'Apple Tree' shines in the Apple

Philadelphia Inquirer, The, December, 2006 by Howard Shapiro

My most indelible memories of being on my own include a train trip I took by pure impulse to New York. I was a Temple freshman, fresh from being raised in a little town, so this was a big deal: a hick loose on Broadway. I ended up buying the cheapest ticket, maybe $20, to see a new musical called The Apple Tree.

It had big 1966 names. Mike Nichols directed Barbara Harris, Alan Alda and Hal Holbrook. I learned that night that "Big Names = Big Show" is a false equation. The Apple Tree was really three elongated skits. It was goofy and cute - in the way cute was used in the less world-weary '60s. Most of all, it was temporal. I wouldn't remember much about it six months later except that Barbara Harris was sheer joy. A few nights ago I took the train to New York, again, and sat...