All The Way With . . . The Understudy January 6, 2014January 6, 2014 THE CASE +AGAINST+ LIVING FOREVER Nicely articulated here in the New York Times. I get it but I’m not buying it. If I take up too much physical space, I’d still like the option of having my consciousness downloaded to a chip of some kind, playing Words With Friends, bingeing on House of Cards, and enjoying — virtually — all the natural-world wonders and sensations. (“All the taste, none of the calories.”) Not entirely unlike, brilliantly, “Her.” I WASTED YOUR $8! . . . when I suggested this razor-sharpening strop a year ago. Turns out you already have what you need to extend the life of your razors. (Thanks, Steve.) LBJ V. THE DIXIECRATS Did you see “Lincoln,” about his struggle to pass the Thirteen Amendment? Great movie. Well, I just read the script “All The Way,” opening on Broadway February 10 about Lyndon Johnson’s struggle to pass the Civil Rights Act. It’s terrific. And LBJ will be played by Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”). I can’t wait to see it. Along with LBJ, Martin Luther King, Jr., J. Edgar Hoover, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace and other major players of the day — Senators Everett Dirksen, Richard Russell, and others — it even features my soft-spoken eighth grade math teacher, Robert Moses, who left us to help found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and direct its Mississippi Project. EVEN THE UNDERSTUDY’S A HIT I don’t know who’s understudying for Bryan Cranston, but Clancy O’Connor is subbing for Michael Urie in Buyer and Cellar, and according to this charming profile, “Clancy O’Connor is about to experience what every understudy dreams of: he gets to go on.” . . . The idea to promote O’Connor’s performances was actually Urie’s, who is a friend of O’Connor since their Julliard days. Last month, during the Broadway Cares fundraising moments after every show, Urie decided to bring O’Connor on stage so the audience can see first hand how charming and fun O’Connor is as the two bantered about O’Connor’s life in the wings and their barbs about his wanting to injure Urie. . . . O’Connor may be performing “Buyer & Cellar” for the first time in front of an audience [January 10-12, while Urie is on vacation], but he certainly does have a lot of credentials, making it easy for audiences to take a chance on him. Besides,the brilliant Jonathan Tolins play really doesn’t need a name to make it a great show. Perhaps a star gets you to a show but it’s the writing that makes people want to come back. With “Buyer & Cellar” it seems to have a lot of repeat customers. . . . “ Full disclosure: I am an investor in this show. I am yet to hear anything but raves from anyone who’s seen it.