Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

Review by Susan

Children and critics should not see Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, but the rest of us are having a marvelous time watching Mark Hamill and Polly Bergen go head-to-head and cheek-to-cheek as they swing and spar in this lively and lovely play. My only real regret, as an audience member, was that it went too fast and was over too soon. I won't try to argue with the folks with the notepads when they say that some of the events can be guessed at in advance, and some of this territory indeed looks familiar, but there are still plenty of surprises in store for you—perhaps the biggest being how much you will find yourself moved by this play long after the lights have come up.

Perhaps those notepads are shields that protect the heart from the action onstage, which is why the critics were quick to dismiss this show as "merely" the surefire crowd-pleaser that it makes no apologies for being. Yes, it is that, with plenty of wit, and, as the lessons progress, genuinely moving moments, including the unforgettably touching image of the "bonus lesson" that closes the show. And yes, this play is going after nearly every generation in every conceivable way, but it works. Those of us who grew up with Luke Skywalker as our hero will have a real blast—as I did--seeing Mark Hamill come down to a much earthier place, and the matinee crowd that surrounded me clearly delighted in retiree Lily as portrayed by the elegant Polly Bergen. Even the dance tunes run the gamut, eliciting wistful sighs from different rows until eventually everyone had heard something that had pierced their own armor. Wait—was that a metaphor?

Don't dismiss it, and definitely don't miss it! Sign up for your Six Dance Lessons today—they're worth every penny.
New York, November 2003

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