Theater Opinions/Commentary

[ocjackie]

I have an early train back to DC that day :'(

[mamaleh]

Saw two VERY different pieces of theater recently: a farcical black comedy, MODERN TERRORISM OR THOSE WHO WANT TO KILL US AND HOW WE LEARN TO LOVE THEM; and a staged workshop of a new musical set in the disco era, LAST DANCE.

To say that the subject matter of MODERN TERRORISM is off-putting and disturbing is putting it mildly. I think I understand what the playwright had in mind--broad comedy as a coping mechanism to live with constant threats of suicide bombers and other human-monsters--but the farcical tone approaching a deadly serious subject definitely turned off a good portion of the audience, numerous of whom walked out at intermission. In the play Islamic fundamentalists living in New York plot to blow up a building, hampered only by the goofy, all-American stoner who lives upstairs in their rundown building. It's played for laughs (some bits land, others don't) until nearly the end, when a sudden, disquieting shift in tone takes over. I saw a few minutes of a talk-back after the play, but the playwright's assertions that bad/weird stuff happens, so why not make do as best we can, did not go over well. Yes, it has been 11 years since 9/11, but perhaps there is no right time to poke fun at terrorists. I don't see this play's having a successful run at Second Stage.

For a real 180, I caught a workshop of a frothy, lightweight musical set in the disco era. Rob Morrow, whom I always thought was appealing on NORTHERN EXPOSURE, is still cute as a button as he turns 50--despite the Travolta-as-Tony Manero white suit, wide lapels and wild and woolly '70s 'fro. In fact, he's a hoot as the lounge-lizard narrator who explains to a young woman how her parents met and fell in love, all in flashbacks to the tune of songs by well-known composer Paul Jabara ("Enough is Enough," "Last Dance," "It's Raining Men," etc.) I was surprised that, although no Caruso, Morrow can carry a tune and move pretty well. He even flirts with first-row audience members (I got a wink, and he sat in another woman's lap while kissing her hand.). Then there's the "surprise" ending that doesn't quite work, but it's evident Morrow and crew are having so much fun on stage that it doesn't matter. I can see how the disco lights and mirror ball could help make for a fantastic finale. I do hope a full-fledged commercial production results.

Ellen

[carouselkathy]

If I was in NYC, I'd be at Carnegie Hall tonight! Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kelly, Paolo, Aaron, and a really big choir! Heaven, I say!

[ocjackie]

Just read online (please don't ask me where) that Hugh is going to do Prisoners real fast after Wolverine. He is expected to start rehearsal for Houdini in March or April. Just a heads up so that if any of you (like me) need to start socking their pennies away, no is a good time. >

[mamaleh]

Oct 12, 2012 8:16:55 GMT -5 carouselkathy said:

If I was in NYC, I'd be at Carnegie Hall tonight! Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kelly, Paolo, Aaron, and a really big choir! Heaven, I say!

I know, Kathy. I'd love to have gone, too. But it was a pretty pricey affair, so I didn't. Saving up for you-know-who. Still, I'm a big Aaron Lazar fan, so I do hope this was recorded. (I'm so glad his performance, rather than Matthew Morrison's, was captured on the Lincoln Center-Great Performances presentation of LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA on PBS.)

Ellen

[mamaleh]

Recent roundup: THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD is a smile-inducing revival of the '85 Tony-winning Best Musical. Its play-within-a-play structure works well, as the members of the English musical hall presenting their version of the unfinished Dickens novel engage in lot of tomfoolery between the melodious songs. Stephanie Block, Will Chase, and the inimitable Chita Rivera are all very good, as are the rest of the case including Jessie Mueller, late of ON A CLEAR DAY, as a visitor from the East. The audience gets to choose whodunt at the end, which is always fun. A very enjoyable theater outing.

DETROIT, now closed, built up a goodly amount of tension and unease that carried through the startling ending. The black comedy, set in the current days of unemployment and malaise, starred David Schwimmer, Amy Ryan and John Cullum, who makes a brief but memorable appearance post-climax. I could not believe what happened to the set at the end--really fantastic set design.

I was able to get free tickets to THE PERFORMERS via a contest, and despite its sitcom-ish underpinnings, I'm glad I went. Cheyenne Jackson's opening scene, with him "dressed" in the tiniest leather thong imaginable, was not only pleasant to look at but was very funny as well. He's half of a porn-film star couple (wife is the hilarious Ari Graynor), both of whom take what they do very seriously as art. In Las Vegas for the Adult Film Awards, their encounters with others in and out of the industry, including Henry Winkler as longtime adult film icon Chuck Wood, form the plot. Winkler was fabulously hammy and had some great lines that I'm loath to repeat here. No, this was not a great play, but I thought it deserved more than its brief run, which ended yesterday.

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE is a wonderfully funny new play by Christopher Durang. You don't have to be on fully intimate terms with Chekhov to appreciate the humor, but I think some familiarity with his major plays adds to the enjoyment. David Hyde Pierce, Sigourney Weaver and the brilliant, alternately funny and heartbreaking Kristine Nielsen head the very adept cast. "Spike" is Weaver's 20-something boy toy. She plays a famous actress who heads back to the family home in Bucks County determined to sell it despite the pleas of siblings Pierce and Nielsen, who still live there. The latter loves to look at the nearby "orchard," despite Pierce's constant reminders that 8 or 9 trees does not make an orchard. I was solidly entertained throughout. At the Newhouse theater at Lincoln Center. Very recommended.

The comedy-drama GRACE (mostly drama) has a SUNSET BLVD-type structure, where you know at the beginning what happens at the end. I really didn't see the need for it and think it harmed the play a bit, but the powerhouse performances of Paul Rudd, Kate Arrington, Ed Asner and especially Michael Shannon as a bitter man recovering from a car accident deserve to be seen. The plot has Rudd and Arrington aiming to start a chain of gospel-themed motels. While setting things up in a dinky Florida apartment, they encounter their grumpy neighbor (Shannon) and a talkative exterminator (Asner). Despits its flaws, the play held my interest throughout. Rudd and Shannon were friendly, chatty and personal at the stage door. Rudd was especially funny.

SCANDALOUS, a new musical with book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford, is largely boring and pedestrian, with only one song that I liked: "It's Just You," a jazzy number sung by two rivals for the affection of the famous '20-'30s controversial evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, played by the always great Carolee Carmello. But she doesn't have much to work with here.

DEAD ACCOUNTS has prodigal son Norbert Leo Butz (a whirl of comic energy) returning from the big bad city to his midwestern Ohio home, where sis Katie Holmes still lives with their parents. As a comedy-drama, with emphasis on comedy, it's fairly funny and entertaining, but "meh." Norbert has returned because of a financial misdeed he committed back in the city, and complications with his parents (Jayne Houdyshell has some terrific moments at the guilt-inducing Catholic mom), estranged wife (Judy Greer) and sister ensue. Loved the opening scene, which made me wish I had some Haagen-Dazs in my freezer. In fact, lots of food--including ice cream, "cheese coneys" (cheese dogs) and pizza--is eaten throughout. I can't wait for Katie Holmes to get chubby--or at least a little less strident in her line delivery. I found off-putting that she reacted the same way to her brother's buying too many pizzas as to the serious illness of their father. The director should tell her to modulate a bit.

THE GOOD MOTHER is an absorbing, enigmatic play that's not perfect but held my interest. Gretchen Mol, the not-so-good mother of the late Jimmy Darmody on BOARDWALK EMPIRE, is a single mother of a 4-year-old autistic child who is heard but never seen. She has encounters with various people from her past, for good or ill, and makes some questionable life choices resulting in no heat, coat or electricity. It all starts when she asks a goth-type college student, whom she hasn't seen since he was 10, to babysit. The tension builds nicely, even if the ultimate payoff isn't quite satisfying. Mol is all frenetic fidgets, and the rest of the cast is effective.

Ellen

[jo]

Thanks again, Ellen

Always appreciate your refreshing insights!


Jo

[ocjackie]

Thanks very much for the reviews. I really love Norbert Leo Butz. I saw him in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and fell in love with his preformance. I am going to hold on to this list until the next trip and hopefully it won't be too long in the future. Again, thanks Ellen

[ocjackie]

Just read that Chaplin in closing Jan. 6 2013. It was not one of the most fantastic shows that Broadway had given us, but Rob McClure did a great job in the role. Sorry to see it go so soon. I guess it just appealed to a certain age group that was not the masses. Anyway, Mcclure does a great job and if you get a chance to see it before it closes, it's worth the money. Tickets are a decent price on Broadway Box.

Jackie

[mamaleh]

More recent roundup: The first major revival of GOLDEN BOY, Clifford Odets' '30s drama, is fairly solid. Seth Numrich, the young man who followed his horse into WWI in WAR HORSE, is the conflicted boxer-violinist who wants to please his Italian immigrant dad (Tony Shalhoub) with his musical skills but deep down wants the bigger piece of the American dream that being a championship boxer can provide. Lots of stylized dialogue ("I'm just a whore from Newark!") evoking that colorful period raised my interest level. It's two and three quarters hours long, so be sure to factor in a bathroom stop at least just before the curtain rises.

SIREN'S HEART puts Marilyn Monroe in a sort of limbo waiting room after her death. Surrounded by portraits of her famous acquaintances(I still say the "Kim Novak" on display doesn't look like her), she recounts tales of the people she has loved, parts she wished she'd have gotten (Novak's in PICNIC), goes on about how she had a thing for Jewish men, and sings a few songs, including "Happy Birthday, Mr. President." But it all adds up to a lot of nothing, even though solo artist Louisa Bradshaw tries her hardest.

THE OUTGOING TIDE was one of the most riveting dramas I've seen recently. Ian Lithgow (John's son, who occasionally appeared as student Leon in the elder Lithgow's sitcom THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN) is the middle-aged, ne'er do-well son returning to his parents' place on Chesapeake Bay as mom (Michael Learned from THE WALTONS) and dad (Peter Strauss, incredibly buff at 65!) deal with Strauss's increasingly advancing Alzheimer's disease. Mom wants to put him in a nursing home but dad has an ingenious counter-plan. Even given the subject matter, there is a lot of comedy in the interplay between the generations. I could not get over how much Ian Lithgow sounds and looks like his dad. This was such a satisfying play, too bad it had a short, limited run.

THE WHALE, also now closed, featured Shuler Hensley, Jud Fry to Hugh's Curly, in what was probably the single best dramatic performance I've seen on stage all year. He wears a huge foam suit to very believably approximate a 600-pound dying man at odds with his estranged family. The story has to do with whether he can connect with anyone, student or family, as he goes about his business grading college essays online while rejecting all calls to be hospitalized for his critical-level congestive heart failure. One particular essay on MOBY DICK takes prominence in a climactic scene that had me breathless. I predict well-deserved Drama Desk and other awards for Shuler.

PICNIC was a fairly absorbing look at '50s Americana and the pursuit of the American dream, including the seemingly unattainable beautiful blonde. Most of us probably have seen the William Holden-Kim Novak movie. I must confess that the lakeside dance in that film engendered more palpable heat than the proceedings on stage, although the male lead looked pretty enough. Maggie Grace and Sebastian Stan, both of whom I'd never heard of but learned they're TV stars, played the young couple. I found Grace slightly more effective than Stan, whose line readings were largely wooden and flat. But on the plus side were Mare Winningham as Grace's mother and the always watchable Ellen Burstyn as the neighbor, whose hiring of Stan to do odd jobs ignites the conflict. And I must mention Elizabeth Marvel, who lived up to her surname as the schoolteacher who ropes her reluctant boyfriend into marriage. On the whole, I liked the production, didn't quite love it.

I unexpectedly attended LEONARD COHEN and his excellent band at Madison Square Garden owing to a last-minute freebie. The guy is 78 and takes over that stage for nearly four hours--unbelievable! Great show and musicianship.

BAD JEWS, which closed yesterday, is an enjoyable, well-acted comedy-drama about sibling rivalry as well as Ethnic Identity vs.Who Cares? A young woman (Tracee Chimo, the breakout star of CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION) wants the chai necklace that belonged to her late grandfather, Poppy, as a symbol of their shared peoplehood and his surviving the Shoah. Trouble is, her cousin also wants the necklace but for a different reason: he wants to give it to his gentile girlfriend/potential fiancee. Lots of funny lines mix well with a possible mystery about Chimo's relationship with a man she met in Israel. Chimo gave a knockout of a manic and physical performance. Michael Zegen (RESCUE ME, THE WALKING DEAD, BOARDWALK EMPIRE) was almost as powerful as the cousin.

Update: Oops, inexplicably I almost forgot three recent theater trips: my favorite book musical of the year, A CHRISTMAS STORY; and the revivals of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and THE HEIRESS. I liked the ACS score (a rarity for me these days) and the kids weren't cloying or adults in miniature--just kids playing out the universal themes of childhood, no matter one's traditions: the desire for great toys! It also featured a fantastic tap dance by a kid named Luke Spring, a peanut-sized future Gene Kelly. But John Bolton, the reliable performer who helped liven up CURTAINS and was the best thing about THE LAST SMOKER IN AMERICA, positively stole the show as the gruff-goofy dad. His number, "A Major Award," brought down the proverbial house. It closed yesterday.

I also greatly enjoyed THE HEIRESS, especially David Strathairn's overbearing father to Jessica Chastain's Catherine. I'd never seen him on stage before and found his stage presence commanding. Dan Stevens of DOWNTON ABBEY successfully navigated the difficult path between sweetheart and seducer. How do you make a scoundrel likable? Darned if I know, but Stevens did. Chastain was excellent in Act I as the slightly aging spinster whose father and aunt (a wonderful Judith Ivey) despair of Catherine's future. She takes her character through a very dramatic arc so that the cowering simp of Act I is barely recognizable in Act II. Trouble is, some of Chastain's line readings in the latter act make her sound like someone in a horror movie, which spoiled her otherwise very effective portrayal. But I'd definitely recommend catching this fine production before it ends on Feb. 10.

I'd never seen CAT on stage, only the Taylor-Newman movie, so this was something of a revelation. It's much more adult in feel and must have been quite controversial in its day. The repressed homosexual feelings Brick (a coiled Benjamin Walker) has for the late Skipper (seen as a ghost) come to the fore. Plus, I'd never gotten the feeling that Maggie (Scarlett Johansson) may be partially a golddigger before now. Scarlett leaves room for ambiguity, which adds to the enjoyment of the production. Ciaran Hinds is very effective as the downright nasty Big Daddy. It's about 2 hours and 40 minutes, so, as with GOLDEN BOY, plan your bathroom trip. Side note: Last Saturday I was seated three counter stools away from Walker at my usual eating spot in the city. Couldn't help but notice that he's very brave to pour in lots of sugar in his coffee, given that he has a (quick) butt-bearing scene, LOL. Ah, youth. As he passed by me, I wished him a happy new year, which he returned to me. At 6'3" he's a hair taller than Hugh and almost as genial. Momma-in-law Meryl Streep lucked out.

The rest of my free time has been spent seeing the movie version of a certain little musical by Boublil and Schonberg.

Ellen

[Jamie]

For anyone who has forgotten just how much heat Novak and Holden generated even with their clothes on :-) youtu.be/bNxtxfuZD6M

[mamaleh]

And even with Holden about ten years too old for the role--still magical; and love the interweaving of "Moonglow" and the "Theme from Picnic." Killer strings!

Ellen

[Jamie]

There is a great version on guitar by Chet Atkins and Les Paul on their Chester and Lester album with each of them playing one of the parts. By the end of the album they are both drunker than skunks and still playing like the unbelievable masters of the instrument that they were. youtu.be/sM4kpkKyPDo

[mamaleh]

Of the various things I've seen lately, two stand out: TWO BY TWO, running only this weekend as part of the York Theatre Mufi series; and OLD HATS.

TWO BY TWO is a bare-bones revival of the Danny Kaye vehicle of 1970, which I'd never seen but had heard the OCR many times. As much as Kaye pleased his audiences--despite the many liberties he took with the book that enraged the creatives and the producers--I can't imagine anyone better than Jason Alexander, making a now-rare NY stage appearance. He and Tovah Feldshuh had great chemistry as Noah and his long-suffering wife Esther. The book, which I understand has undergone some revisions since the initial outing, was fast, funny and touching. Alexander is still in fine voice, as were Feldshuh and Claybourne Elder as the eldest son Japheth who gets the show's premiere love ballad, "I Do Not Know a Day I Did Not Love You." This was one of the best such mini-revivals at the York that I've ever seen.

I'd often heard stories of how wonderful Bill Irwin--who I've long admired as an actor and who was a wonderful George in the previous revival of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?--was in comedy but I'd never seen him doing what he's best known for: vaudevillian antics. Now I have, and I heartily recommend a trip to OLD HATS at the Signature on W. 42nd to see a duo who personify the phrase "inspired clowning." Irwin and longtime professional partner David Shiner put a goofy grin on my face that hasn't yet worn off. They were hilarious in their many bits, and incidental songs by Nellie McKay at the piano just added to the merriment. Highly recommended.

Ellen

[mamaleh]

Caught up with the latest revival of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Really, really excellent--catch it if you can before it closes on March 3. Tracy Letts and Amy Morton pull out all the stops and have electric chemistry as the evening of their peculiar brand of fun and games unfolds. Letts is also a playwright -- he authored AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, which starred Morton -- and his facility with expressing key words and phrases is remarkable. Morton is equally adept, and the younger couple are also fine, especially Carrie Coon as the increasingly inebriated "frail" wife. Having loved the Kathleen Turner-Bill Irwin revival several years back, I almost passed this one up. Glad I didn't. This is stage acting at its zenith; I predict multiple Tonys.

Ellen

[mamaleh]

Recent outings: HANDS ON A HARDBODY, the musicalization of the documentary about a group of down-on-their-luck Texans who enter a contest to win a truck. Each of the ten contestants must keep his/her hand on the truck; last person standing wins. Everyone has a "this is me" song, but only a couple were standouts, including a plea from a young man "Born in Laredo" who's always taken for an illegal. I'm not really a fan of country or gospel-like music, so I found it ironic that the song I liked best from this show was a number packed with religious fervor, "Joy of the Lord," Keala Settle's big number. I think it was the creative, percussion-packed staging that won me over, sort of STOMP meets LEAP OF FAITH (but in a good way). If the show makes it to the Tonys, that will likely be the featured number. Keith Carradine's and Hunter Foster's characters are more finely etched than some of the others, but Keala Settle, as above, steals the show. I liked it a bit more than I thought I would, but I'm not sure about its longevity.

I saw the first public performance of MATILDA last night, and although I haven't seen CINDERELLA (but will tonight) or KINKY BOOTS (rumored to be a real crowd-pleaser) yet, I can't help but think MATILDA's going to walk away with the lion's share of the Tonys. The staging and choreography are spectacular, as are the out-there but very effective performances of Bertie Carvel, deliciously evil as school headmistress Trunchbull; and Lesli Margherita and Gabriel Ebert as Matilda's incredibly deficient and goofy parents.

Several children alternate in the role of Matilda, a mammoth undertaking for a small girl. Oona Laurence was a feisty and fierce tiny heroine last night, but she does need to better enunciate the lyrics, delivered in an almost too-British accent that make comprehension a chore at times. The children in the ensemble were excellent: they not only acted well but their mastery of very intricate, staccato movements at breakneck speed was astonishing. Lauren Ward has a beautiful voice and was an appropriately sweet Miss Honey. Ryan Steele, who should have won the Astaire Award last year for NEWSIES, was on in the role of an egocentric ballroom dancer, a part that fits him to a tee. I was surprised to note that he's usually in the ensemble and not in that featured role. He not only wowed me with his dancing again but was hilarious, too.

Some of the pyrotechnics reminded me of the most fun aspects of SPIDER-MAN. I was happily surprised that no technical glitches occurred, almost de rigeur for a first preview of a high-tech musical (see SPIDER-MAN above, LOL). Before the show began, director Matthew Warchus came out and warned that certain things might go wrong, but nothing of much consequence did--just a bit of prop food fell off a table during the opening scene.

Having never heard the score before, I remember only one song, "When I Grow Up," a lovely kids' number done on swings that fly out over the orchestra. It was exhilarating.

Aside from one slow-moving scene in Act II that I think should be trimmed a little, the evening had such energy and pizzazz that it seemed more like an opening night than a first preview performance. This is not just a children's show, but a show for everyone.

Ellen

[mamaleh]

CINDERELLA: From one "children's" show to another (although MATILDA has an edginess lurking beneath the sweetness that kids will likely ignore): I enjoyed the modern (read hip, sassy, anachronistic dialogue and a political agenda) take to a degree--but was glad it did not overpower the essence of the timely fairy tale. I can see why the producers might have felt a retelling was necessary: the target audience has likely come to expect such updates, although not everyone welcomes them or finds them necessary.

The production is lush; you can see every cent spent on it on stage, from the lavish costumes to the handsome scenery. The instantaneous, on-stage costume changes were done so deftly and elegantly, they almost seemed like magic. The (mostly) familiar score is vintage Rodgers & Hammerstein: that is, gorgeous, sumptuous melodies and clever lyrics, the like of which is rarely if ever present on Broadway anymore. It is a score to be savored, especially the lilting "Cinderella Waltz." A few songs not in previous television versions of CINDERELLA are also included, mostly for plot purposes.

The performances are also first-rate, from Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana as Ella and the Prince, to Victoria Clark in a sort of double role, but essentially as the Fairy Godmother. Ann Harada is quite funny, and I enjoyed Harriet Harris' snarky tones.

Very young children sitting in our area were nicely behaved, always a plus. I think they were as enraptured by the ornate costumes and fairy magic as their parents.

Said hello to Michael Buble and his pretty wife upon entering the theater. They were friendly and personable. So if you run into them at a public event, you needn't be shy about saying hi.

Ellen

[birchie]

Ellen, Periodically I like to remind you that your theater/show comments/reviews are very much appreciated! I find them especially helpful as someone who isn't able to go to Broadway but I'm still very much a theater fan. So if a local company does one of the shows I've read about here I have a head's up to know whether I'll like it or not. And I just like hearing about them even if I never get to see them live! So, thank you!
Sue

[mamaleh]

Thanks, Sue. I hope I don't sound like an opinionated windbag, but I know I always appreciate hearing others' comments and find them helpful, so I'm just following suit.

I hope you get to see the shows you're interested in.

Ellen

[mamaleh]

Recent theater outings: Encores! five-day revival of IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN was giddy fun from start to finish. I'd seen the original as an adolescent and was wondering whether I'd still be as fond of the show today. Happily, I was. Edward Watts, the muscleman who was one of the very few good things about Kathie Lee's debacle SCANDALOUS, played the titular character with a mixture of bravado and naivety as the script, incorporating mid-'60s pop psychology, demanded. David Pittu was hilarious as the mad scientist out to destroy Superman, not through Kryptonite but through playing on his insecurities. The always wonderful Will Swenson had the Jack Cassidy role, the preening Daily Planet columnist jealous of the Man of Steel. Jenny Powers was a likable, plucky Lois and Alli Mauzey had great fun with the show's only hit song, "You've Got Possibilities." Maybe it's minor Charles Strouse-Lee Adams, but I've always liked the score more than that of their big hit, BYE BYE BIRDIE.

I was greatly looking forward to THE BIG KNIFE: What's not to like? Clifford Odets, and a starry cast led by Bobby Cannavale. I had never seen the Jack Palance movie version, so wasn't quite sure what to expect. Others I was with liked it more than I did, but for me, this KNIFE didn't quite cut it. Odets' takes on morality, backstabbing, and the sordid underbelly of '40s Hollywood were meaty and meaningful, but the pacing was too stagnant. The characters--Hollywood star (Cannavale), mogul (Richard Kind), agent (Chip Zien) et. al--basically planted themselves in a spot and gave their speeches. Also, Cannavale--whom I especially wanted to see--sounded too much like a street guy from his earlier roles; his dialogue delivery was at odds with what he was saying. I thought Kind and Zien stole the show. Granted, this was at a very early preview, so perhaps the direction has gained some energy in the meantime. Whatever its flaws, though, I always enjoy watching the very watchable Cannavale.

PIPPIN is having its first revival since the original production in '72, which I'd caught during my late-student days. It's now a Cirque du Pippin, with numerous circus performers acting as the ensemble abetting the curious show-within-a-show machinations of the Leading Player (Patina Miller, late of SISTER ACT, in the iconic Ben Vereen role). It's all very stylized and eye-popping, as Pippin searches for meaning in his young life while being exhorted by Miller & crew to do something "extraordinary." The Stephen Schwartz score still crackles with "Magic to Do" and "Corner of the Sky," both now standards. This production, directed by Diane Paulus (HAIR revival and PORGY AND BESS), emphasizes women's empowerment beyond the Leading Player. Instead of a feeble old granny, there's Andrea Martin, who steals the show by not just singing about living in the moment (the infectious "No Time at All") but actually has some spectacular moments (I won't ruin it by describing what she does) while looking fabulous and super-fit in a brief costume; who knew?). Pippin's love interest, Catherine (Rachel Bay Jones), is more of a cougar than ever before, and his stepmother (Charlotte D'Amboise) is the power behind the throne. Pippin himself (Matthew James Thomas, late of SPIDER-MAN) was OK but a bit hoarse at the performance I attended. A lot of the Fosse-ness has been retained, with the iconic angular moves. The second act has always brought the momentum of the show to a plodding halt and still does, but Jones' quirky performance almost saves it. If you can rush it as I did for $37, it's definitely worth it.

Attended the packed LUCKY GUY via standing room at the Broadhurst, an area I practically carved my initials into during Hugh 's BACK ON BROADWAY run. Tom Hanks and ensemble make the newsroom residents of various NYC tabloids in the '80s and '90s come alive, although I didn't fully buy Hanks as a gritty, beer-soaked Irish New Yorker. Once I suspended disbelief, though, the evening improved for me. (Remember when Hugh did a workshop or reading of the play? I'm glad he didn't do it; I think he would have been miscast.) Hanks spends a lot of time yelling his lines, so I hope his voice holds up. I liked that he was not afraid to play reporter-columnist Mike McAlary, a Pulitzer Prize winner who broke the Abner Louima and other infamous cases, as an egocentric blowhard. He'll probably be Tony-nominated, but I think his costars, including Danny Mastrogiorgio (Hugh's understudy in A STEADY RAIN), Courtney B. Vance and Richard Masur exuded more of an authentic New York "feel." Maura Tierney is quietly heroic as Mrs. McAlary. Christopher McDonald needs to project a little better; his fast-talking lawyer talks too fast and often indistinctly to be understood at times. The framing device is that the newsroom guys (and a couple of women) are telling his story, each angling to relate this or that event. It's not great but the dialogue by the late Nora Ephron rings true, funny and poignant. It's worth a visit. By the way, probably due to ticket demand (it's the top play seller on B'way), standing room is now $29. I even saw a minor player from SMASH standing a few spots away--not so Rob Reiner, Ty Burrell and a few other celebs in nice down-front orchestra seats. I hear, as with Hugh's shows, this is a celeb-magnet.

KINKY BOOTS, based on the Joel Edgerton movie of a few years ago, was enjoyable but not the "wow" I was hoping for. It's a feel-good, bouncy musical in the mode of PRISICILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT, complete with drag queens and a disco beat. Cyndi Lauper wrote the pop-inflected score that struck me as a little too generic. Maybe that's why my favorite number is a character-derived comic lament, "The History of Wrong Guys," sung by the effervescent Annaleigh Ashford, recently of DOGFIGHT and a former Glinda in WICKED. The performances are more than fine: Stark Sands radiates sincerity as the young heir to the shoe factory in financial distress; Billy Porter is memorable as the drag queen Lola whom he befriends and who helps save the day. Lola and her angels (her fellow drag performers) certainly wear their outrageous costumes well, and they brighten the stage with upbeat numbers. But Porter overdoes the drag aspect until it becomes too much. He's quite effective and even poignant as his male-dressed self, Simon. There are enough good things about the show to recommend it, but it doesn't quite have the craft and creativity of MATILDA, which I think will take Best Musical. This was another $37 rush, and worth it.

Ellen

[mamaleh]

More recent theater: I was all psyched up to see/hear my favorite Broadway voice, James Barbour, in DONNYBROOK down at the Irish Rep. In fact, he was the reason I bought a ticket. Wouldn't you know it--I happened to see the first show with his replacement. Argghh. The cast change wasn't even publicized. Ah, well. Michael Halling was quite good, although I kept thinking: How would Barbour have sounded singing that? Some of you may be familiar with Halling's name. He was the Maytag repairman of Broadway as Hugh's standby in TBFO; the poor guy never got to go on, of course. He has Hugh's general look and lithe presence, although he's an even taller drink of water at about 6'5" or 6'6". The show itself, a musical version of the old John Wayne movie THE QUIET MAN, is slight but has some lovely melodies. I also enjoyed Jenny Power (recently Lois Lane at Encores!'s SUPERMAN) as the feisty, proud Irish bride.

THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES is a finely crafted comedy-drama from Richard Greenberg (BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, TAKE ME OUT, THREE DAYS OF RAIN) about the complicated lives of a highly assimilated Upper West Side Jewish family, most of whom have secrets. Jessica Hecht's spacey mannerisms added a lot to her characterization of an overly intellectual matriarch, and I got a big kick out of the always delightful Judith Light as her neurotic, sedative-popping sister-in-law. It's not a perfect play, but there are enough laughs in Act I and poignancy in Act II, set 20 years later, to create a well-spent evening. Special kudos to Jeremy Shamos (CLYBOURNE PARK) for believably going from young Harvard Law student to middle-aged man after intermission.

I didn't know quite what to expect from ORPHANS even though I'd heard a couple of good things about the play starring Alec Baldwin, Ben Foster and Tom Sturridge. I liked it more than I thought I would, mostly because of the performances. Baldwin managed to wring laughs from dialogue that could be taken much more seriously, but his inflections lightened up the proceedings. He appears to be a high-powered, stocks-and-bonds type who gets drunk in a northern Philly bar and becomes the prisoner of Teach (Foster), a guy with a huge chip on his shoulder and who takes care of his slow but sweet-natured younger brother Phillip (an excellent Sturridge, a Brit whom I've seen in movies [VANITY FAIR, BEING JULIA] but had never taken note of. Just his athletic moves were worth the price of admission). The brothers are orphans, their father long gone and their mother having passed away when the boys were very young--yet somehow they raised themselves without authorities stepping in...? (Such improbable plot points are best overlooked.) But Harold (Baldwin's character), himself an orphan, is no ordinary businessman--and as it turn out, no ordinary kidnap victim, either. Ignore the holes in the story and just enjoy the performances, especially Sturridge's. By the way, the producers are offering rush ($30, well worth it), even though the play is not listed on theater sites as among those offering it.

Ellen

[mamaleh]

Quickie recent roundup:

ANN--a very watchable one-woman show written and performed by the remarkable Holland Taylor. Her portrayal of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, the bane of the Bushes, was mesmerizing. How does one memorize all that?!

FINKS--the injustices of the '50s blacklist are made real and personal in this searing play about the consequences of betrayal, to both victim and the betrayer. The son of real-life blacklisted actors Jack Gilford and his wife Madeline Lee Gilford is the author, who recalls the period when Hollywood was on a witch-hunt for those with far-left leanings.

BUYER AND CELLAR--Michael Urie is funny, affable and downright huggable as the out-of-work actor hired to play shopkeeper in the string of quaint shops Barbra Streisand had built in the basement of her barn on her palatial Malibu estate. The architecture is real, the shopkeeper (with only one customer) fictitious--but the play is delightful.

BUNTY BERMAN PRESENTS--How best to describe this mishmash of '50s Bollywood, a Fred Astaire wannabe, a rapidly aging and paunchy Bollywood hero, a studio head trying to avoid bankruptcy, gangsters, cross dressing and music? In a word, weird. OK, and also a little amateurish. But it was fascinating--and yes, even fun--to observe this quasi-train wreck.

ALL IN THE TIMING--a revival of a an evening of six short playlets, some hilarious and some just funny, but all very entertaining. Carson Elrod steals the show in a variety of roles.

THE MADRID--Edie Falco is very good as a wife/mother/teacher who baffles and upsets her family by walking away from everything and everyone one day, something she has wanted to do for years but finally decides to do--while leaving a preschooler in charge of the classroom. It's an effective comedy-drama that plays better than it sounds.

THE TESTAMENT OF MARY--Not a great play by any means, but Fiona Shaw is a force of nature as a mother who's angry, sad and just plain confused following the death of her son, known to the world as Jesus. It's highly theatrical and overloaded with props that distract a bit from Shaw's speeches. As one-woman shows go, it's not bad, but I preferred ANN. Some view it as controversial; picketers were seen on opening night.

THE NANCE--In a just world, Nathan Lane, star of THE NANCE, and Tracy Letts (of VIRGINIA WOOLF) would share the Best Actor Tony. But Tom Hanks will probably win. Lane, as Chauncey, the effeminate stock character in '30s burlesque known as a "nance," is hilarious and poignant in the many outwardly comic routines that are counterpoint to the roiling events in the real-life homosexual Chauncey's life. The two and a half hours fly by. Oh, and the revolving set is wondrous; it betters even that of THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES.

Ellen

[birchie]

Apr 29, 2013 11:19:28 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

Quickie recent roundup:

ANN--a very watchable one-woman show written and performed by the remarkable Holland Taylor. Her portrayal of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, the bane of the Bushes, was mesmerizing. How does one memorize all that?!

FINKS--the injustices of the '50s blacklist are made real and personal in this searing play about the consequences of betrayal, to both victim and the betrayer. The son of real-life blacklisted actors Jack Gilford and his wife Madeline Lee Gilford is the author, who recalls the period when Hollywood was on a witch-hunt for those with far-left leanings.

BUYER AND CELLAR--Michael Urie is funny, affable and downright huggable as the out-of-work actor hired to play shopkeeper in the string of quaint shops Barbra Streisand had built in the basement of her barn on her palatial Malibu estate. The architecture is real, the shopkeeper (with only one customer) fictitious--but the play is delightful.

BUNTY BERMAN PRESENTS--How best to describe this mishmash of '50s Bollywood, a Fred Astaire wannabe, a rapidly aging and paunchy Bollywood hero, a studio head trying to avoid bankruptcy, gangsters, cross dressing and music? In a word, weird. OK, and also a little amateurish. But it was fascinating--and yes, even fun--to observe this quasi-train wreck.

ALL IN THE TIMING--a revival of a an evening of six short playlets, some hilarious and some just funny, but all very entertaining. Carson Elrod steals the show in a variety of roles.

THE MADRID--Edie Falco is very good as a wife/mother/teacher who baffles and upsets her family by walking away from everything and everyone one day, something she has wanted to do for years but finally decides to do--while leaving a preschooler in charge of the classroom. It's an effective comedy-drama that plays better than it sounds.

THE TESTAMENT OF MARY--Not a great play by any means, but Fiona Shaw is a force of nature as a mother who's angry, sad and just plain confused following the death of her son, known to the world as Jesus. It's highly theatrical and overloaded with props that distract a bit from Shaw's speeches. As one-woman shows go, it's not bad, but I preferred ANN. Some view it as controversial; picketers were seen on opening night.

THE NANCE--In a just world, Nathan Lane, star of THE NANCE, and Tracy Letts (of VIRGINIA WOOLF) would share the Best Actor Tony. But Tom Hanks will probably win. Lane, as Chauncey, the effeminate stock character in '30s burlesque known as a "nance," is hilarious and poignant in the many outwardly comic routines that are counterpoint to the roiling events in the real-life homosexual Chauncey's life. The two and a half hours fly by.

Ellen

Thanks once again for your insights, Ellen. Very interesting group of shows. What were people picketing The Testament of Mary about? Did someone object to certain dialogue because they were there and know it was quoted wrong?

The Nance sounds like it could make an interesting movie. I love Nathan Lane! Also Holland Taylor is an incredible actress, wish I could see her in Ann. I'm always in awe of actors who seem to easily memorize huge chunks of dialogue...even more amazing when there isn't another character to play it off of.
Sue

[mamaleh]

Good one, Sue. Not quite as long as Methuselah, but a not-too-shabby longevity. Must be all that acai juice and pomegranates.

Fiona Shaw as Mary utters doubts about what others believe about her son; I think that's the source of the outrage.

Ellen

[jo]

The nominations are due out soon.

Any rumors on who is hosting? Has it ever taken this long to announce the host?

Jo