The Whale

A brutally honest, raw, and sad tale told by Samuel D. Hunter over on 42nd Street at Playwrights Horizons.  What do you get when you combine a morbidly obese man, an estranged daughter, a deeply guarded secret, a young Mormon boy, and a mysteriously  connected lady-friend?    That's a lot to be simmering just below the surface.  Under Davis McCallum's direction, The Whale slowly simmers, occasionally bubbles and eventually erupts into a full boil just as the curtain falls.

Charlie (Shuler Hensley), literally inflated in a humongous fat-suit, does a shockingly realistic job at portraying a 600 pound man on the verge of a "natural" death due to his weight.  In his final days, he wishes to reconcile with his estranged wife and daughter he last saw when she was a baby.  Why has he grown to this size?  What has driven his eating?  Enter stage left, Liz (Rebecca Henderson).  She's his life-line, a friend with an attachment we only come to know later after we meet Elder Thomas (Cory Michael Smith), a young Mormon missionary who eventually crosses paths with Charlie's young,  angry, and introverted daughter, Ellie (Reyna De Courcy) and her mother, Mary (Tasha Lawrence).

As the tale wrapped in allegorical references to Moby Dick unfolds, the proverbial plot thickens and the reasons and root causes we have all been waiting for begin to unfold.  Jane Cox (lighting) and Fritz Patton (sound design) deserve a shout-out for the excellent mood-heightening effects of the belly of the whale.

COCK

Quite possibly one of the most engrossing, unique, emotionally charged plays of the season.  Throw away all your theatrical pretense and spend 90 minutes immersed in a battle over John.  The tidal wave Mike Bennett created over at the Royal Court Theatre in London has crashed on our shores at the Duke Theatre on 42nd with much ado. Hell, the name alone has caused a stir - notably the New York Times won't even print the title of the play in its publications.

The controversy over the name outside the theatre is equally matched with a raw, no-holds-barred, gut-wrenching battle of wills inside the theatre - which by the way is constructed out of bare plywood made to look just like a real illicit cock-fighting ring.  And the analogy to a cock fight runs throughout the entire production too.  The actors circle a mere the 12" diameter performance space (i.e in the round) with audience members mere inches away as the battle brews.  The scenes are punctuated by a bell as if signaling the end a round in a prize fight - except here the prize is John himself.

Gay, Straight, Bi.  Love, relationships, and labels.  Wants, needs and desires.   All covered at break-neck speed and blazing intensity in the brief encounter we have with M, W, F and John (we are to assume they stand for Male, Female, and Father).  You have to understand one thing for the entire premise of this play to capture you - and that is that everyone on stage has issues, dependencies, desires, and insecurities.  If you don't see that - you will immediately jump to the well, he or she should have just walked away from that mess 5 minutes into the performance.  But as long as you recognize each character's weakness, position of strength over the other, and his/her flaws you quickly realize that this is an epic battle that quite frankly may come to a conclusion but will have no clear winner in the end.

Sometimes the simplest of ideas can pack the most punch.   Run, Don't walk, to see Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Quaid, Cory Michael Smith, and Cotter Smith engage in the battle of their lives.

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.