The Little Dog Laughed

In THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED, Julie White plays a loquacious Hollywood agent whose one liners have the bite of a feisty little pit bull. In fact, she’s a celebrity maker at the top of her game. With her mouth agape, whether to feign awe or expose disgust, her exaggerated facial gestures are precisely what make her believable.

So, whether she’s reciting her client’s contract, in which case every word is transformed into poesy (think all the evil at work in “The Fairy Queen”), or narrating the action like a text message (as if you didn’t know this is Act II) Ms. White is here to reinvent the obvious. Duplicity is her gift. As a sorcerer, she makes things happen – mean things, that is.

Her greatest ally in this is the playwright Douglas Carter Beane who has a queer eye for cruelty and the celebrity-ridden culture that invents it. In this, he is one of the finest satirists of the stage. Sophisticated and urbane, Beane is never heart warming nor is this story about Diane, the agent, and her rising star client, Mitchell. But as portrayed by Tom Everett Scott of TV’s ER, Mitchell is touching because he’s so vulnerable and so transparent. We believe him every step of the way, even when he doesn’t believe himself. So to accuse him of deception – that’s like calling a schizophrenic nuts.

As the male prostitute and Mitch’s lover, Johnny Galecki has the tough boy presence that belongs to the street wise. Part shy child, part sharp shooter, Galecki’s Alex knows the ropes; he’s no easy trick. His girlfriend Ellen on the other hand has a more privileged look on life despite which she’s still lacking in self esteem. In this role Ari Graynor looks like a young, seductive Barbara Streisand. She’s ballsy even if she is lacking in depth.

The production is topped off by Allen Moyer’s set that acts like a computer screen with windows popping up on scenes behind the scenes. Most of the action though is set in Mitch’s hotel room which recedes into the background, literally going into the closet when necessary.

And to drape Miss White’s elegant frame, Jeff Mahshie has designed a fitting array of evening gowns and business attire topped by a beautiful white suit in the play’s penultimate moments. It’s enough to distract us from the Machiavellian move she’s about to make.

Indeed it’s Ms. White’s delicious cynicism, her cosmic sense of wit and timing that bring this daunting comedy to a head. THE LITTLE DOG, makes such a perfect evening of theater, Douglas Carter Beane will have to write the sequel.

That’s This Week on Broadway. I’m Isa Goldberg.