By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

Lynn Nottage has penned a unique and clever work now being performed at Second Stage Theatre.   The play takes place in two distinct parts - Act I in 1933 and Act II 1973/2003 involving the same cast - some playing the same characters and others taking on new roles.  The work itself is a film-within-a-play and a TV-show-flashback within-a-lecture within a play.  Yes - all that and I promise you'll never get confused.  It's all done with perfection!

Act I all by itself is simply enchanting.  A small and funny dramady all in itself, it introduces us to the characters, provides background and setting (Hollywood 1933).  It then sets the stage for the future possibilities for the main character, Vera Stark (Sanaa Lathan) as she embarks on her life's journey.

Act II is where the real meat of the intrigue and playwright's message lies.  Act II brings us forward almost 70 years with looks back at what became of Vera and her hallmark film debut, The Belle of New Orleans.

The sets are charming and the costumes period-perfect.  I loved the way they orchestrated the scene changes - making the stage look like a Hollywood sound stage exposing the construct of the sets and leaving all the pieces of the sets exposed to the audience at different times.

Ms. Lathan is pitch perfect in her delivery and timing.  Stephanie J. Block is marvelous as the young Hollywood star, Gloria Mitchell.  It was a pleasure to see the ever-handsome Daniel Breaker perform both of his charmer roles.   Karen Olivo gives a hysterical performance as Anne Mae in Act I and a slightly more serious one as poet, rapper, lesbian, feminist, Afua Assata Ejobo.  Kimberly Herbert Gregory charms us as Lottie in Act I and provides some over the top commentary as the intellectual Carmen Levy-Green in Act II.

No spoilers here, but I'll just say Ms. Nottage's message is brilliant.  If you think about it you'll realize that maybe you shouldn't believe everything some seemingly intelligent and educated people tell you.  Just think about Vera.  You'll understand what I'm saying after you see it.

Sister Act

If you're in the mood for a night of good, clean, innocent fun - Sister Act at the Broadway Theatre has just what you've been looking for.  By the way, don't run out and rent the movie.  Cheri and Bill Steinkellner along with Douglas Carter Beane have adapted the original TouchTone motion picture quite a bit for the stage.

So - what's the result?  Fun, frivolity, glitz, glamour along with dancing, singing, high-kicking, sequin wearing nuns!  How could you go wrong?!  The stained glass sets on the cavernous stage are magnificently grand (kudos Klara Zieglerova) and the colorful and sharp lighting is equally sublime (kudos Natash Katz).

In the staring role, Patina Miller (Deloris Van Cartier) and Victoria Clark (Mother Superior) never fail to delight.  Ms. Miller gives it all she's got and Ms. Clark never fails to entertain with her quick wit and sublime vocals.   Surrounding these two fine actors is an equally fine cast of nuns, gangsters, and police officers.   The two nuns you'd most likely recognize are Sister Mary Patrick (Sara Bolt) and Sister Mary Robert (Marla Mindelle) - literally channeling the identical side-kick characters in the film, Kathy Najimy and Wendy Makkena.

Filling in the supporting roles, Fred Applegate does a magnificent deadpan with Monsignor O'Hara and Audrie Neenan takes on the aging Sister Mary Lazarus with chutzpa.  Relative newcomer, Chester Gregory (Eddie Souther) has a few surprises up his sleeves (and pant legs), oozes that awkward, charming sensitivity, and and never fails to delight - especially when those surprises are revealed.

This show lives up to its bold expectations.  You'll leave the theatre with a big, old-fashioned smile on your face.  After seeing nuns in glitzy habits singing and dancing all night long - the only thing that could top it is the star coming out at the end in the fabulous dress she always wanted.

Benefactors

Michael Frayn's play, Benefactors, is a gripping, poignant, and dramatic new work now playing off-Broadway at Theatre Row on 42nd Street.  You might recognize another of his hit-plays, Noises Off, which has played on and off-Broadway multiple times.  The 4 actors, Vivienne Benesch, Daniel Jenkins, Stephen Baker Turner, and Deanne Lorette, each give superb performances and seem to be perfectly cast in their roles.

Is the play a scosche too long? Probably.  Could that be easily fixed?  Certainly.  I'm not worried one bit.  What I am worried about is the title itself.  After you hear the dialogue and absorb the subject matter, it seemed to me, and a few others leaving the theatre, that the title was a bit deceptive in two ways: First, it drove me to think that the entire play there was some invisible character that was going to pop out of the woodwork who would be a plausible explanation for the mounting conflict we were watching unfold on stage.  No such luck.   Second, it had no direct connection to the play unfolding before my eyes.  It was only after the play upon reflection that I properly determined what it was supposed to represent.  Mr. Frayn, how about the obvious - Basuto Road.  Innocuous.  Mysterious.  Has a powerful, dramatic, and ominous tone to it, no?  After the obvious, I'm sure there are some other equally appropriate lines from the play that could have been turned into the show's title.   The choice of Benefactors served only to un-focus my attention to the story because I was constantly distracted in trying to figure out - who is the mystery man behind the story that is the "Benefactor"?  When are we going to meet him?  When will the plot be resolved?   It moved my focus away from the brilliantly crafted character study being performed.  

Title aside, the play is thought provoking, intelligent, well acted and well-structured.  Kudos to the director, Carl Forsman for what appeared to me to be quite snappy staging with a subtle story-telling aspect cleverly built into the delivery of the dialogue.

High

Moving Matthew Lombardo’s new play, High, to a Broadway stage is perhaps the worst thing that could have happened to his provocative new work. Even at the Booth Theatre, one of the smallest on Broadway today, it’s too vast. The space literally drowns the intimacy, dilutes the intensity, and mutes the intended effect.

This show had its world premiere in Hartford and traveled on to St. Louis along its journey to Broadway. I suspect, but am not entirely sure, that it played in those cities in smaller, more intimate houses. The story deserves an up-close and personal view where nobody is more than 2 or 3 rows away from the action, the anger, the emotion and intensity. A Broadway house, while perhaps enticing to the actors (fame, fortune, and recognition) and the producers (money, what else?) turns this play into a preachy, washed-out soap opera on a grand stage.

Nonetheless, Lombardo is to be lauded for his sharp sub-text on religion, politics, and salvation. Drugs are merely a vehicle for him to expose the characters – flaws and all. I was most disappointed in the star of the show, Ms. Turner, herself. She turned in what I deem the “expected” performance - a foul mouthed, yet reformed alcoholic turned to God, Sister Jamison Connelly. And that’s the problem in a nutshell - it’s too hard to forget she is Kathleen Turner playing this part. Although in real life she’s no nun, the rest is all too familiar. The weakest link by far was Stephen Kunken as Father Michael Delpapp. He lacked much conviction, seemed to be struggling to fit the words and dialogue into his performance and frankly was not a very convincing priest. While Lombardo has given him quite a stinging and pivotal role to play, his performance was nothing close.

The shinning star of the evening was newcomer Evan Jonikeit as Cody Randall. His portrayal as a mis-guided, abused, drug-addicted young man was superb. In this case, Lombardo and director, Rob Ruggiero imbued him very youthful character with a silent emotional depth, hurt, passion that shown with every moment he stood on stage.

Lombardo’s play is superb and deserves to be seen but it’s neither Ms. Turner nor the venue that should be the draw. The proximity of your to the actors and action will be in direct proportion to the emotional absorption and satisfaction with which you leave the theatre.

The Promise

When someone penned the phrase “Tour de Force” they must have been watching Joanna Tope. Taking on Douglas Maxwell’s one character play, The Promise, Ms. Tope (Maggie Brodie), sweeps the audience out of the theatre and into her classroom as she weaves the tale of her her own life with the events that took place in a classroom she recently returned to as a substitute teacher.

In a brief 90 minutes she carefully and methodically lets us into her life, telling us choice bits and pieces of her youth, family life, teaching career and her staunch character. As the tale of her recent experience in the classroom unfolds, so do more and more facts about her. In the end, we’ve traversed politics, religion, gender rights, human rights, and race. Without saying anything explicitly, Maxwell brilliantly leaves the audience with just enough information on all fronts to form any number of opinions about Maggie – good, bad, and otherwise.

While not a psychological thriller – the performance transports you to another time and place as Ms. Tope grabs you tight and doesn’t let go until the very last word.

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.

One Night with Fanny Brice

An educational and entertaining evening all rolled up into one.  I mean, who hasn't seen Funny Girl?  Fanny Brice was quite a gal in her time - funny, spirited, spoke her  mind, and entertained us all for many years.

Chip Deffaa has turned her life into a one-woman show now playing at St. Luke's Theatre on West 46th Street.  If I had to guess, he probably knows quite a bit more about her life than we saw on stage - and at that it was quite a long and detailed bio-piece.  Kimberly Faye Greenberg takes on the larger than life role and dominates the stage the entire evening.  Fanny certainly wasn't shy - and neither is Ms. Greenberg - hitting all the highs and lows of Fanny's life in this musical walk down memory lane.   All said, there are 25 musical numbers and even more anecdotes and tid-bits to keep everyone engaged.  Whether you know much about Fanny Brice or not, the show is well worth the price of admission.

And don't worry about the ghosts.  She's got some protection for that too.

Wonderland

In less time than it has taken me to type this first sentence (including erasing and re-typing the two typos I have already made) the story of Wonderland (A New Alice.  A New Musical) is fully told.  Yes, in about 37 seconds, the entire plot of the show is thrown on the table and then you are stuck there for over 2 more hours waiting... praying... for something... anything to happen.  Were it not for the brilliantly hued lighting and video projection effects (Paul Gallo and Sven Ortel), the masterfully crafted and elaborate costumes (Susan Hilferty and Tom Watson) and some of the music (Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy), I think I just might have slit my wrists right there in the 6th row, Orchestra.

Don't get me wrong, the concept is intriguing - how will they modernize Alice?  What will she do?  Who will she meet when she falls down the rabbit hole?   The answer is, they don't, nothing, and nobody new. It's the same old story with exactly the characters you might expect to meet - except they have turned the show in to an American Idol-like scene by scene, pedestrian performance piece. Schlocky characters speak in fairy tale double-talk, make veiled theatre references, upstage each other on purpose, steal song-bites and references from other shows, and expect us to laugh at the result.

As for the talent - it's decent - if not unknown, virtually all around.  The caterpillar, E. Clayton Cornelious, is a smooth, sultry, soulful character.  El Gato, Jose Llana, turns up the Latin heat even if he does resemble Freddie Prince reincarnated on stage.  The Mad Hatter, Kate Shindle, a tall drink of water, acts mean, but lacks any real depth or reason for so being.  The Queen of Hearts, Karen Mason, (think Dame Edna) tries too hard to steal the scenes - overtly pointing at the orchestra conductor in her one number as if she's in charge, not him.  Last, and close to least, Alice, Janet Dacal, is merely dragged from scene to scene meeting these outlandish characters but simply goes nowhere and adds nothing of interest to the character.

This genre may appeal to the younger, teenage demographic, but it's certainly not for the 3 month old crying baby in the back of the theatre whose mother was ushered out and hopefully dumped down and open elevator stack head first for even thinking of entering a performance space with an infant).  Even the two goom-bas from Lawn-Guyland behind us who openly chatted throughout the entire performance as if they they were in their living room watching TV were more interesting than what was unfolding on stage.

If I had to sum it up - the evening was a technical hit yet a creative bomb.  The visually stunning sets, lighting and costumes, brilliantly staged scenes and expertly choreographed numbers stand in stark contrast to the thin and vaguely American Idol-like, pop-sounding score (the louder you turn up the volume, the better it gets, right?) and a book with little substance and even less originality.   

The Other Place

Laurie Metcalf has some experience playing a bitch and she continues to execute this persona quite well as Juliana in Sharr White's new work entitled The Other Place.  The work is intended to be presented in a rapid fire, intentionally disjointed pastiche of monologue and dialogue  - revealing a story of mental capacity juxtaposed with mental disease.  Juliana jumps from fluidly explaining the immediate hours and activities before her incident to sometimes confused and blurred dialogue and background scenes with her husband, daughter, and doctor - all of which lead to an ending you would never suspect when the lights first go down.  Sharr's work is compelling, purposeful and extremely clever.

In a psychological thriller of a play such as this, the impact is mainly felt through the rapid fire changes, the lighting, and sound, as well as the abilities of the actors to decisively jump between the various vignettes.   The Lortel Theatre is notoriously a dump of a theatre and I found myself wondering how it might come off in a more well equipped theatre.  The play is ostensibly Ms. Metcalf's to sell and while she does an admirable job, the supporting cast left me wanting more.  Most notably, her doctor (Aya Cash) is played by the same actor as her daughter (and also the resident of her prior home of Cape Cod).  I'm not exactly clear why someone would think an accomplished neurologist would be so young.  Her husband, Ian (Dennis Boustikaris) aptly covers the required ground, but the role, while at times emotional, lacks clear definition.

A compelling story, a fine acting job by Ms. Metcalf worth plenty more than the price of an off-Broadway ticket, nonetheless, The Other Place, left me wondering how much better it could be - and in another place.  Should there be chatter of a Broadway run next fall or spring, once again under Joe Mantello's direction, I'd be calling in my ticket order today.

Catch Me If You Can

Just when I thought I'd seen the best new musical of the year, along comes another!  Look out theater aficionados, another potential blockbuster has just landed on Broadway.  Terrance McNally's book transforms the already slick, fast-paced silver-screen story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. into an elegant, high-energy Broadway show with beautiful show-girls (and boys) and a fantastic musical score by the creative team of Shaiman and Whitman.

Piloting this juggernaut are the ever adorable and talented duo of Aaron Tveit (Frank Jr.) and Norbert Leo Butz (FBI Agent Hanratty).  Supporting cast and crew includes Kerry Butler (Brenda Strong) as his fiance and Tom Wopat (Frank Sr.) as his father.

This version takes a more personal route of storytelling, cleverly weaving the story of who Frank Abagnale, Jr., one of the largest con-men of our generation, was, what motivated him, and perhaps a hint at why he did it.   The story is told as a flash-back.  The story opens up with Frank being caught and he has the thought that the people around him just might be interested in why he's being shot at and pursued (the preverbal light bulb moment).  The show (within the show) then unfolds as he literally tell the story and introduces the characters from his rather surreal life.

For the entire 2:40 minutes - you'll be dazzled and treated to top notch performances  - most of which include Tveit who is rarely off-stage.  And speaking of the stage - the sets by David Rockwell are incredibly classy - an elegant, big-band feel, the orchestra on stage atop a dual grand staircase which provids for perfect showy entrances and exits.  The production did have an out-of-town try-out in Seattle, but changes are still being made.  Is it perfect yet?  Not quite - but I took a few notes for choreographer Jerry Mitchell and director Jack O'Brien.  I hope they can tighten up the dancers.  The choreography is brilliant but on more than one occasion the tires tended to come off the bus.  The Family Tree number presents physical challenges - one mis-step (as Mr Tveit had at my performance) and it could all fall apart.  Mr. O'Brien needs to cut the drawn out final scene and two numbers - and for God's sake - do an encore of "Don't Break The Rules".  It would bring the audience to its feet right in the middle of Act I.   These few notes aside, for only its 2nd week of previews this show is in terrific shape.

Dare I say - we have a battle Tony battle brewing on Broadway already?  Book vs Catch.  There's plenty to be smiling about leaving the theatre these days.   I just may go back for more of both!

HERE'S A LITTLE PEAK AT THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM:

The Book of Mormon

Previews just started on what I firmly believe is going to be the best new musical of the season!  Without a doubt, a clever, intelligent, and completely irreverent book written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame and Robert Lopez of the Tony Award winning Avenue Q fame.   Did I mention it's irreverent?  In 2 1/2 short hours they manage to skewer the entire Mormon religion, all the while your gut is busting from all the laugh out loud moments.  Behind it all there's a message about religion, humanity, faith and community. Now how awesome is that?!

As you would suspect, the story is about the required mission that all young Mormon boys must take when they turn 18 - in this story - Elder Cunningham (Josh Gad) and Elder Price (Andrew Rannells) and their wild trip to Uganda in Africa.  Did I mention the play is irreverent?  To take a quote from another show, "Fasten your seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy night".  By the time they meet up with Elder McKinley (Rory O'Malley) and a village of Ugandans including Nabulung (Nikki M. James), Mafala Hatambi (Michael Potts) - your side is already throbbing from the infectious laughter.  The entire ensemble cast is divided into two - the local Mormon mission and the local African villagers.

The other adorably handsome boys at the mission never fail to entertain and delight - filling both acts with rousing, big-Broadway dance numbers - including some rousing tap with shiny pink sequin vests (yes, it's occasionally more than your basic black and white outfits for these boys).  The local Ugandan villagers start us off with a great African inspired number titled Fuck God - and the temperature in the theatre heats up from there.  When the two groups meet up it's double the singing, dancing, dream sequences and insults all around.  I mean, seriously, there's a lot to laugh about when it comes to Mormons!

No spoiler alert needed here - I won't give away Matt, Trey, Robert or the ever-brilliant choreographer, Casey Nicholaw's, big-Broadway secrets.  If you want to see a deliciously entertaining new Broadway musical chock full of blasphemous humor, adorably handsome Mormon boys and an African village filled with AIDS - get your tickets for this Book today.  Did I mention it's irreverent?

WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO FOR MORE BACKGROUND ON THE SHOW:

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Without question an evening of sheer entertainment all-around.  With much riding on his shoulders, Daniel Radcliffe once again proves himself to be right at home on a stage acting, singing, and dancing with the big-boys and girls of Broadway.

Now, with that said, I will say that the entire show is entertaining - a light, amusing, and occasionally cynical book (Burrows, Weinstock & Gilbert), and a fantastic score (Loesser), carry you from start to finish - always with a smile or a wink and a nod.  I will go further and say that this show and this star are a particularly successful marriage made in heaven.  The show carries Mr. Radcliffe and he in turn delivers and delights as we watch him climb the corporate ladder from the mailroom all the way up to the board of directors at the World Wide Wicket Company.

Joining Mr. Radcliffe (J. Pierrepont Finch) in his climb up said ladder are John Larroquette (Mr. Andrews, the president of the company), Tammy Blanchard (Hedy La Rue, his dizzy girlfriend), the uber-adorable and talented Christopher Hanke (Bud Frump, his arch nemesis at the company),  and Ellen Harvey (Miss Jones, secretary to Mr. Andrews) and a Broadway debut for Rose Hemmingway (Rosemary Pilkington, Fitch's girlfriend).  You also just might recognize a familiar yet invisible voice echoing throughout the theatre - Anderson Cooper (the narrator)!  A tremendously energetic and talented supporting cast, chorus, and dance team delightfully round out the entire troupe!  Colorful costumes, brilliant lighting effects, and superbly complex sets never disappoint.  Rob Ashford's brilliant directorial and choreographicial stamp is all over this one.

Merely two weeks into previews and this one is already blowing the roof off the house!  Get your tickets before the location of this secret treasure gets out!

Kin

Bathsheba Doran's new work, Kin, is an irresistibly poignant and modern snapshot of friends and family and what defines our close relationships.   As usual at Playwrights Horizons - well cast, well directed and well acted.

The story revolves around Sean (Patch Darragh) and Anna (Kristen Bush) and their ever-tightly-woven quilt of immediate family and friends - including Sean's mother, Linda (Suzanne Bertish), Anna's best friend, Helena (Laura Heisler) and her father, Adam (Cotter Smith).  The story unfolds over time in brief vignettes on an elegantly designed set that can best be described as a large white picture frame - capturing all the many and diverse moments of our lives.

The play is performed without intermission - an intelligent choice - as it allows the audience engross itself in the unfolding life story of the 9 characters.  Before you know it, the story rises to a crescendo on the cliffs in Ireland - (rain and mist included in the ticket price) - and ends with a touching Kodak moment in that big white picture frame.   Put this one on your must-see list.  But, no flash photos please.

Peter and the Starcatcher

It's exciting and magical to see a play off-Broadway in a developmental theatre on a tiny stage with great actors telling a story of wonder and hope that you can just feel in your bones will someday graduate to the Minskoff or the Walter Kerr. Peter and the Starcatcher is one such play and in the immortal words of Mr. Brooks Atkinson, "There is no joy so great as that of reporting that a good play has come to town". Based on a novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson this new play written by Rick Elice and directed by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers (of recent Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson fame) tells one endearing version of just how Peter Pan came to be Peter Pan.

Add to an extremely well crafted and witty script a bevy of incredibly talented actors and you have the makings of a lively and all-around entertaining evening. Just take a look at this cast: Teddy Bergman, Christian Borle, Arnie Burton, Adam Chanler-Berat, Matt D'Amico, Kevin Del Aguila, Brandon Dirden, Carson Elrod, Greg Hildreth, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Karl Kenzler, and David Rossmer. Each and every one of them accomplished young actors - each and every one of them add their own ray of sunshine to this delightful production. And indeed, how refreshing to see such an un-Disney Disney-story told in a slightly gritty, always witty, and adult, intelligent fashion.

You won't need any "star stuff" to fly down to this performance - just hop on the N/R or 6 train downtown to East 4th Street and 2nd Avenue and get a great seat to see this one at the New York Theatre Workshop before the venue moves North and the prices do too!

Working

Currently back on stage in Chicago at the Broadway Playhouse is the 1970's not-so-big-a-hit, Working, adapted by Stephen Schwartz from the Studs Terkel book Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.  I did a bit of research after seeing this one to understand what its first incarnation was like.  Originally on Broadway in 1978, the show only played 12 previews and about 2 dozen regular performances.  It came along just after the smash hit, A Chorus Line, and was seemingly presented in the same manner - a pastiche of stories told by "the average, everyday, working-Joe".  The stories highlighted the cultural, racial, and ethnic struggles, work ethics, career choices (or lack thereof) - and most importantly how hopes and dreams can be blind to all of these factors. 

It now seems Mr. Schwartz, after about 30 years of coaxing, has updated the book and score to be more culturally relevant in 2010 by including references to email, blackberries, computers, and the Internet as well as the outsourcing of jobs to India and the stock market on Wall Street.  He's also broadened the originally strictly blue-collar feel to now include a more diverse service worker element.  The cast has been trimmed down from 17 to 6 people who now play multiple roles.  The musical score, already boasting a potpourri of songsters including Mr. Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, and James Taylor, now also includes two fresh numbers by Lin-Manuel Miranda - an obvious nod to the modern Latino commercial and cultural influences both on and off Broadway.

One of the updates I especially enjoyed was the overt inclusion of the behind the scenes workers (non-actors) in the landscape.  On the generic and open two story steel-beam looking set that is constantly transformed by video projections he exposes the actual stage crew, make up artists, dressers, and stage hands doing their jobs.  The stage manager is also visibly lit in one of the house's boxes transformed into her working area (we hear her queue the lights and curtain at the start).  

The ensemble cast idea seems to have paid off - too many actors sometimes is overwhelming and you don't get to see individual talents as you do when a smaller cast plays multiple roles.  Every one of them here had a stand out performance at one point or another during the show - Emjoy Gavino, E. Faye Butler, Barbara Robertson, Michael Mahler (please come to Broadway, Michael!), Gabrial Ruiz, and Gene Waygandt.  By the names alone - you can tell this is quite an appropriately diverse cast and all earned their hearty applause from the audience throughout the show.

Does it need a bit more work? Probably.  Can this one make it to the Great White Way?  The verdict is out, but I'll tell you after this season of 11 new musicals - some of which are bound to flop - perhaps this could be our 2011 or spring 2012 stand-out revival.  Are three Stephen Schwartz musicals on Broadway at one time a bit much?  Move over Wicked and Godspell - something Working this way comes. 

Invasion!

Get your wallet out now. Pull out $30 bucks and fork it over for a ticket to the box office at Walkerspace for the powerhouse Swedish playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri's US debut of Invasion!  Ask no more questions.  Do not hesitate.  This is without a doubt one of the best plays I have seen this entire season - and that includes Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway. It's an extremely intelligent, linguistically complex, politically charged, attention grabbing, rapid-fire tour-de force for each of its 75 sharply written, cunningly directed, and superbly acted and deliciously well received minutes.

Each of the four young actors - Francis Benhamou, Andrew Guilarte, Bobby Moreno, and Debargo Sanyal (known only as Actors A, B, C and D) performs at full throttle the entire evening - never missing a beat or a word or a queue.  Emotions run the gamut from scene to scene but the pace is relentlessly and purposefully quick.  Scene changes are executed with precision and aplomb  By the time you reach the end, you find yourself at the beginning again.

I won't pretend to understand everything the playwright had to say.  There was too much there for my brain to have absorbed every layer, every overt or subversive gesture, word and idea.  Hours after the play ends and you're sitting at TriBeCa Bread enjoying your 3rd Manhattan, a new meaning or the nuance of a scene will reveal itself to you.  This, I promise.  Everything may not be as it seems.  Don't believe everything they tell you.  Open your eyes and think for yourself.  Think.  Period.

The Body Politic

Wink, Wink, Nod.  James Carville and Mary Matalin must be ecstatic.  A whole play written about them - or at least about their story.  In case you live under a rock - they are two of the most diametrically opposed political operatives / commentators who fell in love and got married.  You know, they say politics make strange bedfellows.  Indeed, Richard Abrons and Margarett Perry (the playwrights and the latter also the director) have captured equal amounts of ideological sparing and the attractions it spawns.

Unfortunately, the story is somewhat stale to an audience bombarded on an weekly, daily, and hourly basis with political trickery, deception, and below-the-belt antics and shenanigans.  Who put that false story out there?  He said, she said.  I knew absolutely nothing about that.  Spin. Spin. Spin.  Make them look bad.  Let them bring themselves down.  Blackberries, laptops, and cell phones.  And lots of Starbucks.

The actors all did a fine job - two presidential candidates - Brian Dykstra (Democrat) and Daren Kelly (Republican) - making bumbling errors and pronouncing things incorrectly never fail to entertain.  Then there are two "older and more experienced" political advisors - Leslie Hendrix (Republican) and Michael Puzzo (Democrat).  Plenty of vitriol, bitterness, and regret going on there.  And then we have the two love-hate birds themselves - Matthew Boston (Republican) and Eve Danzeisen (Democrat).  Not enough chemistry for my taste here.  And it all might have been due to the mis-casting of Mr. Boston.  He appeared to me to be too old and out of step with his much younger opponent, Ms. Danzeisen.

Don't get me wrong - the story is entertaining, light, and mostly enjoyable - if only a scosche too long at 2 hours.  I don't think anyone should expect the  "oh my gosh, i can't believe how it ended" sort of show.  If you go in with the low expectations of such a satirical political romp, you'll do just fine.

That Championship Season

Perhaps the play did win the Pulitzer Prize in 1972, but that doesn't guarantee a good show in 2011.  The play itself only ran for 144 performances in '72, and that should have been a clue.  The subject matter may have been fresh and shocking 40 years ago, but today it's like a bad re-run episode of All in the Family.  Playwright Jason Miller may have penned some good lines and started with some powder-keg material but in the end it's an over-hyped, sad, obvious, and pedantic walk down memory lane indicting men, the education system, small-town America, and the Catholic church all in one fell swoop.  The obvious topics covered (or uncovered as it were) are racism, bigotry, family duty, adultery, success (or lack thereof) and false role models.

I haven't seen a play in a very long time where the quality of the acting was so diametrically opposite to the quality of the script.  The all-star cast delivered in every way it could given the poor material.  Jason Patric, Keifer Sutherland, Brian Cox, Dan Gaffigan, and Chris Noth pour their hearts into the roles.  Trouble is, there are so many dead-ends, undeveloped story lines and lost opportunities in the script that all we're left with is the overbearing coach eternally blathering on about "what makes a winner" and "what it takes to win".  By today's standards, I think anyone (even in small-town America) would wonder why these men are so handicapped by and tied to this coach's "wisdom".  For all our faults, we're a much more open, independent and thinking society today.  I presume that Mr. Miller's desired outcome in 1972 was to see that "the emperor has no clothes", but in 2011 I think all that remains of this show is the picture of a sorry and sad past we should all regret.

The Rubber Room

All around this is a perfect idea.  Write a play about teachers who are suspended from classroom instruction for some infraction and placed in a holding room indefinitely until their cases are adjudicated.  Seems like the makings of a great work of fiction - ripe with conflict and drama.   Only problem is - this is a true story.  Well, not the stories themselves (as far as I know), rather the concept itself.  New York City, from the 1960's until Mayor Bloomberg closed them in 2008, maintained these rooms - almost immediately coined "rubber rooms" for just this purpose.

Now here's where it gets good - - Take 5 different directors  - each of whom gets to rehearse a cast of 5 actors for the show  - and don't let them or their casts collaborate.  Next, call one member of each cast to the theatre each night to perform his or her part.  The result is a fresh, tense, and realistic experience of these characters meeting for the first time in the rubber room each night.  You get 25 different casts all performing the same show.  I'm sold!

So while I only saw 1 out of those potential 25 casts - I have to say the overall show is a power-packed drama.  In short order you get to meet the 5 characters and find out that there just may be 2 sides to every story and accusation.  Are teachers to blame for everything wrong in the classroom?  Where are the parents?  What happened to respect, discipline, and order in the classroom?  Who is really running the schools?

I can't say that each night is going to be a grand-slam, but the one I attended was excellent.  Discussing the performance we both witnessed and the overall state of the education system in NYC afterwards with my friend over a burger, we both realized how each director might play the same character differently and how the stories of each of the characters might totally change left us wanting to see the show again!  While this concept may not work for every show (I doubt you will see this anytime soon in commercial theatre) it certainly felt like it worked with this subject matter.  Anytime someone wants to go back and see a show - that seems like a good thing to me.  And I'm the one with the "no repeats" rule too!

A Perfect Future

David Hay's new work at the Cherry Lane Theatre attempts to explore the "glory days"of a few 1970's college radicals in a Manhattan apartment 30 years later.  Lifetime movie, you may ask?  Unfortunately, worse than than, i regrettably report.

While the cast was aptly chosen for their good looks, the play, rather than focus on the subtleties of the relationships, chose to accentuate the stereotypical and painfully obvious plot twists that these people's lives cold have taken.  John Hudson (Michael T Weiss) is a rude, annoying, pompous, rich, Wall street guy.  Natalie Schiff-Hudson (Donna Bullock) is an over-the-top, former radical turned documentary film maker who seemingly turned "rich guy's wife" allegedly because they used to have good sex and apparently she never bothered to realize her husband was a complete phony, racist, capitalist ass.  Elliott Murphy (Daniel Oreskes) - the radical friend who "kept the faith" and has always "fought the good fight" amazingly comes out of the closet after it's safe to do so and is now a big gay daddy who defends terrorists and fights against AIDS  - and surprise - has lots of relationship issues.   Into this patently obvious storyline comes Mark Colvin (Scott Drummond) a young, good-looking associate at John's office who - get this - looks as straight as a Mormon arrow - but turns out he's gay too.  Over the course of this dinner party, more (expensive) wine was uncorked than at a medieval feast and (surprise) the participants reveal exactly what you would expect them to - that none of them are happy and some of them are not what they seem.

With a blueprint that could make a bad lifetime move look good, even the main prop - the wine - was a disaster.  Someone in the properties department needs a basic lesson in what color red and white wine should be.  (Hint - neither is pink).

Good People

David Lindsay Abaire's new work at Manhattan Theatre Club's Mainstage - The Freidman Theatre (I still call it the Biltmore), may only be taking its first-ever bows but already I can tell this play will be a juggernaut.  Abaire's biting wit and stinging social commentary plunge into the audience like a sharp knife into a raw steak.

The plot centers around Margaret (Frances McDormand) , a down-on-your-luck, brutally honest, not-so-educated, but quick-on-her-feet, god-fearing, life-long resident of South Boston's tough as nails, blue-collar, Lower End known as Southie.  At the curtain goes up (or the geometric panels retract, as it were) she is being fired from her latest job at the local dollar store.  We soon see her back at her apartment socializing with her close friends, Jean (Becky Ann Baker) and Dottie (Estelle Parsons).  With some brutally funny and poignantly sharp dialogue, they are discussing and gossiping about how Margaret will make ends meet for her and her retarded adult daughter.  There's little hope and lots of worry, but through it all there's an sense that this latest turn of events may not be the worst of times for these folks.

Encouraged by her friends, Margaret takes her job hunt to a (now) "comfortable" doctor she went to high school with in Southie over 30 years ago.  They dated briefly and their breakup just might coincide with the time frame that her daughter was born.  He "got out" and made something for himself.  What will she say to him?  How does the meeting go?   These questions and more will be answered.  Or will they?

Even at just the first week of previews, Parsons and McDormand are turning in top notch performances - and it will only get better from here.  My dear friend Donna is usually a bellwether of good actors and great plays - but I fear she may have mis-under-estimated the humor and depth of this fine work.  I encourage her and everyone else to check out some Good People on West 47th.

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Roundabout Theatre Company may have an occasional flop (at least one per season, by recent calculations), but their current production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is certainly not in that category.  Esteemed stage actor, Brian Bedford, directs a superb cast at the same time starring in this 3 act romp.  Earnest is one of Wilde's timeless works and this production dishes up barrels of laughs and glamorous sets - a thoroughly entertaining evening in the theatre all around.

One cannot even say that Bedford, playing the role of Lady Bracknell in drag, stole the show.  The entire cast around him never missed a beat and elevated the pedestal upon which Lady Bracknell could perch.  David Furr (John Worthing) and Santino Fontana (Algernon Moncrieff)  - Wilde's two Earnests  - have impeccable comedic timing, dashing good looks, and abundance of energy.  Charlotte Parry (Cecily) and Sara Topham (Gwendolyn) are smartly coquettish and irresistibly innocent as the ladies who fall for their Earnests.  Supporting these two fine couples are the delightful Dana Ivey (Miss Prism) and the charming Paxton Whitehead (Reverend Chasuble). 

Wilde's writing is a good as it gets - and the tale told is one that is timeless.  Comparisons to the 2002 movie are likely to be made by some - but the stage version is still tops in my book.   This comedy of manners is a timeless tale that is is looking to have a long run into the summer at the American Airlines Theater. Get your tickets today.  You might want to use your real name or you might not be able to pick them up.