1984

George Orwell's dystopian novel brought to the stage - first in London on the West End, now on Broadway.  The technology and video employed was magnificent.  The direction was crisp, artistic, and suspenseful - after all you're supposed to be kept off-balance the entire time.  The acting, too, had strong moments for each of the 3 stars - Reed Birney, Tom Sturridge, and Olivia Wilde.

However, the story, laid bare on a stage had the tendency to be entirely too shocking.  Reading the book you can imagine what you like.  Watching the play you have no choice but to absorb whatever they throw your way.  Since I don't make it a habit of wincing and throwing my attention away to the side like I might when watching TV or a movie, my assessment with this play is that it is entirely too graphic and gritty.   It's one thing to watch an ISIS video on TV or an episode of 24 or the news... violence is everywhere.... but in the theatre it just seems a bit too much to electrocute someone downstage front and center and think we are going to enjoy it.

No matter the play, I enjoyed my first trip to Broadway's newest house - The Hudson Theatre - and hope that future plays will be less violent and more enjoyable.

Man From Nebraska

Powerhouse Tracy Letts penned a killer show several years ago - August Osage County - family drama - intense - drug fueled.  Wowza.  His latest installment off-Broadway, Man From Nebraska, is far from that prior mark. Intentional, I'm pretty sure.  This show is brooding, show, vacuous, empty, hopeless, and depressing.  This is not all necessarily bad, it just leaves you quite a different taste in your mouth than the prior installment. Sometimes life throws you curve balls.  Some people swerve to avoid them, others get beamed directly in the head.  Such is life.

Probably the hardest working actor on and off Broadway, Reed Birney, (Ken) helms this production and is basically whom the entire show revolves around Ken and his mid-life religious crisis.  Kathleen Peirce (Cammie Carpenter) is his devoutly religious wife who is left to deal with the fallout.  It was not lost on me that Ken was from dead-center America where religion is much more central to the lives of people.  Ken meets Harry Brown , the brilliant Max Gordon Moore and Tamyra, the lovely Nana Mensah.  It also did not get lost on me that in his mid-life crisis he flew the coop to London - a city that could not be more different than Nebraska.  Mr. Letts seemed to be hinting at these disparities in quite a bit of the dialogue - (Ken: "I lost my faith", Tamyra: "They throw you Yanks out for that these days?").

Part blistering critique of religion and America, part human condition, Mr. Letts shows us what happens when man questions long held beliefs as provincial and narrow as they might seem.  He may or may not find something more satisfying out there.  He may come back. Or maybe he won't.  Despite the rather hum-drum and depressing Nebraska life that Ken leads, we do find that he is able to expand his horizons if even for a brief period.

Frankly Mr. Letts' play doesn't really answer the question it merely scratches the surface and explores the topic.  If you are looking for definitive answers you won't find them here.

The Humans

The wonderfully talented writer, Stephen Karam, has penned yet another potent work now on stage at Roundabout's Laura Pels Theater.  The Humans is a bare bones expose of the titular condition translated to us via the Blake Family.

Erik Burke (Reed Birney) and Deidre Blake (Jane Houdyshell) are the staunchly middle class parents who raised their kids and go to church.  They seem to be finding the dream slipping away day by day.  Aimee Blake (Cassie Beck) and Brigid Blake (Sara Steele) are their two daughters who seemingly have done better than their parents' generation - college for both and Aimee being a lawyer in Philadelphia.  Brigid is, however, a struggling composer just out of school with a mountain of student loan debt.  Brigid is hosting Thanksgiving in her newly obtained apartment in Chinatown - a byproduct of her and her boyfriend Richard Saad (Arian Moayed) deciding to move in together to save money on the way to seeing if they can make it as a couple.  Mother Blake is, of course, not happy about this arrangement.  You're supposed to get married first.  Accompanying them is Erik's Mother (Lauren Klein) who is completely taken by Alzheimer's.  She's in a wheelchair and is really much out of it.  We learn they really can't afford to put her anywhere for care which makes the disease even more sad for all involved.

As Brigid over-compensates and leads the conversation and tour of her city and neighborhood, we learn more and more about each family member.  Aimee has ulcerative colitis and may be losing her job as a lawyer.  Mom and Dad have worked for the same places with little wage increases over the past few decades.  Brigid is still learning how to "live" with her new boyfriend - what they share, what they say, and what they don't.  It's really a slice-of-life type of a play with the family's dirty laundry being exposed here and there.  Funny, poignant, and sad.  Mr. Birney and Ms. Houdyshell might just be the finest actors on the stage today.  Neither one seems to be able to utter an insincere or unintentional word.  Ms. Steele is annoying and endearing all at the same time.  It's a family,  warts and all.  It's a dumpy New York City apartment Chinatown, warts and all.   It's Thanksgiving, warts and all.

We do learn that Dad has something to tell everyone.  I assumed it was the big C. But it's a twist that you will not expect.  Like many families who don't really talk to each other and ignore most of the not-so-nice things - the Burke's are no different.  The play progresses with light bulbs burning out until we end is total darkness.  A darkness I liken to the lost nature of the entire family and families in general - all bubbly and sparkly on the outside, not so much on the inside.

I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard

Off-Broadway plays, in my humble opinion, will always be a more visceral, poignant, and biting experience than their bigger siblings on the Great White Way.  Why?  Because they can take more risks, be bolder, and cover those topics that a white-washed, milquetoast Broadway production with it's high-priced tickets in coldly vacuous theaters simply can't.   And I think I like it that way.  Nothing beats a riveting play in an intimate downtown black box theater - and Halley Feiffer's potent new work, I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard, hits this nail squarely on the head and sinks it deeply into the wood beam much like a bullet penetrating a skull.

Reed Birney for whom this fan has noting but praise, once again raises his game and stretches his boundaries with David, a bitter, opinionated, acerbic, highly damaged playwright who maintains what one might categorize as an, abusive, domineering, and permanently corrosive relationship with his impressionable young actress/daughter, Ella (Betty Gilpin).  Up to this point I would never have pegged Mr. Birney for such an aggressive, bear-it-all role but his performance here has placed him in an entirely new category in my book.  For his next role, I can clearly see him playing Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner's Angels in America.  If I were a Tony nominator (and this play were actually eligible), Mr. Birney would get my vote hands down.

In this intimate two-hander at the Atlantic Theater Company - Stage II, we find David clearly dominating the conversation around his Upper West Side kitchen table in Act I.  When the smoke clears for Act II (quite literally), we find a once shy and awkward Ella all grown up and coming into her own in a dark downtown black-box theater mostly holding one-sided conversations on her cell phone.  While she has blossomed in her looks and confidence, what we quickly learn through her actions is a simple, timeless, and chilling lesson  - Like Father - Like Daughter.  

Don't expect a happy reunion between these two in the end.  Like the old phrase goes - What comes around, goes around.

Casa Valentina

When I was recovering from a recent surgery, I suggested to my friends that I would soon be ready to 'get back out there and see some provocative and exciting theatre'.  Little did I know that my very first play out of the gate would be Harvey Firestein's new play, Casa Valentina.   Wow.

It's expected that when you go to the theatre that you are entertained.  When you come away from a performance feeling you have learned something about history and life itself - in addition to some superb entertainment - that's exciting!  As for the provocative part - well just take a listen to the actors
themselves describe a play that depicts a group of 1960's men who escape into the Catskills to are part of a secret sorority who dress up as women:

Casa Valentina Video

Provocative - you bet.  Interesting and educational - absolutely (who knew?).  Storytelling - at its best.  Directed by Joe Mantello, written by Harvey Firestein, and produced by Lynne Meadow and Barry Grove at the Manhattan Theatre Club - this one is going to sizzle.  Don't wait for this tale told by a top-notch cast of characters to open on April 23rd.  Run over to the Samuel J Friedman (Biltmore) Theatre and catch a story told like none other today.

Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling

As I was leaving Adam Rapp's new play being presented by the Atlantic Theater Company at the Classic Stage Company's stage while they undergo a major renovation project on their own stage in Chelsea (the show must go on...), I was reminded of a simple little saying that a dear friend of mine and I have been repeating for for  many years now.  It goes something like this:   "You know, , there's something wrong with everyone".   Simple.  Accurate.  Apropos.

Mr. Rapp's obvious distaste for the ultra wealthy, wall street philanderers, and general ostentatious-ness of the wealth and power in the state of Connecticut (or otherwise) could not be more obvious.  Christine Lahti (Sandra Cabot), Reed Birney (Dr. Bertram Cabot), Cotter Smith (Dirk Von Stofenberg), and Betsy Aidem (Celeste Von Stofenberg) form a double power couple tag team of wealthy, disturbed, and simply put, rich assholes, who have ruined their children aptly played by Shane McRae (James Von Stofenberg) and Katherine Waterston (Cora Cabot) - and quite possibly also the lives of countless others in their quest to be "on top".   Mr. Rapp's clever dark comedy allows only a single beam of light and normalcy to shine throughout the play and her name is Wilma (Quincy Tyler Bernstine) and she is the black maid for the Cabot family.

This seemingly innocuous tale starts out to be a simple gathering of old friends for dinner in an opulent home in suburban Connecticut.  It ends up, assisted by Mr. Rapp's bizarre plot twists and scathing dialogue, with two murders (one animal, one human), with a passionate and explicit sexual encounter involving the two children (i saw that one coming a mile away) and the revelation of countess adult indiscretions and numerous crimes likely perpetrated by one or more of the dinner party attendees.  Wilma, the aforementioned black maid to the rich white folk, is positioned as both a physically and economically stereotypical maid but is brilliantly and subtly charged with being the only character who sees past it all and brings a transcendent sense of normalcy to the entire scene.  With this, Mr. Rapp, I was quite impressed.

Now, if only I could stop thinking about those poor geese!

Dream of the Burning Boy

Roundabout Underground has done it again. Another outstanding production down in the black box theatre in the bowels of the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. This production is also #2 at the RU for one of the most in-demand off-Broadway actors this season, Reed Birney.

Set in a small high school in Suburban America, the play deals with the issue of the death of one of the students – from both the perspective of the young students as well as Larry (Birney) one of the teachers. Young playwright, David West Read, has composed razor sharp dialogue in a tinder box situation for the characters. Without revealing the twists and turns of the plot, I’ll just say that Read takes the audience on a wild ride, never leaving the audience with a dull moment and always turns the expected into the truly unexpected.

Alexandra Socha (Rachel) turns in an outstanding performance, constantly churning out the sarcasm, intelligence, and wit of a young sister stricken by grief and at the same time eagerly seeking answers to her questions. Birney (Larry) turns in an emotionally complex performance, proving once again that he is a top-notch stage actor.

Don’t worry, there won’t be any flames on stage, the there will certainly be plenty of heat.

A Small Fire

Adam Bock's new play, A Small Fire, is a solid, well-acted family drama but it leaves you asking more questions than were answered as you exit the theater.  When someone starts to lose their senses - not the mental kind - i mean the actual ones - smell, taste, vision, and hearing - something is wrong.  Very wrong.  Yet we never hear more than one passing reference to a visit to the doctor!  A play that centers around a woman losing all these abilities needs to provide some sort of medical explanation. Perhaps Mr. Bock's intent was to focus on the family drama and not the medical - and I applaud him for that - but some sort of cause or possible explanation should have been at least a small part of this story.

As for the actors, although the play centers around Emily Bridges, (Michele Pawk), this play is Reed Birney's (her husband, John Bridges) to steel and he's done just that.  It's role reversal at its best.  Emily, a tough, hard as nails woman, owns and operates a construction company and seems more at ease with the boys at the site than with her own family, household chores, and femininity in general.   John is more of a homebody - a caring, meek and dependent sort of fellow.  Birney's finesse of the tender moments was sublime.  As his wife is losing her senses one at a time, he finds himself even more dedicated to her - despite the fact that if all this were not happening their marriage may have fallen apart.  Their daughter, Jenny, (Celia Keenan-Bolger), clearly emotionally damaged by the lack of motherly love over the years, is, expectedly, distant and detached.  Ms. Bolger isn't given very much to do or say but it's clear where she stands as she's about to get married and start a life of her own.  Birney's emotional description of the wedding reception scene to his wife (at that point blind) was one of the most poignant scenes in the entire play.  Overall, Ms. Pawk seemed to be a bit lost with character, but gave it her all.

On a disappointing note, Billy Fontaine's (Victor Wiliams) reason for his unwavering support for his boss, Emily, was a complete distraction.  Mr. Bock, not every play needs to have a gay sub-plot - and certainly there was a less distracting way to convey Billy's unwavering support without bringing up AIDS (and pigeons!).   And while I understand the meaning of the ending of the play (she may have lost all her senses, but she can still feel) - did we really need to see such a gratuitous sex?  In this case, less would have been more.

From a production stand-point - I have to point out the extremely well thought-out, unobtrusive and well placed sound and lighting effects.  I don't often point these more technical aspect out (or even notice them), but in this case, they added the perfect emphasis time and time again.  I assume this credit must go to David Weiner and Robert Kaplowitz.

While Mr. Bock's script may not dazzle, the acting in this 90 minute drama is top notch and well worth the price of an off-Broadway ticket over at Playwrights Horizons MainStage.

Tigers be Still

Way down - 4 stories below ground on West 46th street - resides an awesome theater experience called Roundabout Underground.  Funded and supported by The Roundabout Theatre Company, RU nourishes new, young playwrights by allowing their works to be presented on a black box stage all the while having the full support and backing of a professional theater company behind them.

In this case, Kim Rosenstock is one of these new, young playwrights.  This story involves Sherry (Halley Feiffer), a young woman seeking success in her first job as an art teacher and art therapist.  Ironically, it seems she and her family need just as much help as does her first client, Zack (John Magaro), the son of the principal (Reed Birney) at the school in which she has started teaching.   Throw in a depressed sister, Grace (Natasha Lyonne), and a mother locked in her room and you have the makings fit for a professional psychiatrist.  Turns out Zack has a secret which we find out only later in the performance, that, only then, fully explains his behavior and anger.

I love attending performances at the RU - it's always art in the true, raw, most pure form.  This script with it's quirky characters and no-so-far-from-reality plot has great potential.  It needs a few nips and tucks, a few adjustments to smooth out the choppy storyline and "oh my god, we have to wrap this up" ending - and I think one day we might even see this one on Broadway.  Kudos to Kim.  I hope we see more from her - and I certainly hope we see more of the adorable John Magaro.

Our Leading Lady

One minute you're laughing - the next minute President Lincoln is shot! This play has a little of everything - perhaps to its own detriment.

Kate Mulgrew plays the powerful and accomplished Laura Keene who shows up at the Ford Theater in Washington DC to take charge of a "rag-tag" theater company with the ulterior motive of actually taking over the theater itself. She plans to earn this privilege by filling the house and bringing prestige back to the theater on the opening night. And with President and Mrs. Lincoln in attendance how could anything go wrong?! (Well, you know the rest)

Maxwell Caulfield, Barbara Bryne, and Kristine Nielsen comprise the major players in the theater troupe. Their characters all have marginal talent and are nothing "big". Throw in a young (and very cute) stage manager learning the ropes in the theater, who seems to have an inappropriately ultra religious upbringing (along with a closeted curiosity for men) and you have all the ingredients for some laughs and some serious drama.

The back story of how President and Mrs. Lincoln came to be at the theater that night is a clever idea and the use of this historic event as the fabric for the story being told is a credit to Charles Busch's overall creative talents.

With all those ingredients I didn't feel that either was done so well. The laughs were more chuckles... and the drama didn't exactly evoke tears. Overall the show was longer than it needed to be, but not uncomfortably so. On the bright side, the rotating stage proscenium was clever and the classical piano music at the scene changes was brilliant.