A Free Man of Color

Quite an epic on stage at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center!  Three hours - and chock full of action, education, and quite a few laughs along the way.  John Guare's new opus is an ambitious work - as evidenced by the size cast - 26 listed in on the billboard alone and most play multiple characters on top of that!

Guare takes us on a journey to New Orleans in 1801 - which, in case you didn't know, was not part of America at this point in time.  It was filled with Spaniards, French, and Caribbeans of all types.   New Orleans was a land where men of all shades of color - from white to dark filled the city and shared a grand life.  It was a city where a slave could buy his freedom and become the toast of the town - especially among the women (of all colors) of the town.  Not only does Guare's play give us a sense of life in this vaudevillian city - he goes further to educate us on the global politics of the (1801) day - teaching us how Spain, France, England and Sante Dominigue (Haiti) all were part of the story of how America came to own this vast new land that spanned westward from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River, from the Gulf of Mexico northward to Canada - and how it changed New Orleans forever.

Jeffrey Wright helms the cast as the main character, Jacques Cornet and gets tremendous support from dozens of actors playing multiple characters in at least 4 different countries.  Stand-out performances to be noted:  Mos Def (the rapper) as Cornet's slave, John McMartin as Thomas Jefferson, Veanne Cox as Dona Polissena, a scientist, a young Paul Dano as Meriweather Lewis (of Lewis and Clark), and Triney Sandoval as Napoleon Bonaparte - - just to name a few.

Three hours may seem like an eternity - but director, George C. Wolfe, crams enough witty and quick tempo dialogue, colorful costumes, lively action and an abundance of information in to the fast paced, multi-country story that before you know it, 11:00 is here and you're dumped out on the plaza at Lincoln center with all the hoity-toity opera snobs in their tuxedos and gowns.  I highly recommend you attend this epic tale before it sells out for the season.

Finian's Rainbow

Gypsy

Gypsy was truly one of the most anticipated theater event of 2007 - post Tony's no-less. As Rose says - "Ya either got it ...or ya ain't". And folks - Ms Lupone has got it! (video hightlights link below)

OK - so we were on our feet applauding the minute she pranced down the right center orchestra aisle - "Sing out Louise!", Rose exclaims as she opens the show. And sing out she did for the next 2 hours. She owned the role. She dominated the stage just as she did her daughters. With her signature vocal power and precision she belted out each Jule Styne note and each Sondheim Lyric. It's no wonder we were on our feet hollering as the "Rose" sign fell at the end of Act II and she belted out Roses Turn.

Now this show was not a Patti Lupone-only concert. Encores! now has air conditioning in City Center - so this show is a 3 week summer run off-book with full staging, orchestration, and choreography. There are other cast members and they indeed are stars in their own right and truly made the entire evening a production we will not soon forget.

Boyd Gaines played the beaten down, love-sick Herbie. Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book, directed this show (he's still alive and kicking) gave us a Herbie and Rose who were truly in love and you could see the chemistry between the two from the minute he laid eyes on Rose.

Laura Benatti could not have been a more beautiful and elegant Gypsy Rose Lee. When she performed Let me Entertain You at the end of act two and came out in a sequence of progressively more sexy outfits - I knew by the last one when she came out in a dress that appeared to be pure dripping-wet gold that we would be on our feet - - and indeed we were (again!).

And I can't let an opportunity pass to drool over another cute boy - so I'll just say now that Tony Yazbeck and I are getting married (I had a dream.... a dream about you, Tony...). I mean you can't stop looking at him anyway but it's an even bigger bonus that the dancing is so flawless and graceful too. (*sigh*)

Let's not forget about the kids... the newsboys and the farm boys... the Louises and the Junes - so many to cast and so cute to watch. One of my favorite scenes is the transition "gimmick" with the strobe light and the dancing kids where they "age" right before your very eyes. Kudos Arthur Laurents and most probably Jerome Robins whose original choreography was used in this production.

This production seemed to emphasise a Rose more comedic and sarcastic, all the while never losing the sense she had of the (albeit twisted) love she had for her daughters. It focused on the kids and the Act I production numbers in a bit more classical musical theater production sort of way. Each Rose and each production is always different. Ethel, Angela, Tyne, and Bernadette each put her stamp on the role. Now Ms Lupone has done the same.

All you need is $88 bucks... grab yourself a ticket and don't miss this very limited run. Everything's coming up Roses over at City Center for the next two weeks only. Curtain Up! Light the Lights! They got nothing to hit but the heights!

Video Highlights!! http://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.cfm?colid=19980