BWW Reviews: A Quickie Trip to the Mothership for a Dose of Amazing!

Dear readers, it had been about a year since my previous trip back to the Mothership (a.k.a. New York) and I felt it was time for a recharge of my Broadway batteries, even if it could only be a quickie. Well let me tell you there is plenty of awesome happening out there to catch. Now I only caught five of them but they were all amazing. Granted, I did pick from the cream of the crop of recent award winners and high profile shows but that only means that I can give a collective WOW to them all with my three letter rating system. Let's take a look at my whirlwind journey.

ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY at the American Airlines Theatre

Sometimes you just need a dose of old classic Broadway. Big flashy production numbers, high steppin' tappers and Broadway stars in a good old fashioned musical comedy. So sure, why not dust off the Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Cy Coleman classic "On the Twentieth Century"? It's zany antics as down on his luck theater producer Oscar Jaffe (Peter Gallagher) boards the sleek train The Twentieth Century to try and convince his former star Lily Garland (Kristin Chenoweth) to come back and be in his next show. But her new wanna-be movie star boyfriend Bruce Granit (Andy Karl) wants to keep them apart so he can continue to accentuate his career with their relationship.

Let me just say that the show was one big dose of joy after another and this was the worst of the shows I saw during the trip (so that should tell you what's coming). Chenoweth is so fun and full of life that she manages to keep you enraptured the entire time. And as good as her singing and dancing is you're still wowed by her comedic chops which killed. And speaking of comedic chops, Karl needs to do more comedy. Sure he's a mega hunk with killer pipes but he's damned funny. Do I see the star of the "Magic Mike" musical here? Could be. And then there's Gallagher who was just a delight. There aren't many men out there who can inhabit that old Broadway style but Gallagher nails it and he definitely still has it.

HAND TO GOD at the Booth Theatre

The puppets from "Avenue Q" are tame and innocent when compared with the outrageous foulness of Tyrone, the evil little puppet alter ego in Robert Askins' "Hand to God". Things keep escalating from "Oh my" to "They didn't just do that on stage!" as young Jason (Steven Boyer) joins in on his Mom's (Geneva Carr) Christian puppet ministry program along with his new puppet creation Tyrone. But Tyrone soon takes on a life of his own and there are no holds barred in what he's willing to say or do. Sure, there are plenty of shock value moments in the play but Tyrone really conveys a lot of truth through all that profanity.

Boyer completely wows not only with his performance but his puppetry which is so good that it really felt that Tyrone had a complete life of his own. Carr was hilarious as the Mother trying to find an outlet (any outlet) for her life. Marc Kudisch turns in his usual hysterical brilliance as the Pastor of the church who's now faced with this demon puppet. Michael Oberholtzer kills as the bad boy of the group and Sarah Stiles' understated performance only makes her that much funnier especially when she lets loose in Act Two. It's foul fun but it sure is fun!

FUN HOME at Circle in the Square

Sometimes there are new musicals that come along that are so meaningful and powerful that they take over your attention. Such was my obsession with "Fun Home" when I finally got around to listening to it. I laughed, I cried and then I kicked myself for not listening sooner to this brilliant musicalization from Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron of Alison Bechdel's stirring autobiographical graphic novel. The story following Allison through childhood and into college and adulthood as she conveys her discovery of her own homosexuality only to find out that her father had his own similar inclinations would be amazing enough on its own but Tesori's outstanding music and Kron's brilliant lyrics make this show a beautifully moving piece of art.

The three stages of Alison are gorgeously portrayed by three powerful ladies. Beth Malone lends a beautiful assuredness to the role as she tells of her growth through her difficult life with her overbearing father and Emily Skeggs brings in a youthful exuberance to middle Alison making her a delight. Now as for young Alison, I saw Gabriella Pizzolo (my only understudy for the trip) but that didn't keep her from being incredible and completely nailing the role. But it's really Michael Cerveris as Alison's father and Judy Kuhn as her Mother who blew me away with their complex and layered performances. Just an incredible show and I am unashamed to say I bawled my way through it.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS from New York City Center's Encores

Being able to score tickets to this event was really the reason I decided to make the trip when I did and it did not disappoint. I'll admit that "Little Shop of Horrors" has always been one of my all time favorite shows and the opportunity to actually see the original Audrey, Ellen Greene, in the role goes beyond a pleasure and into the realm of an honor. But I guess that's what happens when you see an icon show off the role she made great. Every brilliant moment we wanted from her was there and elicited applause (how can you not applaud when you hear her give that little squeak). But beyond seeing Greene perform the role that made her career she showed that she still knows how to thrill and turn in a stunner of a performance.

The rest of the ensemble had the daunting task of trying to live up to an icon and they managed it beautifully. Tracy Nicole Chapman, Marva Hicks and Ramona Keller turned in the sassiest and most wonderful urchins I've seen. Joe Grifasi was wonderful as the scheming Mushnik. Taran Killam of SNL fame managed a fantastic and hysterical Orin Scrivello, DDS a well as a host of other denizens of Skid Row. And in the two stages of the plant (a brilliant bit of staging for the concert by the way) we had the young and adorable Anwar Kareem followed by the stunningly awesome Eddie Cooper who took the role and just ran off with it making everything he did an absolute rockin' delight.

But of course there is the other major draw of the show, big time movie star and all around hunk Jake Gyllenhaal as Seymour. Now when I told people that I was seeing "Little Shop ..." starring Gyllenhaal the question was always the same. "Can he sing?" And my response was always the same as well. "Does it matter? It's Jake Gyllenhaal!" Well I can now answer that question with an assured and unabashed "Oh YES!" Not only is he just one of the most gifted actors of our time (yeah, I'm a big fan) but he's got the presence for both the big screen and live theater. He's not a movie star playing at being stage actor; he's a bona fide Broadway Star and has the pipes to back it up. Why have we not seen this side of him before? Please Jake, for all our sakes, do more live musical theater!

And if this wasn't enough of a treat, then we moved onto my final show.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre

I've been fascinated with this show since I heard about it when it won all the awards in London. I got hold of the script and read it and was crying by page 40 as we go along with autistic teenager Christopher (Alex Sharp) on his journey to uncover the murderer of his neighbor's dog Wellington. But on his obsession to detect the culprit he discovers things about his own life that takes him on a trip that would make any of us uneasy but for an autistic boy is a terrifying feat of bravery. Simon Stephens' play, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" based on the novel by Mark Haddon is already a brilliant piece of work. But when combined with Sharp's mind blowing performance and some outstanding direction from Marianne Elliott this is one of those shows that will stay with you for days if not for the rest of your life. For me, I think the latter.

I don't want to give away too much of the show or what happens but suffice to say that the audience is presented with an experience of not just going on the journey with Christopher but experiencing it as Christopher does with the most stunning staging and elaborate and effective lights and sounds as the stage erupts into other worlds as only Christopher can see them. Sharp's portrayal shows off the focus and ability of a seasoned professional which is only compounded by the fact he is so young and just out of school. Thinking about how young and talented he is honestly makes me a little angry. I think we're bound to see more amazing things from him.

This was possibly the best way to end my run of shows not only as a wonderful capper for the trip but also since it kind of messed me up for the rest of the evening and I'm not just talking tears but the inability to think of anything else. And really, after that not much else could compare.

So that's it Dear Readers. Yeah sure, I cherry picked the good ones but can you blame me? I'll be back with the local Seattle shows next weekend (if for no other reason than to get into an air conditioned theater). But for now you can, in a second hand way, enjoy my trip. Or maybe even plan one of your own. The Mothership calls!

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