Dan Nowell is a high-powered Corte Madera businessman these days, but on one morning 45 years ago, he was a high-flying boy defying death in the skies above Southern Marin.NEW YORK — The Manhattan Theatre Club revival of The Royal Family (* * * out of four) endured some real-life drama Sunday when cast member Tony Roberts had a minor seizure during a matinee, forcing its cancellation.
Happily, Roberts made a speedy recovery and was set to return for opening night Thursday at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. One expects that the stage and screen veteran will bring more New York grit to the role of showbiz manager Oscar Wolfe than his understudy, the rather too polished Anthony Newfeld, did at a recent preview.
But that stock character is hardly the most interesting figure in George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's satirical account of a theatrical dynasty. Inspired by the Barrymores, the play premiered on Broadway in 1927 and has gathered a few mothballs since.
Still, the central relationship between a grand old dame of the stage and the glamorous, much put-upon daughter following in her footsteps is a fine showcase for two marvelous actresses featured here.
Rosemary Harris, the real-life grand dame cast as matriarch Fanny Cavendish, actually appeared in a 1975 production of Family as the daughter, Julie Cavendish. In this staging, Julie is played by Jan Maxwell, whose elegant, high-cheekboned beauty and comic dexterity suit the part perfectly.
Julie, a single mother whose seemingly infinite patience is tested by a motley assortment of high-maintenance relatives — a ne'er-do-well brother, an endlessly needy uncle, a willful teenage daughter — also is a good vehicle for Maxwell's emotional intelligence and capacity for tenderness. It's impossible to imagine an actress who would be more credible or likable, or funnier, as this harried working mom who just happens to be a celebrated thespian.
Harris similarly makes us laugh and breaks our hearts as Fanny, a life-long trouper determined not to let age or illness keep her out of the spotlight. Where Julie has clearly had some ambivalence about the personal sacrifices made for her craft, Fanny, though an adoring mother, considers art her greatest passion. Her struggle to carry that flame, with mortality nipping at her heels, is the sweetest, most moving aspect of this play, and the masterful Harris gives it a depth it might not have had in other hands.
Under Dough Hughes' sprightly direction, the other ensemble members all perform gamely, if less consistently. As Fanny's foolish, pompous brother, the excellent John Glover wins us over in spite of his role; as his cloying wife, Ana Gasteyer doesn't. Larry Pine is a tad pallid as Julie's wealthy, gallant love interest, while Reg Rogers is a bit overzealous as her brother, a movie idol with a talent for trouble.
None of this detracts, of course, from Harris' and Maxwell's star turns. Women wear the pants in this Family, and they're a joy to behold.
As the media frenzy surrounding the "balloon boy" hoax in Colorado remains in overdrive, longtime Marin County residents recalled a day in 1964 when a balloon boy - 11-year-old Danny Nowell -Êactually did leave Earth.
On Tuesday, the 56-year-old Nowell recalled the spring day when he became internationally famous, at least for a few weeks, by taking a two-mile unintentional hot-air balloon flight while hanging from a rope.
"I remember hearing, 'Hey, you kids, grab a line,'" Nowell said. "I guess they were short of people, so I grabbed it and wrapped it around my hand to get a good grip because it was a nylon cord."
It took about 30 minutes before the balloon pilot, William Berry of Concord, yelled for everybody to release the lines for takeoff, but Nowell didn't hear him because of the loud burners that heated the air as it was blown inside the balloon. It was too late to unwrap the rope from his hand.
"It was an unorchestrated takeoff, let's just say that," he said. "The line cinched up on my fingers and I just started getting dragged along. It was one of those freak things."
A friend's father grabbed onto Nowell for a few seconds but didn't hang on.
Ron Beigel had been standing next to Nowell. He had looked out his kitchen window minutes earlier and seen all the commotion. He had no
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