‘Other Desert Cities’ Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Smashing Debut

In 2011, shortly after the Broadway debut of Jon Robin Baitz's "Other Desert Cities," I spoke with one of its stars, Stockard Channing, about her character Polly Wyeth, a doyenne of a fictional Republican family residing in Palm Springs. Channing recounted that Polly bore a significant burden, so immense that she carried a two-ton weight with her every time she stepped onto the stage.

Polly's secret, which she and her actor-turned-ambassador husband Lyman (played by Stacey Keach) concealed from their "two children," involved the existence of Polly's third child. This revelation prompted the youngest child to remind her of this fact early in the play. The first revival of Baitz's play opened at the Hudson Theatre on Sunday, and in her Broadway debut, Julia Louis-Dreyfus presents a portrayal of Polly that differs significantly from Channing's gravitas-laden performance.

Louis-Dreyfus' Polly emerges as brittle and brittle, evoking the hard, bright blindness described by Edith Wharton in "The Age of Innocence." The core tragedy of Baitz's play remains potent, regardless of the varying interpretations of Polly Wyeth. By casting Louis-Dreyfus in the role, "Other Desert Cities" proves more comedic in its initial act compared to Channing's more solemn portrayal.

Louis-Dreyfus, known for her work on "Veep" and "Seinfeld," adeptly handles Baitz's sharp one-liners, which Polly must employ to shield herself from her family's various adversaries, two of whom are her children. Lyman, Polly's husband, is the only person aware of their family's secret and never engages in emotional sparring with her, demonstrating a sense of self-effacement in his performance.

The most notable aspect of Louis-Dreyfus' performance is her transformation of Polly into a delicate porcelain figurine, necessitating emotional distance from her children Brooke, Trip, and Silda. Lyman, played by Ed Harris, is the sole character who understands the gravity of their secret and is absent from the stage for most of the play, with his presence conveyed through a standout performance in a death scene.

Louis-Dreyfus is joined by Allison Janney's vivacious and witty Silda, reminiscent of Edward Albee's Claire in "A Delicate Balance," a role Stritch masterfully embodied in the final Broadway revival of that play. In contrast to Polly, Silda revels in her moral superiority, leading to a turning point in the story when her memoir about the third Wyeth child is published, challenging the family's carefully constructed facade.