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Showtime! features reviews, commentary and assorted theatrical musings from Michael Dale, BroadwayWorld.com's Chief Theatre Critic. To submit amusing backstage banter, absurd audience observations or noteworthy links to Showtime!, click here. Anonymity's guaranteed. My not taking credit for your clever remark isn't.

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It Takes A Woman

Tracy Morgan was on The View today and said he'd like to play the title role in a Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, but when asked to sing a bit of the song he said he didn't know it. Remarkably, though, he had the entire oak leaf monologue memorized. #OneOfTheseSentencesIsALie

Posted on: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 @ 12:05 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

What? No Understudy?

So I arrive at the St. James tonight and they're passing out notices saying the performance is cancelled because Barry Manilow has bronchitis. And I'm thinking, somebody should just call Mandy Patinkin. He'd be over in ten minutes and do the whole show in Yiddish.

Posted on: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 @ 11:28 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/20/13 & Theatre Quote of the Week

"I am confused by life but I feel safe within the confines of the theatre."

-- Helen Hayes

The grosses are out for the week ending 1/20/2013 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: THE HEIRESS (13.7%), EVITA (10.5%), MARY POPPINS (9.0%), GOLDEN BOY (9.0%), CHICAGO (8.0%), CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (7.0%), ANNIE (7.0%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (6.6%), MAMMA MIA! (3.0%), WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (2.4%), THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (2.2%), ROCK OF AGES (1.6%), WICKED (1.2%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (1.1%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT(1.0%),

Down for the week was: PICNIC (-17.1%), THE OTHER PLACE (-12.1%), NEWSIES (-8.4%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-5.8%), JERSEY BOYS (-5.2%), ONCE (-3.7%), GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (-1.7%), THE LION KING (-0.3%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (-0.1%),

Posted on: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 @ 04:41 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

The Other Place

Laurie Metcalf is already seated center stage as patrons enter the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre for Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of The Other Place, tempting less-sophisticated playgoers to yell out, “We loved you in Roseanne!”

But despite her Emmy-winning sitcom success, Metcalf’s extensive stage career has consisted primarily of critically acclaimed performances in more somber fare, such as her Mary Tyrone in last year’s London production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night. As in that O’Neill classic, Sharr White’s psychological drama also has her playing a woman whose mind transports her into unreliable perceptions of reality. The twist being that she’s this play’s storyteller.

As accomplished neurologist Juliana Smithton, Metcalf is a striking figure of confident, intelligent sexuality; smartly dressed and crackling with sarcasm. She puts those qualities to good use in marketing a new pill intended to treat dementia and once the play gets started, she’s recalling a presentation she gave at a convention in St. Thomas, where she was distracted by a woman in the audience dressed in a yellow bikini. Soon, the audience may question if the scantily clad guest was really there because, coincidentally, it seems Juliana may be suffering from dementia herself and, in a roller coaster of scene work deftly guided by director Joe Mantello, the play takes us from narrated remembrances to the present to flashbacks, all depictions questionable in their truthfulness.

In her messy home life, Juliana suspects her oncologist husband Ian (Daniel Stern) is cheating on her, and that she’s been getting calls from her long lost daughter (Zoe Perry) who might have married her former assistant (John Schiappa). Eugene Lee and Edward Pierce’s clever set provides a background of jumbled window frames, none of which offer a clear view of what’s beyond.

With weightier roles for the supporting players, The Other Place might provide a deeper experience in its 70-minute length, but Juliana is the only fully-realized character. Fortunately, the superb Metcalf, with her detailed performance exposing Juliana’s humiliation and fear of losing control of her mind, is attention-grabbing at every moment, but without her presence The Other Side seems little more than a competent, if somewhat familiar, episode.

Photo of Laurie Metcalf by Joan Marcus.

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Posted on: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 @ 02:23 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Peter Marshall: And Then She Wrote

“If you’d like to sing along with us, please don’t. It confuses me.”

Self-depreciating references to his age are hardly necessary for Peter Marshall, whose Metropolitan Room gig marks his first major cabaret engagement since he was partnered with Tommy Noonan in late 1950s. In between he squeezed in careers as a musical comedy leading man – most famously on Broadway opposite Julie Harris in Skyscraper – and as the five-time Emmy Award winning host of The Hollywood Squares.

But even at 86 years of age, his saloon singing skills are still in exceptional shape. The flashing smile from his handsomely-creased face is as charming as his mellow, romantic baritone crooning old favorites.

Marshall surrounds himself with talented women both on stage and on the set list for And Then She Wrote, a fun and lively revue of American Songbook classics written or co-written by women. With music director Anne Drummond on piano and flute and Brandi Disterheft on bass, the male star shares vocal responsibilities with jazz singers Carol Welsman (who occasionally takes over the keyboard) and Denise Donatelli. And he does share the stage. The three divide up material pretty evenly.

Of course, the matriarch of the American Songbook, Nora Bayes, is introduced early on with “Shine On, Harvest Moon.” Dorothy Fields is well represented with favorites like “Sunny Side of the Street," “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” and “The Way You Look Tonight,” as are Carolyn Leigh (“The Best Is Yet To Come” “Young At Heart” “Real Live Girl”) and Betty Comden (“Make Someone Happy” “Just In Time” “The Party’s Over”).

Thirty-nine songs in total, including selections by Ella Fitzgerald (“A-Tisket, A-Tasket”), Marilyn Bergman (“What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?”) and Peggy Lee (“It’s a Good Day”) are packed into the 90-minute program, mostly by limiting each presentation to one chorus. The mixture of solos, duets and three-part harmonies are done in straightforward, standard arrangements with bits of patter praising each songwriter and adding some of Marshall’s personal remembrances.

And Then She Wrote may not be a particularly creative venture, but it’s a polished, cheery and enjoyable interlude, and a welcome chance to see one of television’s iconic figures successfully return to the type of performing he first loved.

Photo: Carol Welsman, Peter Marshall and Denise Donatelli.

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Posted on: Friday, January 18, 2013 @ 10:46 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/13/13 & Theatre Quote of the Week

"Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."

-- Harvey Fierstein

The grosses are out for the week ending 1/13/2013 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: PICNIC (26.6%), GOLDEN BOY (12.5%), CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (10.3%), ONCE (8.5%), THE HEIRESS (6.5%), THE OTHER PLACE (6.3%), WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (4.7%), GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (0.7%), THE BOOK OF MORMON(0.1%),

Down for the week was: MARY POPPINS (-32.7%), ANNIE (-29.2%), CHICAGO (-26.0%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-19.2%), MAMMA MIA! (-18.9%), EVITA (-17.8%), JERSEY BOYS (-13.8%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (-9.9%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-9.3%), NEWSIES (-7.3%), WICKED (-5.7%), THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (-5.4%), ROCK OF AGES (-4.6%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (-4.2%), THE LION KING (-1.8%),

Posted on: Monday, January 14, 2013 @ 03:20 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Water By The Spoonful

It doesn’t happen often, but, fair or not, there’s always a little extra pressure put on a play when it comes to New York after having already won the Pulitzer Prize. Quiara Alegría Hudes, a Pulitzer finalist for both Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue and her co-authorship of In The Heights, was awarded top honors last year for Water By The Spoonful, which was commissioned by Hartford Stage, where it premiered in 2011. Shortly after, the recently-opened Off-Broadway mounting was placed on Second Stage’s schedule.

But while the playwright provides some intriguing characters and interesting themes, the evening’s dramatics remain rather tepid, despite the work of an engaging ensemble under director Davis McCallum.

Being the second part of the trilogy that began with …Soldier’s Fugue, we’re once again introduced to Puerto Rican Iraq War vet Elliot (Armando Riesco). Back home in Philadelphia after being honorably discharged for a leg injury, his adjustment to civilian life includes working with his cousin Yaz (Zabryna Guevara) to pay for the funeral of his Aunt Ginny, who raised him from infancy. Yaz is a college music professor with a strong admiration for John Coltrane; a theme-heavy scene has her speaking passionately of the beauty of dissonance in jazz which eventually leads to resolution.

Running parallel to their story are scenes involving an Internet support group for people recovering from crack addiction, run by a woman who goes by the on-line name of Haikumom (Liza Colón-Zayas). Participants include 20-ish Japanese born/American raised Orangutan (Sue Jean Kim) who strikes up a closer friendship with middle-aged Chutes and Ladders (Frankie R. Faison) while discussing her wish to find her biological parents. Though the group members never meet personally and only communicate on line, their dialogue seems too conversational to pass as typewritten chat.

The two worlds eventually connect and the comparisons between Elliot’s physical family and the virtual one created through the Internet carries the main weight of the play, with sidetracks into issues of dependency, wartime trauma and civilian loss providing the dissonance.

Hudes has a talent for dialogue, introspective humor and fresh storytelling ideas, but in the end Water By The Spoonful, a play deeply concerned with communication, doesn’t say very much.

Photo of Liza Colon-Zayas, Sue Jean Kim and Frankie R. Faison by Richard Termine.

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Posted on: Monday, January 14, 2013 @ 02:15 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Norm Lewis

Norm Lewis is in a commercial for Cialis. Unfortunately, it doesn't begin with him singing "I Got Plenty Of Nothing" and end with him singing "Bess, You Is My Woman Now."

Posted on: Friday, January 11, 2013 @ 11:48 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/6/13 & Theatre Quote of the Week

"Valjean serves nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread; a punishment that he regards as unjust, though in fact it reflects well on the status of French baking." -- Anthony Lane

The grosses are out for the week ending 1/6/2013 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: THE OTHER PLACE (15.8%), GRACE (8.8%), PICNIC (4.4%), WAR HORSE(1.6%),

Down for the week was: PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (-14.7%), GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (-11.1%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (-10.4%), THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (-9.9%), CHICAGO (-9.4%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-8.8%), MARY POPPINS (-8.1%), GOLDEN BOY (-7.2%), CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (-6.7%), MAMMA MIA! (-5.7%), ELF (-5.3%), ANNIE (-4.7%), THE HEIRESS (-4.1%), ROCK OF AGES (-3.1%), DEAD ACCOUNTS (-3.1%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-3.1%), JERSEY BOYS (-2.7%), WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (-1.8%), CHAPLIN (-1.3%), WICKED (-0.4%), NEWSIES (-0.3%), EVITA (-0.1%),

Posted on: Monday, January 07, 2013 @ 03:41 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Marilyn Maye & Golden Boy

If you have a hankering to see a room full of grown-ups acting like those teenagers watching The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, then get thee to The Metropolitan Room, where Marilyn Maye is doing her traditional job of knocking ‘em dead.

Back in the 60s, when The Fab Four ruled the airwaves, Maye was an emerging saloon singer in an era when saloon singing was going out of style. (She lost the 1966 Best New Artist Grammy to Tom Jones.) Rediscovered by New York’s 21^st Century nightlife crowd, her flexible, clarion vocals – remarkably preserved by good health and good genes – are paired with nearly 85 years worth of lyric-interpreting savvy, making for thrilling renditions of American Songbook standards we’ve heard a million times before. Johnny Carson, after one of her 76 Tonight Show appearances, once looked in the camera and advised young singers watching at home to buy her albums if they want to learn “how it’s done.” Nowadays, cabaret performers of all ages know to check out her live performances to see how that’s done, too.

As is becoming her habit, Maye opens the new year with an engagement titled Marilyn By Request, where guests may request favorite songs of hers as they make their reservations, requiring the vocalist and her top-shelf ensemble (Ted Hubbard on bass, Warren Odze on percussion and her music director, the sublime Billy Stritch on piano) to whip up a new set for each show.

For newcomers to the Marilyn Maye experience who may not know what to request, may I humbly make a few suggestions? First and foremost, you should physically block the exit and refuse to let her leave without performing Elisse Boyd and Murray Grand’s, “Guess Who I Saw Today,” a heartbreaking number she makes all the more crushing with her light conversational tone.

And while the hit song from Golden Rainbow was “I’ve Gotta Be Me,” Maye takes jazzy flight with the show’s title song, embellishing the tune with a vocal dexterity that enhances its clubby drive. And speaking of Broadway title songs, it was Marilyn Maye who first had a hit single with “Cabaret” before the musical hit Broadway. It’s well worth a listen, along with the title tune from Sherry!, which wasn’t a success on Broadway despite the popularity of her single.

I can’t name anyone with such a unique approach to Stephen Sondheim's survivalist anthem, "I'm Still Here"; done by Maye with the relaxed satisfaction of a woman who won't have any regrets about anything that led up to where she is now. And for a divine introspective monologue, I recommend her subtle approach to Billy Barnes’ “Something Cool.”

One song you won’t have to request is her traditional finale, Jerry Herman’s “It’s Today,” always sung with a delightful exuberance. It’s such an appropriate signature tune for her because, unlike just about any performer in her age range, a Marilyn Maye performance is not about nostalgia for what she once could do. Maye is all about the here and now and she’s still showing them how it’s done.

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Director Bartlett Sher, who struck gold with his enchanting 2006 mounting of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing!, now takes on the playwright’s boxing drama, Golden Boy. And while the production may not score a decisive knockout, it does respectfully go the distance.

A great success for The Group Theater when it premiered in 1937, Golden Boy tells the story of aspiring young violinist Joe Bonaparte (Seth Numrich) the son of an Italian immigrant fruit peddler (Tony Shalhoub). Attempting to pick up some cash to support his music career, Joe discovers a knack for boxing. Not an imposing physical specimen, he becomes what is known in the game as a scientific fighter, out-maneuvering and out-strategizing his opponents while protecting his artistic hands. But quick pugilistic success, and the money that comes with it, threatens to win over Joe’s heart, despite his father’s belief that his son can one day serve humanity more nobly through music.

The gray and gritty visuals realized by Michael Yeargan’s sets and Donald Holder’s lighting bring to mind the naturalistic impressions of urban life by early 20^th Century painter George Bellows, but they also tend to blur the actors’ connections with the audience from the back of the house, hiding their performances in shadowy images. This is less of a problem in the boxing scenes, where the solid performances by Yvonne Strahovski as the hard-boiled, leggy blonde, Anthony Crivello as the flashy promoter and Danny Burstein as the good-guy trainer enhance Odets’ colorful jargon.

But despite the presence of the fine Shalhoub, the scenes of Joe’s home life tend to drag deep into the play’s three act, three hour length. And while Numrich is empathetic enough, he doesn’t carry the production as passionately as the role demands.

Some good hits throughout the bout, but this Golden Boy is a split decision at best.

Photo of Seth Numrich and Danny Burstein by Paul Kolnik.

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Posted on: Monday, January 07, 2013 @ 02:15 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback

Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 12/30/12 & Theatre Quote of the Week

"Mother wasn't pushy enough or I'd be a big star by this time."

-- Marilyn Maye

The grosses are out for the week ending 12/30/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (34.6%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (27.7%), EVITA (27.4%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (24.0%), CHAPLIN (23.6%), CHICAGO (21.9%), MARY POPPINS (21.5%), MAMMA MIA! (20.7%), JERSEY BOYS (16.4%), ANNIE (15.1%), BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL (14.5%), THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (14.3%), GRACE (13.0%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (12.7%), DEAD ACCOUNTS (9.9%), GOLDEN BOY (9.2%), NEWSIES (8.0%), WICKED (7.2%), ROCK OF AGES (5.5%), THE HEIRESS (4.4%), GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (4.0%), A CHRISTMAS STORY (3.9%), ONCE (3.3%), ELF (2.1%), THE OTHER PLACE (1.0%), WAR HORSE (0.4%), WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?(0.4%),

Down for the week was: PICNIC (-4.4%), CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (-3.0%),

Posted on: Wednesday, January 02, 2013 @ 10:25 PM 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.