*

The ghosts of a couple of tabloid scribes—maybe even the ghost of journalism itself—hovered over the opening of Lucky Guy April 1 at the Broadhurst. One belonged to the title character, Mike McAlary, who tagged all three tabloid bases in the area during his 41 years, and the other to his Boswell, Nora Ephron, who once toiled as the Post reporter before moving on to better things like a procession of popular “chick flicks” but never quite recovered from her love of newspapering.

She was allowed the evening’s last tug at the heartstrings when her portrait was flashed on the stage after the curtain call. It broke up the cast, all lined up in a row—including, the star she finally got to Broadway in the role of McAlary: Tom Hanks.

George C. Wolfe’s fluid direction keeps the numerous short scenes in this story in a quickened and eventful swirl, with an ensemble cast moving smoothly in and out of characters, bars, newsrooms, taverns, hospitals, saloons, bedrooms, et al.

Hanks handily dominates the proceedings in his high-octane Broadway debut, but it’s one of those ensembles where everybody works, and The Star certainly welcomes the sharing since he’s doing some pretty heavy lifting with the role as it is.