G.B.S.

Jason Hall has penned a mighty 90 minute dialogue between two estranged brothers who are forced to reunite after, as we slowly learn, his death from Guillain-Barre Syndrome (hence the title of the play).   The show is true storytelling at its best, with virtually no props or scenery and limited lighting.

Kudos to Curran Connor and Jason Jacoby for their fine performances.  Both actors are on stage together for just about the entire play - each taking a break for mere moments while the other has a brief monologue.

This play is about family, family issues, and the mess that happens in our lives and how life can grow more complicated despite our desire to love and be loved.  I've no idea where the idea for this play came from, but one might speculate the disease may have hit a loved one in Mr. Hall's family and thinking further about it - perhaps this play is somewhat autobiographical.  I'm not really sure, but one would assume the ideas, facts, or circumstances may have come from within.

American Idiot

It's loud, irreverent, but not pointless.  A story of teenage angst is told thru the music.  Conceived in the Bush era this show is both artistic and uncomfortable at the same time.  John Gallagher, Jr., Stark Sands and Michael Esper lead the cast in a 90 minute multi-media, alcohol, drug, and profanity laced tour de force.

Green Day may not be your favorite band and watching a group of kids come of age in different, yet predictable ways may not be the ideal night in theatre - but the "shock and awe" on stage might just win you over.   Will it last?  I think at least as long as Spring Awakening.  Longer?  Not sure.

Sondheim on Sondheim

A thoroughly enjoyable multi-media evening spent learning about the musical legend, Stephen Sondheim, at the legendary Studio 54.  My only complaint is that I spent over $400 bucks for a subscription to the Roundabout Theatre company - expecting to see great plays and musicals - and instead i get this.  It's cheap to produce and not what I signed up for.

Thumbs up to Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams - two great voices from two generations.  Kudos to Leslie Kritzer and Euan Morton who solidly rounded out the cast and brought many laughs.   Norm Lewis is not stranger to the stage, but I'm not sure he was right for this role.  And then there's Tom Wopat.  Why people think he can sing and act, I'll never understand.

Mr. Sondheim materializes all evening on the fancy-schmancy TV monitors that morph all over the stage the entire evening.  He sets the scenes, tells the story and even makes us laugh and cry in the trip of memories down Sondheim Lane.  One wonders if he's so busy that he couldn't make an actual appearance live on stage in the very show that is a tribute to him.  Oh well.   The talent  gets an A but Roundabout gets a D for effort on this one.

Lend Me a Tenor

What started as a funny romp turned into a tragedy of epic proportions at the Music Box Theatre.  More like a overly long episode of the Carol Burnett Show, I thought this one would never end.  Truth be told, I left at intermission.  The actors were all decent  - and frankly i chuckled quite a few time - but c'mon, even Carol Burnett has limits.  She can only try to make Harvey Korman or Tim Conway laugh so many times before the joke gets very old, very quickly.

The Scottsboro Boys

 I've just come up with a new final exam for a musical theatre class.  Here it is:  Pitch this idea to a producer and try to get them to put it on - -  The story of 9 black boys accused of raping two white women on a railroad car in the south in 1931 presented as a musical minstrel show with the boys all being actually black with the show's white narrator telling the story to the audience while intermittently playing a character throughout throughout the entire performance.  Good luck with that one, right?!


Well this is exactly what Kandor and Ebb set out to do and despite the death of Fred Ebb before the work was completed, it has finally been given its world primere in New York City at the Vineyard Theatre. Despite the awkward premise, the show works.   It instantly feels both entertaining and uncomfortable at the same time.  It's supposed to feel that way - but never lets you get stuck being uncomfortable for too long.  Memorable numbers, inspiring ballads, rousing show numbers and talent crawling all over the stage make for an invigorating and educational night of theatre.   Stand out performances by all the boys and most of all John Cullum as the interlocutor.

This one is likely to transfer to Broadway.  The stage at the Vineyard is small - probably too small, but Susan Stroman worked her magic nonetheless.  On a larger Broadway stage, this one has great potential.   I'm not sure it will have a long lasting run, but it will certainly make a substantial contribution to the live theatre experience and enrich its audiences substantially while there.

RED

Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne turn John Logan's play into a 90 minute tour de force.  This is some of the best theatre around and two of the best actors for it.  Mark Rothko a contemporary artist is the subject - or shall we say his artistic viewpoints and opinions are the substance of the show.  Molina plays him with the intensity of a lion.  Redmayne comes along as a young, shy assistant in the art studio and turns out to be one of his most powerful foils.


Art is not only performed on stage, it's created.  The stage is the studio.  Art is on the menu.  Look for one or both of these two to win a Tony this season.  This is theatre at it's most electrifying best.

A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick

 I'm always a fan of the productions at Playwrights Horizons.  This one is a new work by Kia Corthron.  The play has a somewhat radical version of the enviro-political message - Save our drinking water.   William Jackson Harper takes command of the stage as Abebe, the young student / preacher from Ethiopia who rails against waste of water in America and everywhere else.  So much, in fact that the audience finds itself drowning in his sermons.  His host family has some issues too and somehow Kia manages to weave Abebe into their life to help heal them too.  Myra Lucretia Taylor (Pickle) and Kianne Muschett (H.J.) give admirable performances as Mother and Daughter.

A play with a strong message is hard to pull off.  Aside from its length, this one almost does it.

All About Me

Looking back, this seemed like a pretty good match up on Broadway - the frivolity and acerbic hilarity of Australia's great Dame Edna Everage combined with the great American songster Michael Feinstein - a duo to be reckoned with, right?   Wrong.

This show combined the worst of both.  Not nearly enough of the American crooner and the the Dame had only fleeting moments of her signature comic repartee with the audience.  The plot (if you can call it that) is a bit ridiculous and contrived - both artists booked in the same theatre at the same time doing what each of them thinks is his/her own individual show.  The madcap antics that follow are best left to the keystone cops or Monty Python.   I should have known exactly how the entire evening was going to unfold when, as soon as we sat down and compared Playbills (yes, I love my Playbills!), I realized there were two versions - one for Michael's show and one for Dame Edna's show.  

Don't get me wrong - I love both of these veterans and was hoping for something grand - but instead got mediocrity at best.  I'd still buy tickets to each of them separately but for both of them i think it will be a long break before a return to the stage after this flop. 

The Pride

A powerhouse of a play written by Alexi Kaye Campbell.  Tremendous cast of four leaves you spellbound.  Two tales so eloquently woven together they seem as one.  Two very different times - 1958 and 2008.  They couldn't be more different - or could they?   I was mesmerized at the performances of Hugh Dancy (Philip) and Ben Whishaw (Oliver) slip effortlessly between the decades and weave a tale that is timeless.  Andrea Riseborough (Sylvia) and Adam James  round out this All-British gem.

The power behind this story is how Oliver and Philip transition between the two very different eras playing two very different characters in each time period.  On the surface it seems like night and day, but as you interpret the layers, you find that in some respects, they share the same problems as their alter-generation characters.   Superb lighting and sound was key in creating the mystery and tension on stage which only served to enhance the actors' fine performances.  

Next Fall

The next big thing in gay theatre seems to be coming of age on Broadway.  Gone are the days of shows about AIDS, an awkward gay kid coming of age, or the seemingly requisite gay character who's a wickedly funny sidekick or comic relief to the main storyline.

Geoffrey Nauffts has created a modern look at love, relationships, religion, and family that will bring you from laughter to tears and back again.  Patrick Breen and Patrick Heusinger bring Adam and Luke to life at a moment of dire crisis.  Flashbacks serve to explain the evolution of their relationship and scenes from the present are spliced in to remind us why they are all assembled together.  Throw in religion (or the lack thereof), parents from Texas, and friends from New York and you might have all the ingredients necessary for an overblown, explosive gay vs straight donnybrook ready to blow.  However, Nauffts paints the story without extreme bias to any one point of view and.  In so doing, he makes the show more personal, more believable, and the audience more sympathetic to the overall issue rather than alienating anyone.

There are too many good lines and honest points of view portrayed in this show that it's hard to do them all justice.   Suffice to say - no matter what your politics, you'll find love stamped all over this show among all the various characters, no matter what your point of view - or theirs.

Looped

 

Who else but Valerie Harper could burst on the stage, seemingly drunk and get a raucous round of applause?  Although I did feel like I was at a taping of a new movie of the Carol Burnett show (i really did expect Tim Conway or Harvey Korman to bust on stage any minute), I felt like I learned a little bit about the much talked about Talulah Bankhead.  

The plot of the show seemed unnecessarily detoured a few times with side stories.  Perhaps we would have been better served without the gay sub-plot and a trimming of the show down 90 minutes with no intermission.   Or maybe they tried that and it just seemed too thin?   In any case, I suspect this one will be a gem for the Broadway crowd, but not much of a draw (unless they are giving the tickets away) for the tourist crowds.  And we all know the big white buses are the only things that can keep a show alive. 

I love the Lyceum theatre and i had an fun evening watching Harper hurl her humor tipped barbs all over the stage.  

Present Laughter

 
An endearing evening of Noel Coward was had by all.  It's light, it's gay (in both the old and new sense of the word), and it's funny.   Victor Garber proves once again to me that he can command the stage.  With a pinch of Harriet Harris and a dash of Brooks Ashmanskas, it only got better.

The play is often described as semi-autobiographical for Coward.  For sure, it's from another era - but with a cast like this and the fairly well written material - it doesn't seem stale - just the comedy of a by-gone era. 

Clybourne Park

Bruce Norris' book is a gem.  The concept of a "then and now" production is not new, but he has brilliantly crafted a story that demonstrates just how far we've come - and at the same time - how little has changed.  Except for Annie Parisse, I'd not heard of anyone in the cast, but i must say a skilled ensemble all around.

One of the most brilliant aspects of this production (i am not sure if this is how it was intended or just a stroke of genius of the director) is how the entire cast in act one is recycled in act two as other characters.  It makes sense since they are really totally separate stories bound together by a common thread - the house.   

Act I tells the story of Bev (Kristina Kirk) and Russ (Frank Wood) in 1959 and the house they had to sell (no spoilers here) and to whom they elected to sell it.

Act II tells the tale of the same house in 2009 - in much worse shape - and the couple that tries to buy it.   In each time period we are given a glimpse into the internal workings of family, society, and prejudice.

We've certainly changed on many fronts, but then again, perhaps the shoe has just changed feet.

Next To Normal

 
It's not too often that I revisit a show - but a Broadway transfer is usually worth the 2nd visit.  I saw the original off-Broadway run at Second Stage Theatre a while back.  It packed a significant punch for me then and I was hopeful it would again.

Part of the transfer process included tightening up the book significantly.  Most of the ancillary plot lines have been removed - in favor of a razor sharp focus on the main issue. Gone is the Frankenstein-like electro-shock scene and many others too. A first time viewer will certainly be very happy with the results.  To someone revisiting the show, you might miss a scene or two here or there.   One i missed in particular was the supermarket scene (crazy mom goes shopping).   It was probably too "campy" for the newer, sharper focus, but I liked it.  However, i see the need for the changes for a commercial run; I see the benefits; and respect the results. 

The staging remains the same - a sparse modern 2 story, steel frame representing a house illuminated with colored back lighting. Alice Ripley remains in the cast.  She's perfect for the role - but I thought she acquired some sort of affected English/Irish accent at times.  Very odd.  All the other originals have changed out - and not for the better, i regret to say.  Brian D'Arcy James (rumored to be returning this summer) was a much stronger Henry than Adam Chanler-Berat - both vocally and physically.  Kyle Dean Massey was a fairly equal replacement for Aaron Tveit but Aaron seemed to belt it out and display a bit more angst, anger, and emotion (they're both adorably cute, don't worry).

Today's family problems (suburban or otherwise) are increasingly the subject matter for stage productions (e.g. August Osage County, Next Fall).  The show remains a powerhouse - well worth the price of the ticket - and it's fresh and new - and (still) not your mother's old musical - for sure.  And I'm going to guess that a significant majority of the audience each night is probably looking directly in a mirror.

A Little Night Music

A charming and elegant evening at the Walter Kerr Theatre.  I'd never heard anything about the show before i saw it - so i was a blank slate ready to be impressed by Mr. Sondheim and this cast.   And impressed I was.    Catherine Zeta Jones was magnificent.  I won't say her rendition of Send in the Clowns was the best i'd ever heard, but it was solid and heartfelt.  A great actress she is, no matter what the medium.  Angela Lansbury is a gem and it's a pleasure to see her no matter what the medium.   Although she did just get off a run of Blythe Spirit where she owned the entire stage from end to end - this show is a bit different.  She plays the aging matriarch in a wheel chair the entire evening - so dare i say - she could do this one for quite a long time - 8 shows every week!

I did some reading about prior productions of this show - and if i believe what i read - this production was quite elegant - unlike the prior incarnations.  Brought to mind another Sondheim show, Company, also an elegant reincarnation a few years past.

I won't say the show itself is a draw.  It's a bit old fashioned and predictable.  The main draw is Angela and Catherine - for sure.  Aaron Lazar and Erin Davie certainly add to the evening with their charmed performances.   Sondheim's Every Day a Little Death seen live on stage was a treat.

Not sure this one will last beyond Angela's go at it.  Maybe someone can replace Catherine Zeta Jones, but nobody can replace Angela.

The Understudy

The Addams Family

Ragtime

Wishful Drinking

This

Race

Love Child

Loaded

God of Carnage

Finian's Rainbow

A Steady Rain

Oleanna

Brighton Beach Memoirs

After Miss Julie

Two Unrelated Plays

The Royal Family

Superior Donuts

Memphis

Let Me Down Easy

The Tin Pan Alley Rag

A Lifetime Burning

Vanities

Irena's Vow

Everyday Rapture

Distracted

The American Plan

Hedda Gabler

Blythe Spirit

Sessions

Ruined

Dust

West Side Story

Arthur Laurents is still at it.  The Broadway revival of West Side Story is on its way to the great white way.   I caught it in Washington DC at the National Theatre on its out of town tryout.  (As if there were a chance it wouldn't come!)  There's a rich history to this show - the creative team (Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins), the original Broadway production, the movie, and the legacy of being a turning-point in the American musical.

As with everything being revived - it's hard, especially in this instant multi-media world, to recreate the classic original.  It's got to be different, fresh, and new.  While some may argue this is about the evolving art - I argue that a classic is a classic.  Why must everything be "updated"?  Why can't people be happy with a classic re-presented?  I have mixed feelings about this production.  It certainly was a tremendously enjoyable evening of theatre. But it didn't knock me out of the park.   Keep in mind that this is a review of an pre-broadway production.  Improvements and changes are likely and, one hopes, would turn this production into a smash hit.

Matt Cavanaugh (A Catered Affair, Grey Gardens) takes the helm as Tony.  Let's get one thing out of the way - he's gorgeous and has the voice of an angel.  But it seems I've recently attended a spate of mis-cast leads in musicals.  Folks, it's a musical.  Cast someone who can dance!  Karen Olivo (In the Heights) takes on the role of Anita.  She had big shoes to fill (Chita Rivera on B'way, Rita Moreno in film).  It seems those shoes do indeed fit quite nicely.  I think her challenge as she grows into the role will be to exude even more sexuality, toss her hair around a little more, whip that dress around a little more and work on the clarity of her Spanish so that the audience will be able to comprehend it. Newcomer Cody Green (TV - Step up and Dance) is Riff.  Yes, he's HOT, HOT, HOT.  Acting doesn't seem to bother him, dancing is above average, and singing is not a challenge.  Finally a trash TV guy who actually has talent on Broadway!  Look for more good things from Cody.  Two of the leads are foreign talent - Joseffina Scalgione as Maria and George Akram as Bernardo.  She hails from Argentina (Hairspray in Argentina) and he hails from Venezuela and is a relative unknown up to now.  Look out for good things to come from these two!  

There's also a whole host of chorus boys (Jets and Sharks) as well as chorus girls.  There are too many to mention - except to say someone was wise enough to cast incredible dancers in these roles.  What may have been lacking in the acting department at times was more than made up in the dancing department.  The outstanding ballet skills were front and center from the curtain up - Prologue and Jets Song followed by Dance at the Gym followed by America all they way thru The Rumble.  Bravo!

Curtis Holbrook (Xanadu, All Shook Up, Boy from Oz) is one of my favorites.  He's absolutely adorable, dances at the top of his game, and has been honing his acting chops these past few years in some solid Broadway productions.   (Would asking him out on a date here be in appropriate?!)

Let me say right here that I'm not a fan of some of the "new ideas" brought to the show. Dialogue and songs completely in Spanish, for one.   It was distracting.  I appreciate the blending of cultures concept - but at the same time I wanted to know what they were saying!  Doesn't everyone want to sing along in his head to I feel Pretty?  Sort of hard in this production as they were completely in Spanish.  I heard a rumor that Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the updated Spanish lyrics.   Not a deal-breaker for me, but I wonder how many bus-loads of tourists on big white buses will be unhappy and start whispering to each other "what did she say?" throughout the show!   The melding of languages was not as distracting during the dialogue - because it seemed to have been done by "peppering" rather than paragraphs of dialogue in a row.   

Arthur Laurents came out early on and said this would be a ground breaking production.  To paraphrase what he said is to say that he felt portraying all of the kids as killers would not have been possible back in time of the original production.  But this time around - he has built in an intense anger and pent up frustration in each of the gang members.   Each, in his own way, coming to the boiling point and showing that anger in the dance, dialogue and song.  This was, to me, one of the most successful of the changes to the show.  I did overhear several audience members wondering why there were so many "pauses" during the dramatic scenes.  Fear not, nobody forgot any lines.  The "pregnant pause" is a device to raise the tension and drama.  This reaction might indicate to the director that it was used a bit too much for the average audience member.  You decide.

I am a bit perplexed at the need to have a "Kiddo" character sing Somewhere in Act II.  Great for the kid who sang it (there are actually two of them cast and they alternate) but it seemed a bit awkward.  All I could surmise is that it represented a look back to how they all "could have been".  I saw Nicholas Barasch - and he was absolutely adorable and had the voice of a young male soprano angel.   It just seemed thrust on the audience unnecessarily and without any real explanation or basis in the plot.

With all the artistic and interpretive updates  I think it also had the effect of making one musical number stick out even more than perhaps it did in the past.   Gee Officer Krupke has always been a classic Broadway show-tune.   I was half expecting a total re-imagination of the music and presentation of it.  I guess maybe they ran out of time on that one.

One final observation.  I felt I was somehow deprived of the full musical orchestration.  While I did not see the original production or revivals - it somehow felt to me that music was cut.  I left feeling that i somehow did not get Leonard Bernstein's full musical assault on the ears.

There's still some chemistry to work out.  It's not fully there yet. A few scene/set changes seemed awkward, and Act II seems rushed and disorganized.  All these, one would hope, are addressed in the "out of town tryout" notes and fixed before it gets to Broadway.  I believe it's going into the Palace Theatre.  Don't be fooled into Balcony seating there.  Those seats are an abomination!  Some of them don't have a full view of the stage.

Saturn Returns

I haven't been to the Mitzi Newhouse theatre at Lincoln Center in quite a while, but for my return I was pleasantly surprised by the new play, Saturn Returns, by Noah Haidle.

The show plays out as a trilogy of sorts.  It cleverly draws a parallel between life repeating and the theory of how the planet Saturn takes 30 years to orbit the sun.  So as the theory goes - Saturn returns to the same position it was when you were born about every 30 years and so does your life experience. 

In a brief 75 minutes (ironically not 90 minutes) three different actors poignantly portray Gustin at a different age - repeating, re-living, and returning to the same point each time. Robert Eli (28), John McMartin (88), and James Reborn (58) each play Gustin at the indicated age and weave together the sad story of his life.  Amazingly, Rosie Benton plays the 3 different women in his life at these same points - Suzanne, his nurse when he is 88, Zephyr, his daughter when he is 58, and Loretta, his wife w

hen he was 28.   

The dots are sadly connected one by one and the entire story is revealed scene by scene.  As the dialogue unfolds, and the men sweep back and forth thru time to unveil the sad tragedies of Gustin's life.   Enhancing the experience is the brilliantly placed music, eerie and foretelling.  The lighting is magnificent on the simple living room of a house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, unchanging from 1948 to 1978 to 2008.

Four brilliant actors - one classic stage - check this one out before it too meets with it's planned demise in January.

Pal Joey

When the leading man hurts his foot and there's no time to find a replacement you do the only thing you can - throw the understudy to the wolves! Rogers and Hart's re-invented 1940 Pal Joey, Roundabout Theatre Company's final installment in 2008, made its lackluster debut tonight at Studio 54 less one Tony award winning cast member, Christian Hoff. I wish i could tell you it was a smash-hit and that Matthew Risch pulled a "Shirley MacClaine", but it was unfortuantely an all-around disappointment. When numbers in the show get polite applause (some, none at all) and not a single patron gets out of his seat at the opening night curtain call - it's quite obvious that we were all beguiled (again). I highly doubt that Mr. Hoff would have singlehandedly turned this lemon into lemonade. The entire performance left me more bothered and bewildered than bewitched.

To start with, Stockard Channing (Vera Simpson) is miscast. Ms. Channing (tv's West Wing) is a legendary 62 year old stage and

screen star who lacks one critical ingredient necessary for a musical - she can't sing. Joey Evans, the central character of this show needs to be, much like Charity Hope Valentine needed to be in Sweet Charity, a triple threat - singer, actor, dancer. Matthew Risch (Legally Blonde), while stunningly handsome and dripping with sexuality, unfortunately is only a single threat as a dancer. Singing, not so much. Acting, just average.

The stand-out performer in this show just might be Martha Plimpton (Top Girls, Cymbeline, The Coast of Utopia) as Gladys Bumps. Richard Greenberg's revised book eliminates the old reporter role played in the 1952 Broadway revival by Elaine Stritch, and gives the show-stopping number, Zip, to Ms. Plimpton, who knocks it out of the house in her musical theatre debut. If there were anyone to be even considered for a Tony in this production I hope it's Ms Plimpton.

I couldn't help but thinking that I would love to have seen the 1995 Encores! concert version staring Patti Lupone, Peter Gallagher, and Bebe Newirth. And just for the record, I did go home and listen to the legendary Elaine Stritch regale the audience in her hit show, At Liberty, with her role in Pal Joey in New Haven in 1952 at the Shubert Theatre at the same time she was understudying Ethel Merman in Call me Madam at the Imperial Theatre in New York.

As always, Paul Gemignani, does wonders with the orchestral direction. Graciela Daniele provides above average choreography by keeping the show pumping with lots of high kicks. bumping and grinding. Joe Mantello, on the other hand, has seemingly failed to nail any substantial new message or brilliant interpretation of the work. I would be remiss if I did not mention the extraordinary costumes assembled by William Ivy Long. If it's any consolation, Tony #2 from this overall disappointing production might just be his for the asking.

Becky Shaw

Gina Gionfriddo must have a penchant for psychology and therapy.  It seems just about every one of her characters is a case study in "weird".  Don't get me wrong - i liked the show.  David Wilson Barnes (Lieutenant of Inishmore), Emily Bergl (Some Americans Abroad, A Touch of the Poet), Annie Parisse (Prelude to a Kiss, TV Law and Order), Thomas Sadoski (Reckless) and Kelly Bishop (Original cast, Sheila in A Chorus Line),  pull off a funny, quirky, and entertaining rendition of "everyone has problems and life happens".

  

Suzanna (Bergl) is one of those overly emotional, overly dramatic people who thinks everything is way more dramatic then it really is.  Max (Barnes) is a high profile, money-managing, uber-uptight and emotionally unavailable friend and (sort of) brother to Suzanna.   Her father dies. Perhaps he was gay.  Her Mother has MS (and now a rent-boy too) and is a domineering bitch. Now the family is poor.  Romantic sparks fly.  Fast forward 4 months - Suzanna marries Andrew (Sadoski) - a less than macho man who seemingly loves to "save" people, writes books and works as a barista.   Enter blind date - friend of Andrew - Becky (Parisse) and Max.   Add a dash of overbearing, domineering, funny as all hell mother (Bishop) and you've got complete family dysfunction!

While I did think that the play focused a bit too much on explaining the

  physiological aspects of these people, it did hold my attention.  When the curtain fell (figuratively) on Act I, it left you hanging and waiting to see exactly how this whole family mess would play out in Act II.   Act II however, seemed to drag a bit.  Do Suzanna and Andrew break up?  Do they get past it?  What becomes of Max and Becky?  Fortunately for you, tickets are not that expensive - so to find out the answers to these and other questions - get your ticket today!

Back Back Back

Possibly the most handsome and physically fit cast off-Broadway!   But beyond the good looks, there's a solid story here.   Not being a big baseball fan myself,  I found I could follow the action with relative ease.  The "scorecard" light board was a nice touch to keep us all informed what year, city, (and inning - there were 9) we were in.  And there's a lot of ground to cover - 1984 to 2005.  I mean as long as you haven't lived in a cardboard box for the past 20 years, i doubt there will be any surprises here. Itamar Moses has penned another scathing work - this time with Baseball as the target.   more specifically - the great moral and ethical dilemma of our time, steroids. 

  James Martinez' character (Raul), i think, is loosely based on Jose Canseco - at least with respect to the fact that he's the one who wrote the tell-all book.  Three is the perfect number of actors for this show - One young, innocent, hungry rookie, Adam (Michael Mosley), one hard driving steroid pumping player, Raul (James Martinez), and one player town between the two, Kent (Jeremy Davidson).  The triangle of morality related to this issue was clearly demonstrated by using the small cast and with only mere mention of the owners, other team members, fans, and other players.   The title of the show might be interpreted as an outfielder approaches the wall with a long hit... back... back... back... or it could represent what was eluded to in the 2nd or 3rd inning - the fact that each of these players on the same team was named rookie of the year in succeeding years - i.e. back to back to back.  Or possibly it could have deeper meaning.  I'll leave that one up to you.

Along the way - we see this playwright eloquently evolve the young rookie into a solid and mature player who can only be described as a hero for American baseball.  James Martinez is clearly the "roided-out" devil in this mess (and did i mention the rockin' bod underneath that uniform?).   Jeremy Davidson also ages during the show - from the young, possibly dumb kid from the south who makes baseball his life - and dips his toes into the drug-infested waters along the way.   How far the mighty can fall.

Don't miss this one at Stage II at Manhattan Theatre Club over at City Center.  Despite the current topic and non-fiction oriented aspect of the show - Itamar and the cast hit a home run with this one!

Dividing the Estate

Horton Foote is a prolific, award winning playwright.  He's turned out an entertaining work for Lincoln Center Theatre in Dividing the Estate - but for all it's lofty aspirations, my dear Horton, it's no August: Osage County.   Not even close.  

The premise is quite common - children squabbling over how to divide the estate of their parents.  You find a little bit of everything and not enough of anything in the Gordon family - jealousy, envy, and sacrifice to name a few.   One matriarch (Elizabeth Ashley), two quite different daughters  - one married (Hallie Foote) , one widow (Penny Fuller) - one eldest son who is possibly a pedophile (Gerald McRaney) - an oddly nerdy nephew who runs the estate (Devon Abner), a bankrupt son-in-law (James DeMarse) and two spoiled nieces (Jenny Dare Paulin and Nicole Lowrance)- three black servants - two old (Arthur French and Pat Bowie) and one young (Keiana Richard) round out the cast.  

Perhaps the best element of this production was the magnificant set - dripping with detail, color and comfort - it consumed every inch of the viewable stage and really made it seem like we were peering in on a grand Texas estate.    As for the rest of the show - it had its moments, but overall, it underwhelmed me.   Elizabeth Ashley aptly held court while on stage - but the supporting cast wasn't able to do the same.  Oddly, Act I seemed more interesting than Act II and I found myself wondering if anything more was going to happen of interest as we inched toward the finale.  

The entire premise drags on and on - how to divide the estate... should they divide the estate... if they do divide the estate who gets what portion and when will they get their share... when it ultimately comes that they will divide the estate... more complications arise.   

Will this entire dysfunctional family have to live together under one roof?   Visit the  Booth Theatre and find out.