Violet

Originally produced for a brief run at Playwrights Horizons in 1997, Violet is seeing a new incarnation at Roundabout's American Airlines Theatre with a star as bright as the moon in a dark night sky, Sutton Foster.

The original production did not run very long, which is not surprising.  This incarnation seems to be doing a bit better despite the sparse sets and limited choreography.

Make no mistake, Sutton Foster, Broadway's darling, brings innocence with power to the production.  Her supporting cast is tremendously talented and also cannot be ignored either.  As a matter of fact, her co-star, Joshua Henry, has, what one might say, is "the num-bah" of the entire show, bringing the audience nearly to it's feet early on.

However, despite my high level of engagement and enjoyment, I was not moved to put this show any where near the winning slot for Best Musical.  Most noticeably, the show has what I would call the Encores! staging model (indeed, the show transferred from Encores! after it's summer 2013 run there).  While semi-staging and limited choreography work for a one-night- only run at NY City Center, it certainly has no place on a permanent Broadway stage where you are paying, literally, for a creative team to choreograph, build sets, and move the actors beyond a small rectangle in from of an orchestra/band taking up way to much space on the stage.

Significant financial considerations aside (clearly Roundabout is poor these days and can't afford to do what it used to do - or they've just become a sellout to cheap entertaining shows at the lowest cost), the show packs a powerful message about finding out who you are inside and seeing beyond the surface.   This applies aptly to both Mr. Henry (Flick) and Ms Foster (Violet).

Emmerson Steele (Young Violet) is a treasure to behold, blending perfectly with Ms Foster and the entire aesthetic.  I saw the understudy for Monty (Austin Lesch) and I'm happy to report his performance (and handsome looks) was magnificent.  Alexander Gemignani was also perfectly cast as the fuzzy bear-like mountain-man father of Violet.

Best Musical, I hope not.  But certainly a show worth seeing with a delightful score and performances as good as they get.

The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World

Let's get one thing perfectly clear - the music of the real-life group, The Shaggs, is confoundedly awful.  Yes, awful.  If you don't believe me, take a listen.

The other thing that needs to be made clearer is that this new musical is based on a very true story.  Yes, true.  I make the point of saying this because nowhere in the playbill (nor the script) is this emphasized except for the standard place below the title of the show on the official credits page (I don't know what else to call that page where it displays the names of producers who are presenting the show, staring the actors, supported by the production and creative staff).  At intermission, I encountered many a patron who were wondering where this story came from.  "It's based on a true story" I told them.  They all looked puzzled.  (Note to self:  mention this in my blog).

There's a lot of good going on in this production.  First, let's give a hearty round of applause for Playwrights Horizons and New York Theatre Workshop for investing time and money in two fine creatives - Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen (Book, Lyrics and Music).  It is obvious that a great deal of personal care, research and pain-staking effort has gone into presenting this not-so-kind story to the world.  Second, you can't leave the theatre without acknowledging the fine performances  - both acting and vocals - that the entire cast delivers.  But... (you knew there was one of these coming, right?)

But... unless I missed something, (and over the 2 hours and 30 minutes it was entirely possible) the show is really a one-trick pony - how The Shaggs came to be and the incredible (some would say disturbing) story behind them.  Did we really need to explore this topic for over 2 1/2 hours?  Time may heal all wounds, but did we really need to heal so much on this single topic?  Time is the enemy of this show.  Time should be used more wisely.   While I'm not saying every show on the planet has to be cut to 90 minutes with no intermission, this show would certainly be a good candidate to try it out on.  Over and over we revisited the same topics - defining family, loyalty, personal identity, and freedom.  Make no mistake, the show is not filled with joy or happiness.   The superb story telling, fine acting, and (when applicable) great music would be served well by shortening the pain-cycle just a bit.

The parents, Austin and Annie Wiggin, are played by two tremendously talented actors - Peter Friedman and Annie Golden.  Mr. Freidman's life-long angst, eternal hope, and haunting fears were palpable from start to finish and Ms. Hood's loneliness, longing, and sadness were nothing short of award winning.  The 3 daughters, The Shaggs, are played by strikingly similar faces to the the real life girls, Sarah Sokolovic (Betty), Emily Walton (Helen), and Jamey Hood (Dot).  Each of them transforms into the individual character that each girl inhabited and brought it to a vivid, often disturbing, life on stage.  A fine supporting cast includes an off-Broadway and New York stage debut by a fresh-faced Cory Michael Smith along side Broadway veterans Kevin Cahoon and the ever-versatile Steve Routman.


If there's any up-side to the painfully long run-time, it's that it provided the opportunity for many moments of glory on stage.  Annie's Ordinary Day brought on goose-bumps, Dot's Don't Say Nothing Bad About My Dad cut like a razor and the Act I closer by the company, Destiny, was a powerhouse.

So, should you go see this show?  Although still in previews and time factor aside, this show's story telling capacity is supreme and it's designed for anyone who loves storytelling and theatre all wrapped up in one.  You'll not only get entertained, but you may learn a few things along the way too.   Kudos to the producers, bravo to the performers, and a polite nudge to the obviously talented creatives to tighten things up a bit.  Despite the mildly disturbing nature of the material, it's certainly well worth the price of admission.

Mimi Le Duck

Eartha Kitt still has that razzle dazzle!! Can you believe it? She's still got the legs, the eyes - and of course that cat-woman purr- grrrrr!

This is a rather contrived story of a frustrated Mormon housewife, Miriam (later to be known as Mimi) from Ketchum, Idaho who decides she needs to see life in color rather than her current black and white (read boring) version. This is all brought about by the vision of Ernest Hemingway (Allen Fitzpatrick was a solid "old, yet dead, man). Once in Paris, she takes up residence in the same hotel that Ernest Hemingway had his visions. Well - of course what follows is a mad-cap adventure - where she meets an aging night club owner (Tom Aldridge) and gets a job as Mimi le Duck (the costume that goes along with this one is hysterical!); befriends an street cart -oyster shucker come cross dressing Miss Marple wanna-be detective (Robert DuSold); compares life stories with another "street artist" (Candy Buckley); and, of course, mixes it up with the lady of the house, herself, Madame Vallet (Eartha!).

What was supposed to be 2 hrs and 20 minutes turned out to be a little under 2. Thank God they cut some dialogue and a song or two. This is another one that should be 90 or 100 minutes - no intermission. Mr. Director - do some more tightening here. Actually, the stage and scenery was coordinated very nicely. With little room in the wings, they used every inch of the stage to block out the scenes and set changes. And last but not least, the music - I wish we could have seen the live orchestra! Not even a peak at the end... but Brian Feinstien's music was delicious and quite appropriate for the story. Kudos!

Not sure that Mimi will be a candidate for a Broadway Transfer - but certainly entertaining and worth the TDF ticket price of $25 bucks just to sit in the 2nd row and watch the legend Eartha Kitt draw that glamorous red dress up and show you her fabulous legs and purr at you!!