Desperate Writers

A wholesale waste of time at the Union Square Theatre.  The house was virtually empty.  I knew this wasn't going to be a good sign.  It only got worse from there.

Written as a complete farce, it pits two desperate writers against three alleged "power-producers" in Hollywood.  Throw in some over-the-top, completely unnecessary characters on top of the bad writing and flat out dumb plot and you've got the formula for the complete mess that wasted about 90 minutes of an otherwise decent Saturday afternoon.    I've seen farce before, and for it to work, it has to be funny.  This was just crap.   Two otherwise normal writers are so desperate to sell a script that they kidnap some producers, lock them in a cage and force them to listen to their script.  On top of the already farcical plot - the script that they are trying to sell pure garbage too.  It was like double torture listening to them read the script of a bad play IN a bad play!

The actors all came with game faces on - full of energy and some even with some good comedic delivery Jim Stanek (David) was a stand-out.  But in the end the material was just so plain old dumb nothing could save it.  Think tiny bucket on the deck of the Titanic.  Wasted effort.   But my congrats to some of the fine character acting on stage.

Upon closer examination of the program at home, I realized that one of the writers of the play itself, Catherine Schreiber, was actually also one of the main characters performing too - one of the producer characters!  Now isn't that the pot playing the kettle?!  While I admire the effort of all the writers and actors involved (none of this is easy by any stretch of the imagination), I really don't even think this material was of the caliber of something like Saturday Night Live - where this farcical stuff is most at home.

Disappointed to say the least.  At least I got some delicious strawberries at the Farmer's Market in Union Square on the way home.  Barely a consolation.

Company

Antoinette Perry - get ready for this one! Company - Best Revival of a Musical- 2007 Season!! Hands down, a top notch performance all around. Raul Esparza - Best Actor in a Musical. A classy, elegant, sophisticated and entertaining look at marital bliss (and not so bliss) through the eyes of a friend and bachelor.

John Doyle - fresh off another Sondheim piece - Sweeney Todd - has pulled off another total re-creation of a musical. Actors on stage with musical instruments - this time a shiny black grand piano center stage with all the complementing instruments carried by the cast. It's similar in concept, but different enough in delivery and content from to be fresh. Doyle didn't have to sacrifice (as he did in Sweeney) any key stage elements in this already "concert-like, ensemble piece.


Sondheim's music is fast-paced, witty, often discordant (lots of sharps and flats!) and it's wordy and full of story. Bobby's (Raul Esparza) vocal performance could not have been better. He finally blossoms at the end of the story, symbolically by taking up an instrument for the first time and singing the 11 O'clock number - "Being Alive" like no one I've ever heard before.

Just as you would suspect, it's the same music, but all done with a unique flair - never sounding like the original - just like a pop star who re-makes an old cover tune. Joanne puts a clever spin on "The Ladies Who Lunch" (by the way - i didn't mention who was actually sitting next to me in the audience - none other than Elaine Stritch, the original Joanne!). Amy flawlessly fired off "Getting Married Today" (it's sung in triple time- meaning it sounds like the disclaimer at the end of a car advertisement). Robert and the entire cast ushers in Act II with a rousing rendition of "Side by Side" - showcasing their vocal, instrumental, dancing, and acting abilities!

Despite it's 1970's origins- you'd never know it in this performance. It's relevant and current and fresh - get your running shoes on... cause this one's a "run don't walk" over at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on West 47th! I think Miss Perry is going to like this one next July!