HAWKE OF THE TOWN

TRAINING DAY STAR'S SPECTACULAR TURN AS LYRICIST LORENZ HART STEALS THE SHOW IN THIS COMEDY DRAMA

- REVIEWS BY DAMON SMITH

A BARNSTORMING and transformative lead performance from Ethan Hawke as celebrated lyricist Lorenz Hart - the waspish wordsmith responsible for The Lady is a Tramp and My Funny Valentine with composer Richard Rodgers puts a spring in the step of this intimate comedy drama.

Set over the course of one turbulent night in March 1943, when a curtain rises on one of the great Broadway musicals, Blue Moon is a handsomely crafted study of artistic endeavour and bruised egos, peppered with the kind of bile-slathered one-liners that often catch the eye of Academy Award voters.

Recovering alcoholic Lorenz Hart (Hawke) glides into one of his favourite New York City haunts, Sardi's restaurant on West 44th Street, having quietly slipped out of the opening night performance of the musical Oklahoma! at the St James Theatre.