THEATER
Legends live on … and on
Veteran divas joke about themselves, and our readers love them for it.

By BRIAN McTAVISH
The Kansas City Star

Legends aren’t born. They’re fussed over.

Such was the case Tuesday night at the Lyric Theatre, as 1980s’ “Dynasty” TV stars Joan Collins and Linda Evans held court in the appropriately titled play “Legends!”

The still-glamorous actresses were greeted with respectful applause and rewarded with laughter in James Kirkwood’s comedy about two catty drama queens who can’t keep their claws in when they’re around each other. At times — especially during their wig-pulling brawl at the end of Act 1 — it almost felt like a lost episode of “Dynasty.”

Was it life imitating art, art imitating life or art imitating art? Perhaps the less said about art, the better. This was an evening at the theater largely devoted to lingering star power, which can take on a life of its own.

The mostly older audience of 1,300 included Angela Etkind, a native of England who lives in Leawood, and Jim MacDonald of Kansas City, who won free tickets to the show from The Star for writing essays detailing their obsession with “Dynasty” and its legendary ladies.

So what did the two fervent fans think of the play Tuesday?

“It’s not a work that’s going to win any drama awards, but it’s a good laugh,” MacDonald said. “It looks like they both still have it.”

“Linda Evans doesn’t have the same stage presence as Joan Collins,” Etkind said. “But it’s very clear that they work extremely well together.”

“It goes back to the chemistry,” MacDonald said. “In real life, they’re friends, and they have a great relationship and a great rapport. And that translates well into these roles that they’re in right now. … I appreciated that they were clearly comfortable delivering lines where they made fun of one another’s plastic surgery.”

In the play Collins and Evans portray down-on-their-luck former Hollywood co-stars being pushed to reunite on stage by a nervous-wreck of an off-Broadway producer played by Joe Farrell. Etkind and MacDonald agreed it was actually the supporting players who spurred most of the big laughs — especially Tonye Patano as a smart-aleck maid and Will Holman as a bump-and-grind “strip-o-gram” performer.

And Etkind simply wasn’t buying the lead characters’ scraping-by premise.

“I think the impecunious nature of the two ladies seems a little hard to believe,” she said. “Especially with the cost of the costumes.”

And how did Collins and Evans look in the flesh?

“They look nearly as good as they did more than 20 years ago — at least from this distance,” MacDonald said.

“They don’t look like they’re suffering from osteoporosis,” Etkind said.

“I kept looking at Linda Evans’ hair, thinking, ‘Is that a wig?’ ” MacDonald said. “Twenty years ago (on ‘Dynasty’), I always wanted to restyle her hair, at least for an episode or two. She had the same hairdo for nine straight seasons on that show, and it drove me nuts. And to see her come out in that same hairdo. … But something wasn’t right about it. And then it was fun to see them without wigs on.”

Did that take guts?

“I was almost embarrassed for the actresses,” Etkind said. “I have never seen Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington (on ‘Dynasty’) in quite a state of undress.”

What about Collins’ character enjoying a lap dance from Mr. Stripper?

“Great fun,” MacDonald said.

“I was still amused,” Etkind said. “I didn’t think it was rude, as such. The rhythm flowed.”

While humor remained the overarching point of the proceedings — including a fleeting reference to that “trashy” TV show “Dynasty” — the stars addressed some heavier subjects.

“On ‘Dynasty,’ the characters were larger than life, and the play brought them more down to size as human beings,” Etkind said. “And some of the themes that they brought up were very realistic and difficult. The issues of loneliness and even death came up, which are very real issues for people that age.”

When it was all over, Etkind and MacDonald heartily recommended the show, which continues through Sunday at the Lyric.

“This would be a great holiday present for members of your family,” Etkind said.

“Just as actresses, they were great sports for taking on these roles,” MacDonald said. “And I think they made the most of them. I came with no higher expectations than that and feel like they delivered on them.”