NY Theater: “Howard Katz” is the male “Devil Wore Prada.”
A nasty talent agent brought down by his own pretentions.
By Lucy Komisar
This play by Patrick Marber is the male “Devil Wore Prada.”
London talent agent Howard Katz (Alfred Molina) is clever and nasty, a
combination as familiar in the entertainment world as on Seventh Avenue. “Du té,
du café?” is the pretentious invitation to a visitor. The command that dismisses
his assistant is “Exit!”
 The
play begins with him sitting on a park bench, still in blue pinstripes,
bemoaning his fate, which is so dreary that being accosted by a punk hardly
registers. The backdrop (by designer Scott Pask) is red brick with Roman arches.
A tomb? A temple? Is he searching for his soul?
It’s a fascinating tale, and Dough Hughes’ direction
engrosses us even if we might predict the ending. Flashbacks show the path of
anger and despair to self-destruction.
 He’s
so egregiously malicious, insensitive and self-absorbed, that he doesn’t know
the importance of keeping key players on his side – including clients, bosses
and his wife (Jessica Hecht). He is bored and furious at age pushing through. He
speaks in a scowl. Or he screams.
Katz tells client, “Eat some food; you’re like a skull on a
stick.” He downgrades an ex-client. “Does he do drugs? He has no septum.” Not
that he doesn’t get advice along the way.
 Client
Ricky (Max Baker, who is fine in his multiple roles) says, “Losing your temper
at people is a bit 90s.” But Katz declaims, “The world is a turd, and we are but
flies.” His relations with father and brother are also fraught.
Marber throws in some funny lines: “Where can a Jew go to
contemplate his life? A goy can go to a monastery.” His chic blonde mother (the
skilled Elizabeth Franz) retorts, “Just don’t go on a kibbutz. They never come
back: doctors picking oranges.”
Molina is superb as the self-destructing Katz, making us
believe that he hasn’t a clue about the role his behavior plays in his downfall.
Alvin Epstein is excellent as Katz’s father and also, in one of his multiple
roles, as a doddering old man who brings Katz breakfast in a furnished room.
“Howard Katz.” Written by Patrick Marber. Directed by Doug
Hughes. Starring Max Baker, Alvin Epstein, Elizabeth Franz, Edward Hajj, Jessica
Hecht, Patrick Henney, Alfred Molina, Euan Morton, Charlotte Parry. Sets by
Scott Pask. Costumes by Catherine Zuber.
Roundabout Theatre Company at Laura Pels Theatre, 111 West
46 St. Tue-Sat 7:30pm; Wed, Sat, Sun 2pm. Through May 6, 2007. Running time:
1:30. $63.75 - $73.75. 212-719-1300.
http://www.roundabouttheatre.org.
Photos by Joan Marcus.
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