Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 6/17/12 & Theatre Quote of the Week

The 1987 edition of Town Hall’s Broadway By The Year closed out Scott Siegel’s 12^th season of concerts presenting a year-by-year analysis of Broadway’s songs, placing them in both historical and theatrical context.  This was a year dominated by two musicals in particular, and naturally they dominated the evening’s program.

Aside from having Ferland on hand to present her more mature performances of ”I Know Things Now” and “No One Is Alone,” Kerry O’Malley brought back memories of her stint as The Baker’s Wife in the 2002 Into The Woods revival with “Moments In The Woods” and Marc Kudisch (who directed the concert) and Jeffrey Denman lent their robust voices and clowning skills to the princely duet, “Agony.”

Les Miserables was the year’s major blockbuster and with the newly formed Broadway By The Year Chorus – made up of recent college and music school graduates under the leadership of Scott Coulter – stirring renditions of full choral pieces like “One Day More” and “Do You Hear The People Sing?” were able to be included.  There was superior dramatic solo work provided by O’Malley (“I Dreamed A Dream”), Kudisch (“Stars”), Ron Bohmer (“Bring Him Home”) and Janine DiVita (“On My Own”).

While the songs from Stardust certainly weren’t new in 1987, that revue of the lyrics of Mitchell Parish was, allowing for the inclusion of standards like “Moonlight Serenade” (romantically sung and danced by Denman and DiVita), “Volare” (Kudisch camping a mock seduction with the female ensemble) and the show’s title song, sung with airy tenderness by Coulter.  The novelty number, “Syncopated Clock,” better known as the theme to television’s The Late Show, was an amusing instrumental for Ross Patterson’s Little Big Band.

The underappreciated Teddy and Alice, about President Roosevelt’s stormy relationship with his strong-willed daughter, was represented grandly by Bohmer’s “Can I Let Her Go?,” a sentimental ballad whose melody is an soft rendering of John Phillip Sousa’s “Washington Post March.”  And though Roza had its troubles on Broadway, O’Mally’s hearty “Happiness Is” demonstrated the score at its best.

Stepping Out was a play about an amateur dance class and Denman, joined by Anna White and Kelley Sheehan, displayed some snazzy tapping in its title song.

At one point during the evening, Siegel referred to O’Malley, Denman and Kudisch as three of the finest entertainers you’ll see on New York’s stages.  While Broadway audiences frequently pack theatres to see lesser-skilled celebrities try their hands at starring in Broadway musicals, for 12 years the Broadway By The Year series has been showcasing some of the highest caliber performers you’ll find in the demanding field of musical theatre.

Photos by Genevieve Rafter Keddy:  Top: Danielle Ferland; Bottom: Jeffry Denman and Marc Kudisch.

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Does anybody ever really pay attention to the plots of Cirque du Soleil productions?  Or the songs?  Sure, their collection of world-class jugglers, balancers, acrobats and daredevils always provide eye-popping and gasp-inducing entertainment, but all too often the evening is loaded down with attempts to connect everything with some convoluted story about a search for serenity or world peace or whatever.

Last year’s 2-act extravaganza, Zarkana, has returned to Radio City Music Hall just in time to push the Tony Awards to the Beacon Theatre once more and, thankfully, the storytelling aspect of writer/director Francois Girard’s "surreal acrobatic spectacle” – something about a magician, his lost love and a doggy duo named Hocus and Pocus – has been trimmed down considerably, allowing the show to clock in at a slick and entertaining 90 minutes.  Even the bland English lyrics of the songs have been exorcised, replaced with a made-up language called “Cirquish,” which seems to emphasize dramatic vowel sounds.

But nothing upstages the troupe of aerialists, trapeze flyers and high-wire balancers when they let loose.  A more meditative feature, and a real showstopper, is artist Erika Chen, who works from a glass table above a video camera so that the audience sees a projection of her swift hands creating ever-evolving portraits and scenes out of blue sand. Her time on stage is serenely captivating.  Hand balancer Anatoly Zalevskiy wears a midriff-baring outfit that makes lovers of the male physique swoon and displays body-bending skills that no doubt set a few fantasies in motion.

But the most eye-popping act on display is Carlos Marin and Junior Delgado seriously seeming to risk their lives on the appropriately named Wheel of Death; two circular cages placed on opposite ends of spokes which spin on an axis thirty feet above the ground. The boys are continually in motion as they pop inside and outside the wheels even skipping rope while in perpetual motion.  When finished, they take their bows like they’re the most macho guys in town and I, for one, wouldn’t argue the point.

Photos by Jeremy Daniel, Richard Termine: Top: Erika Chen Bottom: Wheel of Death.

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Posted on: Sunday, June 17, 2012 @ 05:05 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 6/10/12 & Theatre Quote of the Week

 

"I've been dieting all week.  I can't wait to eat some freakin' pizza!"

-- Audra McDonald after winning her 5th Tony Award

Read more: http://broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.php?colid=382219&preview=on#ixzz1xVxL8OP0

The grosses are out for the week ending 6/10/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: VENUS IN FUR (17.8%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (15.5%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (14.4%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (14.2%), END OF THE RAINBOW (12.7%), OTHER DESERT CITIES (11.3%), ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (11.1%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (8.8%), GHOST (8.3%), PORGY AND BESS (8.0%), HARVEY (6.7%), SISTER ACT (6.2%), DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER (5.9%), MARY POPPINS (5.6%), WAR HORSE (5.3%), JERSEY BOYS (4.7%), MAMMA MIA! (4.5%), JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (4.5%), MEMPHIS (4.4%), ROCK OF AGES (4.1%), CLYBOURNE PARK (3.6%), EVITA (3.3%), THE LYONS (3.0%), CHICAGO (2.3%), ONCE (1.5%), ANYTHING GOES (1.0%), WICKED (0.2%), THE LION KING(0.1%),

Down for the week was: GODSPELL (-5.7%), PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT (-3.5%), THE COLUMNIST (-3.5%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-3.5%), A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (-1.5%), NEWSIES (-0.2%),

Posted on: Monday, June 11, 2012 @ 03:26 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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Food and Fadwa

Fadwa Faranesh, a bright, engaging Palestinian woman living in Bethlehem, hosts a cooking program from her home kitchen, where she prepares delectable dishes like tabouli and baba ghanoush in the traditional manner the women of her culture have been preparing them for centuries.  To her, food is an important connection between the past and the present.

However, the television cameraman she chats with isn’t really there.  Neither is the camera or the loyal viewers tuning in every day.  No, the central character of Lameece Issaq and Jacob Kader’s Food and Fadwa is not delusional.  She just needs an occasional escape from the realities of her West Bank life, which includes being delayed at numerous checkpoints wherever she goes, enduring sudden announcements of curfews where no one is allowed to leave their home and caring for her dementia-stricken elderly father.

As warmly and humorously portrayed by Issaq, Fadwa is a single woman who, with her mother deceased, has pushed her own needs aside become the sturdy support system for her extended family.  Aside from her father, Baba, played with sincere pathos by Laith Nakli, there’s her sister Dalal (Maha Chehlaoui) excitedly preparing for her wedding to Emir (Arian Moayed).

Fadwa’s long distance boyfriend is Emir’s brother Youssif (Haaz Sleiman), who has been living in New York.  He arrives for the wedding with her American cousin, Hayat (Heather Raffo), a successful restaurant owner and cookbook author.  Hayat is quite oblivious to the conditions this side of the family lives under (Her complains that she was held at customs for a whopping 15 minutes is met with little sympathy.) and, among other things, Fadwa is particularly irked at Hayat’s practice of creating non-traditional variations of classic recipes.

The wedding ceremony is threatened when a suddenly announced curfew, where everyone is confined to their homes for an indefinite amount of time, has Emir unable to return from a trip to Jerusalem and, after many days, leaves the family running out of food, water and Baba’s medicine.

While the issues of Food and Fadwa might suggest a heavily political piece with angry speeches denouncing the Israeli government, Issaq, Kader and director Shana Gold take a lighter approach that might remind older viewers of the Norman Lear sitcoms of the 1970s like All In The Family and Good Times.  Like those landmark programs, Food and Fadwa indirectly approaches controversial topics by using dark humor to show how the family is accustomed to dealing with oppressive restrictions.  A comical highlight has Emir and Youssif smearing dollops of leftovers on the dinner table to create a map explaining the various restricted areas of the city, liberally shaking salt all over to represent the numerous checkpoints.  Fadwa’s cooking show begins addressing subjects like food rationing and fasting.  There’s even a nutty neighbor; Fadwa’s chain-smoking Aunt Samia (Kathryn Kates), whose lives for watching television episodes of Arab Idol.  ("That girl from Kuwait was voted off last week. So sad.”)

With Andromache Chalfant’s large and highly detailed unit set looking not so different from a suburban American home, Food and Fadwa successfully emphasizes the similarities between the on-stage characters and the New York Theatre Workshop audience members; boiling down deeply complicated conflicts to how they affect perfectly nice people just trying to live their lives and preserve their culture. It’s a sweet and tasty evening.

Photos by Joan Marcus: Top: Lameece Issaq; Bottom: Maha Chehlaoui, Arian Moayed, Haaz Sleiman and Heather Raffo.

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Posted on: Sunday, June 10, 2012 @ 01:30 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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Once On This Island: The Story Goes On

Thomas Kail’s athletic and inventively theatrical directing chops (In The Heights, Lombardi, Magic/Bird) prove a perfect match for Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens’ Caribbean story-theatre musical Once On This Island.  The beguiling new production gracing the Paper Mill stage is full of vibrant performances and colorful stagecraft.

Perhaps a bit overshadowed by large-scale productions like The Will Rogers Follies, Miss Saigon and The Secret Garden when it transferred to Broadway via Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons in 1990 (The 1994 West End production did win the Olivier Award for Best Musical.), Once On This Island is a flavorful charmer suitable for the whole family.

The play within a play structure has an ensemble of villagers from the French Antilles distracting a frightened child (Courtney Harris) from a scary thunderstorm by acting out the story of Ti Moune (Syesha Mercado), an adopted girl from the peasant side of the island where the “black as night” natives live their lives controlled by the whims of the gods of Earth (Aurelia Williams), Water (Darius de Haas), Love (Saycon Sengbloh) and Death (Alan Mingo, Jr.).

Ti Moune’s prayers to find a purpose in life prompt an other-worldly bet to see which is stronger, love or death, and an encounter is arranged between her and the wealthy and handsome Daniel (Adam Jacobs) from the side of the island where lighter-skinned descendants of French planters live.  Ti Moune’s love for Daniel tests the social restrictions that forbid a relationship between them and while the outcome of the story is realistic, it is also optimistic.

Mercado’s greatest strength as Ti Moune is a powerful belt that launches the money notes of her character-introducing song, “Waiting For Life.”  She’s an appealing performer and Kail surrounds her with a company of well-seasoned musical theatre actors who each claim their moments to shine; particularly Kenita R. Miller and Kevin R. Free, who bring deep feelings and comical warmth to their roles as Ti Moune’s adoptive parents and Williams, completely enthralling in her robust rendition of “Mama Will Provide.”

Donyale Werle's do-it-yourself set pieces inspire a lively “little theatre” atmosphere, with Kenneth Posner's lights and Jessica Jahn's costumes providing the kind of colorful joy expressed through Bradley Rapier's choreography.

The production glides through its ninety minutes on waves of captivating performances, beautiful singing and material that teaches the importance of handing down the traditions and folklore of a community through story-telling.   It’s a wonderful night out.

Photos by Jerry Dalia:  Top: Darius de Haas, Saycon Sengbloh, Jerold E. Solomon, Kenita R. Miller, AureLia Williams, Alan Mingo Jr., Syesha Mercado and Courtney Reed; Bottom: Courtney Reed, Saycon Sengbloh, Adam Jacobs, Syesha Mercado, Alan Mingo, Jr., and AureLia Williams.

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Posted on: Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 04:57 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 6/3/12 & Theatre Quote of the Week

 

“I think it's, hopefully, liberating. The idea is that they'll walk out loving their body and wanting to eat ice cream.”

-- Eve Ensler, re: "The Good Body"

The grosses are out for the week ending 6/3/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: HARVEY (0.8%), DEATH OF A SALESMAN (0.4%), ONCE (0.4%), ANYTHING GOES(0.1%),

Down for the week was: MARY POPPINS (-15.8%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (-15.7%), A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (-14.1%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (-14.1%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-13.2%), JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (-12.8%), PORGY AND BESS (-12.6%), WAR HORSE (-12.6%), GHOST (-12.6%), CHICAGO (-12.5%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (-12.3%), SISTER ACT (-11.2%), EVITA (-10.1%), VENUS IN FUR (-10.0%), ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (-9.9%), PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT (-9.5%), JERSEY BOYS (-9.2%), END OF THE RAINBOW (-8.3%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-7.2%), MEMPHIS (-6.1%), MAMMA MIA! (-5.7%), DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER (-5.3%), GODSPELL (-4.8%), THE COLUMNIST (-4.6%), CLYBOURNE PARK (-4.5%), OTHER DESERT CITIES (-4.0%), ROCK OF AGES (-3.5%), WICKED (-1.3%), NEWSIES (-0.4%), THE LYONS (-0.3%),

Posted on: Monday, June 04, 2012 @ 03:41 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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Potted Potter - The Unauthorized Harry Experience - A Parody by Dan and Jeff

When I first heard the title Potted Potter – The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff, my American mind immediately thought of the slang term we use for inebriated and figured Jefferson Turner and Daniel Clarkson’s two-person, 70-minute presentation would be some kind of irreverent adult spoof of J.K. Rowling's septet of Harry Potter novels.  But no, “potted,” to our Brit friends, merely means abridged, and the show, which actually doesn't involve much parody, is really more of a wholesome family entertainment; not that there’s anything wrong with that, as we say on the Upper West Side.

I haven’t read any of the books nor seen any of their film adaptations, but despite the insistence of the show’s promotional material that you need not know the difference between a horcrux and a Hufflepuff to find yourself roaring with laughter, as insurance I invited a Harry Potter enthusiast who was very excited to see the show to be my guest, figuring she could fill me in on any insider references I wouldn’t get and to give me her perspective as a fan.  However, her educated reaction seemed to mirror my novice one and the biggest compliment she could muster was that the boys were certainly “energetic.”  But we both did notice that the children in the audience seemed to be very much into the show.

The evening begins with Turner, wearing those familiar round specs, sitting in a corner of the stage quietly reading while Clarkson glad-hands his way through the audience.  It seems straight man Jeff claims to be the world’s foremost authority on all things Potter and plans an extravagant presentation summarizing the entire literary series, averaging ten minutes per book.  However Dan, assigned as the goofy one, has foolishly wasted the budged on some less-than-appropriate set pieces and a costly dragon.  The crux of the attempts at humor primarily stem from Turner’s frustration in Clarkson’s ignorance of the source material (“Dumbledore... Is he important?”), rather than deriving humor from the books themselves.  Instead of cleverness, there’s a lot of frantic silliness as Clarkson plows his way through a multitude of characters, using makeshift props and costumes, while Turner remains the title wizard, a role that he concludes “is so boring!”

The marquee moment comes when a pair of young volunteers is plucked from the audience to assist in a game of Quidditch, which consists of a large inflatable ball being smacked across the auditorium by audience members while Clarkson complains about how poorly we’re playing.  And while I did detect some mild enjoyment being had by my fellow viewers, Potted Potter had me wishing I’d stayed home with seven good books.

Photo of Jefferson Turner and Daniel Clarkson by Carol Rosegg.

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Posted on: Monday, June 04, 2012 @ 03:34 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/27/12 & Theatre Quote of the Week

 

"I enjoyed the courtroom as just another stage but not so amusing as Broadway."

-- Mae West

 

The grosses are out for the week ending 5/27/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: MARY POPPINS (14.7%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (6.7%), VENUS IN FUR (4.7%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (4.4%), DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER (4.2%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (4.2%), PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT (2.2%), CLYBOURNE PARK (2.0%), WICKED (1.2%), ROCK OF AGES (0.6%), NEWSIES(0.6%),

Down for the week was: GODSPELL (-15.9%), PORGY AND BESS (-10.9%), ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (-10.3%), MEMPHIS (-10.0%), ANYTHING GOES (-9.6%), WAR HORSE (-8.8%), MAMMA MIA! (-6.2%), GHOST (-5.0%), SISTER ACT (-4.5%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (-3.8%), A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (-3.5%), END OF THE RAINBOW (-3.2%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (-2.8%), HARVEY (-2.7%), CHICAGO (-1.8%), JERSEY BOYS (-1.3%), EVITA (-1.1%), ONCE (-1.0%), JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (-0.8%), THE LYONS (-0.6%), THE COLUMNIST (-0.5%), DEATH OF A SALESMAN (-0.4%), OTHER DESERT CITIES (-0.2%),

Posted on: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 @ 04:42 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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My Sinatra & The Naked Truth

“Mensch” is not a word you might immediately think of to describe Frank Sinatra, but the label seems to fit Cary Hoffman quite snugly.  And though his solo musical, My Sinatra, has the nice Jewish guy from Long Island singing fifteen Sinatra hits (“One For My Baby,” “”Summer Wind,” “Luck Be A Lady,” “The Lady Is A Tramp”… you know the rest.), it is not a celebrity impersonation show.  It’s actually a very warm, enjoyable presentation of his lifelong obsession with the man who many would consider to be definitive male interpreter of American popular music.

Through photo slides and humorous patter, Hoffman tells the story of a boy who lost his father at an early age and was raised by his mom and a trio of professional musician uncles and eventually a step-father.  But the biggest male influence in his life was someone he would meet only briefly, as an adult.  It was through Sinatra’s voice and the songs he recorded that Hoffman found a role model for being a man.  As a boy he copied the crooner’s singing style and discovered his own confidence by emulating his role model.

Joined on stage by music director Alex Nelson at piano (there are also recorded big band arrangements), Hoffman sings with Sinatra’s phrasing and diction but is always his own likeable self on stage; a guy in a tuxedo who found a popular artist he can identify with, who gave him comfort and inspiration throughout his life.

And that’s the universal appeal of My Sinatra.  It’s about how celebrities – the ones who really touch us – can be major influences in our lives.  So even if your own personal obsession is with someone named Barbra or Judy or Michael, there’s something to relate to in Hoffman’s story. 

Photo of Cary Hoffman by Stephen Sorokoff.

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One of my favorite aspects of the neo-burlesque movement, which has been around for so long that they may as well drop the “neo,” is the tongue-in-cheek way in which crassness and vulgarity is often portrayed as a commentary on crassness and vulgarity.  That seems to be the attitude behind The Naked Truth, the new burlesque game show at The Triad.  Or maybe it’s just another gimmick to kick back with while enjoying drinks and watching attractive men and women strip.  Either way works for me.

Co-producer Jonny Porkpie, known as the Burlesque Mayor of New York (He actually did run for the city’s highest office once; mostly as a protest against the candidacy of The Naked Cowboy, whose politics, he claimed, was not truly representative of New York’s naked community.), serves as the wise-cracking host.  His clever quips are often one-upped by the show’s unseen announcer, Scott Rayow.

The night I attended, the burlesque end of evening included some of the more popular names in Gotham’s burley scene.  Jo “Boobs” Weldon, who runs the New York School of Burlesque (where many local performers go to learn their craft), performed a novelty act where her lovely curves were topped by an enormous Godzilla head as she menaced stage kittens Buxom Bunny and Satira Sin while shedding her extra layers.  Tigger, a major name in boylesque, performed a wild act as The Traumatized Clown, hesitantly removing the colorful garb covering his well-defined chest while asking the musical question, “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?”

More traditional strip teases out of evening gowns were elegantly (and a bit bawdily) offered by Tansy and The Maine Attraction.  The previously mentioned kittens performed a cute double act where each tried upstaging the other and even Porkpie joined in the flesh exposing with his sardonically macho routine.

But The Naked Truth, as explained by our host, was created to discover, “What’s behind the behinds.”  After each of the four guests’ performances, Porkpie wanders into the house to find appropriately enthused and/or drunk audience members to answer a very personal multiple choice question about the people we’ve all just seen twirling their tassels.  (How many times a day do they like to have sex?, What is the most unusual place where they’ve had sex?...)  Four correct responders get to win valuable sexually oriented prizes by being victorious in competitions like an erotic version of password and a condom-applying race.  It’s all very silly and a lot of good-natured fun.

The Naked Truth is co-produced by Gary Beeber, who also brings some of New York’s best burlesque talent to The Triad with Gotham Burlesque; next seen on June 2^nd, headlined by Danger Dame Veronica Varlow and featuring two of my favorite burlesque vocalists, Shelly Watson and Broadway Brassy.

Photo of Jo Weldon and Jonny Porkpie by Don Spiro.

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Posted on: Monday, May 28, 2012 @ 02:36 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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Judge Me Paris

Snooty Manhattanites such as I generally have a short list of offerings that would lure us all the way out to Brooklyn.  For some it’s a steak at Peter Lugar.  For others, it’s the Rodins at the Brooklyn Museum.  But the quickest way to get me aboard a Gowanus-bound F train is to say that director/choreographer Austin McCormick has got a new theatre/dance piece for his Company XIV.

Their current “Baroque Burlesque Opera” inspired by the mythical events setting off the Trojan War, Judge Me Paris, samples heavily from the 17^th and 18^th Century work of John Eccles, John Weldon, Antonio Vivaldi, Marin Marais and William Congreve and is produced in association with Morningside Opera and SIREN Baroque.

After being handed complimentary champagne upon entering, audience members observe the ensemble preparing before the performance, stretching and applying makeup touches at one of the mirrored walls.  (We also get to take in the sexy period costumes by Olivera Gajic.)  A prelude is played by three strings and a harpsichord followed by Jeff Takacs, as the gregariously comical Zeus, narrating the story of how three goddesses – Juno (Amber Youell), Venus (Brittany Palmer) and Pallas (Brett Umlauf) – each claim a golden apple intended for “the fairest.”  Zeus sends the apple to the mortal Paris (Sean Gannon) via his messenger Mercury (Cailan Orn) and the two engage in a sensual dance as he learns he must decide who truly deserves it.

The three goddesses, all possessing dramatic soprano voices, individually sing of their worthiness as their images are projected across the wide and deep playing space with live video cameras.  They also lure Paris with troupes of enticing dancers performing in steamy pageantry.

Finally, Venus offers the most beautiful of mortals, Helen, played by the most charismatic and dramatically interesting of Company XIV’s actor/dancers, Laura Careless.  Unfortunately, the decision to give Helen a rather short and not very flashy dance moment, especially after giving her such a big buildup, ends the piece with a bit of a letdown.

But until that point, Judge Me Paris is full of opulent splendor, soft eroticism and moments of cheery playfulness.  A lush and lovely fantasy.

Photos by Corey Tatarczuk:  Top: Jeff Takacs, Sean Gannon and Amber Youell; Bottom: Company.

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Posted on: Friday, May 25, 2012 @ 02:28 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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February House: Brooklyn Lodgers

Carson McCullers, Erika Mann and Gypsy Rose Lee are sharing a house in Brooklyn.  No, it’s not the theme for a costume ball at Sarah Lawrence.  It’s a taste of February House, the heady new chamber musical at The Public (by way of Long Wharf) that may still be in need of some sharpening and editing to match its lofty ambitions, but still offers some refreshingly high-minded moments of musical theatre.

Seth Bockley’s book is based on the true story of how in 1940, Harper’s Bazaar fiction editor George Davis (Julian Fleisher) fell in love with a dilapidated old home in Brooklyn Heights and transformed it into an outer-boroughs artist colony where an eclectic group of prominent talents could cut themselves off from the troubles overseas and create.

The makeshift family, many of whom happened to have been born in February, includes composer Benjamin Britten (Stanley Bahorek) and poet W.H. Auden (Erik Lochtefeld), as they collaborate on writing an operetta about Paul Bunyan.  Each is accompanied by his respective romantic partner, tenor Peter Pears (Ken Barnett) and student Chester Kallman (A.J. Shively).  Novelist Carson McCullers (a captivatingly wide-eyed Kristen Sieh) is there, struggling through her second novel and also struggling through alcoholism, troubles with her husband (Ken Clark) and the sexual temptation of German cabaret singer and magazine editor Erika Mann (Stephanie Hayes).  When money gets tight, strip-tease artist Gypsy Rose Lee (Kacie Sheik, nailing every innuendo), at the height of her fame and pay checks, contributes more than her share to join the retreat in order to finish her book, The G-String Murders.

But aside from the expected sequence of the group being formed, their achievement of notoriety and eventual disbanding, Bockley’s plotless snapshot approach to the characters isn’t enough to sustain the musical for its lengthy span of well over two and a half hours.  There are concerns over the war in Europe – particularly distressing to the British characters – some musings about a bohemian paradise and the obligatory sexual openness, but while director Davis McCallum’s production is suitably atmospheric, the musical has its sluggish moments.

Composer/lyricist Gabriel Kahane offers some attractive songs, but his score would benefit from a fuller plot that would help dictate song placement and subject matter.  Many of them exist in isolated moments that have little to do with anything that came before or will matter after; the low point being a mock operatic duet for Pears and Britten at their discovery of bedbugs.  Faring far better are a confrontation about the purpose of art during wartime, a wistful fantasy of following one’s wanderlust and, for Gypsy Rose Lee, a bawdy performance number about getting turned on by a man’s brains.  (It zips along nicely, if you know what I mean.)

Photos by Joan Marcus:  Top: Julian Fleisher and Kristen Sieh; Bottom: Kacie Sheik.

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Posted on: Thursday, May 24, 2012 @ 08:05 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

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About Michael: After 20-odd years singing, dancing and acting in dinner theatres, summer stocks and the ever-popular audience participation murder mysteries (try improvising with audiences after they?ve had two hours of open bar), Michael Dale segued his theatrical ambitions into playwriting. The buildings which once housed the 5 Off-Off Broadway plays he penned have all been destroyed or turned into a Starbucks, but his name remains the answer to the trivia question, "Who wrote the official play of Babe Ruth's 100th Birthday?" He served as Artistic Director for The Play's The Thing Theatre Company, helping to bring free live theatre to underserved communities, and dabbled a bit in stage managing and in directing cabaret shows before answering the call (it was an email, actually) to become BroadwayWorld.com's first Chief Theatre Critic. While not attending shows Michael can be seen at Shea Stadium pleading for the Mets to stop imploding. Likes: Strong book musicals and ambitious new works. Dislikes: Unprepared celebrities making their stage acting debuts by starring on Broadway and weak bullpens.