"Make it personal, tell the truth and then write 'Burn this' on the bottom."

We saw Burn This last night, and it was awesome. I've been going to Signature Theatre for years, and this was not the typical crowd for one of their plays. This was much more like a Broadway audience, and believe me that's not a compliment: plenty of scary suburban New York Magazine types. It was a gayer crowd than usual, but I suspect that was as much a function of having Ed Norton in it (who was great despite someone's opinion of him), rather than the fact that it was a gay-themed play by a great playwright. I don't typically see that many pretty, blank Chelsea boys at a serious play -- perhaps they were brought as arm candy by more serious playgoers. I much prefer smart pretty boys.

I first saw Ed Norton in 1994, in the world premiere of Eward Albee's "Fragments" at Signature. I still remember how he looked and talked, and not just because he was hot. Apparently this was Catherine Keener's stage debut, and she was excellent, with a great presence on stage. I would not have guessed that she had concentrated only on film before. I've only seen her in one movie, "Being John Malkovich". Given that Mr. Malkovich played the Ed Norton role in the play's debut, there is a nice symmetry at work here. The entire cast of four was pretty amazing.

There were a few celebrities in the crowd. The ones I spotted: Monica Lewinsky (I think I was cruised by her!), Paul Lombardi (yes Sam he's quite hot in person too), and Paul Rudnick.

Here are some reviews.