Matt and I saw Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes in Deuce last week. It’s gotten mediocre reviews, but at the special price of three bucks a ticket, who’s going to turn down a chance to see Angela Lansbury live on stage?

Umm… that sounded so much less insulting in my head.

Anyway, the play isn’t very good. Nothing much happens, and there’s one character, a middle-aged tennis fan, who basically beats you over the head with the show’s theme. There were a couple of times where I nearly nodded off.

But it was worth it for the pleasure of watching two veteran actresses on stage. I’ve loved Marian Seldes every time I’ve seen her in something – including the time she walked past me on the Columbus Circle subway platform as I was waiting for an uptown 1 train. (As Charles Isherwood wrote a couple of days ago in the Times, “if you have not seen Marian Seldes on a New York stage, you are not a true New Yorker.”) In fact, it was worth it just to hear Ms. Seldes use the four-letter “C” word.

As for Angela Lansbury, she does a fine job with her material. I’ve finally seen her on a Broadway stage, so she can die now.

Umm… that sounded so much less insulting in my head.

Yesterday I saw Frost/Nixon, a new Broadway play, originally produced in London, about David Frost’s interviews with Richard Nixon, three years after Nixon resigned. The most famous line from those interviews: “[W]hen the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

Nixon died thirteen years ago today, and coincidentally (or not), the play officially opens on Broadway tonight.

From the show’s producers: “How did David Frost, a famous British talk-show host with a playboy reputation, elicit the apology that the rest of the world was waiting to hear from former President Richard Nixon? The fast-paced new play shows the determination, conviction and cunning of two men as they square off in one of the most monumental political interviews of all time.”

It has a classic structure: a dual character study. Two characters meet in a confrontation, and we get to see both of their motivations. Frost actually seems to be the more important character than Nixon here — after all, Frost’s name comes first in the title. I was fascinated by the play, even though it was hard to hear Frank Langella, who portrays Nixon. He mumbles and swallows his words. Fortunately, the mezzanine wasn’t very full, so at one point I got up and moved closer, and after that I could hear him better.

The play set my mind going, and I started to think about how an ex-presidency has a life of its own. I realized that even on January 20, 2009, we won’t have heard the last of George W. Bush. He’ll be 62 when he leaves office. Will he pull a Gerald Ford, never to be seen again except at golf tournaments? Will he pull a Carter or Clinton, setting up a foundation and trying to change the world – in his case, by spreading Christianity or trying to export democracy abroad? I doubt he’ll pull a Nixon, writing memoirs and trying to rehabilitate his reputation. In his mind, he probably has nothing to atone for.

I wonder if he’ll ever sit down with an interviewer like Nixon did with Frost and try to explain himself and his actions.

Oh, please.

Scott Rudin, the producer of “The Year of Magical Thinking” on Broadway, is pissed at the New York Times for allowing readers of its website to post “Reader’s Reviews” while a show is still in previews. He got back at the Times by taking out ads in the paper, quoting one of those “Reader’s Reviews,” which said, “An evening of magical theater. Get yourself a ticket to the Booth Theatre,” and Rudin purposely and misleadingly attributed the quote to “The New York Times Online.” And the Times is not happy. Letters ensued.

For those who don’t know, before a show’s official opening, there are usually a few weeks of previews, which is an opportunity for the creators of the show to see what works in front of an audience and what doesn’t and to adjust things accordingly. From night to night, entire songs might be added or removed, scenes might be rearranged or taken out or whatever. The show doesn’t get “frozen” until opening night. Anyone can see a preview; the ticket prices are usually the same; you still get a Playbill. The average theatergoer would have no idea whether he or she was attending a preview.

Here is the page on the New York Times website where you post Readers’ Reviews. There’s no indication of whether a show is in previews or not. Savvy readers can tell that a listing without a New York Times review is probably still in previews, but the average reader won’t catch that. It’s probably a good idea for the Times to designate shows in previews as such.

But if Scott Rudin’s pissed at the New York Times for allowing readers’ reviews before a show has opened, he may as well go after All That Chat, and the entire Intarweb for that matter.

If you’re going to charge audience members full price to see a preview of your show, they have the right to know what they’re getting into beforehand, and that includes hearing about the show from others. If Rudin’s unhappy with the Times policy, he should, um, TELL THEM, instead of acting passive-aggressively.