This is the first year I have been in the city for the New York Music Theater Festival, a month-long presentation of simple productions of over two dozen new shows. Their creators all hope for a life past the festival and a number of Off-Broadway and Broadway shows have begin their lives at the festival. My sampling of productions began with STUCK, a ninety-minute musical with book, music and lyrics by Riley Thomas. The show's premise is simple -- 6 people are STUCK for ninety minutes on a New York subway train. Essentially, it's a mini disaster movie without the disaster -- a diverse group (homeless Black man; sassy, defensive Black woman; poor, bitter Latino man; middle-aged woman grieving over the suicide of her gay son; pretty Asian-American teenage girl being stalked by a troubled young man). By the end, after some squabbling, everyone has gotten a chance to express him/her self and the group realizes that everyone wants the same thing. The stalker even gets the girl. The book is a bit cliched and preachy, but the fifteen varied songs are quite strong. Thomas has shown that he has mastered just about every genre of show tune -- power ballads, Latin-inflected tunes, soulful hymns, haunting ensembles. And his lyrics seem natural, not the forced Hallmark-style lyrics one finds in many contemporary musicals.
The productions of these shows must, of necessity be simple, but I was impressed with Michael Berry's clever, fluid staging. The small band sounded good. Everyone in the cast acted and sang well and blended beautifully in the ensemble numbers. One could have small quibbles -- Tim Young was too good-looking to be the geeky stalker. Who would believe he had trouble getting dates? However, this is not to denigrate his committed performance. Even though the characters were stereotypes, the performances gave them life.
I enjoyed the show immensely even if the theater had minimal air conditioning (The producers kindly gave everyone a bottle of water before the show began. I wasn't sure if it was to drink or pour over ourselves.) A note if you go to one of the NYMF productions at the 45th Street Theatre -- sit toward the back. It's cooler.
If all the shows at NYMF are at least as good as STUCK, it's going to be a great festival.
STUCK. New York Music theatre festival at the 45th Street Theatre. July 14, 2012.
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Cole Porter's NYMPH ERRANT
There's a fair amount of musical theater legend surrounding Cole Porter's musical, NYMPH ERRANT (Book by Mexican born, American actor, director, writer Romney Brent based on a novel by James Laver). It was produced in London in 1933 starring Gertrude Lawrence and ran for 156 performances (hardly a hit). It was never produced on Broadway though Porter thought it his best score. There has only been one album of the score, from a concert in the 1980s at the Theater Royal, Drury Lane with each number turned into a solo star turn for the likes of Lisa Kirk, Alexis Smith, Maureen McGovern and Elizabeth Welch (singing "Solomon" as she did in 1933). The album gives some sense of how good the score is and how absolutely brilliant the lyrics are. The Prospect Theater Company's production at the tiny Harold Clurman Theater is an attempt to present the show with its original score intact -- even including some numbers cut from the original London production. The book has been revised, but not in any sense to updated -- only to give it more coherence. The production, directed by Will Pomeranz, gives us an appreciation for what a great score Porter wrote.
NYMPH ERRANT is, as the title suggests, a picaresque show about a young woman's sexual experimentation. Evangeline (or Eve) (Jennifer Blood) has just finished British boarding school and is in love with the gardener on the family estate (Andrew Brewer), but is reluctant to marry him until she sees a bit of the world. The script takes her to a French seaside resort, Paris, Venice, a Turkish harem, back to Paris and finally home to marry the gardener. Along the way she comes to realize that she wants sex as much as love, but sex seems to be hard to find. Indeed, the running joke of the show is that men all over the world fall for Eve, but don't want to bed her. Porter has spiced this nonsensical fable with brilliant, risqué patter songs and lovely ballads. He was right to consider it his best score. The revised book moves the show along and gives some context for the songs. Still, I thought the production could do with even less talk.
Here the music is played by an accomplished five piece band and sung well by a mostly young, very talented cast. Jennifer Blood looks at least a decade past eighteen, but has the kind of small, wiry lyric voice that Gertrude Lawrence had. The rest of the cast play multiple roles. Andrew Brewer is the best singer in the cast and is charming (and lovely to look at) as the gardener and the plumber who gets to sing Porter's silly hymn to "Plumbing" (all the male characters Eve encounters are more in love with their professions than women). As the gardener, Brewer also gets to sing a song I have never heard before, the lovely ballad, "Dizzy Baby." The two older actors who played Eve's male admirers were anything but seductive. It was a mistake to make them total clowns. I think we had to feel that they were part of Eve's sexual education -- that they were tempting. In this production, there was no question Eve would go back to the gardener. Four young women play Eve's school chums. They all have a lot of stage presence and sing well. Veteran star Cady Huffman has a lot of older female roles, but doesn't make as much of them as I had hoped she would. In fact, she's the weakest performer in the production. In general, this is a cast brimming with talent, and Pomeranz has staged the production deftly with a tiny budget and on a tiny stage.
I very much looked forward to seeing NYMPH ERRANT and wasn't the least bit disappointed.
NYMPH ERRANT. The Clurman on Theater Row. July 15, 2002.
NYMPH ERRANT is, as the title suggests, a picaresque show about a young woman's sexual experimentation. Evangeline (or Eve) (Jennifer Blood) has just finished British boarding school and is in love with the gardener on the family estate (Andrew Brewer), but is reluctant to marry him until she sees a bit of the world. The script takes her to a French seaside resort, Paris, Venice, a Turkish harem, back to Paris and finally home to marry the gardener. Along the way she comes to realize that she wants sex as much as love, but sex seems to be hard to find. Indeed, the running joke of the show is that men all over the world fall for Eve, but don't want to bed her. Porter has spiced this nonsensical fable with brilliant, risqué patter songs and lovely ballads. He was right to consider it his best score. The revised book moves the show along and gives some context for the songs. Still, I thought the production could do with even less talk.
Here the music is played by an accomplished five piece band and sung well by a mostly young, very talented cast. Jennifer Blood looks at least a decade past eighteen, but has the kind of small, wiry lyric voice that Gertrude Lawrence had. The rest of the cast play multiple roles. Andrew Brewer is the best singer in the cast and is charming (and lovely to look at) as the gardener and the plumber who gets to sing Porter's silly hymn to "Plumbing" (all the male characters Eve encounters are more in love with their professions than women). As the gardener, Brewer also gets to sing a song I have never heard before, the lovely ballad, "Dizzy Baby." The two older actors who played Eve's male admirers were anything but seductive. It was a mistake to make them total clowns. I think we had to feel that they were part of Eve's sexual education -- that they were tempting. In this production, there was no question Eve would go back to the gardener. Four young women play Eve's school chums. They all have a lot of stage presence and sing well. Veteran star Cady Huffman has a lot of older female roles, but doesn't make as much of them as I had hoped she would. In fact, she's the weakest performer in the production. In general, this is a cast brimming with talent, and Pomeranz has staged the production deftly with a tiny budget and on a tiny stage.
I very much looked forward to seeing NYMPH ERRANT and wasn't the least bit disappointed.
NYMPH ERRANT. The Clurman on Theater Row. July 15, 2002.
Thursday, 5 July 2012
DOGFIGHT
Almost eighty years ago now, Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote the classic musical ON THE TOWN, about three sailors on leave for twenty-four hours in New York City in the midst of World War II. The sailors were sweet, innocent guys looking for a bit of romance. The women they hooked up with were far less sexually naive. Now in the fine new musical DOGFIGHT, we have three young marines about to be shipped off as "advisers" to Vietnam (it is 1963) enjoying their last twenty-four hours on leave in San Francisco. These guys are tougher and less innocent (or so they would like each other to think) than the young men in ON THE TOWN. Instead of looking for romance, they are planning a dogfight, a contest to see who can bring the ugliest girl to the party they are throwing. This little project is sexist and mean-spirited. These are guys not used to being around women. Male bonding is much easier for them. Eddie (Derek Klena) meets Rose (Lindsay Mendez), a waitress in a diner her mother owns. At first he invites her to the party as his ugly date, but he comes to find he really likes this young woman who is far wiser and more talented than he. Most of the musical is the story of their one night romance. Two years later, a shell shocked Eddie returns to a very different San Francisco, filled with hippies and homosexuals, a place where people spit at war veterans, hoping to reunite with Rose.
This simple romance, adapted from a film (of course!) is the basis for a lovely show. The music and lyrics (by Ben Pasek and Justin Paul) are excellent. The songs range from rock-inflected upbeat tunes to sweet ballads to Sondheimy patter songs. Why is it that the two really fine scores I have heard this year are from Off-Broadway musicals while the new Broadway scores range from serviceable (NEWSIES) to mediocre (ONCE)? One can hear Pasek and Paul's influences, but they have their own musical voice and the lyrics are apt for the characters and don't seem at all forced. It's a tuneful, memorable score and every song seems justified by character and action. In fact, we said on the way out that the show needs one more musical number for the final scene, now left in dialogue.
Second Stage's production of DOGFIGHT is a class act. Celebrated director Joe Mantello staged it and Christopher Gatelli provided the choreography. The young cast is all one could ask for. Derek Klena captures Eddie's bravado and bafflement at his feelings for this homely girl. Lindsay Mendez lets us see from the outset that Rose is not only physically substantial but a person of substance. They both are terrific singers.
I have never seen the film on which this show is based, but this musical version of DOGFIGHT is a touching romance set to a fine score. Highly recommended!!
DOGFIGHT. Second Stage Theatre. July 4, 2012.
This simple romance, adapted from a film (of course!) is the basis for a lovely show. The music and lyrics (by Ben Pasek and Justin Paul) are excellent. The songs range from rock-inflected upbeat tunes to sweet ballads to Sondheimy patter songs. Why is it that the two really fine scores I have heard this year are from Off-Broadway musicals while the new Broadway scores range from serviceable (NEWSIES) to mediocre (ONCE)? One can hear Pasek and Paul's influences, but they have their own musical voice and the lyrics are apt for the characters and don't seem at all forced. It's a tuneful, memorable score and every song seems justified by character and action. In fact, we said on the way out that the show needs one more musical number for the final scene, now left in dialogue.
Second Stage's production of DOGFIGHT is a class act. Celebrated director Joe Mantello staged it and Christopher Gatelli provided the choreography. The young cast is all one could ask for. Derek Klena captures Eddie's bravado and bafflement at his feelings for this homely girl. Lindsay Mendez lets us see from the outset that Rose is not only physically substantial but a person of substance. They both are terrific singers.
I have never seen the film on which this show is based, but this musical version of DOGFIGHT is a touching romance set to a fine score. Highly recommended!!
DOGFIGHT. Second Stage Theatre. July 4, 2012.
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
SLOWGIRL
Seventeen-year-old Becky is in real trouble, so much trouble that her mother has sent her to hide out for a week at her reclusive uncle's Costa Rica retreat. It seems that Becky has been blamed for the death of a learning disabled schoolmate and is likely to be arrested and sent to prison. She has already been ostracized by her friends and expelled from school. Like many adolescents, Becky fears silence. If she can't have some electronic noise plugged into her ears, she has to talk. Uncle Sterling, who is in self-imposed exile after being acquitted of misappropriation of funds at his law firm (his partner went to jail) and losing his marriage, lives pretty much in silence. Cut off from most people, he isn't used to talking and seldom finishes a sentence. Over the one-hundred minutes of Greg Pierce's play SLOWGIRL, the first production in the new Claire Tow Theater, built on the roof of the Lincoln Center Theater, Becky admits responsibility for her actions and Sterling takes some responsibility for the fate of another human being.
In many ways, SLOWGIRL is very similar to Amy Herzog's 4000 MILES, which has been playing downstairs at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre. There, too, a troubled young person dealing with the tragic loss of a friend, comes to stay with an older relative. 4000 MILES is about both the possibility and the limits of human connection. Above all, I found SLOWGIRL to be a vivid, if frightening picture of contemporary adolescence. As we left the theater, I said to my spouse, "The play is an argument for increased supervision of teenagers." At seventeen, Becky is already a sexually active drinker and pot smoker though she has a limited sense of responsibility for her actions. She still thinks like a child, though she is given adult freedoms. Her language (beautifully captured by Pierce) is uncensored and peppered with obscenity (she describes her uncle's coconut syrup as looking like cum), half baked judgments and questions. Her ethical sense is undeveloped, but so is her uncle's. Sterling accepts no responsibility for the criminal actions of his law partner, but admits that he never questioned the suspiciously large amounts of money that were flowing into his bank account. In a way, his Costa Rican exile is a self-imposed imprisonment.
Sterling brings Becky to a labyrinth, a mountaintop recreation of the stone floor of a famous cathedral, where one walks the patterns on the floor either for meditation or one follows them on one's knees for penance. "I wouldn't recommend that," Sterling says. Clearly he has sought penance. The labyrinth becomes a symbol for the ethical mazes individuals must travel through, the difficulty of finding penance in our secular society, and the importance of some link with the spiritual.
SLOWGIRL is another beautifully written, absorbing small-scale play that is more than the sum of its parts. Annie Kaufman has directed it deftly within Rachel Hauck's lovely, suggestive setting. Sarah Steele captures Becky's vulnerability and bravado. We have to feel how irritating Becky can be as well as the childlike qualities that can be endearing and destructive. Against her explosion of language, Zeljko Ivanek captures a man who has tried to push away painful feelings of guilt and loss. Sterling is a man of few words -- he seldom finishes a sentence -- but Ivanek, though facial expression and body language, shows us how much is simmering under the surface.
The new 120 seat Claire Tow Theater is a gem. One rides new elevators up from the entrance area of the Lincoln Center Theater to a spacious lobby that is all glass on one side. Patrons can step out onto a wooden rooftop deck to look out over Lincoln Center. The rest of the roof is "green", planted with flowering vegetation. The auditorium is small without being the least bit claustrophobic. And there's lots of legroom. Seats for the LCT3 presentations at the Claire Tow are only $20, So Lincoln Center is joining the ranks of New York non-profits who are offering great theater at affordable prices.
SLOWGIRL by Greg Pierce, directed by Annie Kauffman. Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater. July 2, 2012.
In many ways, SLOWGIRL is very similar to Amy Herzog's 4000 MILES, which has been playing downstairs at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre. There, too, a troubled young person dealing with the tragic loss of a friend, comes to stay with an older relative. 4000 MILES is about both the possibility and the limits of human connection. Above all, I found SLOWGIRL to be a vivid, if frightening picture of contemporary adolescence. As we left the theater, I said to my spouse, "The play is an argument for increased supervision of teenagers." At seventeen, Becky is already a sexually active drinker and pot smoker though she has a limited sense of responsibility for her actions. She still thinks like a child, though she is given adult freedoms. Her language (beautifully captured by Pierce) is uncensored and peppered with obscenity (she describes her uncle's coconut syrup as looking like cum), half baked judgments and questions. Her ethical sense is undeveloped, but so is her uncle's. Sterling accepts no responsibility for the criminal actions of his law partner, but admits that he never questioned the suspiciously large amounts of money that were flowing into his bank account. In a way, his Costa Rican exile is a self-imposed imprisonment.
Sterling brings Becky to a labyrinth, a mountaintop recreation of the stone floor of a famous cathedral, where one walks the patterns on the floor either for meditation or one follows them on one's knees for penance. "I wouldn't recommend that," Sterling says. Clearly he has sought penance. The labyrinth becomes a symbol for the ethical mazes individuals must travel through, the difficulty of finding penance in our secular society, and the importance of some link with the spiritual.
SLOWGIRL is another beautifully written, absorbing small-scale play that is more than the sum of its parts. Annie Kaufman has directed it deftly within Rachel Hauck's lovely, suggestive setting. Sarah Steele captures Becky's vulnerability and bravado. We have to feel how irritating Becky can be as well as the childlike qualities that can be endearing and destructive. Against her explosion of language, Zeljko Ivanek captures a man who has tried to push away painful feelings of guilt and loss. Sterling is a man of few words -- he seldom finishes a sentence -- but Ivanek, though facial expression and body language, shows us how much is simmering under the surface.
The new 120 seat Claire Tow Theater is a gem. One rides new elevators up from the entrance area of the Lincoln Center Theater to a spacious lobby that is all glass on one side. Patrons can step out onto a wooden rooftop deck to look out over Lincoln Center. The rest of the roof is "green", planted with flowering vegetation. The auditorium is small without being the least bit claustrophobic. And there's lots of legroom. Seats for the LCT3 presentations at the Claire Tow are only $20, So Lincoln Center is joining the ranks of New York non-profits who are offering great theater at affordable prices.
SLOWGIRL by Greg Pierce, directed by Annie Kauffman. Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater. July 2, 2012.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
COCK in New York
We had reservations about some of the casting when we saw James MacDonald's production of Mike Bartlett's witty, minimalist play, COCK, at the Royal Court Theater Upstairs a while back (review somewhere below), and were curious to see what New York actors would do with this blueprint of a script. The New York cast was better, the play both funnier and more impassioned.
Barlett has said that he got the idea for the style of this play when he witnessed a cockfight in Mexico (the New York Times, unable to print the title of the play, calls it "The Cockfight Play"). The audience is seated on benches in a plywood ampitheater looking down on a small, circular playing area. The only lighting is fluorescent and the audience is as lit as the actors. There are no sets, furniture or props, nor is there any specific miming of actions like eating or copulating. Everything is in the words. Bartlett's script, obviously influenced by Pinter, is filled with pauses. Exposition is sketchy and only delivered when necessary. Scene breaks are indicated by the sounding of a tone. All this creates great challenges for the actors.
Bartlett's story is a simple one. John (the only character with a name), is in a contentious seven-year relationship with a somewhat older and more successful man who is a bit of a psychological bully. Shortly after John tries to break off his relationship with M, he meets W, a young female divorcee who does not like being single. John, both attracted to W and frightened of his first heterosexual relationship, runs back to M. Both M, W and, at the dinner from hell, M's father, push John to make a choice. Is it M or W? Is he straight or gay? COCK would be a simple minded play if it were just an argument against rigid categories like gay, straight or bisexual. John's real problem is that he doesn't know who he is. He has no fixed identity of any kind. Oddly, it is his blankness that seems to attract needy people like M and W. They can project their needs and fantasies onto him. The question that frustrates one watching this play -- one of the key questions Bartlett is asking -- is why people are drawn to this amiable cipher who is doubly crippled by the fact that he knows he has no identity. COCK is a rich play about loneliness, neediness and contemporary anomie. It's funny, smart and a bit disturbing.
There were some problems with the London cast. Ben Whishaw seemed good casting for John -- homely, scrawny and an expert at playing angst. However, Andrew Scott, the same size and looking the same age as Whishaw (though he's half a dozen years older), was a bit small-scaled as M and Katherine Parkinson, a one note actress if ever there was one, did nothing with W. The New York cast was infinitely superior. The opening battles between Cory Michael Smith's John and Jason Butler Harner's M were much more passionate. Harner is taller and obviously older than Smith, a necessary set of contrasts. One felt both their sexual attraction and the frustrations that were killing their relationship. I never felt any passion between Ben Whishaw and Andrew Scott, but here saw that, whatever was driving them apart, John and M were physically attracted to each other. Amanda Quaid made W an interesting character; attractive, smart and tough. She really stands her ground when forced to fight for her dignity and for John. Smith made you realize why people were attracted to John even though they should run for the hills. Harner is magnetic as M, registering every aspect of his bafflement, hurt and need for John. Cotter Smith made his brief appearance as the father subtler and more complex than his London counterpart. This was a more physical, more intense performance than the London one without losing any of the wit and humor. It was thrilling to watch these actors at work in this small space. And it was a joy to see this fine play again.
COCK. The Duke on 42nd Street. June 23, 2012.
Barlett has said that he got the idea for the style of this play when he witnessed a cockfight in Mexico (the New York Times, unable to print the title of the play, calls it "The Cockfight Play"). The audience is seated on benches in a plywood ampitheater looking down on a small, circular playing area. The only lighting is fluorescent and the audience is as lit as the actors. There are no sets, furniture or props, nor is there any specific miming of actions like eating or copulating. Everything is in the words. Bartlett's script, obviously influenced by Pinter, is filled with pauses. Exposition is sketchy and only delivered when necessary. Scene breaks are indicated by the sounding of a tone. All this creates great challenges for the actors.
Bartlett's story is a simple one. John (the only character with a name), is in a contentious seven-year relationship with a somewhat older and more successful man who is a bit of a psychological bully. Shortly after John tries to break off his relationship with M, he meets W, a young female divorcee who does not like being single. John, both attracted to W and frightened of his first heterosexual relationship, runs back to M. Both M, W and, at the dinner from hell, M's father, push John to make a choice. Is it M or W? Is he straight or gay? COCK would be a simple minded play if it were just an argument against rigid categories like gay, straight or bisexual. John's real problem is that he doesn't know who he is. He has no fixed identity of any kind. Oddly, it is his blankness that seems to attract needy people like M and W. They can project their needs and fantasies onto him. The question that frustrates one watching this play -- one of the key questions Bartlett is asking -- is why people are drawn to this amiable cipher who is doubly crippled by the fact that he knows he has no identity. COCK is a rich play about loneliness, neediness and contemporary anomie. It's funny, smart and a bit disturbing.
There were some problems with the London cast. Ben Whishaw seemed good casting for John -- homely, scrawny and an expert at playing angst. However, Andrew Scott, the same size and looking the same age as Whishaw (though he's half a dozen years older), was a bit small-scaled as M and Katherine Parkinson, a one note actress if ever there was one, did nothing with W. The New York cast was infinitely superior. The opening battles between Cory Michael Smith's John and Jason Butler Harner's M were much more passionate. Harner is taller and obviously older than Smith, a necessary set of contrasts. One felt both their sexual attraction and the frustrations that were killing their relationship. I never felt any passion between Ben Whishaw and Andrew Scott, but here saw that, whatever was driving them apart, John and M were physically attracted to each other. Amanda Quaid made W an interesting character; attractive, smart and tough. She really stands her ground when forced to fight for her dignity and for John. Smith made you realize why people were attracted to John even though they should run for the hills. Harner is magnetic as M, registering every aspect of his bafflement, hurt and need for John. Cotter Smith made his brief appearance as the father subtler and more complex than his London counterpart. This was a more physical, more intense performance than the London one without losing any of the wit and humor. It was thrilling to watch these actors at work in this small space. And it was a joy to see this fine play again.
COCK. The Duke on 42nd Street. June 23, 2012.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT
This is the third Gershwin anthology show in recent years. MY ONE AND ONLY (1983), with Tommy Tune and Twiggy was a moderate hit. Then CRAZY FOR YOU, based on GIRL CRAZY, ran for four years in the early nineties. Now we have NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, with a book by Joe DiPietro loosely based on the 1924 musical, LADY BE GOOD, which starred Gertrude Lawrence. We still have bootleggers and a playboy about to marry the wrong girl, but the book is much more coherent than the original. DiPietro has given us a delightful old-fashioned musical comedy with a lot of music and laughs. Director Katleen Marshall has wisely cast the show with strong comic performers. There are lots of leading roles, all deftly played. Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara are the name, "above the title" stars. On paper they seem like a mismatch. Broderick can carry a tune, but it isn't a great singing voice. He's not a born dancer, but he gamely gets through his dance numbers. What he can do is deliver comic lines in a winning, low-key manner. He has always been good at playing harmless naughty boys and that is what is required of him here. O'Hara is a competent actress, but a terrific singer. She's not a natural at comedy, but she's surrounded by so many great comic performers that it doesn't matter. Oddly enough, they work as a couple. They aren't Astaire and Rogers, but their dance numbers seem in character.
Michael McGrath as the gangster turned surly butler is a delight as is the great Judy Kaye as the prohibitionist who discovers the joy of booze. Chris Sullivan and Robyn Hurder make a wonderful comic couple as not-too-bright gangster Duke and dumb chorine with dreams of being queen of England. And Estelle Parsons make a grand second act appearance as Jimmy's mother.
This is what musical comedy is supposed to be -- great songs; a well constructed, truly funny book; superb comic performances; good singing and enjoyable dancing; lovely costumes; simple but effective sets and a great pit band. Too bad nobody around now can write a score anywhere near this good. Everyone who aspires to writing a musical should be required to see this show.
As expected, the near-capacity Tuesday night audience was comprised mostly of folks middle-aged and older (how many under-25s have even heard of George Gershwin?). They weren't as wildly enthusiastic as the younger audiences at some shows I have seen recently (or as despondent as the audience at ONCE), but they were obviously having a good time. Highly recommended.
And once again, I noted how shabby the Shubert's theaters are looking. The Imperial Theatre has housed some of the greatest musicals of the twentieth century. I spent much of my youth in the balcony of the Imperial. It deserves to look as grand as its place in the history of the musical.
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT. Imperial Theatre. June 19, 2012,
Michael McGrath as the gangster turned surly butler is a delight as is the great Judy Kaye as the prohibitionist who discovers the joy of booze. Chris Sullivan and Robyn Hurder make a wonderful comic couple as not-too-bright gangster Duke and dumb chorine with dreams of being queen of England. And Estelle Parsons make a grand second act appearance as Jimmy's mother.
This is what musical comedy is supposed to be -- great songs; a well constructed, truly funny book; superb comic performances; good singing and enjoyable dancing; lovely costumes; simple but effective sets and a great pit band. Too bad nobody around now can write a score anywhere near this good. Everyone who aspires to writing a musical should be required to see this show.
As expected, the near-capacity Tuesday night audience was comprised mostly of folks middle-aged and older (how many under-25s have even heard of George Gershwin?). They weren't as wildly enthusiastic as the younger audiences at some shows I have seen recently (or as despondent as the audience at ONCE), but they were obviously having a good time. Highly recommended.
And once again, I noted how shabby the Shubert's theaters are looking. The Imperial Theatre has housed some of the greatest musicals of the twentieth century. I spent much of my youth in the balcony of the Imperial. It deserves to look as grand as its place in the history of the musical.
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT. Imperial Theatre. June 19, 2012,
Friday, 1 June 2012
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN
What a delight it is to experience a play that is intelligent, provocative and highly entertaining. Essentially, Gina Gionfriddo has taken on the challenge of writing a discussion play, the sort of thing Shaw did so brilliantly a century ago. In RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN, Gionfriddo has set her sights on the position of women in 2012 through conversations between women of three generations and one man.
Katherine (Amy Brenneman) is a highly successful forty-something academic and writer. Like many successful academics in the humanities, she has found a gimmick to give her crossover success -- books on the intersections between feminism, pornography and violence. Her books, typical of this kind of pop academic, are filled with some knowledge and a fair amount of unsupported generalizations and facile connections. Katherine sees herself as a feminist, but is in the midst of a mid-life crisis. She has come back to her New England home town after her mother has had a heart attack. Katherine has come to realize that, other than her mother, she has no one to love and no one to love her. When we meet Katherine, she is in the back yard of her college roommate, Gwen (Kellie Overbey), a stay-at-home mother, and Gwen's husband, Don (Lee Tergesen) whom Gwen "stole" from Katherine fifteen or so years ago. Gwen and Don's marriage is anything but passionate. Gwen resents Don's lack of ambition and his preference for pornography rather than her. Also in the mix are Gwen and Don's baby sitter, Avery (Virginia Kull) , a twenty-one year old who has very definite ideas about female empowerment, and Katherine's mother (Beth Dixon), whose views were shaped in the pre-feminist era.
In order to allow these characters to banter and battle, Gionfriddo depends on two gimmicks. First, that Katherine and Gwen would want to switch roles, at least temporarily, and that Katherine would be hired to teach a seminar on feminism that only two students sign up to take, Gwen and Avery. Katherine conveniently holds the seminar in her living room so her mother can join in. One buys into these somewhat shaky premisses because the characters are so sharply drawn and well acted, the dialogue so lively and the perceptions so astute. Essentially the women come to realize that the ideas of that enemy of feminism, Phyllis Schlafly, actually have some merit. Women can't have it all. Through Don's character, we also see how men still have problems dealing with women who are smarter and more ambitious than they are. Like Shaw, Gionfriddo knows to give everyone a convincing argument. Shaw prided himself on being an iconoclast, and Gionfriddo seems to have proudly taken on that mantle.
The cast does justice to this stimulating play, managing to make all the discussion spring from the characters' conflicting emotions and confused objectives. Director Peter Dubois has deftly paced the production.
I thoroughly enjoyed Gina Gionfriddo's last play, BECKY SHAW. RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN is more ambitious. I can foresee some negative criticism from New York reviewers and politically correct academic critics. The audience at Playwrights Horizons gave it the enthusiastic reception it deserved.
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN. Playwrights Horizons. May 31, 2012.
Katherine (Amy Brenneman) is a highly successful forty-something academic and writer. Like many successful academics in the humanities, she has found a gimmick to give her crossover success -- books on the intersections between feminism, pornography and violence. Her books, typical of this kind of pop academic, are filled with some knowledge and a fair amount of unsupported generalizations and facile connections. Katherine sees herself as a feminist, but is in the midst of a mid-life crisis. She has come back to her New England home town after her mother has had a heart attack. Katherine has come to realize that, other than her mother, she has no one to love and no one to love her. When we meet Katherine, she is in the back yard of her college roommate, Gwen (Kellie Overbey), a stay-at-home mother, and Gwen's husband, Don (Lee Tergesen) whom Gwen "stole" from Katherine fifteen or so years ago. Gwen and Don's marriage is anything but passionate. Gwen resents Don's lack of ambition and his preference for pornography rather than her. Also in the mix are Gwen and Don's baby sitter, Avery (Virginia Kull) , a twenty-one year old who has very definite ideas about female empowerment, and Katherine's mother (Beth Dixon), whose views were shaped in the pre-feminist era.
In order to allow these characters to banter and battle, Gionfriddo depends on two gimmicks. First, that Katherine and Gwen would want to switch roles, at least temporarily, and that Katherine would be hired to teach a seminar on feminism that only two students sign up to take, Gwen and Avery. Katherine conveniently holds the seminar in her living room so her mother can join in. One buys into these somewhat shaky premisses because the characters are so sharply drawn and well acted, the dialogue so lively and the perceptions so astute. Essentially the women come to realize that the ideas of that enemy of feminism, Phyllis Schlafly, actually have some merit. Women can't have it all. Through Don's character, we also see how men still have problems dealing with women who are smarter and more ambitious than they are. Like Shaw, Gionfriddo knows to give everyone a convincing argument. Shaw prided himself on being an iconoclast, and Gionfriddo seems to have proudly taken on that mantle.
The cast does justice to this stimulating play, managing to make all the discussion spring from the characters' conflicting emotions and confused objectives. Director Peter Dubois has deftly paced the production.
I thoroughly enjoyed Gina Gionfriddo's last play, BECKY SHAW. RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN is more ambitious. I can foresee some negative criticism from New York reviewers and politically correct academic critics. The audience at Playwrights Horizons gave it the enthusiastic reception it deserved.
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN. Playwrights Horizons. May 31, 2012.
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