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.

Anything Goes

I wanted it to be great.  I really did.  I wanted to walk away from the theater soaking wet - like someone opened a musical theatre fire hydrant all over me in the audience on a hot summer day. Instead, all I got were a few blasts from the sprinkler in each act - all of which wet my leaves, but never got to my roots.

Problem #1 - Joel Grey is mis-cast.  He seemed oddly out of place the entire show.   Problem #2  - The book.  It's utterly stupid.  Stupid books abound, but you gotta compensate somehow.  Problem #3 - Three rousing tap numbers that don't really go anywhere and stand-alone gems do not compensate for the aforementioned problem #2 or #1. I had such high expectations - and they promptly withered and died by 11pm (yes, it's a long show on top of everything else).  

Was Sutton Foster magnificent - absolutely, without a doubt.  She's indeed delicious, delightful and de-lovely!  Her leading man, Colin Donnell, is adorably dashing and debonair and incredibly talented in the song and dance department too. You'll have to wait the entire first act for Anything Goes, the first knock-your-socks-off, full company, full-tilt tap number that brings the house down.  The entire cast is indeed talented and very easy on the eyes, i must admit.  Right after the intermission, you'll get that barn-burner,  Blow, Gabriel, Blow, and then really nothing until the finale.   I especially enjoyed Kathleen Marshall's razzle-dazzle choreography but it felt so isolated and stand-alone-ish.  And I adore John McMartin, but he looked so incredibly lost on the stage all the time.  And sometimes he just disappeared!  There's not much else to report over the rest of the 2H:45M run time aside from a very clever and cute use of a blue spot during Be Like The Blue Bird.  ~Sigh~

Best Leading Actress - No qualms.  Best Musical Revival?  Not a chance.   This ship is more like a row boat in a lake.   I'm going to wait for the concert version with the New York Philharmonic.  Get rid of the story - and focus on all the great song and dance.  Now that would be a ship I'd buy a ticket to sail on!