Hold On To Me Darling

In its latest installment, The Atlantic Theatre Company is presenting a modern day tale of celebrities, their decisions, the bubble they live in, the people who surround them, and those that take advantage of them.  In once sense a dark comedy, and in the end, a bit of a tragedy.   Hold On To Me Darling, seems to have all of this in more.  In just under 3 hours, if nothing else, it is certainly packed full with these themes plus a bit of country music and a whole bunch of southern accents.


Playwright Kenneth Lonergan is verbose.  Scenes are long, wordy, and themes are repeated over and over - to likely emphasize the point that celebrities in real life often make the same mistakes over and over.

Timothy Olyphant (Strings McCrane) aptly (and easy on the eyes) helms the cast of 6 as a hot country music star who's mother has just died and he is trying to come to grips with his past decisions and how he can go forward without her voice. Quite cleverly, you never see her or hear from her but she is undoubtedly the 7th character in this play. His ensemble cast includes the handsome and terrifically entertaining Keith Nobbs (Jimmy) as Strings McCrane's ambiguously gay and fiercely loyal personal assistant, Jenn Lyons as Nancy, the seemingly innocent yet stealth scheming girlfriend/wife, Adelaide Clemens as the shy, country bumpkin 2nd cousin who connects with Strings, C.J. Wilson as String's obtuse, simple-minded yet grounded hometown brother and Jonathan Hogan, as Mitch, String's estranged father, a character who only appears in the final scene of the play.

Did I mention that the play was long?  3 Hours long.  My theatre going friends and I all commented afterwards that the actors seemed to be having such a good time with their parts, that they often seemed to ad-lib certain jokes or extend certain jokes with additional comments - which of course led to additional laughter in addition to the general amusement of most of the other actors on the stage.

In addition to this seemingly harmless frivolity which probably added maybe 10 minutes to the play - you still have to deal with the other 2 hours 50 minutes.  I think Mr. Lonergan's long and successful career has been in both the theatre and film - but I believe his talents are best suited to film - a place where character development and story can be told at greater length in different scenes.  This is especially important when telling a story which requires memories from what has happened in the past - on a live stage, that becomes problematic and tilts toward more dialogue - your only option to convey the information to the audience.

Overall an entertaining and poignant evening in the theatre. A fine cast.  A great playwright.  A great rotating set (Walt Spangler) Just a little too heavy on the dialogue and exposition.

Bronx Bombers

Major League Baseball and The New York Yankees are actually a part of ("in association with") the new Eric Simonson written and directed two act play, Bronx Bombers.  Yes, it's baseball on Broadway.   And what an iconic team to highlight right here in New York.  Interestingly enough, the last sports show in the round at Circle in the Square was Lombardi.  This one, a recent transfer from The Duke on 42nd also plays well in the round.

The show, as you would imagine, is a baseball lovers delight.  Likely geared to engage the male persuasion, the show takes a look at the greats of the team - combining them all in a quaint dream-like plot.  Act I is a scene from 1977 setting up the conflicts and personalities of Billy Martin (Keith Nobbs), Reggie Jackson (Francois Battiste), Thurman Munson (Bill Dawes), and the ever-caring and genuine star of the show, Yogi Berra (Peter Scolari).

What unfolds is conflict - and what follows in Act II is a dream like sequence of Yogi's that brings all the Yankee greats to a dinner party in his home with his wife Carmen (Tracy Shayne) - Joe DiMaggio, (Chris Henry Coffey), Lou Gehrig (John Wernke), Babe Ruth (C.J. Wilson), Derek Jeter (Christopher Jackson),  Elston Howard (Francois Battiste), and Micky Mantle (Bill Dawes).

What we learn in Act II is that the conflict in Act I was not new at all.  Baseball has always been full of characters, conflicts, and personalities.  And we also gather that fans may wax and wane, but they always come back- especially to this iconic New York team.

I'm not a baseball fan.  I admit it.  The baseball angle didn't jazz me up at all. (I thought it was boring, actually).  But what the show was able to do, even to me, is to tell a story and teach a lesson.  Through all the characters, all the conflicts, and all the noise - there really is one thing that draws men of all ages to the Yankees - and that is tradition above all else.

Will this play hit the mark - being on Broadway now?  I'm not sure, but the tiny audience that watched the show with me seemed to enjoy it.  Especially all those Yogi-isms!  Let's see if wives drag their die-hard husband fans or if they even come on their own!

The Lady From Dubuque

As it seems is customary, egomaniac, Edward Albee has not only placed his name in the title of his play but also put his picture on the playbill cover.  He's like the Donald Trump of the play-world.  Beyond annoying.  But... I digress...

The Pershing Square Signature Center's inaugural season at the MiMa on 42nd Street contains a solid, powerful, and mysteriously eerie production of Albee's great work.

The perfectly suited two-act play reveals the backstory of the 6 neighborhood couples in all their raw glory, insecurity, and jealousies in act 1 then switches focus to the visitation by the lady from Dubuque in act 2.  Jo (Laila Robins) tears viciously into her husband, Sam, (Michael Hayden) with raw emotion - a mix of her illness, her pills, and likely just ugly truth.  Neighbors including Fred and Lucinda (C.J Wilson and Catherine Curtin) and Edgar and Carol (Thomas Jay Ryan and Tricia Paoluccio) fill in the requisite pastiche of charicitures  and stereotypes of a weak and timid husband and a ditz (Fred and Lucinda), and a drunk/racist and a floozie (Oscar and Carol).  With a cast as rich as this, the vitriol and barbs are ruthless, endless, and always on target.   Act 2 brings the visit by the mysterious Elizabeth, the lady from Dubuque (Jane Alexander) in all her impeccable power, beauty, and grace and her extremely sarcastically amusing sidekick, Oscar (Peter Francis James).

Despite Albee's unnecessary ego, the play is quite good, cuts to the quick, and is well acted.  In many ways, similar to a distant cousin, God of Carnage although superior in every way.   The set by John Arnone is opulently modern and sophisticated - including the trees in the background.  Director David Esbjornson has done his best at putting his own stamp on Albee's visceral work.

Festen

Oh Boy - this one is a bolt of lightning! Ouch! If any of you reading this think that going to plays is all about music, laughter and an occasional teardrop - think again! Festen (the Danish word for Celebration) bites to the core. Some of you may have seen the movie version (named "Celebration" for it's USA release). I hear it is just as dark and bitter.

This is the tale of a rich (and twisted) family in Denmark. The father is turning 60 and the whole family returns to the family house (more like estate) for a dinner celebration. Right from the beginning you meet the characters - all dark - all seem to have something to hide, something "odd" about them, something brewing beneath the surface. You come to learn that one of the children committed suicide last year which makes the tension thicker. It is right from this point that you hear an eerie tone (like you'd hear in a horror movie) start to resonate. Additionally, the sounds of running water and the voice of a small child echo in the background. It's creepy!! (check out the website and you will hear it - http://www.festenonbroadway.com )

Juliana Margulies (ER), Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under - Billy Chenowith) are among the faces of the children. Speaking of Six Feet Under, it actually felt a bit like that show. (If you watch, you'd know what i mean). The mother is played by Ali MacGraw - her return to Broadway after many years.

Being a film/play made in the Danish Dogme style (i think i referred to that correctly) - the lighting was all white - no colors. The stage was stark (but that's just like those Danes - think Danish Modern Furniture!). It was all about the art, the story, and the message - not any Glitz and Glamour. That, essentially, is the Dogme Style of film/play making.

Well... If that's what they set out to do - they certainly succeeded. You come to learn at dinner that the father molested his son (and dead daughter). One of the other sons is nutz- of course most aptly played by Billy Chenowith...er... Jeremy Sisto... The mother knew about all this for years and shut it out - playing the ever silent matriarch of the family.

Act II degrades even further into the family swamp. Family members fighting family members, father trying to molest the young granddaughter, other son tries to kill father, mother sobs - and all the while they sing very eerie family songs (they all seem to know the words like they were raised singing them) and dance through the house drunk on the evening's wine.

The use concurrent use of space on the stage by 2 or 3 different sets of characters was amazing. Without having 5 or 6 rooms to play the scenes in, they often all used the same space rapidly alternating the dialogue and lighting all the while seeming to be alone in the space without interfering with the others. Not easy to block out - and not at all easy to perform. The effect only added to the eerie tension of the evening.

Tension, along with an eerie horror movie sound/tone permeated the theater from the minute they walked on stage, to the last word was uttered. I tell you - it was twisted! I hope there's a tall glass bourbon waiting for all of them every night they walk off stage! I know I certainly needed one!