seemed very glad to be greeted by fans (whereas Ms. Tomei seemed a bit, shall we say, pestered). I’d brought along, oh, ten things for him to sign and had narrowed it down to four. He politely asked me to select two, so I did, and he signed them. To show my appreciation, I gave him a Lollipop.