Speaking of 'Wind' wakers...

Christopher Plummer in an interview with "Playbill" called "Inherit the Wind" a "wonderful warhorse," but it should come as no surprise that the theatre legend, the oldest actor one the stage, breathes the most life into that warhorse's creaky joints.

Plummer is the Clarence Darrow-based Henry Drummond in Doug Hughes' revival of the classic, now in previews at the Lyceum Theatre. The wise, wizened old lawyer who stands on the side of reason over blind faith couldn't be in better hands. And luckily, Plummer has a good match in Brian Dennehy as the bombastic Matthew Harrison Brady.

The drawback to having two such bright stars on the stage together is that it also brings out the weakness in some of the ensemble. Seeing that it's still previews, I won't name any names at this point, but I will say that Denis O'Hare is a fine fit as the caustic journalist (is there any other kind?) E.K. Hornbeck and that Byron Jennings does what he can with the cartoonish Rev. Jeremiah Brown.

So was this revival necessary? Unfortunately, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's play remains as timely as ever. I say unfortunately, because one would hope reason would have made more of an advance in the last century, but any newspaper today could prove to the contrary. And the pandering Brady could easily pass for any politician today spouting dull religious platitudes that he only half-heartedly believes. But while the language of the play is lovely, particularly coming out of Plummer's and Dennehy's mouths, the whole ignorant hick town premise feels incredibly broad, silly and even a bit offensive today.

None of that matters, though. It would be worth seeing even if it was just Plummer and Dennehy reading through the speeches in the show.

A caution about stage seating: Like "Spring Awakening," this production utilizes on-stage seating for a number of audience members. The seats, at a little less than $40 a pop, are a great bargain to see this production. They're incorporated into the set, so the audience members in them are among the cast as the crowd in the courtroom, at the rally to welcome Brady and the prayer scene. The latter is especially chilling for the onstage audience, as it's drawn into the center of the increasingly ill-spirited chants of the crowd. This a rare opportunity to sit onstage with two great actors, but keep in mind that the show is designed to the actual audience. Most of the time, it works, but there are a few points when the main dialogue is drowned out by other actions, particularly some offstage singing at one point. Also, the onstage audience will hear the ad-libbed asides of the ensemble, and that can be a bit distracting, too.