The title character (played with noble reserve by Janie Brookshire) is the finest maid ever employed by the exceedingly proper Timbrell family, who quietly confesses in the first scene that she is pregnant by the master’s devilishly irresponsible bachelor son, Leonard (Roderick Hill).  In what may seem a surprising move, the family patriarch, Edward (a gruffly domineering Graeme Malcolm), sympathizes more with the help and insists that his son marry her and accept an annual allowance or be cut off from the family wealth.  Leonard, who fancies himself as a writer (though an unproductive one), accepts the offer, as does Mary, who does have a gent in her life but would not think of asking him to take her now.

Despite the play’s title, it is Leonard who is the central character, and while a British audience of one hundred years ago might have found him more entertaining and sympathetic than a modern audience of yanks would, Hill, under director Jonathan Bank, skillfully gives Leonard some degree of naïve sincerity to go with his glib humor.  If not exactly likeable, he’s not completely abhorrent.

The four talkative acts (delivered in less than two hours) have only a slight plot developing from the marriage and turns mostly into an evening of class-conscious quipping.  A slight reminder of how much better Shaw was at this sort of thing arrives with the entrance of Mary’s very Alfred P. Doolittle-ish father.  Douglas Rees gives a heartily amusing performance as the self-described radical with socialist leanings; a dingily attired horse-drawn cab driver being driven from his income by the new motorized taxis.

But if the play proves less than satisfactory, it still receives the traditional Mint treatment in a handsomely acted production.  Set designer Roger Hanna provides the impression of stately home with a slight touch of modern commentary when an imposing collection of family portraits is used for a very funny sight gag.

Photo of Janie Brookshire and Roderick Hill by Carol Rosegg.

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Posted on: Monday, September 17, 2012 @ 02:53 AM Posted by: Michael Dale

At its best, Normalcy is the kind of play that will make people uncomfortable, in the best possible sense, and stimulate discussion; excellent traits for a new piece.  Theatre East’s Off-Off Broadway production is nicely mounted by Benard Cummings (especially good work by set designer Lea Anello for creating numerous locations on what must be a modest budget and to Scott O’Brien for the uneasy moodiness of his score.) but the play, at this state, is an admirable and ambitious work in progress.

Advertising slogan exec Peter (Judson Jones) and his fashion journalist wife Sarah (Aleisha Force) insist they are not rich as they entertain his father and her mother at their Sag Harbor summer home.  A retired high school teacher, Peter’s outspoken father, Jules (Harvey Guion), is never at a loss for comments about how his son’s profession contributes nothing to society.  Sarah’s mother Marta, who is described by the playwright as being “of vague European descent” (Mary Ann Hay complies with a strong, but vague, accent.) takes an elitist view of her daughter’s profession.  (“I do not understand how so many people are interested in fashion they cannot afford and celebrities they will never meet. That’s very American.”)

Unsuccessful at several expensive attempts to conquer their fertility problem, Peter and Sarah announce that not only do they intend to adopt, but specifically that they plan to adopt a black child.  The hints of their well-meaning but naïve white liberal guilt motivating this choice are evident throughout the play, but when Peter finally explains the long-ago event that set him on a path of making up for the sins of his forefathers, it plays like an unrealistic cliché.

The play picks up significant steam when the couple meets with social worker, Catherine (Darlene Hope), a black woman who encounters August Wilson-loving, Langston Hughes-appreciating white couples like them every day.  Her job is to find suitable homes for countless underserved black children and she is ruthless in her determination to make sure these prospective parents will be prepared for what’s to come.  (“But there will be that word you would never ever use, never ever permit in your house, coming out of the mouth of your adopted black son and testing your liberal Upper West Side sensibilities. Now what do you do?”)  Like the majority of prospective adoptive parents, Sarah and Peter are looking for an infant, but Catherine expertly plays on their insistence that they want to make a difference for a deserving child and convinces them to spend time with a seven year old boy with attention deficit disorder, as he would be available immediately.  We never see the child, but the playwright develops sympathy for him through the conversations of others.

There are broad hints of sexual and romantic tension between Peter and his young black assistant Solonge (Sarah Joyce), who he keeps referring to as Sally, but that subplot never gets fully developed.

Windheim goes for the jugular in the second act when Aiesha (Lisha Mckoy), a guest speaker in front of an audience of white couples hoping to adopt black children, explains how she, a black woman, grew to hate the well-meaning, loving and supportive white couple that adopted her and made it impossible for her to develop a racial identity.  (“My awareness of being African has always been on a theoretical level.”)  Whether you agree with her position or not, her monologue contains the evening’s best writing and Mckoy delivers it for its full, harsh impact.

The other actors are not as fortunate.  Although the acting ensemble does respectable work, the characters are mostly underwritten types.  The story carries little emotional punch because the go-getting Sarah and the burnt out Peter are rarely seen relating to each other as a couple.

Most of the scenes in the two-and-a-half hour play can use some trimming, as the characters tend to have conversations that go off in extemporaneous tangents.  Perhaps doing so will help streamline focus on the main issue, which is where Normalcy shows potential to be truly exciting.

Photo of Darlene Hope, Aleisha Force and Judson Jones by James M. Wilson.

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Posted on: Friday, September 14, 2012 @ 10:49 AM Posted by: Michael Dale

"The curtain will never go down on New York City." -- Broadway-related commercial airing shortly after 9/11

The grosses are out for the week ending 9/9/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: CHAPLIN (18.8%), MAMMA MIA! (6.0%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (5.8%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (5.5%), EVITA (5.1%), PORGY AND BESS (4.1%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (4.0%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (3.7%), CHICAGO (2.7%), JERSEY BOYS (1.8%), ONCE(0.9%),

Down for the week was: BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL (-10.5%), WICKED (-8.7%), MARY POPPINS (-6.0%), NEWSIES (-5.5%), ROCK OF AGES (-3.5%), WAR HORSE (-1.6%), THE LION KING (-0.5%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (-0.2%),

Posted on: Monday, September 10, 2012 @ 03:31 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

Gerard Alessandrini's ever-updated madcap revue satirizing the current Broadway musical scene has had other hiatuses since the show was first conceived in 1982, but the recent three-year absence seemed to mirror the emptiness that was felt in the New York theatre community when The Fantasticks was forced to close, before having the original production remounted uptown at the Snapple.  Like the Jones/Schmidt musical, Forbidden Broadway feels like an indispensible part of this town, like the Empire State Building… or at least Marie’s Crisis.

What began as an intimate nightclub entertainment featuring a company draped in formal wear has evolved through the years into a loud, wacky stage show boasting comical costumes and frequently vicious celebrity impersonations.  But the basics have never varied; two men, two women and a piano player gleefully making bloody carnage of Broadway’s hits through Alessandrini's clever and critical parody lyrics.  And while a great love for the theatre is always prevalent, the material can get somewhat nasty when the author addresses those who soil the stage with what he considers to be inferior artistry or overly commercial crassness.

This time around the strongest venom seems reserved for Book of Mormon writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Bobby Lopez got a free pass, I guess.), depicted as a pair of smarmy punks who thumb their noses at the Church of Sondheim to cash in on vulgarity (“And I believe / That ancient Jews like Richard Rodgers didn’t write very good musicals.”), with enough left over for Evita’s Elena Roger, described as having an “utter lack of star quality” and hoping that New York audiences would think she’s Chita Rivera.  (“And if ever it goes too high / I distract you and flash my thigh / And use my thin soprano.”)

Roger is mimicked by Jenny Lee Stern, who is just smashing in her many celebrity aliases.  While certainly not the first Forbidden actress to portray Bernadette Peters, her imitation of the star’s voice at this stage of her career (“In Stephen’s ears / I’m still on key a lot.”) is both precise in its vulnerability and loving in its presentation.  She tackles familiar FB targets like Patti LuPone and Sutton Foster with aplomb and is hilariously deadpan as Cristin Milioti.  But perhaps her most interesting turn comes in a very straightforward, non-comical impersonation of Judy Garland singing lyrics critical of Tracie Bennett’s over-the-top End of The Rainbow portrayal.  (“You made me loony. / I wish you hadn’t done it. / I wish you hadn’t done it.”)

Opposite her LuPone and Roger is Marcus Stevens as an attention-hungry Mandy Patinkin desperately emoting through roles he’s outgrown (“My boy Bill / Should be forty by now…”) and a hip-swiveling Ricky Martin playing Broadway to pay for his kids’ braces and school supplies.  His most impressive bit of hilarity is a copy of Matthew Broderick’s unique mannerisms in “Nice Song If I Could Sing It.”

His Kelli O’Hara in that bit is Natalie Charlé Ellis, lamenting the star’s lack of comedic chops (“The laughs are on a roll / But not with me.”), but that’s no problem for her, as evidenced by her Tony-greedy Audra McDonald and musically-challenged Catherine Zeta-Jones.  (“Send In The Hounds”)

Scott Richard Foster is the rocker specialist, with his highlights including an angsty Steve Kazee, an out-of-control Stacee Jaxx from Rock of Ages celebrating the less-refined side of Broadway (“We filled this city with NASCAR shows”) and a frustrated Bono, who, in an especially inspired move, sings a certain, very appropriate Guys and Dolls duet with Ellis’ Julie Taymor.

Another inspired moment has Stephen Sondheim expressing his “Agony” from watching the Central Park production of Into The Woods while Donna Murphy echoes the sentiment for having to perform in a tree costume.  (Hmm… “Someone In A Tree” might have been a nice choice for that spot.)

Longtime Forbidden Broadway director Phillip George keeps the show at its usual brisk and silly pace and music director David Caldwell, also a vet of the show, provides the peppy on-stage piano accompaniment.  For fifteen years the brilliant Alvin Colt costumed the show before his death in 2008.  One of his classics, The Lion King’s Rafiki, accessorized in plastic spoons and Disney souvenirs, remains with the show.  Philip Heckman’s new designs are less cartoonish than his predecessor’s, but still charming and effective.

As can be expected with any production of Forbidden Broadway, some bits are more smile-inducing than laugh-out-loud funny (The Annie routine stretches its one joke too thin and the spoof of Norm Lewis’ octave-jumping, melody-changing performance in Porgy and Bess doesn’t quite hit its mark because the singer doesn’t seem to be instructed to do enough of what the lyric is describing.) but the production is always so meticulously mounted and executed that even during slower moments there’s always the feel of something very funny about to happen.

Smash and Newsies also figure in the mix, as do revived routines spoofing Wicked and Jersey Boys, but the new Bring It On seems to have been egregiously overlooked.  Perhaps it will leap into the proceedings after one or two recently closed shows have been axed.  Same goes for the upcoming Chaplin.

The new entry is billed as a limited run.  Let’s hope it’s the same kind of limited run Newsies had planned.

Photos by Carol Rosegg:  Top: Jenny Lee Stern and Scott Richard Foster; Bottom: Marcus Stevens and Scott Richard Foster.

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Posted on: Friday, September 07, 2012 @ 12:06 AM Posted by: Michael Dale

"There is an art to playing the straight role. You must build up your man but never top him, never steal the laughs."

-- Margaret Dumont

The grosses are out for the week ending 9/2/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (26.1%), CLYBOURNE PARK (6.5%), WICKED (5.7%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (5.4%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (3.8%), CHAPLIN (3.6%), EVITA (3.1%), BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL (2.6%), PORGY AND BESS (2.1%), ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (1.9%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (1.6%), ROCK OF AGES(0.9%),

Down for the week was: MARY POPPINS (-8.8%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-5.8%), MAMMA MIA! (-4.3%), ONCE (-2.2%), JERSEY BOYS (-1.2%), CHICAGO (-0.9%), NEWSIES (-0.2%), WAR HORSE (-0.1%),

Posted on: Tuesday, September 04, 2012 @ 02:16 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

 -- Groucho Marx

The grosses are out for the week ending 8/26/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (9.2%), CLYBOURNE PARK (8.4%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (6.0%), PORGY AND BESS (3.1%), SISTER ACT (2.8%), ROCK OF AGES(1.1%),

Down for the week was: NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (-14.3%), MARY POPPINS (-8.6%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (-6.4%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-5.6%), MAMMA MIA! (-4.6%), BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL (-4.1%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-2.9%), WICKED (-2.6%), EVITA (-2.0%), CHICAGO (-1.0%), JERSEY BOYS (-0.9%), ONCE (-0.7%), WAR HORSE (-0.7%), NEWSIES (-0.2%),

Posted on: Monday, August 27, 2012 @ 07:31 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

But nowadays, it seems common for “mindless fun” to be used as an excuse for less-than-inspired writing mounted and designed with lots of professional polish and performed with talent and gusto.  And when those mean ol’ New York theatre critics suggest that the material could stand to be a bit stronger, they’re chastised with the claim that their lack of enjoyment comes from an inability to just kick back and have fun.  Or even worse, someone will say, “It’s just a musical, not Shakespeare.”

The artists who wrote the bit of mindless fun now playing at the St. James, Bring It On, have previously been responsible for three of the brightest musical theatre offerings Broadway has seen in this young century.  Tom Kitt is the Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning composer of Next To Normal, an audacious musical about a family dealing with one member’s bipolar disorder.  Lin-Manuel Miranda won a Tony for his music and lyrics for the Pulitzer finalist In The Heights, a musical that applied traditional Rodgers and Hammerstein techniques to a contemporary story set in a Latino community of Washington Heights, with a score utilizing the sounds of a beautiful mosaic of cultures.  Jeff Whitty’s Tony-winning book for Avenue Q united a score full of novelty and satirical songs into a very human story told in the form of a television show that teaches twentysomethings the realities of post-college life in the style of Sesame Street.  And while Amanda Green has no Tony or Pulitzer to her credit, her career as a lyricist has displayed a talent for the kind of breezy intelligence you’d expect from the offspring of Adolph Green.

The news that this quartet has collaborated on a new Broadway musical should be a huge deal.  The further news that the score to their musical involving two very different high schools will be split by having Kitt and Green write for the predominantly white school and Miranda write for the predominantly black and Latino school should be credited as a bold and innovative move.  And yet Bring It On, though not a bad show at all, is not a particularly interesting one.  That said, it’s probably exactly the musical its creators intended it to be and will most likely be greatly enjoyed by the audience it’s intended to please.

The title comes from the 2000 film depicting the world of competitive high school cheerleading, but the story is new; though familiar and predictable.  Perky Campbell (Taylor Louderman) achieves the first half of her dream of becoming cheer captain of white, upper middle class Truman High and leading her squad to victory at the nationals, but a sudden redistricting of her neighborhood has her transferred to urban Jackson High.  Also redistricted is the chubby and gregarious Bridget (Ryann Redmond), who finds that the qualities that regulated her to outcast status at Truman make her popular with the cool kids at Jackson, but Campbell’s attempt to fit in by suggesting she help create a squad for the cheer-less Jacksonians is seen as a patronizing attempt by the skinny blonde white girl to help the underprivileged minorities.  Instead of a cheer squad, Jackson has a hip-hop dance crew, led by the tough, but emotionally guarded Danielle (Adrienne Warren), the slang-spewing Nautica (Ariana DeBose) and the confident and sassy transsexual La Cienega (Gregory Haney).  (In the upbeat world of Bring It On, La Cienega seems completely accepted by the entire student body and the worst abuse Campbell suffers is being called “Cream of Mushroom” and “Chicken Noodle.”)

Meanwhile, back at Truman, the popular diva Skylar’s (Kate Rockwell) role as new cheer captain is endangered by shy sophomore Eva (Elle McLemore), who turns out to be an Eve Harrington with lots of school spirit.  (But she’s never referred to as an Eve Harrington in the script.  This is not a Douglas Carter Beane musical.)

Eventually Campbell earns the trust of her Jackson schoolmates and they do form a squad to compete against Truman.  I suppose I’m not giving too much away by revealing that the losing team loses because they stayed true to themselves and played by their own rules (instead of, um, the rules of the competition) so really, everybody wins.

Close to every member of the Bring It On cast is making his or her Broadway debut, which can be expected when the show demands the kind of specialized cheerleading skills required.  Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, making his Broadway debut as a director, keeps his cast flying and flipping through their numerous routines, which are fun to watch, but after initially introducing the styles of the competing schools, do little to keep the story moving.   And perhaps the need for people who can execute the routines is the reason why much of the cast seems to be lacking in the acting and performing departments.  Whitty’s book seems sufficiently funny but much of the company plays their broad-stroke characters without the details needed to bring out its comic potential.  Nobody’s bad, but expect more raw talent and youthful enthusiasm than stage savvy.

Kitt’s pop rock melodies get overshadowed by the more interesting urban mix composed by Miranda, but Green’s lyrics – when they’re not overwhelmed by the hyper-active staging – contain some smart comic gems.  (“My name is Skylar, I rep the Bucs with pride / I’m probably too cool for you, so friend request denied!”)  A second act rouser that has Eva celebrating her killer instinct stands out as a refreshing blast of old school musical comedy.  (“I’m the girl to beat, the high school queen! / Seniors kiss my ass and I’m just fifteen!”)

No doubt the amount of room needed for the twisting leaps and high kicks is the reason David Korins’ set consists primarily of easy-to-move projection screens, where video designer Jeff Sugg supplies some clever moments.  If nothing else, this will be known as the first Broadway musical to have scenes take place as video-projected Skype conversations.

Photos by Joan Marcus: Top: Adrienne Warren and Taylor Louderman; Bottom: Ariana DeBose, Ryann Redmond and Gregory Haney.

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Posted on: Monday, August 27, 2012 @ 03:21 AM Posted by: Michael Dale

I could use up a paragraph explaining the plot of the evening’s same-named source – an 1893 comedy of a love and sex triangle – but really, none of it is the least bit recognizable in Royston Coppenger’s clichéd stylized adaptation featuring language that has the actors continually sounding like they’re speaking in italics.

There’s no program, so it’s hard to tell which of the 14 actors is playing who, especially since they all take turns during the performance in playing the piece’s six characters.  Let’s just say there’s a lot of talk about sex and love alternating with scenes of seduction and a good deal of clothes-on dry humping.  For the record, the only nudity I caught was one bare breast, but there are lengthy periods of under-the-clothes fondling accompanied by very heavy breathing. 

But where Playing With Fire succeeds nicely is in creating a fun, atmospheric environment well-suited for enjoying a cocktail or two.  The Box, a venue known for its late night erotic vaudevilles, is a lovely jewel box, looking like a miniature one-balcony opera house.  The least expensive tickets give you one drink and standing room at the back bar and at the higher end there’s table service up front that includes a bottle of champagne.  Although there’s a stage, director John Gould Rubin places the action all over the space so nobody gets a full view of everything, but video designers Ian Brownell and Raj Kottamasu have four camera operators following the actors so that the entire piece is visible on monitors.

With composers Kwan-Fai Lam and Sam Kindel supplying a techno soundscape and Bronwen Carson providing some frenetic, sexed-up choreography, there’s always something to grab your attention, either on the screen or inches away from you.  And at merely an hour long, Playing With Fire manages to sustain a flame bright enough to get you through the closing credits.

Photo by Lilly Charles.

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Posted on: Thursday, August 23, 2012 @ 02:52 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

Posted on: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 @ 04:31 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

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Click here for the latest example of how Eve Ensler is, quite simply, one of the most important writers of my lifetime.

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Posted on: Monday, August 20, 2012 @ 10:55 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

-- Phyllis Diller

The grosses are out for the week ending 8/19/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: WAR HORSE (14.1%), END OF THE RAINBOW (10.4%), GHOST (5.9%), CLYBOURNE PARK (2.9%), BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL (2.6%), PORGY AND BESS (2.4%), THE LION KING (1.1%), EVITA(0.7%),

Down for the week was: SISTER ACT (-8.1%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (-6.6%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-6.5%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (-5.6%), CHICAGO (-4.7%), WICKED (-4.1%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-3.9%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (-3.7%), MAMMA MIA! (-2.6%), ONCE (-2.4%), JERSEY BOYS (-1.5%), ROCK OF AGES (-1.2%), MARY POPPINS (-0.9%), NEWSIES (-0.1%), ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (-0.1%),

Posted on: Monday, August 20, 2012 @ 07:21 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

As with most of the playwright’s work, all three pieces take place in Harrison, Texas, a fictional version of his childhood home, Wharton, where he grew up listening to a family full of story-tellers amusing each other with gossip and news.  Set in 1928, Blind Date has Hallie Foote as Dolores, a former beauty queen trying to cure her young niece, Sarah Nancy (Green) of her lack of success with potential suitors, despite the fact that the independently-minded Sarah Nancy clearly has no interest in traditional courtship, or in the boys who come a-calling.  To prepare for a visit from the hopeful Felix (Evan Jonigkeit), Dolores tries coaching her on a list of questions to ask her potential beau, because boys like girls who can have a conversation.  (“Who is going to win the football game next Friday?”  “What is the best car on the market today, do you think?”)

Well-experienced in keeping her spirits up, Dolores remains peppy and upbeat despite her mounting disappointment in Sarah Nancy’s sullen, deadpan disinterest, and the continual interruptions of her helpless and hungry husband Robert (Devon Abner), frustrated that she’s not making his dinner.  The date with Felix is a disaster until the pair winds up ditching conventions and starts being themselves.

Also set in 1928, The One-Armed Man, is a tense drama; not typical fare for Foote.  Alexander Cendese plays a mentally unstable man who worked for a cotton merchant (Jeremy Bobb) until his arm was severed by a picking machine.  He makes weekly visits to the boss’ office demanding his arm be returned.  The annoyed owner offers him $5 a week to stop bothering him with his irrational demand but this time the title character intends to settle the debt his way, once and for all.

The evening ends with the kind of quiet, character study Foote is more known for.  Set in 1952, The Midnight Caller takes us to a boarding home populated by the decidedly girlie “Cutie” Spencer (Green, in a nice reversal from her previous role), the easily-annoyed moralist Alma Jean (Mary Bacon) and the clever and gregarious retired schoolteacher, Rowena (a happily charming Jayne Houdyshell).

The comfortable uneventfulness of their lives is interrupted when the owner (Foote) rents rooms to two new boarders, the divorced Ralph (Bobb) and Helen (Jenny Dare Paulin), a introverted woman disowned by her mother for her relationship with a drunkard (Cendese) who starts desperately calling for her outside the home every evening at midnight.

Ralph’s desire for female company and the scandal created by Helen’s suitor brings up issues of loneliness and morality that affects each character in different ways.

Under Pam McKinnon’s gentle and sensitive direction, the three very different pieces are united by the theme of traditional ideas of class and morality being challenged; sometimes rationally, sometimes not.  The simple elegant design is highlighted by Marion Williams' wood-paneled set that quickly converts into three different interiors.  Graced by an exceptional acting ensemble, Mr. Foote’s modest trio makes for an extremely satisfying time.

Photos by James Leynse: Top: Andrea Lynn Green and Hallie Foote; Bottom: Jayne Houdyshell and Jeremy Bobb.

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Posted on: Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 05:39 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

Still, the question that haunted many Americans at that time was, “Why do they hate us?” as the country grew less confident in the traditional belief that we have always been the world’s good guys.  It was during this uncertain time that Broadway audiences watched a childless baker and an abandoned Cinderella comfort an orphaned pair of children, Red Riding Hood and Jack, of beanstalk fame, with a quiet lullaby that summarized the second act’s theme of the subjectivity of right and wrong.

“Witches can be right.  Giants can be good.  You decide what’s right.  You decide what’s good,” instructs the lyric of “No One Is Alone,” as they prepare to kill an enemy whose only offense is the desire for justice against the boy who stole her property and murdered her husband.

There are many such discomforting moments in the often-brilliant text of Into The Woods.  Little Red Riding Hood is depicted as a precocious child who disobeys her mother’s instructions because the cunning wolf brings out early pangs of pubescent sexual awareness she’s too young to understand or control.  An elderly woman is impulsively killed in an attempt to keep her from acting in a manner that was putting her community in danger and the person who killed her defends himself to those who might have died if not for his actions by saying he was thinking of the greater good.  A wife cheats on her husband when a handsome prince arrives, only to be dumped the next morning and left to debate the morality of stepping out of your vows, just for a moment of fantasy fulfillment.

In America, our fairy tale culture is most familiar as presented by the Walt Disney Company, which tells us that wishes come true.  Lapine and Sondheim caution us that, “Wishes come true, not free.”

The new Delacorte production of Into The Woods is New York’s first high-profile mounting not directed by its bookwriter, Lapine.  Co-directors Timothy Sheader and Liam Steel have based this one on their Regent's Park Open Air Theatre production, though with a new cast and new design elements it’s not exactly a copy of what played in London.  And while it’s always nice to have new ideas and new interpretations injected into old favorites – and New York audiences have learned a lot in recent years about how our British friends like to inject new ideas and new interpretations into our musicals – “nice,” as Sondheim has Red Riding Hood sing, “is different than good.”

In many ways, it is a perfectly nice production, featuring a talented company of actors and several delightful surprises.  Someone who has never seen the musical before, and who appreciates serious-minded and literate musical comedy, would certainly find it a worthwhile evening just for the sake of being exposed to the material.

But “good” would be a production that allows for the intimacy needed for Sondheim’s intricate, razor-sharp lyrics and Lapine’s fantasy-deflating dialogue to pull the audience in. The Delecorte’s large stage and semi-circular arena style seating is not the kind of space designed for rapid wordplay, especially when set designers John Lee Beatty and Soutra Gilmour place a vertical maze of trees – making up stairways, walkways and a tower – so far upstage that the actors lose any connection with the audience during the numerous scenes played there.  And even when playing further downstage, Ben Stanton’s too dim lighting made facial expressions difficult to take in, even from my second row seat, until the brightness was finally turned up for the bows.  In what seems to be an attempt to cover all angles of the stage, ensemble scenes are so spread out that it’s often difficult to tell who is singing or speaking solo lines.  This Into The Woods may be heard, but it isn’t felt.

This is an actor’s musical, but more thought seems to have gone into stagecraft.  It is very impressive stagecraft, though.  The beanstalk created out of green umbrellas is rather fun, as is the puppetry involved in creating the giant (voiced by Glenn Close), though choosing to have the giant wear glasses does raise a question about the feasibility of the story’s ending.  And the technique used to climb up Rapunzel’s hair would probably be quite enjoyable to see, if I could see it.

Sheader and Steel have thrown a hodge-podge of ideas into the text, many of them very entertaining, though not all of them make complete sense.  The most daring move was to change the character of the narrator from a grown man to a contemporary young boy, perhaps around 12, who, by way of a brief prologue, we find has run away from home to some wooded rural area.  Perhaps as a way to alleviate his fears, he takes an assortment of dolls out of his knapsack and begins reciting the story of a baker and his wife who could not bear children because the witch next door placed a curse on their family as punishment for an act of theft.  To lift the curse they must deliver to her, "the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold.”  This task, of course, leads to encounters with Jack, Little Red, Rapunzel and Cinderella, as they lie, steal, double-talk and deceive in order to be blessed with a child.

The second act, which deals with the cost of having wishes come true, is presented as a nightmare the child is having while sleeping outdoors on the wood chips.  Those familiar with the show may question if that choice is consistent with what the book eventually tells us about the narrator character.  Nevertheless Noah Radcliffe, who alternates in the role with Jack Broderick, has a fine stage presence and a strong, clear singing voice.

Costume designer Emily Rebholz, who makes Cinderella’s step-family look like club kids from Boy George’s Taboo, dresses Sarah Stiles’ Little Red Riding Hood as a sort of punked out biker chick.  A very talented and funny performer, Stiles plays the role broadly in a boisterous little girl voice and gets her laughs.  Having the role played by an adult allows for some graphic comedy between Red and the wolf (a lusty and macho Ivan Hernandez, dressed like he’s about to go on a road tour of Hair), such as the scene where the wolf eating Red is presented to mean that he’s giving her oral sex, but not having the role played by an actual little girl, as was done in the musical’s two Broadway productions, takes away Red’s naïve inquisitiveness about her sexual awakening, which is written so charmingly and subtly into her lyrics.

As the baker’s wife, Amy Adams shows some strong singing pipes but she’s barely playing a character, reducing a role that’s loaded with witty moments into a bland, humorless cipher.  As her husband, Denis O’Hare seems almost too grounded in a grim reality, though he does play his familiar pattern of flatly speeding through lines sprinkled with sudden blasts of emotion.

Donna Murphy’s witch is designed to look like a human tree, but her impressive costume pretty much leaves one of Broadway’s top comical leading ladies unable to perform, buried under a concept. 

Fortunately, Chip Zien’s Mysterious Man costume allows the ingratiating actor free reign to work his gently humorous charms.  The original baker in the musical’s initial run, Zien captures the spirited mixture of urban sophistication and innocence that makes Into The Woods work.  His skillful touch with the material will make you believe the magical kingdom is an upper west side apartment with a view of the Hudson and within the delivery range of Zabar’s.

Photos by Joan Marcus:  Top: Donna Murphy and Tess Soltau; Bottom: Sarah Stiles and Ivan Hernandez.

Posted on: Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 08:09 AM Posted by: Michael Dale

"I am no more humble than my talents require."

-- Oscar Levant

The grosses are out for the week ending 8/12/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: EVITA (13.9%), BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL (8.8%), GHOST (7.8%), PORGY AND BESS (5.6%), JERSEY BOYS (4.9%), MAMMA MIA! (4.5%), SISTER ACT (4.1%), WAR HORSE (3.7%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (2.4%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2.0%), CHICAGO (1.7%), WICKED (1.4%), HARVEY (0.9%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT(0.8%),

Down for the week was: FELA! (-22.6%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (-5.6%), END OF THE RAINBOW (-5.1%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (-3.8%), MEMPHIS (-3.1%), MARY POPPINS (-3.0%), CLYBOURNE PARK (-1.9%), ONCE (-1.5%), ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (-0.8%), ROCK OF AGES (-0.8%),

Posted on: Monday, August 13, 2012 @ 03:13 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

Posted on: Sunday, August 12, 2012 @ 07:06 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

But when reunited, they decided to put their experiences into play; a comedy with characters based on themselves and all the colorful people they encountered that summer on the job.  As Harrelson has mentioned to the media on more than one occasion, they had characters and they had their dynamics and relationships, but they just didn’t have a plot.

After last night’s opening, I’d advise them to keep looking for one.

Oh sure, there’s a first act curtain line in Bullet For Adolf that hints that the two-and-a-half-hour muddy mess of an evening is going to indulge in a narrative, but clearly it must take a back seat to the numerous gags and detours into subjects like the cause of pedophilia, the consumption of human placenta, white guys acting like black guys, gay guys acting like straight guys and even a quick dig at Judy Garland.  (“Unless that chick is skipping down a yellow brick road, I don’t want to hear from her.”)

Fortunately for our two aspiring scribes, there was a theatre production company named Children At Play, owned by a fellow named Woody Harrelson, which seemed happy to give their shoddy work in progress a go at a prime Off-Broadway house, and give the show a big publicity boost by hiring a well-known celebrity to direct; a guy named Woody Harrelson.

Filling in for Woody Harrelson, at least on stage, is Brandon Coffey as the easy-going slacker, Zach, who invites the new guy at his construction gig, Frankie (Tyler Jacob Rollinson), to share his apartment along with his current roommate, Clint (David Coomber), a handsome lad with well-defined muscle tone and the vocal and physical mannerisms of 1983 sitcom heterosexual Jm J. Bullock.  When Clint is eventually seen making out with Zach’s ex-girlfriend, Batina (Shannon Garland), it’s suggested that he may be doing it to experience a sexual connection with his roomie.

Lee Orsorio plays a white guy nicknamed Dago-Czech (a tribute to his lineage) who prefers acting like a stereotypical black guy from the streets.  Dago-Czech is so hung up on his appearance that he even wears a suit while digging a ditch.  Eventually joining the mix are “angry black woman “ Jackie (Shamika Cotton) and “crazy black chick” Shareeta (Marsha Stephanie Blake).

Somehow, this crew consists of the entire guest list for Batina’s 18^th birthday party, hosted by her Nazi-sympathizing German father (The fine stage actor Nick Wyman keeps the character from being a total cartoon.) whose pride and joy is a Lugar pistol said to be used in an assassination attempt against Hitler.  And yes, the gun is fired before the final blackout.

Bullet For Adolf certainly tries hard to be edgy and offensive, in a hip, casual way, but there are only so many times you can listen to tepid vulgarities such as, “Does your ass ever get jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth?”

Though the play has no strong connection to nostalgia for the early 80s, Imaginary Media provides clever and entertaining video montages of news events and pop culture of the day between the numerous scenes.  Particularly enjoyable was the one clip showing a pretty and prim young woman in a Boston watering hole asking a loveable elderly bartender if they can use a new waitress.

 Photos by Carol Rosegg:  Top: David Coomber and Nick Wyman; Bottom: Tyler Jacob Rollinson and Lee Osorio.

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Posted on: Friday, August 10, 2012 @ 12:15 AM Posted by: Michael Dale

His 1960 comedy/drama permits us a peek at the seedier side of presidential politics before giving us some hope that decency may stand a chance.  Set during the convention of an unnamed major American party, the tense and juicy story is embedded in a time when delegates gathered into town, not to perfunctorily declare a pre-determined winner, but to debate through multiple votes, late night deals and maybe a few protest rallies to come up with a nominee.  But every so often a timeless thought flies out of the elegant and insightfully witty text that, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear must have been added to give the play a contemporary jolt.

While many of the major players have been recently recast, the rich center of the production remains the interplay between John Larroquette and James Earl Jones; both of them giving knockout performances at the beginning of the production’s run, now even more striking in subtlety and subtext.

A stately and sardonic Larroquette portrays William Russell, a liberal candidate and former Secretary of State who heads into the convention leading the race over conservative adversary Senator Joseph Cantwell.  Russell could win on the first ballot unless the ex-president he served under, Arthur Hockstader decides to throw his support in Cantwell’s direction.  And while an unseen third candidate stands little chance of victory, his delegates, if released, could also become a deciding factor.

As Hockstader, a robust and commanding Jones makes it clear that, despite quickly deteriorating health, he’s thoroughly enjoying what is mostly likely his last moment in the public spotlight, savoring the backroom dealings of presidential politics and the power he wields.  The scene where the two of them meet to discuss the conscientious intellectual’s shortcomings as a candidate contains some of the best acting you’re apt to see on Broadway these days.

Both Russell and Cantwell have skeletons in the closet; issues that would be more acceptable to many Americans today, but would certainly keep a candidate out office fifty years ago.  When one candidate threatens to release evidence against his opponent, the other must consider if he should counter with newly discovered knowledge about a long-ago event – a real doozy for 1960 – that could sink the man’s entire career.

John Stamos replaces Eric McCormack as the sharply groomed Cantwell, whose strength as a leader lies in his capability to hold off definite opinions until the polls determine what the public wants.  His performance plays up the lusty moments between the senator and his wife (a sexy and manipulative Kristin Davis) but there’s a bit too much “playing the bad guy” in his sneers and leers.

While Candice Bergen played Russell’s wife as a shy and socially awkward woman trying her best to be the supportive wife despite difficulties in her marriage, Cybill Shepard, as is more typical for her, is cool and cautious; confident in her role as the candidate’s wife.  It’s a different, but equally effective approach.  Also a lateral move is the switch from the chirpy elegance of Angela Lansbury’s performance as the party’s grand dame of influence to the more businesslike drawls of Elizabeth Ashley, repeating her performance from the 2000 Broadway revival.

Also returning from the previous revival is Mark Blum, who replaced Michael McKeon when his leg was broken in a traffic accident a few months ago.  As Russell’s campaign manager he does a fine job showing the character’s professionalism in keeping his nerves in check while surrounded by attention-grabbing politicos.

Solid support is delivered by Jefferson Mays, continuing in his role as a nervous citizen whose word could affect the entire election and Dakin Matthews, whose one significant scene as a hard-drinking, good old boy senator, has grown into a real highlight.

The Best Man remains one of the best nights on Broadway and with presidential conventions coming up, its satire is both funnier and scarier.

Photos by Joan Marcus:  Top: Cybill Shepherd, John Larroquette; Bottom: Kristin Davis and John Stamos.

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Posted on: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 @ 12:40 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

Posted on: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 @ 01:19 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

"All the mistakes I ever made were when I wanted to say no and said yes."

-- Moss Hart

The grosses are out for the week ending 8/5/2012 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: FELA! (22.6%), GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN (5.6%), END OF THE RAINBOW (5.1%), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (3.8%), MEMPHIS (3.1%), MARY POPPINS (3.0%), CLYBOURNE PARK (1.9%), ONCE (1.5%), ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (0.8%), ROCK OF AGES(0.8%),

Down for the week was: EVITA (-13.9%), BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL (-8.8%), GHOST (-7.8%), PORGY AND BESS (-5.6%), JERSEY BOYS (-4.9%), MAMMA MIA! (-4.5%), SISTER ACT (-4.1%), WAR HORSE (-3.7%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-2.4%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-2.0%), CHICAGO (-1.7%), WICKED (-1.4%), HARVEY (-0.9%), NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (-0.8%),

Posted on: Monday, August 06, 2012 @ 03:17 PM Posted by: Michael Dale

But as displayed in Even Stephen: Liz Callaway and Friends Sing Flaherty, Schwartz and Sondheim, Callaway is a deceptively versatile actress and, despite a career that has landed her on Broadway far too infrequently, a tremendously skilled musical theatre lyric interpreter.

The final entry of Scott Siegel’s 6^th Annual Broadway Summer Festival, produced by Town Hall, Even Stephen had the bubbly star, accompanied by music director Alex Rybeck’s combo, giving her observations on the songs of Stephen Flaherty (with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens), Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim through personal experiences and amusing stories told with her gentle, self-effacing Midwestern humor.

Her program included selections from musical theatre roles she will never play (Once On This Island’s “Waiting For Life”) and tempting morsels from roles you’d like to see her tackle (a “Losing My Mind” performed with quiet pathos-inspiring naïve simplicity).  With “Lion Tamer” she’s a timid girl wishing she could do something impressive to make a man notice her and with “Back To Before” she’s a mature woman valiantly letting go of her innocence.  Her thrilling high belt is clear and direct for “There Won’t Be Trumpets” and her warm “Corner of The Sky” is filled with the excitement of anticipated discovery.

Some novelty moments included listening to her taped vocals from an early-career television commercial for an airline that went bankrupt two weeks after the spot first aired and a quick survey of all her isolated solo lines as an ensemble member of Merrily We Roll Along.  She quips about being involved with a production of Once On This Island so inappropriately cast that it was nicknamed Once On Long Island and tells the very familiar story – at least for her fans – of how she started singing “Meadowlark” at a singing waitress job, but could only sing it on Tuesdays because that was the only night they had a pianist who could play it.  She’s not the only well-known musical theatre actress to claim “Meadowlark” as a signature tune, but her delicately wistful interpretation is just as worthy of the claim as anyone’s else’s.

The “Friends” of the evening’s title referred to two of musical theatre’s outstanding singing actors and one up-and-comer who has been making solid impressions.  Jason Danieley’s powerfully gritty “Streets of Dublin” brought out the magnificent blue-collar artistry described in the lyric.  Norm Lewis’ soaring “Wheels Of A Dream” was later followed by an introspective “Bring Alive” of quiet yearnings.  Joshua Henry contributed a sweet and wide-eyed “Beautiful City” and a simple and touching “I Remember.”

When you spot Ann Hampton Callaway in the audience there can be little surprise that eventually she’ll be called up by her sister to sing.  The two artists, one of the musical theatre stage and the other of jazz clubs, combined for a duet of Wicked’s “For Good” that shined lovingly with their mutual admiration and adoration.

Photo by Genevieve Rafter Keddy.

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Posted on: Monday, August 06, 2012 @ 07:30 AM Posted by: Michael Dale