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!

It Must Be Him

A late summer gem is playing over at the Peter J. Sharp Theatre above Playwrights Horizons for the next few weeks.  I don't know who Kenny Solms, the playwright, is, but he should have a career in situation comedy writing if he doesn't already.  When it's laugh-out-loud funny, you don't mind the fact that is seems like a TV show.  Matter of fact, when done well, it's just as good, if not better.

Peter Scolari helms this romp playing Louie Wexler, an aging 50-something, Beverly Hills based comedy writer from the days of variety TV who is down on his luck, out of fresh ideas, out of cash, and barely out of the closet.  (Seemed to me this could have been based on most any Hollywood writer!).  He lives alone, loves boys (who he never seems to get),  and is tormented by visions of his dead parents (Bob Ari, Alice Playten), his high school girlfriend (Stephanie D'Abruzzo) and his living brother (Jonathan Kaplan) - all who bring varying levels of guilt to the table.  His housekeeper, Ana, (Liz Torres) is best remembered for playing the "es-panish es-peeking" nurse to Archie Bunker on All in the Family who could say "Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation" but had trouble with "chiis" (that's cheese, if you can't hear my accent in the typing!).  In many ways she brilliantly reprises the devilishly lazy and innocent Latina role here once again.

The object of Louie's affection, 20 year old Scott (Patrick Cummings), wants to break into show biz.  He lives in the guest house but Louie wishes it were so much more! (this seems to me to be the classic Hollywood situation!).  People of Louie's generation didn't come out and stuck to writing funny material.  He's fresh out of ideas, his guilt and longing for a relationship is gnawing at his psyche and he's going to lose his home.  He finally decides to write something new and for the first time it's based on all the people in his real life (the "play within a play" thing).  Turns out, in the end, that his agent (Edward Staudenmayer) may just save the day!

Despite all the camp (and there is plenty) and obvious jokes (there are many) the show comes off as well done.  It's fast paced, it has musical numbers (remember, Louie writes variety shows), and plenty of belly laughs and one liners  - all in 90 minutes without an intermission.  Bravo.  The cast seems to be enjoying themselves on stage - most of all Peter Scolari - who plays the neurotic 50-something with aplomb.

White's Lies

A light romp on West 50th Street at the New World Stages with a delightful cast.   It's a bit like a skit on the Tonight Show - a wink and a nod - but delightful nonetheless.  Betty Buckley and Peter Scolari headline the ensemble.   Check it out.  The cast alone is well worth the off-Broadway ticket price.  New favorite funny boy - Jimmy Ray Bennett.

In The Wings

Stewart Lane - you won 3 Tony Awards for producing shows - "Thoroughly Modern Millie", "La Cage Aux Folles", "The Will Rogers Follies". Due us all a favor - stick to producing. Your writing is awful. The poor people on stage were punished by your high school-esque plot, bad dialogue and poor choice of subject matter. - - and let's not forget that the actors on stage didn't exactly dazzle either. I mean how could they - the subject of the show was actors who weren't that good trying to make it in a show..... a show entitled "I married a Communist".... I thought I'd seen the worst of it by act 2, but it became unbearable when Peter Scolari (the other "Bosom Buddy") did a "rap song" about Karl Marx.... All in all - a 100% flush down the toilet. "In the Wings" should stay in the wings.

Run (away) - don't walk.