4000 Miles

Amy Herzog's play is receiving an extended chance at capturing hearts 8 times every week downstairs at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center.

A tender and pensive work, the play tells the tale of a young man who has lost his friend on a cross-country bike trip and ends up in New York City with his grandmother.  He's lost and unable to deal with the death and she's happy yet lonely.  Together they grow and challenge each other to the mutual healing of each other in their own ways.  Gabriel Ebert, last seen at a terrific Roundabout Underground production, assumes the shy, introverted, liberal, hippie, whole-life-in-front-of-him, Leo.  The exquisite Mary Louise Wilson, who's done many things, but will probably be most remembered for her performance as Big-Edie in Grey Gardens, takes the helm as the tough-as-nails, aging, yet deeply caring and intellectual Vera Joseph.

No chorus-girls or kick-lines here.  Just good, old-fashioned high-quality theatre.  In and out in less than 2 hours with a smile on your face and a warmed up heart.

COCK

Quite possibly one of the most engrossing, unique, emotionally charged plays of the season.  Throw away all your theatrical pretense and spend 90 minutes immersed in a battle over John.  The tidal wave Mike Bennett created over at the Royal Court Theatre in London has crashed on our shores at the Duke Theatre on 42nd with much ado. Hell, the name alone has caused a stir - notably the New York Times won't even print the title of the play in its publications.

The controversy over the name outside the theatre is equally matched with a raw, no-holds-barred, gut-wrenching battle of wills inside the theatre - which by the way is constructed out of bare plywood made to look just like a real illicit cock-fighting ring.  And the analogy to a cock fight runs throughout the entire production too.  The actors circle a mere the 12" diameter performance space (i.e in the round) with audience members mere inches away as the battle brews.  The scenes are punctuated by a bell as if signaling the end a round in a prize fight - except here the prize is John himself.

Gay, Straight, Bi.  Love, relationships, and labels.  Wants, needs and desires.   All covered at break-neck speed and blazing intensity in the brief encounter we have with M, W, F and John (we are to assume they stand for Male, Female, and Father).  You have to understand one thing for the entire premise of this play to capture you - and that is that everyone on stage has issues, dependencies, desires, and insecurities.  If you don't see that - you will immediately jump to the well, he or she should have just walked away from that mess 5 minutes into the performance.  But as long as you recognize each character's weakness, position of strength over the other, and his/her flaws you quickly realize that this is an epic battle that quite frankly may come to a conclusion but will have no clear winner in the end.

Sometimes the simplest of ideas can pack the most punch.   Run, Don't walk, to see Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Quaid, Cory Michael Smith, and Cotter Smith engage in the battle of their lives.

The Landing

I went for another peak inside the development lab of a new work over at the Vineyard Theatre.  Rule #1 - Thou shalt not blog about a work in process.  Rule #2 - Enjoy yourself.  Just know that the music by John Kander and book/lyrics by Greg Pierce is darkly delightful and we should all look forward to seeing it grow into a full-fledged production in the future.  This production included David Hyde-Pierce, Julia Murney, Jake Bennett Siegfried, and Paul Anthony Stewart.

This is Greg Pierce's first collaboration with John Kander and for John Kander it's his first musical collaboration without his long-time writing partner, Fred Ebb.

The Common Pursuit

What could have been a riveting barn-burner and some fierce competition for the much-hyped Cock over The Duke turns out to be a brush-fire that smolders about 25-30 minutes longer than it should with a decent flair-up at the end over at the Laura Pels.  

Simon Gray's two-act portrait of friendship and family certainly makes you think and reflect on life.  Spanning 20 years over 4 (well, really 5) scenes, The Common Pursuit takes you on a journey through the connected lives of six young college students as they form a literary (the titular reference) magazine and the subsequent decisions they make, paths they choose, and the lives they lead.

Set in England, we are introduced to a mix-and-match group of unlikely (yet not altogether unexpected) group of friends who all meet regarding said literary magazine being started by idealist Stuart Thorne (Josh Cooke).  Loves blossoms, life-long bonds of friendship form, and personalities develop, and wax and wane among the all-around fine ensemble including Marigold (Kristen Bush), Martin (Jacob Fishel), Humphry (Tim McGeever) Peter (Kieran Campion) and Nick (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe).

Act I is more than a bit too long.  While a certain amount of exposition is necessary to understand the life-long, enduring bonds of friendship among the characters, there were a few unnecessarily long monologues, and in the case of Nick, much-too-much hamming-it-up which Director, Moises Kaufman, should trim.

Act II is where the action is - and in stark contrast we finally see the figurative guns from Act I being pulled out, waived around, and in some cases used.  The boredom and monotony quickly wore off and I was engaged, interested, and quickly found myself engaged in the characters.  The lack of struggle or conflict in Act I (or perhaps just more the feeling of where is this going?) is completely obliterated in this shorter, much more punchy and dramatic half.  

I found myself leaving the theatre with my lady-friends engaged in discussions and debate about connected or unconnected dots among the characters, hints dropped in earlier scenes, and the meanings or messages ascribed to each character.  A few days later, it still piques my interest while writing this review.  That's the sign of good work.  I just have this nagging feeling that it could have been even better than it was. It's certainly, however, worth the price of admission.  The chance to renew my own bonds of friendship afterwards - Priceless.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Sometimes it takes just one diamond to make a musical sparkle - and Encores! final installment of the 2012 season has several.  With a cornball book by Loos and Fields, silly lyrics by Leo Robin and delicious music by Jule Styne, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has a rich history of exploding stars into orbit.  In 1949 it introduced Carol Channing to the American lexicon.  In 1953 the movie by the same name propelled Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell's careers into the stratosphere.  This time around, we've got the SMASH *Bombshell*, Megan Hilty (Lorelei Lee) and triple-threat star of the upcoming national tour of Anything Goes, Rachel York (Dorothy Shaw).

Encores! concert renditions are *almost* fully staged.  Books in hand occasionally, but never a missed note or a called line.  The cast aboard the S.S Ile de France is magnificent.  GPB is most surely a dancer's musical - with full-on tap, ballet, and ballroom all packed into several razzle-dazzle numbers in addition such as great vocal numbers as Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, and I'm Just a Little Girl From Little Rock, and the titular song, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

If I had a vote for the hardest working ensemble in the biz right now, GPB would win hands-down.  Tap dancing can get a crowd to its feet in raucous applause and the tap number with Megan Sikora (Gloria Stark) and Attmore & Grimes (Phillip Attmore and Jared Grimes are their actual names) was nothing short of stupendous.  A well earned standing ovation - and that was just the opening of Act II.  Ms. Hilty tore the roof off the place (encores are a trademark of this show) with 3 encores in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the last one nearly delayed the show by 3 minutes alone due to the uproarious applause.  And I haven't even discussed the to-die-for bodies of the male dancers (shirts on AND off), the hysterical Robert Lemanteur and his son Louis (Brennan Brown and Steven Boyer) or the genius comedic timing of Deborah Rush as Mrs. Ella Spofford or her elegantly tuneful son, Henry (Aaron Lazar).  And lest we not forget to mention the always-delightful and uber-talented Encores! Orchestra - led by Music Director and Conductor Rob Berman... And on... And on...

Now, the show is not perfect.  Don't get me wrong.  It's just that when you combine talent and an old fashioned good-time with top notch dancing, pitch-perfect singing, and great comedic acting it's hard to complain about structure and connecting a few dots with a show that has a run of less than a week!  It's not about that at Encores!  

Is it Broadway bound?   I doubt it - but it may be the closest we get to SMASH's Bombshell being on Broadway this season or next!  Marc Shaiman & Scott Whitman may indeed have all the songs written as we have heard, but ... pssst... Debra Messing nor Christian Borle are *really* book-writers in real life.  Go figure.

Live @ The 27th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards

Do not adjust your browser.  This is indeed my site.  I'm doing something a little different on Sunday night.  I will be blogging LIVE from The 27th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards at NYU's Skirball Center in Greenwich Village - hosted this year by the incomparable Mario Cantone.   For some background information on the awards - click here - and you can read all about the organizations and talent behind the awards.  The short version is: The Lortel Awards are to off-Broadway what the Tony Awards are to Broadway - they represent the BEST of the BEST of the broader, often more innovative and risk taking genre known as off-Broadway.

What you see below is the official nomination ballot with each category and the nominees in that category.   I'll be updating this page each time a winner is announced live-on-stage and you'll see that winner light up in Pink.

I not sure the awards ceremony will actually go in this order so there may be some scrolling up and down and juggling as I doubt I'll be able to watch the program, applaud, gawk and gossip along with the new responsibility of having to edit the blog page every 3 minutes all the while tweeting and answering fan mail too!

Outstanding Play

• Blood and Gifts - by J. T. Rogers (LCT)
• Milk Like Sugar  - by Kirsten Greenidge (PH)
• Sons of the Prophet  - by Stephen Karam (Roundabout)
• The Big Meal - by Dan LeFranc (PH)
• The School For Lies  - by David Ives (CSC)

Outstanding Musical

• Once (NYTW)
• Queen of the Mist - (Transport Group)
• SILENCE! The Musical -  (Independent)
• The Blue Flower - (2ST)
• The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World - (NYTW/PH) 

Outstanding Revival

• Blood Knot - by Athol Fugard - (Signature)
• The Lady from Dubuque - by Edward Albee (Signature)
• Look Back in Anger  - by John Osborne (Roundabout)
• The Cherry Orchard - by Anton Chekhov/Translated by John C. Jones (CSC)
• The Maids - by Jean Genet/Translated by Bernard Frechtman (Red Bull)

Outstanding Solo Show

• An Iliad - by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson (CSC)
• The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith - by Angelo Parra (Penguin Rep +)

Outstanding Director

• Jo Bonney, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark 
• David Cromer, Tribes
• Sam Gold, Look Back in Anger
• Sam Gold, The Big Meal
• John Tiffany, Once 

Outstanding Choreographer

• Chase Brock, The Blue Flower
• Bill Castellino, Ionescopade
• Christopher Gattelli, SILENCE! The Musical 
• Steven Hoggett, Once
• Annie-­B Parson, The Broken Heart

Outstanding Lead Actor

• Santino Fontana, Sons of the Prophet 
• Russell Harvard, Tribes
• Hamish Linklater, The School For Lies 
• Jefferson Mays, Blood and Gifts
• Jay O. Sanders, Titus Andronicus

Outstanding Lead Actress

• Sanaa Lathan, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark 
• Cristin Milioti, Once
• Carey Mulligan, Through a Glass Darkly 
• Molly Ranson, Carrie
• Mary Testa, Queen of the Mist

Outstanding Featured Actor

• David Wilson Barnes, The Big Meal
• Adam Driver, Look Back in Anger
• Alvin Epstein, The Cherry Orchard
• Peter Francis James, The Lady from Dubuque
• Jeff Perry, Tribes

Outstanding Featured Actress

• Anita Gillette, The Big Meal
• Kimberly Hébert Gregory, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark 
• Marin Mazzie, Carrie
• Tonya Pinkins, Milk Like Sugar
• Mare Winningham, Tribes

Outstanding Scenic Design

• Bob Crowley, Once
• Lauren Helpern, 4000 Miles
• Andrew Lieberman, Look Back in Anger 
• Adrianne Lobel, Galileo
• David Zinn, The Select (The Sun Also Rises)

Outstanding Costume Design

• ESosa, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark 
• Toni-­Leslie James, Milk Like Sugar 
• William Ivey Long, The School For Lies 
• Ilona Somogyi, Maple and Vine 
• Catherine Zuber, Death Takes a Holiday

Outstanding Lighting Design

• Natasha Katz, Once
• Keith Parham, Tribes
• Justin Townsend, Unnatural Acts 
• David Weiner, Through a Glass Darkly 
• Scott Zielinski, An Iliad

Outstanding Sound Design

• Mark Bennett, An Iliad
• Clive Goodwin, Once
• Daniel Kluger, Tribes
• Matt Tierney and Ben Williams, The Select (The Sun Also Rises) 
• David Van Tieghem, Through a Glass Darkly

Lifetime Achievement Award - Richard Frankel and Richard Foreman

Service to Off-­‐Broadway Award - Fire Department of the City of New York

Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience - Voca People (Independent) 

Lonely, I'm Not

You'll certainly not be lonely in the cozy Theatre @ 43rd Street watching Paul Weitz' world premier comedy at Second Stage but you may be tad bored after about an hour or so.  The strikingly sparse and modern sets/projections by Mark Wendland and Aaron Rhyne are impeccably lit by Matt Frey.  A plethora of neon - or at least neon-looking LED illuminated - signs placed all over the back of the set abound - signaling not only the next scene but usually the irony or humor to be presented in said scene.  Direction by Trip Cullman is crisp and clean but the pace needs more punch.  A+ on the technicals with some work in the general energy-level department needed.

But what's it about?  Not a great deal of plot complexity here.  Pretty simple actually.  Porter (Topher Grace) was a successful guy.  Nervous breakdown.  Geeky cute.  Recovering.  Neurotic.  Heather (Olivia Thirlby) is an overachieving, successful blind woman.  Takes liking to nervous breakdown geeky cute guy.   Sidekicks, acquaintances, and other multiple characters played with aplomb by 4 additional actors (Mark Blum, Lisa Emery, Christopher Jackson, Maureen Sebastian).  All good.  Strike that.  Very good.   My only complaint is that after about 60 minutes, you're ready for the punch line and it doesn't come for another 30.  Best scene in the play - Job Interview.

William Shakespeare's advice still stands.  Brevity is [still] the soul of wit.

The City Club

The City Club has great potential.  Of the five major factors that go into that statement - it lacks in only one area - and that one area is one that can easily be fixed.   Music & Lyrics - bravo James Compton, Tony De Meur and Tim Brown and all the performance musicians.  Dance - high kicks all around.  Costumes, Lighting, Scenery - brilliant and appropriately colorful.   Direction, swift and crisp.  Now I'm not trying to be picky, but the book - well - that's another story.  Penned by Glenn M. Stewart, an international money manager and financial arbitrageur by day, inspired writer by night, well, it could use just a little work.

The story is one that mixes blues and jazz and film-noir.  It's a story of a nightclub in the '30s.  A romantic musician, the employees in his club and a few characters from the underbelly of the city (purposely unnamed).  At its core - i could see it working and working quite well.  But right now, it's a little confusing.  "The Committee" is often mentioned, but never explained.  "My Father" is mentioned but we don't know if he's alive or dead.  And even a few times, the multiple character coverage by one actor was a little confusing (e.g Didn't he just die?  Why does the reporter walk behind the bar and serve drinks? Is that guy the governor too?).  The good news in all of this is that I'm pretty sure a little script doctoring and treatment in the ER of musicals might turn this thing into a smash Broadway hit!

I mention the Broadway hit part also because I'm pretty sure the producers have their eyes focused uptown.  I mean when have you seen a show at the Minetta Lane Theatre with a web address of www.ThecityClubBroadway.com? That tells me they are thinking big.  And so they should.

I loved the omni-present piano player, Parker (Kenny Brawner) center stage.  The band on-stage is a no-brainer and a must.  Chaz Davenport (Andrew Pandaleon) had an all-star voice that blew the roof off the joint - but dancing needs to be a stronger suit for Chaz and if you were to have asked me to cast the show I might have picked a more Italian, suave and dark haired actor.  All the female leads and dancers were superb and made me laugh and clap and gasp in all the right places.  Jacobus Olsen (Patrick O'Neill) wins the award for the best dancer I've seen in any show all season!

Despite a the improvements that need to be made, I highly recommend the show.  It's a night of great music, dancing, and singing all wrapped up in a nightclub feel.  I have a strong feeling we'll see this one again sometime down the road.

Head on down to the cozy Minetta Lane Theatre for a rare treat that's likely to cost you a whole lot more in its next incarnation!

The Columnist

John Lithgow was born to play roles such as this one in David Auburn's new play, The Columnist,  having its world premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Mr. Lithgow, along a cast of superb actors including Margaret Colin, Boyd Gaines, Stephen Kunken, Marc Bonan, Grace Gummer, and Brian J. Smith take us on a carefully crafted interpretation of the famous mid-20th century newspaper columnist, Joseph Alsop.  The times (and The Times) were very different indeed.  News was not a 24-hour multi-media business.  Old-school journalists, at least the successful ones, tended to be insiders with the establishment ("and that's not a compliment" says one of the characters midway through the play).  At the time of the Vietnam war, journalism was opening up and new, younger, more diverse blood in the industry was beginning to develop a voice.

Mr. Lithgow portrays Mr. Alsop with his usual top-notch flair and intensity.  The visual similarities are striking and makes him even more believable.  A Tony nod is likely and well deserved. Mr. Smith, as a young Soviet, shirt on and off, is, once again, a young dynamo - a visual diamond and an aural delight.  Ms. Colin, Mr. Gaines, and Mr. Kunken all provide excellent support to the story and portray their characters with flair and aplomb.

Mr. Alsop would never have approved of this blog nor most of what passes as news today.  Based on what I saw on the stage at the Samuel J. Freidman Theatre (The Biltmore, as I prefer to call it) some of that opinion is probably justified, but indeed, comes along with some less than desirable baggage.

Leap of Faith

In opening this review, I take note that I cannot find a show banner icon that does not have Raul Esparza's name atop the title.  Clearly the producers are hanging their hats (and everything else) on the draw that this popular, charismatic Broadway star has to offer.   However, a show needs more than a star.  It needs a book that is not a boring as watching a movie rerun on a Saturday night.  It needs more than a few wave-your-hands-in-the-air gospel inspired numbers and it most certainly needs that star to be someone you believe.   Unfortunately, the aforementioned are all omnipresent in this circus-feel sideshow.   

While Mr. Esparza does an admirable job as a leading man, I just never believed he was who he purported to be.  His vocals were all capable, his acting was acceptable, but is he really a traveling, proselytizing con-artist? Nah.  The show ambles along - raising the tent, taking advantage of the town and the audience alike - with the revival theme causing the actors to break the 4th wall as if we, too, are there for the word of the lord.  Eh.  While there are moments of glory (e.g. Robin Wagner's tent is superb), they are few and far between.  Leslie Odom, Jr. creates a believable yet expected foil, Isaiah Sturdevant, to Mr. Esparza's Jonas Nightengale but it all seemed so obvious.  Kendra Kassebaum plays the down-trodden younger sister with aplomb yet the entire routine seemed so been there, done that.  Replacing Brooke Shields (she originated the role of Marla McGowan in the LA premiere production in 2010) with Jessica Phillips didn't seem to be much of an improvement - but neither was it a detriment.  

Perhaps it's just the fact, as Ben Brantley pointed out in his own review, that we've seen the last entrant in the Broadway season and we're just exhausted.  And this roadside carnival did nothing to refresh and enliven us one bit - even with that fabulous silver jacket Mr. Odom eventually dons and some much needed rain on the stage.  

Don't Dress For Dinner

What a romp over at Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre!  Penned as the sequel to Boeing Boeing, Marc Camoletti has extended the comical farce of his original story all the way to the countryside in Paris.

A farce in the true sense of the word, we are treated to the misinterpretations, mishaps, and general hysterical confusion that ensues when Bernard, Jacqueline, Robert, Suzette, and Suzanne find themselves mixed up together one weekend in a zany, madcap, mixed-up, cover-up at their country house.

Adam James, Ben Daniels, Patricia Kalember, Spencer Kayden and Jennifer Tilly spend the entire evening covering up the real story, scrambling their identities, and blurring the lines of just who is who much to the delight of the audience.  The plot gets thicker and thicker with every minute that passes and just when you think the cover is blown, another twist or turn is thrown in.

With all the talent on the stage, Ms. Kayden still manages to be an absolute stand-out!  She's a scene stealing vixen who, despite her petite size, really knows how to pour it on thick and come out on top.

Don't hesitate to take a trip over to West 42nd street where you'll be swept away to the french countryside for a few hours of hilarity and escape.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

As director and choreographer, Kathleen Marshall helms this delicious and tuneful musical comedy at the Imperial Theatre this spring.

The concept - cobble together some of the best George and Ira Gershwin tunes in a new book by Joe DePietro and cast some wonderful singers and dancers, stitch up some magnificent costumes (Martin Pakledinaz) design and build some divine sets (Derek McLane) and light them with elegance and charm (Peter Kaczorowski) and mic the actors/singers perfectly (Brian Ronan).

Take all these wonderful ingredients and pour in a little bleach - - yes bleach.  That's a sure way to ruin an entire show!  The bleach in this case is Matthew Broderick.  He's completely mis-cast.  Is he funny? Yes.  Can he carry a tune? Certainly.   But this role requires a dashing, young man who can dance.  Matthew is neither a dancer nor dashing.  So poor was this casting faux-pax by Binder Casting (Jay Binder and Jack Bowdan) that it just about ruins the entire show!

Kelli O'Hara is divine, pitch-perfect, and deliciously innocent as bootlegger Billie Bendix.  Michael McGrath is broodingly devilish as Cookie McGee.  Judy Kaye is solidly and supremely hysterical as Dutchess Estonia Dulworth and Estelle Parsons is superb and commanding in her portrayal of Millicent Winter.   The ensemble dancers were crisp, handsome and pretty, elegant, and never missed a step - or a note!  With all this goodness - how could it all go wrong?  I'll tell you how.  Cast a stiff, non-dancing, not-extremely handsome oaf in a role that is central to the plot.  Ms. O'Hara appears to be dancing on egg-shells around him on the many occasions they are required to tango.  Ms. Parsons appears to easily dominate her stiff son's character leaving us to wonder why she would even bother.  And one wonders why the powerhouse Mr. McGrath didn't just conk his new "boss" over the head with a bottle of that gin instead of faking his butler duties with him.

This is a lesson in just how to take a charming, delightful, and delicious show and ruin the entire presentation with just one stroke of the casting pen.  Truth be told, I left the theatre humming many of the familiar tunes.  I really loved the silly, romantic comedy book, but just couldn't get over the awful casting choice that Ms. Marshall either bought into or was forced to accept.  Mr. Broderick stood out like a sore thumb surrounded by all the talent on the stage.  If a real charming actor who could dance was actually cast in this role, this show might be considered the knock-out hit of the season.  Instead, it's more like a bottle of gin during prohibition - destined to be smashed in the gutter by a cop.

Accomplice: New York

Creators Tom Salamon and Betsy Salamon-Sufott are going strong after many seasons - sending their agents (that's you, the audience) out on the street to deliver tickets to a network of "associates" (that's them, the actors) who may or may not be connected with some nefarious activities.

Accomplice: New York takes its audience on a downtown walking tour with added dashes of a scavenger hunt, a mystery to solve, maps to read, and a mission to accomplish.  Along the way the groups (no more than 10) encounter several shadowy figures that they are intended to interact with.  To describe more would be to blow their cover - so I'll just leave it at that.

Will a tried and true New Yorker enjoy this roving performance?   The answer is,  It Depends.  You need to be in the mood to walk around lower Manhattan with a group of strangers and it might help if you were actually interested in solving the mystery along with a group.   It also depends on who those other 9 people are.  Get a group of duds, you're probably sunk.  Get a group of fun tourists or even some energetic and enthusiastic New Yorkers and the possibilities are endless.   It certainly helps, no matter who you are, if you can read a map and follow directions and enjoy a walking tour in a neighborhood you've probably never walked thru like this before.

If you decide this adventure is for you - I think you'll enjoy.  The actors, albeit spread out a little too thin for my taste, were all entertaining and funny - true improvisational / street actors.  I won't spoil the plot or the individual characters you may encounter - but I will mention the fine players - Joe Luongo, Billy Beyrer, Brendan Irving, Seth Moore, Jeremy Banks, Laura Gilreath, and John Cannatella.  Along the trek, you encounter them one by one as a character you are searching for.   Among the stand-out performances (accents included) are those of Joe Luongo and Brendan Irving.  (Brendan, where are those modeling shots you mention in the playbill?).

If you choose to take on this challenge - it will all start with a mysterious voicemail message a day beforehand informing you where you should meet your contact.   Don your walking shoes and get ready to enjoy an afternoon of intrigue and mystery!

Ghost

This is quite possibly the worst show to debut on Broadway that I have ever seen.  Let me be clear, it is not because the actors didn't know their lines - on the contrary - they were quite well rehearsed and executed.  It is not because the music or lyrics (Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard) were bad.  They may have been loud, but not bad. (As an aside, I'm still trying to figure out how that negro spiritual number made it into the show).  And please forgive me, but I've never seen the actual cast names omitted from the marquis page in the playbill.  Shameful!

What is possibly the most reprehensible aspect of this production is not the talent at all.  It is that the producers feel that an audience coming to the theatre is dumb, has no attention span, needs endless video, audio, and color stimulation, and is there to watch a movie, music video, and take part in an American Idol-styled extended TV performance special.  That is the schlock I witnessed at a recent performance.  Many non-tourist theatre-goers left at intermission - 4 people in my row of 6, as a matter of fact!  The show is not terrible because it is "just beginning previews".  Frankly it has played in London for quite some time - with the same two actors leading - so these folks are well-rehearsed and well adjusted to the performances.  It's terrible because of what it is at its core, not in any way because of early-preview flaws in the presentation.

Quite simply, this is not a Broadway show.  It's entertainment that would be better placed in Madison Square Garden or Radio City Music Hall.  Yes there are songs, yes there are sets and costumes.  But the constant over-stimulation, the constant lighting tricks, flashes, and concert-style lowering and raising of ultra-bright, ultra-colorful lighting above the stage is beyond necessary.   If that is not enough, the video projections are something out of an uber-sci-fi movie.  The entire stage is bathed in LED's creating much of the scenic backdrop of New York City and sometimes just flash - all overly saturated, overly sped-up, even sometimes inappropriately incorrect and inconsistent as to locations. The music was loud.  And by loud I mean decibel levels that rival a rock concert.  The reverb was turned up so high sometimes, it felt like you were under water. Many songs sounded Songify'd and Auto-Tuned.  Everything is electronic and twelve notches too high.  

Some people may be reading this thinking - "Wow".  And at times it was kinda, sorta, cool, i must admit.  But to pass this off as a Broadway musical is patently misleading.  If you sent me into this theatre and told me I was about to see a rehearsal for a live performance being taped for TV's "The Voice" I would have believed it wholeheartedly.

As for the story itself, it's what you would expect - with some minor modifications for the stage.  It's the movie - all over again, in over-bearing color and with a musical intensity never before imagined.  Make no mistake, there's certainly a great deal of talent and beauty on the stage - and I really mean that when I speak of DaVine Joy Randolph's Oda Mae Brown.  When the show brought itself back close to ground level (which happened so infrequently) - such as the bank scene near the end - all the actors' talents shone thru.  But I had a hard time at most other junctures discerning the talent from the incessant multi-media blasting.

Upon leaving the theatre it seemed that some were dazzled and others talked about this character or that one and there was much expected chatter comparing to the movie - but I didn't hear one single person say it was a great show.  Not one.  Everyone seemed to be impressed at the technology and disappointed at the inappropriate over-use of it on a Broadway stage.  To that I say, "Ditto".

The Best Man

Quite possibly the most star-studded success story ever to grace the Broadway stage.  Gore Vidal's The Best Man has been resurrected once again in an election year where it seems that, as the play testifies to, nothing seems to change.  And what a cast!  The budget for this show must be astronomical - and in this case - worth every penny and more in ticket prices!  Broadway, with more than its fair share of star-vehicle disappointments to grace the stage these past few years - That Championship Season and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown come to mind - this show, a history lesson unto itself, allows each star to shine individually and collectively ignite the political bonfire known as politics.  

The outstanding cast - James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack, Kerry Butler, Jefferson Mays, Michael McKean, and Angela Lansbury - are firing on all cylinders to make one magical evening in the theatre.  Mr. Jones and Ms. Lansbury bring gravitas to the subject matter.  Mr. Larroquette and Ms. Bergen bring intelligence, wit, and incredible presence to the characters.  Mr. McCormack brings youth and a very believable do-anything, say-anythig attitude.  Ms. Butler, Mr. Mays, and Mr. McKean being high quality character acting back into fashion.  All combined, they electrify the evening culminating in a riveting climax.

The entire theatre is decked out in convention regalia from orchestra to the rear mezzanine.  A box seat is taken over by a Walter Cronkite-like news broadcaster who periodically covers the goings-on in classic old-fashioned style which is also broadcast onto period black and white television sets though out the theatre.  Rotating sets (whose design and form may have been borrowed from Chinglish) are outstanding - kudos to Derek McLane.  Director, Michael Wilson, keeps the action crisp and the momentum always edging forward.

All around a not-to-be-missed evening in the theatre with a once-in-a-lifetime assembled cast entertaining you from the first minute to the very last.  Like any devoted conventioneer - you'll be on your feet, cheering in the aisles for this revival.

Bring It On

Currently running its national tour, I caught Bring It On during its stop in Chicago.  Part gymnastic cheerleading spectacle, part disney-esque youthful heartwarming story, the show is certainly colorful, packed with power-pop lyrics, color, and fills the entire stage from floor to proscenium with excitement and energy.

Directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler with his signature flair, mostly dazzles.   Music and lyrics have the signature stamp of Lin-Manuel Miranda (along with Tom Kitt and Amanda Green). There's plenty of young, good-looking, energetic talent on stage.  Taylor Louderman (Campbell) according to her bio is still a student at the University of Michigan.  We'll certainly be seeing more of her on Broadway soon.  Gregory Haney (La Cienega) pulls off drag-queen hilariously while not going too far over the top (OK, it's near the top).

There was a fair amount of actual cheerleading that many people, including myself, a former cheerleader from the University of Delaware, came to see.  Pyramids, toss torches, cupies, and a plethora of high-flying, well-executed acrobatics with heart pounding music were all baked in throughout the story leading up to the final competition event.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this one probably won't come to Broadway.  Of course, I could always be wrong given the ever-changing dynamic of what plays well on the Great White Way, but my sense this is the close cousin to High School Musical is more like a movie and live entertainment event executed on stage, less like a traditional musical.   But that's OK!  Entertainment takes all forms and not every show needs to play Broadway to be considered successful.   Bring It On is likely to be one that travels the country well and attracts a much needed young audience into the theatre.  You can't fault it for being successful in doing that.  Bring It On!

The Big Meal

A delicious meal is being served up at Playwrights Horizons upstairs in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater.  Dan LeFranc's new play is about life, or more appropriately life - fast forward -  and it's a 90 minute sprint thru the generations spawned by Sam and Nicole from first date to life's end.  It's about family, friends, fighting, and fidelity.  It's about looking at the big picture rather than dwelling on the tiny details.

And yet, Director, Sam Gold, lets no detail go unnoticed.  Mr. LeFranc's poignant dialogue is well constructed and realistically links the many generations together thru many a small detail - a locket, a yellow ribbon, cocktails, and photographs to name a few.   I must admit, on a few occasions, I got a little confused as to who was who and where in the chain of the family we were.  Mr. Gold's duty, and anyone who helms this play in the future, is to do as much as they can to ensure the audience is following along exactly as Mr. LeFranc intended.

The actors  - a cast of eight plus one - navigate the characters, seamlessly and creatively transforming and transitioning themselves from generation to generation. (Anita Gillette and Tom Bloom; Jennifer Mudge and David Wilson Barnes; Phoebe Strole and Cameron Scoggins; Rachel Resheff and Griffin Birney)  The main device employed here is that as the characters age, the entire cast all jump a level down to play the same character just played by a younger actor to simulate the aging process and allow a younger generation to enter the dynamic and propel the story forward.  (See, even trying to explain it gets complicated.  Imagine watching it at full-throttle!).  Everyone was delightful but especially-so was the always-lovely Anita Gillette who ends the show on one of most poignant and thoughtful moments I've seen in the theatre in a long time.

The play, with such a swift pace, often comes to a dead stop (pun intended) when a meal is served and while there are no surprises here, it's always a moment to pause and reflect (kudos Molly Ward - the only actor to play a single, constant character).

Stop over to Playwrights Horizons and join the audience each night to fill your soul with some perspective on a life - with the fast forward button firmly engaged.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Choreography.  Nice work if you can get it.  Even nicer if you are Geoffrey Doig-Marx and your brush has been selected to paint the dance-canvas on stage for the Department of Theatre and Dance and John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University.  Even nicer if you have such a talented bunch of colorful, budding young singers, actors, and dancers as your medium to work with.

 

John Kander and Fred Ebb's Spider Woman is not an easy show.  It's challenging in both the technical sense as well as the subject matter itself.   Based on a cursory review of the program, difficulty is not a hindrance to the school's program either.  Bravo to the school for stretching the young minds and challenging them both physically and theatrically.  I mean, after all, the last thing New York (or any other city) needs is another mediocre crop of theater-grads showing up at Broadway auditions with a repertoire of Oklahoma, Phantom, and Guys and Dolls firmly under their belts.  Clearly this is not the case at Montclair.  Recent productions a the University include Sweeney Todd, A Man of No Importance, Crazy for You, and Sideshow.

Spider Woman may not immediately pop into your mind as an entertaining Saturday evening.  After all, it's a musical about political prisoners, torture, human rights, and homosexuality.  It's the story of two very different men who find themselves imprisoned together - one a staunch idealist, the other a technicolor dreamer.  There's little hope, and much pain.  

Fear not, however!  You'll be in for a rare musical treat.   Lee Cohen (one of two cast in the role) turns in a dark, brooding, yet tender Valentin and Corey John Hafner (one of two cast in the role) turns in an insightful, poetic, and brave portrayal of Molina.  And if you're choreographer, Mr Doig-Marx, you had a bevy of talented dancers to unleash on multiple occasions around the multi-legged, eerie (and flown-in!) spider woman herself, Victoria Meade - and then again a few times just because they were so good.  

I don't often venture out of the city to see theatre - so when I do, I'm pleased to report back good news - that due in large part to the talents of Mr. Doig-Marx and director, Clay James, indeed, theatre is alive and well - way out there - even in suburban New Jersey!

Kudos to the many programs and departments at Montclair State University for pushing the envelope and producing what appears to be a bumper-crop of talent that most surely will end up on my side of the Hudson very shortly!