Cooper shines, shares spotlight in robust 'Elephant Man'

NEW YORK — Plenty of folks will attend the extraordinary new Broadway production of The Elephant Man (* * * * out of four stars) that opened Sunday at the Booth Theatre solely, or at least chiefly, to see the movie star Bradley Cooper on stage. And they will see that film idol — for about 90 seconds or so.

Cooper first appears wearing only a pair of tan shorts, a sculpted Adonis standing stock-still. Beside him is a screen on which images of Joseph Carey Merrick — the grievously deformed Englishman who inspired John Merrick, whom Cooper plays here — are projected.

As Merrick's specific malformations are pointed out to us, one by one, Cooper assumes them, without the aid of makeup or prosthetics. The actor's right arm bends as if snapped, with the hand growing limp; his posture becomes stooped, with one hip jutting out jarringly. His handsome face — it's almost pretty, really, with its long eyelashes and soft but fine features — becomes puckered. He breathes heavily; his speech, when it comes, is thick and labored.

Casting one of Hollywood's most beautiful people as Merrick may seem like a gimmick, but this revival, which premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2012, offers nothing of the sort. Cooper had, by all accounts, imagined himself in the role before anyone suggested it to him, and he approaches it with total commitment, not only to reflecting Merrick's physical challenges but also to capturing the character's great sensitivity and wit.

That's not to say Cooper dominates this staging, robustly directed by Scott Ellis. Playwright Bernard Pomerance also was drawn to Frederick Treves, the surgeon who helped ensure Merrick had shelter and comfort in the final years of his short life, and wrote about him. (Merrick died in 1890, at 27.)

Treves is as prominent and compelling a figure in The Elephant Man as Merrick himself, or should be. Here, luckily, he is played by the superb Alessandro Nivola, who shows us both the depths of the doctor's compassion and the glimmers of arrogance in his quest to civilize Merrick and make him "like others," as Treves puts it early on.

Nivola also reveals, increasingly, Treves' inner struggles as Merrick becomes a source of fascination in Victorian society, represented here by crisply dressed figures moving with stiff efficiency across Timothy R. Mackabee's minimalist set.

Ellis' flawless cast features another star, in another standout performance: Patricia Clarkson plays Mrs. Kendal, an actress and friend of Treves who becomes Merrick's devoted companion. Cooper and Clarkson's first scene together, in which Merrick is offered a woman's hand for the first time, may move you to tears. Their last, more intimate scene will leave you breathless.

It's no slight to Cooper, in fact, to say that this gorgeous Elephant Man is a shared achievement.