Elizabeth Ashley, as the stuffy widow, Mrs. Graves, in a routinized and dogmatic lifestyle, is able to shift personality and passion from daily details to relaxing tea parties, with a handsome young landlord. Ms. Ashley has unusual stage presence and charisma that transcend the plot and period setting. Her larger than life hats and dresses are perfectly suited to the dull grayness of London and the bright pastels of Italy. Ms. Ashley made her Broadway debut in 1959, and she is an actors' actor. Jayne Atkinson, as the tormented and burned-out wife, Lotty Wilton, is brilliant, as she morphs from passive to passionate. She finds an advertisement in a newspaper, which will enable her to escape a smothering, stultifying marriage, in which she has been ordered to just say, "Marvelous!" every time she is asked a question. She actually convinces a near stranger, Molly Ringwald, as Rose Arnott, to come along. Ms. Ringwald has the same ability to switch personas from religious and neglected wife to a flowering nymph in the garden.

In fact, it is just this garden, Act II, in Mezzago, on the Italian coast, that serves to nurture the ingrained nature of the lonely, lost souls, all of whom blossom amidst the wisteria and a list of Latin-named roses and various flowers and shrubs. Michael Cumpsty, as Mellersh Wilton, who is incongruously invited by his wife to join the one-month Italian sojourn, finds his formerly stiff Lotty so hungry for love that they rush to her room. There is a riotous après-shower scene, involving Mellersh and the ladies. Daniel Gerroll, as Frederick Arnott, who had been an assumed playboy, actually appears in Italy, seeking Lady Caroline Bramble, one of the four women originally slated for this just-women adventure. Mr. Gerroll has tremendous dynamism and played this rogue quite well. Dagmara Dominczyk is a beautiful actress and looked like a vamp on a lounge chair, until she was jilted by a playboy husband, seduced by his own wife.

Michael Hayden was a wonderful, young landlord, who sparked the stage with style and magnetism, and Patricia Conolly as the maid, Costanza, spoke in flawless Italian (which I have studied), good accent, and had superior technique in mime and body language to carry off a most difficult role.

Kudos to Tony Straiges and Rui Rita for sets and lighting that were most exceptional. The concept of the dual homes, which allowed for one complicated scene in Act I, as both wives simultaneously informed their husbands of their upcoming Italian escape, was followed by the sumptuous Italian Villa, with the garden and sensual lighting that showcased the Italian spirit, as contrasted to the English freeze. This was a most satisfying matinee, with an audience of almost all ladies, on a Broadway, free-spirited adventure, in the Belasco Villa. Run to get a ticket, while this cast is intact.

My guest, Ele Franklin, says, "My answer to any situation will be 'Marvelous!' as was this play. I feel I was transported back to a time, when I wish I could have lived." (1922)