Kinky Boots

A great book by Harvey Fierstein, knock-out music & lyrics by Cindi Lauper and some fresh direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell will surely turn this out-of-town tryout into an instant Broadway hit.

I caught this one in Chicago after only 2 weeks of live performances and already it's showing it has legs... (it better because those boots are very tall!).   Dreamy and boyish Stark Sands and the devilishly wild and coy Billy Porter take the helm of the movie to musical re-make and left no butts in any seats by the climactic end of the show.

Part La Cage Aux Folles, part Dreamgirls, part Priscilla Queen of the Desert, with a heaping spoonful of the original movie (based on a true story) this show takes a little bit of all that and turns it into an extremely entertaining, energetic, fun, and heart-warming evening in the theatre.

Look out New York - these boots are made for walking - all the way from Chicago to the Great White Way.  All you NYC divas better get ready for some competition.  These red boots are on fire!

Don't Go Gentle

Stephen Belber's new play, Don't Go Gentle, is a powerful and moving family and human drama.  And with Michael Cristofer (Lawrence) at the helm, it's a bona-fide tour-de-force.

David Wilson Barnes and Jennifer Mudge (both recently seen in The Big Meal) turn in top notch performances as Lawrence's fairly damaged children.  Maxx Brawer, young newcomer, and Angela Lewis (recently seen in Milk Like Sugar) aptly serve as the interlopers.

Smartly written.  Cleverly crafted.  Superbly acted.

Run.  Don't Walk.

Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want To Kill us and How We Learn To Love Them

I'm not one of those people who attends sporting or political events and chants "U-S-A. U-S-A".  But neither am I some bleeding-heart liberal who thinks a terrorist is an unavoidable product of the lack of education and their religion culture for which we should forgive them.

There is a very slim chance I may have actually had some empathy for the characters in this play if it were actually written by a Muslim or African or even a member of the Taliban.  No such luck.  It was written by an arrogant, opinionated white guy and offers little contribution to anyone's conversation.   (Insert Buzzer sound here).

Steven Boyer, (last seen in School For Lies and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) entertained us as the dopey upstairs neighbor but the material and storyline take his performance into the toilet.  William Jackson Harper (last seen in A Cool Dip in the Barren Sarahan Crick) resurrects his "preachy" side again and turns in another fine performance despite the material.  

When a show's opening scene is a black African Muslim man with his hands in an Indian-looking young boy's underwear fiddling around with some wires sticking out...

Poor taste.  Bad writing in poor taste.

Red Dog Howls

Alexander Dinelaris' new play has taken a few years to make it to New York and it's pretty clear why you won't be seeing this one any time soon again.  It's wordy, over-indulgent, a bit too much of a history lesson, and too long.

Kathleen Chalfant (Rose Afratian) is a grande damme of the stage, but even her effortless and virtually flawless performance could not overcome the deficit of material and the painful and stiff performance of Alfredo Narciso (Michael Kiriakos) - which was either his own doing or that of director Ken Rus Schmoll.  

This is one of those plays that you don't get to figure everything out until the key is handed to you at the very end.  And when this key was handed to me i wanted to toss it in the Hudson River.   If you think about it for more than 5 minutes, the entire construct of Rose makes no sense whatsoever.  She lived a life to 90+ years old and never once thought to do what she did before now?

Please.  I don't believe it for a minute.

Detroit

I'm frankly a bit confused by Lisa D'Amour's new play being presented over at Playwrights Horizons.  It's seemingly missing a soul or at least one that director, Anne Kauffman failed to unearth.  Fairly well-acted (read, could have been better), moderately funny, but mostly a snooze - the material never grabbed me.  Frankly, I think 90% of the theatre left the show with the same un-answered questions as me and were generally bewildered by the rambling, directionless, and oddly concluded plot.

David Schwimmer, Darren Pettie, Amy Ryan, and new-commer Sarah Sololovic prove capable but the material seemed to limit their abilities.  And Poor John Cullum doesn't even appear until the very end.

Let's just hope Second Stage doesn't pick this one up next season.  It certainly doesn't deserve another look.

Harbor

Chad Beguelin's new play is delightful.  A gay couple unexpectedly come upon a turning point in their relationship.  Which road will they choose?  It may not be the one you think.  Making it's debut at the Westport Playhouse, Mr. Beguelin's Harbor is a 4 character charmer with equal doses of reality and humor.

The uber-adorable (especially with his short off)  Bobby Steggert (Kevin) and very-easy-on-the-eyes, Paul Anthony Stewart (Ted) turn in endearing and honest performances but it's Alexis Molnar (Lottie) who steals the show (and your heart) without your even realizing it.

Look for this one to grace a New York stage very soon.

One Man, Two Guvnors

Summer is the perfect time for a silly romp on Broadway.  Although I always regret not seeing things early in their run when they are more fresh and the audience is more of a "Broadway crowd", I knew this one could wait.


James Corden - indeed a goofy, silly, British wonder-boy extraordinaire!  Although Richard Bean's (book) humor was not necessarily my cup of tea, indeed i still laughed quite a lot.  The show's "secret" got out early and the producers and director had to adapt a bit to be able to react to the audiences' un-intended participation in a few of the ad-lib bits, but a fine job they did in molding the show even further - - and most of that credit goes to the improv skills of Mr. Corden himself.  A true gem on stage.

Dogfight

A coming of age story (that's what we used to call bullying) of both boys and girls.  Tough.  Brutal.  Honest.  Powerful.

Joe Mantello and Christopher Gattelli bring Peter Duchan's Book and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's music and lyrics to a brilliant life at Second Stage.   Lindsay Mendez, Josh Segarra, and Nick Blaemire and a large supporting cast bring a youthful innocence and believability factor to the characters all the while exercising their acting chops on some very fine material.

A summer treat.  Sets and Costumes by David Zinn were as good as they could be - every inch of vertical space was cleverly used given the 4 close walls of the theatre.

Look for this one in years to come on a bigger stage.  There's more potential just waiting to be exploited.

Rapture, Blister, Burn

Eh.

Storefront Chruch

John Patrick Shanley's new work is a powder-keg.  The third and final work in his trilogy that started with Doubt, continued with Defiance, now ends with Storefront Church.  (One wonders why, given the plot, it is not named Debt).  Staged at the Atlantic Theatre Company's Linda Gross Theatre, a former church, itself, the play explores the ethics and power behind and between religion and politics and their, some would say, dangerous, others would say, rewarding intersection.

Sharp, intelligent dialogue.  Powerful performances.  Thought provoking and relevant plot.  These words don't even do the work justice.  You'll take a side.  It doesn't matter which one, but you'll take a side.

Bob Dishy is deliciously funny as Ethan Goldklang.  Giancarlo Esposito helms the tense production with aplomb as Bronx borough president, Donaldo Calderon.  Zach Grenier is pitch-perfect in his portrayal of fallen banker, Reed Van Druyten.  Ron Cephas Jones takes on the stoic, angry, and conflicted reverend, Chester Kimmich.  Jordan Lage plays the role of bank CEO Tom Raidenberg with aplomb.

I had high hopes for Tonya Pinkins in this production and they were dashed.  Specifically I was quite annoyed at Mr. Shanley's choice to have her speak with a Puerto Rican accent.  She was terrible at that and it would have been very simple to have her speak like an old black woman instead  - after all - she is black and we know she can do it from her award winning performance in Caroline or Change.  That alone could have turned her performance from disappointing and mediocre to pivotal and powerful and it would not have affected the plot in any significant way.

Will this one transfer to Broadway?  Doubt certainly did.  Defiance did not (and probably didn't deserve it).  Change the name to Debt (it's catchier), throw out a few elongated scene changes, and maybe skip the music, and you may just have Broadway's next hit.  After all, off-Broadway is the new Broadway testing ground these days.

In the Company of Jane Doe

Sometimes a play off-off Broadway is a powerhouse production, a tour-de-force, a watershed event.  Tiffany Antone's In the Company of Jane Doe is not one of those events.


It's not that the play is without merit, but it felt a bit immature.  Perhaps that is my dis-taste for wink-and-nod plots.  Or perhaps it was just that the work is a bit immature -- and by immature I don't mean kids were running around the stage  -- but rather the dialogue and plot seemed like it was written for a high school or college play-writing competition - unrefined, quickly thrown together with a few gimmicks, and not overly deep, meaningful, or thought-provoking.

Ok, it's a comedy - I don't want to bring us all down too much here.  There were quite a few stand-out performances by the actors - and sometimes that can make up for plot deficiencies.  Jason Guy (Dr. Snafu) stands out head and shoulders above the rest with his physically funny and intellectually intelligent comedy - not to mention his pitch-perfect comic timing.  Adorably cute Tasmanian newcomer, Robert Maxwell, made his New York Debut with an incredible American accent as Samuel Spritz (and he got the chance to let his true voice out as a doctor in the ensemble!).  And Francesca Day magnificently pulls off a better Fran Drescher than Fran Drescher herself!   Rounding out the cast are Marta Keursten (Jane), Joe Stipek (Doctor), Elizabeth Neptune (Doctor), Brooke Berry (Dr. Annabelle), and Sarah Brill (Jenny).

pool (no water)

Off-off Broadway can be one of the best grounds for exciting, ground-breaking, and intellectually stimulating new works and Mark Ravenhill's new work, pool (no water), is no exception.  Under the direction of Ianthe Demos, this production by One Year Lease Theater Company at 9th Space on First Avenue evokes a feeling of poetry and a ballet-like choreography (Natalie Lomonte) to accompany the rich, raw, and brutally honest dialogue of the characters.

Through the lens of five artists, we hear a tale of jealousy, envy, love, hate, and success.  The dialogue reveals their outer shells as well as their inner thoughts, fears, and ideas - some compassionate, others pure evil.  The show's ballet is a balancing act among all those factors as the tale of their east-coast/west coast relationship unfolds.

Brilliantly staged, lit, and choreographed - the power of this production is in the dialogue, not special effects and I hope that future productions continue to exploit this power.  The dynamic cast, many of whom are also the creatives, includes Estelle Bajou, Christopher Baker, Nick Flint, Christine Bennett Lind, and Richard Saudek.

Harvey

A rare revival of Mary Chase's delightful and humorous Harvey is just beginning in the summer-slot at the Roundabout Theatre Company over at Studio 54.

The adorable and perfectly talented Jim Parsons is at the helm as the lovable Elwood P. Dowd this time around filling those big shoes of Jimmy Stewart quite nicely.  Jessica Hecht (Veta Louise Simmons) Charles Kimbrough (William R. Chumley MD), Tracee Chimo (Myrtle Mae Simmons) Carol Kane (Betty Chumley) and Larry Bryggman (Judge Gaffney) round out the tremendously talented cast which also includes Rich Sommer (Duane Wilson) and Morgan Spector (Lyman Sanderson, MD).

Roundabout's (David Rockwell's) sets are, as we've come to expect, superb and the cast is already humming like a fine tuned machine.  Mr. Parsons seems to embody the delightfully goofy character and does an excellent job at making sure we always know where Harvey is.   There may be something wrong with everyone these days - but the message behind Harvey tells us that maybe not all of them need to be cured.

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!