The Pillowman

Until tonight, I didn't know you could make a comedy about killing children.

Okay, that's not entirely true, but now I have your attention. In a way, you can't make a comedy about child killers. However, The Pillowman, a Broadway play whose run ends this month, managed to do something pretty close. All the while, it managed to keep you laughing, yet it maintained this awful sense of dread of the inevitable. In fact, I really wouldn't go so far as to call it a comedy at all. Rather, it was more like a sharply bothersome drama wrapped in laugh-out loud hilarity. Did I mention how disturbing it was? Cuz it's that too.

The show starred Billy Crudup and Jeff Goldblum, among others. Crudup plays Katurian, a writer who is interrogated about the content of his work (such as children giving their fathers razor blade-filled apples to eat), and, more frighteningly, their similarity to child murders that are occurring in the same town. Goldblum and his partner interrogate both him and his challenged brother about the murders. That's where things get interesting.

I have yet to see anything, stage or screen, where Billy Crudup isn't fantastic. Tonight's performance has strengthed what I like to call my "Rules of Crudup" (or what used to be known as "You Have a Little Crudup on Your Sleeve"):

• Crudup is a great actor (see Almost Famous, Big Fish, or this play, for example)
• Crudup has great hair-- long, short, doesn't matter-- the guy's got a great mop

I also have a list I've compiled about things I've learned about Jeff Goldblum:

• Goldblum is a weird dude

Anyway, great play. Couple of stories:

First, during the curtain call, Goldblum gave a little speech about The Actors' Fund, and how it's important to recognize the contributions they make to actors and others. Clearly a serious speech. Mid-sentence, the curtain falls, Goldblum's eyes get wide with surprise, and everyone just stops clapping. People hang around for a few more seconds, realize the curtain is not coming back up, and everyone files out the door. And Goldblum never finished speaking! And no one seemed to mind!

Second, I ran into David Hyde Pierce in the lobby. I introduced myself and complimented him on his fantastic job in Spamalot! (which is hilarious). He thanked me, we left it at that, and one thing struck me as I walked away: For as put-together as he was in "Frasier" as Niles, he is that much of a schlub in real life. I mean, scraggly hair, wrinkled and untucked shirt. Just... wow.

By the way, as I am about to publish this post, I realize how poorly this follows my previous post about hypothetically kicking the crap out of children... because The Pillowman is about murdering children. Yeah, this might be in bad taste. Actually, the previous post was definitely in bad taste. Sorry, Mom.