Theater: Madonna Comes to Broadway

Speed-the-Plow skewers Hollywood mores

A newly promoted movie executive strides purposefully around his office with a would-be producer tagging behind. At every step or two, the aspiring dealmaker histrionically kisses the mogul's hindquarters. Ostensibly this scene of ritual abasement between old, close friends is being staged for an audience of one, the mogul's new secretary. It is also a central metaphor in Broadway's hottest new hit, Speed-the-Plow, a foulmouthed and ferociously funny slice of Hollywood life.

The show, which opened last week amid a hubbub of publicity, blends snob appeal with raw marquee value. The playwright, David Mamet, won a 1984 Pulitzer Prize for his...

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