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Post by mamaleh on Jan 5, 2022 23:47:08 GMT -5
Speaking of MRS. DOUBTFIRE, I decided to try its digital rush today inasmuch as there are only a few more performances before the hiatus.
The price was very good. My digital rush ticket was even cheaper with a code good only through this Sunday, Jan. 9. The location was great: eighth row center orch. Too bad the show itself was so meh.
Most of the creators were also involved in a show I really liked, SOMETHING ROTTEN, so I had high hopes. But except for one or two imaginatively staged numbers, the score is largely forgettable. I thought at least I’ll be seeing Rob McClure, an actor I like, in the tithe role. No such luck. He was out. His understudy was talented but didn’t fit the role as well as I think McClure would have. I hope McClure doesn’t have Covid.
And speaking of Covid, I’m so glad I attended the first performance of Hugh’s MUSIC MAN, before the Covid shutdown. (Needless to say, he was wonderful, soaring in his dances much more like 35 than 53!). I hope when he re-assumes the lead role of Harold Hill tomorrow evening, he is fully recovered and energized. I can’t wait to revisit the show soon.
Ellen
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Post by jo on Jan 6, 2022 2:00:01 GMT -5
Thanks, Ellen.
But does the lead role as played by the u/s of McClure look like a very strong contender for Best Actor Tony?
JO
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Post by mamaleh on Jan 6, 2022 2:11:15 GMT -5
It’s the central, pivotal role in the show. It’s a tour-de-force double act (both the desperate divorced dad and the Scottish grandmotherly nanny he invents to be around his children). So yes—it is Tonys bait when portrayed by the right actor who strikes the prefect balance between pathos and wild comedy, between the wacky but loving dad and his out-there creation.
That double-life performance is what earned Santino Fontana his Tony a few seasons ago in TOOTSIE.
Ellen
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Post by njr on Jan 6, 2022 13:33:25 GMT -5
Speaking of MRS. DOUBTFIRE, I decided to try its digital rush today inasmuch as there are only a few more performances before the hiatus. The price was very good. My digital rush ticket was even cheaper with a code good only through this Sunday, Jan. 9. The location was great: eighth row center orch. Too bad the show itself was so meh. Most of the creators were also involved in a show I really liked, SOMETHING ROTTEN, so I had high hopes. But except for one or two imaginatively staged numbers, the score is largely forgettable. I thought at least I’ll be seeing Rob McClure, an actor I like, in the tithe role. No such luck. He was out. His understudy was talented but didn’t fit the role as well as I think McClure would have. I hope McClure doesn’t have Covid. And speaking of Covid, I’m so glad I attended the first performance of Hugh’s MUSIC MAN, before the Covid shutdown. (Needless to say, he was wonderful, soaring in his dances much more like 35 than 53!). I hope when he re-assumes the lead role of Harold Hill tomorrow evening, he is fully recovered and energized. I can’t wait to revisit the show soon. Ellen I think the understudy you saw in the lead role was the son-in-law of someone I know! He (the father-in-law) is the promoter of the Beatles/‘60s festival Abbey Road On The River. He was talking about it on the AROTR Facebook page: Tonight in New York City, my son-in-law KJ, husband of Brooke Jacob Hipp , father to those two grandsons I adore so much, sometime AROTR performer and staffer, is taking the stage as Mrs. Doubtfire herself or himself at The Stephen Sondheim Theatre. He is the usual understudy and featured cast member, but the show has been plagued by the plague and so today the call came to get on his body suit and wig-he is Mrs Doubtfire. I saw the show last week with the regular Doubtfire and trust this old promoter; the show is great and playing Doubtfire is the hardest male role on B'way . So sad I cannot be there to see the boys lose it when their daddy is the daddy to 3 other kids and makes the entire audience laugh and cry. Pardon the brag, but he is an AROTR performer, and he is performing tonight on one of the world's biggest stages. C'mon, it's Mrs. Doubtfire and he is going to be channeling Robin Williams ! |
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Post by jo on Jan 11, 2022 1:54:04 GMT -5
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Post by jo on Jan 11, 2022 22:52:49 GMT -5
BROADWAY IS INDEED OPEN!
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Post by mamaleh on Jan 12, 2022 21:18:13 GMT -5
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Post by jo on Jan 13, 2022 2:37:19 GMT -5
Thanks, Ellen!
Very distressful news for B'way!
It is annoying when some people on BWW imply that the sudden availability of seats this week and the next for The Music Man is because people are now thinking that the show is not worth the prices being charged and are cancelling tickets.
Those seats were pre-sold before the virus surge and likely cancelled because people are fearful of infections and increased border controls especially for overseas travel. If you look at TMM's charts for the last half of January & first half of Feb - there are not many seats available!
Jo
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Post by mamaleh on Jan 13, 2022 17:27:09 GMT -5
Speaking of MRS. DOUBTFIRE, I decided to try its digital rush today inasmuch as there are only a few more performances before the hiatus. The price was very good. My digital rush ticket was even cheaper with a code good only through this Sunday, Jan. 9. The location was great: eighth row center orch. Too bad the show itself was so meh. Most of the creators were also involved in a show I really liked, SOMETHING ROTTEN, so I had high hopes. But except for one or two imaginatively staged numbers, the score is largely forgettable. I thought at least I’ll be seeing Rob McClure, an actor I like, in the tithe role. No such luck. He was out. His understudy was talented but didn’t fit the role as well as I think McClure would have. I hope McClure doesn’t have Covid. And speaking of Covid, I’m so glad I attended the first performance of Hugh’s MUSIC MAN, before the Covid shutdown. (Needless to say, he was wonderful, soaring in his dances much more like 35 than 53!). I hope when he re-assumes the lead role of Harold Hill tomorrow evening, he is fully recovered and energized. I can’t wait to revisit the show soon. Ellen I think the understudy you saw in the lead role was the son-in-law of someone I know! He (the father-in-law) is the promoter of the Beatles/‘60s festival Abbey Road On The River. He was talking about it on the AROTR Facebook page: Tonight in New York City, my son-in-law KJ, husband of Brooke Jacob Hipp , father to those two grandsons I adore so much, sometime AROTR performer and staffer, is taking the stage as Mrs. Doubtfire herself or himself at The Stephen Sondheim Theatre. He is the usual understudy and featured cast member, but the show has been plagued by the plague and so today the call came to get on his body suit and wig-he is Mrs Doubtfire. I saw the show last week with the regular Doubtfire and trust this old promoter; the show is great and playing Doubtfire is the hardest male role on B'way . So sad I cannot be there to see the boys lose it when their daddy is the daddy to 3 other kids and makes the entire audience laugh and cry. Pardon the brag, but he is an AROTR performer, and he is performing tonight on one of the world's biggest stages. C'mon, it's Mrs. Doubtfire and he is going to be channeling Robin Williams ! As I said, I thought the understudy was prodigiously talented. But to me, when playing Daniel the dad, he read too young/fratboy-ish. McClure comes across as older and physically more believable as a father of teens. That’s all. No aspersions on the understudy’s talent, which was amply displayed when frenetically adopting the Doubtfire persona. Ellen |
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Post by mamaleh on Jan 13, 2022 18:49:38 GMT -5
I made a return visit to MUSIC MAN at yesterday’s matinee. It boggles the mind how HJ can ace such a physically demanding role—all that dancing, climbing, jumping, etc.—twice in one day. And boy, does he ever, whether with Sutton Foster romantically or with Shuler Hensley comedically. I think my favorite number is still the wacky “Sadder But Wiser Girl” duet between Hugh and Shuler because it is so unexpectedly delightful.
There’s a bit of tweaking going on during the preview period, resulting in a show that seems sharper and tighter since the first preview. The ensemble is running like a well-oiled machine. The show has also been slightly shortened with the cutting of one of the barbershop quartet’s songs.
I look forward to another return visit after it officially opens.
(But I really miss those $35 “riverbed seats” from THE RIVER. They were much more affordable!)
Ellen
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Post by jo on Jan 14, 2022 1:49:02 GMT -5
Action movies ( and an exhausting role like Wolverine) did give him the ability for a regimen that might be more challenging to those who may want to take on the new Harold Hill interpretation. He has also said that fight choreography is similar to dance choreography, so his athletic and artistic ability (in the dance form) is likely easy for him to fuse. Thanks for your continuing review, Ellen! Keep 'em coming  By the time I get there, covid-scenario allowing, I will have a full preview set in my mind ( meaning my own idea of the show) which I very much like to do when seeing a show Jo |
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Post by jo on Jan 14, 2022 1:58:45 GMT -5
Which one was your favorite riverbank seat? By the water spigot...or by the couch  Jo |
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Post by mamaleh on Jan 14, 2022 8:09:47 GMT -5
Despite the smell of trout in the bucket, I’d give a slight edge to the water spigot. Being a few inches away from those rock-solid arms as HJ washed the fish was alone worth the price of the ticket. 😊
Ellen
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Post by njr on Jan 14, 2022 14:02:12 GMT -5
I think the understudy you saw in the lead role was the son-in-law of someone I know! He (the father-in-law) is the promoter of the Beatles/‘60s festival Abbey Road On The River. He was talking about it on the AROTR Facebook page: Tonight in New York City, my son-in-law KJ, husband of Brooke Jacob Hipp , father to those two grandsons I adore so much, sometime AROTR performer and staffer, is taking the stage as Mrs. Doubtfire herself or himself at The Stephen Sondheim Theatre. He is the usual understudy and featured cast member, but the show has been plagued by the plague and so today the call came to get on his body suit and wig-he is Mrs Doubtfire. I saw the show last week with the regular Doubtfire and trust this old promoter; the show is great and playing Doubtfire is the hardest male role on B'way . So sad I cannot be there to see the boys lose it when their daddy is the daddy to 3 other kids and makes the entire audience laugh and cry. Pardon the brag, but he is an AROTR performer, and he is performing tonight on one of the world's biggest stages. C'mon, it's Mrs. Doubtfire and he is going to be channeling Robin Williams ! As I said, I thought the understudy was prodigiously talented. But to me, when playing Daniel the dad, he read too young/fratboy-ish. McClure comes across as older and physically more believable as a father of teens. That’s all. No aspersions on the understudy’s talent, which was amply displayed when frenetically adopting the Doubtfire persona. Ellen No worries - I can’t stand the guy’s father-in-law anyway! He’s a class A jerk! 😂 I don’t even know his daughter and son-in-law. Nancy |
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Post by mamaleh on Jan 24, 2022 2:08:32 GMT -5
I caught last Wednesday's matinee of Sondheim's COMPANY, the reworked revival that flips the sexes of several characters, including the central character of Bobby--now Bobbie, as played by Katrina Lenk of THE BAND'S VISIT and INDECENT. She received generous entrance applause and made a very appealing leading lady. Patti LuPone, in the supporting role of Bobbie's much-married neighbor Joanne, received tumultuous entrance applause and absolutely nailed the show's signature song, "The Ladies Who Lunch." I remember seeing the original Broadway production during my student days, and I caught the 2006 version starring Raul Julia. The distaff-focused revival works just as well as the former productions, with some necessary dialogue and lyric changes.
COMPANY has arguably one of the strongest and longest books (by the late playwright/actor George Furth) in contemporary musical theater. I'd say it's about 50 percent book, 50 percent musical numbers. Some of the book scenes run just a bit too long, but the acerbic, witty dialogue and genuine humor compensate. All the "good and crazy people/[Bobbie's] married friends" trying to throw a surprise party for a very hesitant, ambivalent Bobbie on her 35th birthday are played by a talented ensemble.
The only truly discordant note in the show was not even on the stage. Every several minutes during the show ushers would slowly walk down the orchestra aisles to the front, look around, then proceed back up to the area behind the orchestra, all the while surveying the audience ostensibly for masks, phones and cameras. This occurred with regimented regularity and was distracting, especially from my rear orchestra aisle seat (thanks to Broadway 2-for-1 week). I had never seen this done at any other show, although I subsequently heard that the "ushers' march," as I called it, is also going on at SIX, a hit musical that puts the spotlight on the six wives of Henry VIII. But if you're a Sondheim fan, don't let that put you off. Recommended.
Ellen
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Post by mamaleh on Mar 24, 2022 9:35:33 GMT -5
Caught up with a couple of other shows lately, after several MUSIC MAN visits. BIRTHDAY CANDLES is now in previews at Roundabout's American Airlines Theater. Star Debra Messing is reunited with her old NYU Tisch graduate school chum Vivienne Benesch, who directs the surreal play. Messing is very effective at aging from 17 to 100-something over the course of 95 minutes without the aid of makeup or different costumes. It's a touching story of a woman's lifetime as spent in the same kitchen over that lengthy span while she bakes a birthday cake for herself year after year, decade after decade. We see her enjoying happy moments with her mother, husband (two), daughter, son, grandchildren and great-grandchild while also experiencing bitter losses along the way. The play veers perilously close to over-sentimentality at times but fortunately never falls prey to that. While not a classic for the ages, it's a involving piece beautifully acted by Messing, Susannah Flood (now in the TV series "Life & Beth"), Enrico Colantoni et. al.
PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, ending this weekend at Stage 1 under NY City Center, is a masterpiece of a play by Joshua Harmon, playwright of BAD JEWS, SIGNIFICANT OTHER and SKINTIGHT, all of which I also enjoyed. It alternates scenes between a current-day French Jewish family in Paris and an earlier generation in 1944. It is somehow moving, touching, sad and yet very funny at times as the family argues politics, religion and whether there is anyplace in the world one can truly feel safe. Highly recommended.
Ellen
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Post by jo on Mar 24, 2022 18:16:22 GMT -5
Thanks, Ellen.
Would you know if BIRTHDAY CANDLES is based on a classic tale? I ask because I have seen a TV play here with the same theme and setting. A woman experiences happy and tragic episodes that use the same kitchen as the permanent scene of various episodes in life and as time marches on.
I was also curious about French Republic - but I thought it was more about a different time in French history.
Jo
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Post by mamaleh on Mar 24, 2022 19:38:47 GMT -5
As far as I know, the Detroit Public Theater commissioned the play by Noah Haidle in 2016. The version now playing in New York was supposed to open two years ago but of course was postponed because of the pandemic. I don’t see any evidence of BIRTHDAY CANDLES’ being based on a previous work; at least there were no notes in the Playbill attesting to any earlier source material.
Ellen
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Post by jo on Mar 25, 2022 1:04:21 GMT -5
The tv play here is a Philippine drama in a local setting...but the tragic aspects refer to involvement in the local
insurgency problem. That was why I asked if there was some classic tale which focuses on the kitchen as witness to the many events in the life of the main character .
Interesting how human parallels happen!
Jo
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Post by mamaleh on Apr 30, 2022 10:20:06 GMT -5
HANGMEN is a sly, darkly comic play by Martin McDonaugh (PILLOWMAN, IN BRUGE, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI). The thick Oldham (England) accents are often impenetrable, so more than a few jokes didn't quite land on my ears, but I got the gist. It is chock full of gallows humor--at the beginning, literally so, as one of the last legal hangings in England takes place in 1965 as convicted prisoner Hennessey screams his innocence even as he is being led to the dock. The scene switches to a bar a couple of years later. The bar is owned by Harry, the former second best-known executioner in the country. A strange young man (Alfie Allen of GAME OF THRONES) enters the bar, and what he has to say, about Hennessey and other topics, makes everyone--Harry, his wife, the boozy regulars--uneasy. Harry's naive teen daughter is enthralled by his smooth talk. Later that day, she goes missing. The play is hilarious, unsettling and beautifully performed. Recommended. At the Golden Theater on Broadway.
HARMONY, a musical decades in the making by Barry Manilow and his writing partner Bruce Sussman, tells the funny, sad and haunting true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a phenomenally successful all-male sextet in pre-WWII Germany who combined gorgeous harmonies with Marx Brothers-like zaniness. They were the most popular act in Europe (and even sold out at NYC's Carnegie Hall) from 1928-1934, until the Nazis came to power. Because some its members were Jewish or had Jewish ties (one was married to a Jewish woman), the powers that be saw to it that they disbanded and destroyed all evidence of their performances: recordings, movies, etc. Chip Zien is masterful as the surviving member of the group reminiscing in the 1980s about their glorious rise and ultimate fall. Warren Carlyle, MUSIC MAN's choreographer, both directed and choreographed this beautifully performed and sung show. It's running at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Theater near Battery Park, inside the Museum of Jewish Heritage. I hope it finds a home Off Broadway after its limited run downtown. Recommended.
Ellen
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Post by mamaleh on May 2, 2022 14:34:56 GMT -5
About a decade ago, I saw a revival of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, an intense drama with some nervous comedic scenes about what constitutes going over the line and how incremental sexual abuse can go unnoticed within a family. That production starred Norbert Leo Butz and Elizabeth Reaser, who were very effective. I had never seen the original 1997 production with Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse. The latter duo are now reprising their original roles at the Friedman theater, home of Manhattan Theatre Club.
I caught yesterday‘s matinee. It is a sometimes difficult play to sit through but one that was way ahead of its time. Both actors gave excellent performances. My only demur was that the show started half an hour late, probably because everyone had to go through a metal detector and even be wanded. I thought to myself: is this what always goes on at the Friedman? I thought it was outrageous. Late last night I read on a theater chat site the reason for the security and delay: Jill Biden was in the house. I find it odd, though, that when Hillary Clinton and her daughter attended an early performance of Music Man, there were no such security precautions taken. Maybe you have to be a current First Lady?
I recently saw a performance of a new musical trying out at the George St., Playhouse in New Jersey, A WALK ON THE MOON, based on the 1999 movie of the same name. The film, starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen and Liev Schreiber, has long been a favorite of mine. I’m happy to report that I enjoyed the musical version very much as well.
The tuneful show is packed with plenty of comedy, drama, romance, nostalgia and all-around excellent performances. Set in 1969 at the convergence of Woodstock and the moon landing, it tells the story of a frustrated housewife whose family—a loving husband, a disaffected teenage daughter, young son and a perceptive mother-in-law—is on vacation at a Catskills bungalow colony. The housewife’s encounter with a visiting hippie-ish “blouse man” vendor sets the drama in motion. Jackie Burns (Wicked, If/Then) shines as a woman who sees the world changing and desperately wants to change her life, too. The songs are vibrant and often touching. I hope this show goes on to a life either on or Off-Broadway.
Ellen
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Post by mamaleh on May 8, 2022 19:58:36 GMT -5
A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD is a warm, very likable two-hander running Off Broadway at the Pershing Signature Center. I became interested in seeing this little gem because its author, Samuel D. Hunter, wrote two plays I truly enjoyed: THE WHALE (which starred Shuler Hensley) and GREATER CLEMENTS. In CASE, A lower middle-class, ne'er-do-well 30-something man, about to be divorced by his wife, dreams of building a home on property once owned by his grandfather but long out of family hands due to economic hardship. He enters a mortgage broker's office to ask about a loan for which he cannot qualify. The broker, a well-to-do black man, recognizes the client from their high school days, but the latter does not remember him, at least at first. For all his family's wealth and position, the broker felt invisible in school and harbors resentments. But as their months-long negotiations for the mortgage loan continue, they realize for all their surface differences, they share a bitter disappointment: the likely loss of a daughter--one to custody post-divorce, while the other fears losing his much-loved foster daughter because of his sexual orientation. Their growing relationship is beautifully enacted by the two actors, Kyle Beltran and Will Brill. It's a very watchable 90 minutes.
Ellen
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Post by mamaleh on May 16, 2022 23:17:01 GMT -5
I wasn’t especially a fan of comedian Sarah Silverman, but I’d heard good things about the musical she co-wrote with the late Adam Schlesinger, THE BEDWETTER, based on her memoir. The darkly comic show is based on her unorthodox life experiences in a small New Hampshire town as a 10-year-old daughter of divorced, very nontraditional parents, including a dad who laughs when she uses 4-letter words. Little Sarah also has a grandmother (Bebe Neuwirth) who subsists solely on martinis she has Sarah make for her. What Sarah really wants is friends—but because of a certain condition (see show title), that’s a problem. Act 2 takes a more serious turn. Overall, the score is witty, bouncy and often hilarious. At the Atlantic Theater. Recommended.
Ellen
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Post by jo on May 16, 2022 23:53:13 GMT -5
Thanks again -- one of the pleasures of living in that cosmopolitan area is the access to such diverse theatrical
entertainment!
Jo
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Post by mamaleh on Jul 9, 2022 18:28:40 GMT -5
Saw the revival of FUNNY GIRL today via a lottery win. I was a little disappointed that Beanie Feldstein was out—again. (She has a very spotty attendance record.) Although she didn’t garner very good reviews, I like her bubbly personality and I was looking forward to seeing her. Oh well, such is live theater. Her standby Julie Benko is out as well, with Covid. So I ended up seeing the first performance by understudy Ephie Aardema, though I didn’t know her status at the time. She projects an earnest and sweet likability, but her performance was uneven, soaring in some scenes and falling somewhat flat in others. Her singing voice was lovely throughout, though. I’m sure her hesitancy will disappear with more performances under her belt.
Ellen
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