Crazy For You

Imagine the hubbub along Broadway if playwright Patrick Marber had written something called Asylum that was scheduled to open on the Great White Way on August 12. And just think how loud the hubbub would be if Asylum starred both Natasha Richardson (who was the leading lady of Marber”s Closer on Broadway) and Sir Ian McKellen! Well, all of this is the case — but Asylum is a movie, not a play.

Based on Patrick McGrath”s acclaimed novel, the film is set in the 1950s. It concerns a woman”s erotic obsession with the charismatic inmate of a psychiatric facility (of which her husband is the deputy director). We don”t know how good the sex will be, but bear in mind that director David Mackenzie”s last outing was the erotic drama Young Adam. And you can be sure that the acting — with supporting turns by such fine British actors as Hugh Bonneville, Joss Ackland, and Judy Parfitt — will be hot, hot, hot.

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Rush to Fools

With rare exceptions, most of us first encountered Shakespeare in a dry, deadening classroom. Only later was there a revelatory live performance or film version of a Shakespeare play that suddenly rang your bell and announced, “(Bard of) Avon Calling.” If you want to save a child you love that miserable first experience and jump right to the second, take him/her to Fools in Love at the Manhattan Ensemble Theatre. A bubbly brew of sly and silly, this irresistible version of A Midsummer”s Night Dream will enthrall children and charm adults. Five doo-wop singers give the narrative some literal pop as they perform rock ”n” roll hits of the 1950s and early 1960s that have been adapted to fit the story.

The entire ensemble is delightful, but two performers are so electric that you know you”re catching future stars early in their careers. Ryan Knowles is simply a dynamo of talent as Bottom; a combination of a young Peter O”Toole and Jim Carrey, he can seemingly do anything with his voice and his body. On the distaff side, Breeda Keely Wool, who plays Helena, is the most exciting young comedienne we”ve seen in years. She”s so gifted that she actually understudies Knowles in the role of Bottom! Your kids will be able to say that they saw these two actors when — and so will you.

There are so many theater festivals going on this summer that not until the last day of the Summer Smorgasbord at the Lamb”s Theatre were we able to catch one of the productions in that series — and we”re so glad we saw Man 1, Bank 0. Based on a true story, it was written and performed by the person who lived it: Paul Combs. This multi-media show details the incredible tale of a young man who, as a joke, deposited a junk mail check worth nearly $100,000 in his bank account and was stunned to discover that the bank accepted it. By turns hilarious, suspenseful, and amazing, it”s a great, modern-day David and Goliath tale. Perhaps the time has come for this show to have an open-ended commercial run in New York. If so, the real winners will be the audience.

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Cutting In on Judith Owen

If you haven”t already done so, it”s time to add The Cutting Room to your live entertainment circuit; this Chelsea-area club offers a wide variety of first-rate acts. The other night, we popped in to see the much-admired recording artist Judith Owen performing songs from her soon to be released CD Judith Owen: Lost and Found.

Owen”s music is an exotic casserole of lyric-driven ballads, performed in a way that stresses her vocal gifts. While she has stunning control over her voice, her bluesy jazz riffs tend to place style over substance; at the performance we attended, her lyrics were sometimes impossible to make out and her patter tended to run away from her. (In her defense, the West Coast-based performer conceded that she was jet-lagged.) But there were stars all around: Comedian Harry Shearer played electric bass in the band (What was he doing there? He”s Owen”s husband!), and we spotted Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth in the audience.

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[To contact the Siegels directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]