Machinal

Who would have thought a lyrical play about a crazy woman who kills her husband and gets the electric chair would be so engrossing?  Sophie Treadwell's 1928 play about this very subject matter is currently running at Roundabout's American Airlines Theater - and what an experience it is!

Sets by Es Devlin,  Lighting by Michael Krass and most importantly Sound by Matt Tierney are to be applauded for complementing the tumultuous and often times rhythmical, other times stream of consciousness dialogues superbly.

Rebecca Hall (Young Woman) dominates the stage in her confused and often tortured and emotionally challenged character.  Supported by a large cast of fine, well choreographed actors around her (including Arnie Burton, Morgan Spector, and Michael Cumpsty), the tale of her life unfolds in 9 dramatic and thoroughly captivating vignettes in the ever rotating and changing set.

The play was written not like today's Law and Order formulaic crime drama, but rather as a loose compilation of thoughts, ramblings, and exclamations of a disturbed woman and her desire for emotional freedom who ends up killing her husband.  After all, a play ending in an electric chair scene can't possibly be uplifting, but the exploration of character, dreams, sanity, and life that unfolds along the way add up to a remarkable theatrical experience.

Prelude to a Kiss

A charming, very intimate performance at the Roundabout. John Mahoney (Frasier's Dad), Annie Parisse (DA Borgia on Law and Order), and Alan Tudyk (shirt off and smokin' hot), charmed the audience in this Craig Lucas play.

In summary - it's the age old story of "Be careful what you wish for". The chemistry between Peter and Rita and the Old Man was remarkable. The lighting and sound and simple set ingeniously complemented and enhanced the words.

It was nice to sit and watch a straightforward play, good actors, and a charming story in a great theater!

Suddenly Last Summer

Mrs Venable and Miss Holly rule the stage in a battle of wills at the Laura Pells Theater on West 46th. Blythe Danner and Carla Gugino weave Tennessee Williams' scandalous tale originally written in the early 20th century.

Violet and Sebastian - mother and son. What dark secret does this relationship hold? Why will Violet, the very rich and protective mother, go to the extreme of sending her niece to a mental hospital for a lobotomy?

Of course the answer lies in the fact that Sebastian was gay. His mother hid the secret all his life, but let him live his life in secret at home and through their worldly travels. But when he travels with his cousin Catherine instead of his mother this past summer things unravel. He's not able to deal in the same way he would have under the protective wing of his mother and ultimately that change is the cause of his horrific death on the street while traveling. The elderly Violet refuses to let this story get out and ruin her son's (and her) reputation, but her niece is "blabbing" the story all around. Violet's remedy is to seek out (and bribe) a doctor - (played rather stiffly by Gale Harold) who has a new procedure - the Lobotomy - to shut her up.

We learn about all the characters in Act I, and in Act II, when the doctor arrives, we ultimately hear the long, dramatic story of this past summer's vacation taken by Sebastian and Catherine in a poetic, dramatic, and poignant monologue. The crescendo, highlighted perfectly by a dramatic lighting effect, is, of course, the horrible death of Sebastian.

In what could only have been a shocking ending in its day - is the doctor's simple admission that perhaps the whole story could indeed be true, that Catherine is indeed not crazy, and not a candidate for the extreme procedure. (Lights Out).