Well, friends and fans, as most of you know, I'm currently appearing as Mitch Albom in BFT's production of "Tuesdays with Morrie."  Today, Alec Harvey's review of the show was published in The Birmingham News - and I am honored and humbled.  Not humbled enough not to stick it in the ol' blog, though!

Here it go:

Two-person drama is played perfectly

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
ALEC HARVEY
News staff writer

If you've ever read Mitch Albom's "Tuesdays with Morrie," the sportswriter's account of spending time with a former professor as he battled the final stages of Lou Gehrig's disease, your eyes are probably welling up already.

It's a tearjerker to be sure, but in its stage incarnation, it's also the opportunity for two actors to connect with an audience and give performances that resonate long after the show is over.

That's exactly what we get with Birmingham Festival Theatre's season opener, which brings us stage veteran Sam Chalker as Morrie and relative newcomer Douglas O'Neil Jr. as Mitch, both at the top of their games.

"Tuesdays with Morrie" is an intimate, two-person drama that covers a great deal in its 90 minutes. Mitch is a Brandeis student when the show starts, a fledgling musician whose favorite professor, Morrie, urges him to follow his dreams and makes him promise to keep in touch.

Sixteen years later, Mitch, a brash, successful sportswriter who has no time for anyone other than himself, sees his long-lost professor on "Nightline," where Ted Koppel is chronicling the elderly man's battle with the fatal Lou Gehrig's disease. He pays Morrie what he thinks will be a solitary visit, but ends up spending most every Tuesday with him, becoming a much better person in the process.

Sound sappy? Yep, it is. But Chalker, O'Neil and director John Batson manage to avoid letting this become a sob-fest from beginning to end, although tears are sure to come when appropriate.

This show - with its minimal set and lack of flashy costumes - is all about the acting, and that we have in spades. Chalker has done everything from "Hamlet" to "Macbeth" to "The Lion in Winter" on area stages, but it's hard to believe he'll be better suited to any role than that of Morrie. Morrie can be funny, wise and curmudgeonly, and Chalker handles them all with ease. He doesn't make us feel sorry for Morrie - he makes us wish we could have spent time with him.
 
O'Neil holds his own as Mitch. For "Tuesdays with Morrie" to work, we've got to see the young man's transformation from idealist to realist, from career-minded writer to family-minded man, and it's not the easiest thing in the world to pull off. O'Neil does.

"Tuesdays with Morrie" is one of those shows you may not think you want to see, but you'll be glad you did. Just be sure to bring some tissues.

AND we got a full FIVE STARS!!!  Needless to say, I am thrilled. 

So, come on out and see it - even Alec Harvey says you'll be glad you did.

-D