Word: comically
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...major action now is the distillation of the novelties of 30 years ago." Ever the critic, he pithily appraises such composers as Elliott Carter ("not negligible"), John Cage ("a certain comic value") and Roger Sessions ("for the school and college trade"). Erik Satie, the sardonic French aesthete who raised understatement to a cardinal principle of composition, is still his ideal and greatest influence...
...naughty, are deadlier. They announce that children are either sugar or sass-dewy-souled twerps or stunted comedians-and that they must set the tone for domestic life. Hence, parents must go with the flow: act as dispensers of homilies or as stoic butts for the resident insult comic...
...default, sweetcom's class act. Tony Randall, the John Gielgud of series TV, has brought his deft good humor to the role of a cranky bachelor of no particular sexual persuasion. Swoosie Kurtz, as Sidney's live-in friend, combines the charm of Sally Field with the comic timing of Soupy Sales-and somehow looks like both. Together they demonstrate that even treacle pudding can pack some savor. Only Kaleena Kiff, 7, is a problem. She is not unbearable; she is not a toy saint; she is just not there. Perhaps it is unfair to ask a child...
...sense of relaxation, in fact, pervades the performance. Most of the comic leads--Feste, Olivia's drunken uncle Toby Belch, (Keith Rogal) his wimpy cohort Andrew Aguecheek, (Peter Howard), and the wench Maria (Dolly Wiggins)--stick to understatement, letting the situations and the lines do the work. This tendency results in several nearly inaudible scenes, like those ones between Sebastian (Jeremy Black) and his follower Antonio--but often it works to the play's advantage, making the occasional broad comedy doubly comic. Rogal as Toby Belch may swallow a line or two, but his grimaces in otherwise underplayed scenes spark...
...GENERAL EASE pays off by letting every character expand from comic stereotype to reality, exploiting, to the full the scope and potential of Samuels's approach--not to mention the richness of the play itself. An unfunny Malvolio is inconceivable, but the part can easily become unbelievable or grotesque. Christopher Randolph, without sacrificing any comic content, somehow makes his Malvolio heartwrenching as well...