You may remember Ken Howard as the coach on TV’s “The White Shadow” … or maybe not, it was 30 years ago! It is available on DVD though. No word on whether or not Howard will autograph “White Shadow” DVDs after the show this weekend.
REVIEW. If Congressman Tip O’Neil was even half as charming as the New Repertory Theatre’s world-premiere production of “According to Tip,” it’s easy to see how the North Cambridge native became Speaker of the House.
In “Tip,” actor Ken Howard embodies O’Neil so completely that it almost feels like you’re in the room with the legendary Speaker who believed “back then (politics) was show business, now it’s advertising.”
O’Neil regales the enthusiastic audience with tales of his youth, his unfulfilled aspiration to be governor of Massachusetts and the backroom politicking of a bygone era. He takes a swing from his Yaz bat, explains how he got the name Tip and even gives appropriate attribution to his father for his most famous quote, “All politics is local.”
Like any good Irish politician from Boston, Tip’s tales include a bit of after-hours whiskey drinking, lots of singing and gleeful recall of the behind the scenes scheming he had to do to make the grade.
Playwright Dick Flavin nicely captures the essence of O’Neil’s illustrious professional life, especially his close friendship with political foe Ronald Reagan. And he beautifully captures the relationship of O’Neil and his wife Millie, even giving Howard the chance to warble a few bars of “Apple Blossom Time.”
But the remainder of O’Neil’s personal life, including his retirement to Cape Cod, feels so glossed over that the script could use a substantive rewrite.
Howard’s O’Neil is at his best when he’s looking back over a life well lived, explaining things like Mrs. O’Brien’s rule and why “Social Security is the third rail of American politics.” It’s almost riveting to hear him explain how Newt Gingrich single-handedly changed bi-partisan politics and how Tip himself recovered from his own bad press during the Vietnam War.
If you’ve been around long enough to remember Tip O’Neil, you will thoroughly enjoy this engaging production. If, on the other hand, O’Neil is just a name in your history book, it’s great to get a glimpse of what it was like when politicians didn’t “commission a focus group to tell them when to go to the bathroom,” as O’Neil put it. Either way, “Tip” is tops.
‘According to Tip’
Through July 17
New Repertory Theatre
321 Arsenal St., Watertown
$35-$55, 617-923-8487
www.newrep.org