T and B on the Aisle-- A Theater Diary

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Broadway Melodies

Broadway welcomes the Thursday matinee! At last.

When I was last in London a gazillion years ago, I was thrilled to have the chance to go to a Thursday matinee, as well as the usual Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday ones. One more outing in a week full of theater adventures. I always thought it was a great idea to spread out the matinees so binge goers, and out- of-towners eager to see whatever was on on the Great White Way could do more with their week in New York.

Three shows now offering you the Thursday option are "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella," ''Mamma Mia!" and "The Phantom of the Opera." ''Matilda the Musical" (reviewed with the current cast in these pages recently) may give the idea a try this summer.

"Cinderella" now features the enormously likeable Fran Drescher as the wicked stepmother. The infectious gaiety that is "Mamma Mia," which is also playing Vegas as it happens, has recently moved to the Broadhurst Theatre on W44th Street. "The Phantom of the Opera" is celebrating more than 25 years at The Majestic.

"Phantom," "Mamma Mia!," "Rock Of Ages," and "Chicago" have long also had Monday night curtains, another great way to extend the Broadway week.

Charlotte D'Amboise as Roxie Hart with Ryan Worsing and
Michael Cusumano in a production of "Chicago." Photo by Jeremy Daniel

This show does not have a Thursday matinee, or a Monday night, so you'll have to stick to one of the more traditional days to see "Bullets Over Broadway" which, by the way, hits the bull's eye.

"Bullets...," based on the Woody Allen film from 1995, and written by Mr. Allen and Douglas McGrath (who also penned "Beautiful...") starts off with a bang-- in case you're worried that you are in the wrong theater, a machine gun sprays the play's title on the inside curtain-- and doesn't let up 'til the final curtain drops. The musical's style rings in a little like "The Producers," which Susan Stroman also famously directed and choreographed. Stroman's signature dancing in unconventional locales has a tap chorus hoofing fiercely on top of the train headed for out-of-town tryouts.

In an impressive cast, Nick Cordero is a revelation as the soulful thug Cheech. Marin Mazzie gives her all as an egocentric star on the wane. This is a Tony-worthy performance.

"Bullets" does something that Broadway hasn't done since the beginning of the last century, using standards and in a way that generally is not done-- the tunes, by Cole Porter and others-- move the story along and further the plot.

Visit http://cinderellaonbroadway.com, http://mammamianorthamerica.com, http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/new-york to learn more about Thursday matinees, or any other day you'd care to catch them. Go to http://www.chicagothemusical.com/index.php to find out more about "Chicago." For more information on "Bullets," visit http://bulletsoverbroadway.com.

Friday, April 11, 2014

#1 On The Charts

The "jukebox musical" is no longer a term of endearment. So it's a good thing that the jukebox musical has found its way to the other side.

It doesn't matter that few would have a bigger jukebox than Carole King because "Beautiful-The Carole King Musical," at The Stephen Sondheim Theatre, is actually a "non-jukebox" musical. "Beautiful" is a story, almost a drama with a track, that covers Carole King's journey from hitmaker to hit singer-songwriter. It moves from 1650 Broadway ("not the Brill Building") to the "Tapestry" album and her appearance at the piano at Carnegie Hall. It is biography so it sticks to a timeline. The songs don't move the story along so much as they are the story.

Jeb Brown as Don Kirshner, Jake Epstein as Gerry Goffin,
Jessie Mueller as Carole King, Jarrod Spector as Barry Mann,
and Anika Larsen as Cynthia Weil in
"Beautiful - The Carole King Musical" on Broadway at
the Stephen Sondheim Theater (c)Joan Marcus

Carole King (Jessie Mueller) had her first chart topper in 1959, when, at 17 she and her husband, lyricist Gerry Goffin (Jake Epstein), gave The Shirelle's a huge hit in "Will You Love Me Tommorrow." From there the hits just kept coming, until one day, years later, Carole King began singing and playing her own music.

Rock and roll did not die, but as Gerry Goffin predicted, it changed under the influence of folk and split off into all kinds of pop and crackle from The Monkees to metal. For many practitioners in the medium, rock and roll went deeper and became more expressive than "The Locomoton" (another King-Goffin hit.)

Jessie Mueller as Carole King in "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"
on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theater (c)Joan Marcus

"Beautiful" thoroughly integrates the music into the plot. "Beautiful" doesn't take its legends too seriously. Jessie Mueller gets Carole King's inflections and phrasing, but not just in a mimicky way. It can't be easy to personify Carole King when so mnay of us have known her so well and for so long. Jessie Mueller pulls this off as well. King has been a star for most of my life and much of hers, but she is not a glamourous presence. Mueller captures this too--, the simple girl whose genius is undisputed so that even she cannot deny it.

The Shirelles (L-R: Ashley Blanchet, Rashidra Scott, Alysha Deslorieux, and Carly Hughes) in "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical" on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theater (c)Joan Marcus

The excellent work by Jeb Brown as Don Kirshner and Jake Epstein as Gerry Goffin back Mueller up. Also outstanding in a great ensemble, under Marc Bruni's fine direction, are Anika Larsen, charming as Cynthia Weil, and Jarrod Spector as Cynthia's writing partner, Barry Mann.

"Beautiful- The Carole King Musical" steps out of the jukebox genre to deliver a moving portrait of its eponymous heroine, and the times in which her art was forged.

For more informaton about "Beautiful," please visit http://www.beautifulonbroadway.com/.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

What does moving on look like?

Bobby Steggert, Frederick Weller, Grayson Taylor, and Tyne
Daly in a scene from Terrence McNally's "Mothers and
Sons," at the Golden Theatre. Photo © Joan Marcus

Loss can be a paralyzing experience.

In Terrence McNally's "Mothers and Sons," at the Golden Theatre, it is particularly difficult and the way forward is a slog.

It is more so for Katharine Gerard (Tyne Daly), the titular mother in this play, for whom the death of her son nearly twenty years ago remains a fresh wound. She shows up at Cal Porter's (Frederick Weller) door unbidden because he is her one connection to Andre. For Katharine, who is recently widowed, Andre was the only beacon of love in a bitter life.

Cal has not forgotten Andre but he has allowed himself some happiness. His sunnier present is with Will Ogden (Bobby Steggert) whose youth and disposition help them to make a home for their son Bud (Grayson Taylor). The Ogden-Porters are guppies, an affluent gay family, something that was not even thought of while Andre was alive.

Frederick Weller as Cal and Tyne Daly as Katharine in a
scene from "Mothers and Sons." Photo © Joan Marcus

Katharine did not expect this. She is a ramrod of indignation anger and vengeance. Andre's death was cataclysmic. There should be no moving on. Cal has picked up the pieces as Katharine could not.

As Katharine, Tyne Daly is at once brittle and ascerbic. Wheeler's mild-mannered Cal is the perfect foil for the hateful Katharine, whose grief is a heaviness that is only lifted in her very sweet and natural interactions with Bud.

Don't shy from "Mothers and Sons" because it is a genuinely sad and moving play. There is plenty of humor and wit to ease us along. The drama is well played by all the four principals, and well paced under Sheryl Kaller's able direction, and well worth your time.

To learn more about "Mothers and Sons," please visit http://mothersandsonsbroadway.com/.

Monday, April 7, 2014

High School as a Circle of Hell

Barrett Wilbert Weed as Veronica Sawyer, Ryan McCartan as "JD," and Jessica Keenan Wynn as Heather Chandler in a scene from "Heathers, The Musical." Photo by Chad Batka.

Can belonging to a clique save you from the worst parts of growing up?

In "Heathers, The Musical," based on the Daniel Waters (screenplay)-Michael Lehmann (direction) 1989 film, adapted by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O'Keefe under the direction of Andy Fickman, playing at New World Stages, there is a high price to pay for fitting in.

Veronica Sawyer's (Barrett Wilbert Weed) seeks protection from bullying by befriending the most terrifying bullies at Westerburg High. Veronica is smart and pretty so her need for the Heathers-- Heather Chandler (Jessica Keenan Wynn), McNamara (Elle McLemore) and Duke (Alice Lee)-- seems an unnecessary precaution.

Elle McLemore, Charissa Hogeland (dance captain) and Alice Lee as the dreaded and popular Heathers.
Photo by Brad Chatka.

Veronica double dips by also hooking up with the glamourously elusive "JD" ( short for Jason Dean--played by Ryan McCartan) whose angst is a tad more extreme than that of most seventeen year olds. When JD beats up two jocks, Ram Sweeney (Jon Eidson) and Kurt Kelly (Evan Todd), in the cafeteria, he proves that he is more than a match for any other bad of the boys at school.

Jon Eidson as Ram Sweeney and Katie Ladner as Martha Dunnstock in a scene from "Heathers, The Musical." Photo by Brad Chatka.

Is it silly? You betcha. Over the top ridiculous. Is it entertaining? Ditto. Positively non-stop. An energetic cast with fine leads in Barrett Wilbert Weed, Jessica Keenan Wynn and Ryan McCartan keeps this musical running along. The Greek chorus of Ram, Kurt and Heather Chandler adds a nice theatricality to the episodic script.

To learn more about "Heathers, The Musical," please visit http://heathersthemusical.com/.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

This weekend in theater: April 4th to 6th

The cast of "The Most Deserving:" Daniel Pearce, Jennifer Lim, playwright Catherine Trieschmann, Veanne Cox, Ray Anthony Thomas (seated), Adam LeFevre, and director Shelly Butler. Photo by Carol Rosegg

Edie Falco is one of the stars performing plays by ten-year olds this weekend. Consider the hash that some grown playwrights put forth (some not all), and maybe these youngsters will have a fresh perspective. The (very) young playwrighters project is called "Out on a Limb" from The 52nd Street Project’s Five Angels Theater.

Where: 52nd Street Project’s Five Angels Theater, 789 Tenth Avenue, 2nd floor
When: April 4th throgh 6th, Friday – Sunday at 7:30pm, and Saturday at 3pm
Visit www.52project.org for reservatons and more information.

The Women's Project tackles an exciting new play by Catherine Trieschmann; "The Most Deserving" looks at small town culture wars from Ms. Treischmann's satirical pov. "The Most Deserving" features a superb cast including but not limited to Veanne Cox, Jennifer Lim and Adam LeFevre under the direction of Shelly Butler.

Where: City Center Stage II
When: through May 4th
Visit www.womensproject.org for more information and tickets.

On a stakeout for their mark are from left to right Stephanie Hsu, Mia Katigbak and Chris Larkin in a scene from
"Fast Company." Photo by Gerry Goodstein

Grifting is a family affair in Carla Ching's "Fast Company." Well, almost a family affair, since the older siblings want to shield Blue (Stephanie Hsu) from their line of work. Blue, however, has plans of her own for a large payday.

Where: Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street
When: through April 6th
Visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/134 for tickets.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

"Matilda" Is Just "Right"

Sometimes coming late to the party isn't so bad. While others were giddy (or jaded), you're less likely to be swept away by the fresh and the new.

You feel a little out of it, but being apart (rather than "a part of") can make for greater objectivity. Sure there are expectations... by now, you've heard a lot about the production, but with the lapsed time, you have a chance to see a bigger picture, and, of course, more clearly.

The opening scene of "Roald Dahl's Matilda, The Musical" in a photo © Joan Marcus

The party in question is the children's revolution known as "Roald Dahl's Matilda, The Musical," being held for a little over a year now at Broadway's Schubert Theatre. The revelers are a cast of talented youngsters and their adult counterparts in short pants who rise up under the tyranny of a demented headmistress, Miss Trunchbull (Ben Thompson, at this moment.)

Their cause is led by Matilda (the talented Gabriella Pizzolo, one of four young leads) and supported by the sweetly ineffectual Miss Honey (the affecting Jill Paice.) At home, Matilda is bullied but not beaten or even bowed by ignorant and self-absorbed parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood (the excellent Matt Harrington and superb Lesli Margherita.)

Philip Spaeth as Rudolpho, Jill Paice as Miss Honey and Lesli Margherita as Mrs. Wormwood.
Photo © Joan Marcus

Mr. Wormwood is a schemer who gives the used car sales profession a very bad name, He dotes on his doltish son, Michael (Taylor Trensch), and calls Matilda "boy," while watching "Telly" with his son on his lap. Mrs. Wormwood dotes on her ballroom dance partner, Rudolpho (Phlip Spaeth) and nags Matilda for reading too much; "looks, not books," is her advice.

Much of the cast has rolled over since Bertie Carvel was nominated for a Best Actor Tony as the original Miss Trunchbull, but Lesli Margherita originated her part as Matilda's loopy mother; her performance is delightfully flighty. Matt Harrington, as the current Mr. Wormwood, brings the vaudeville to "Matilda" with a lot of dash and swarmy charm; he is dispicably likeable. (His predecessor, Gabriel Ebert won the 2013 Tony as Best Featured Actor in a Musical.) The beguiling Karen Aldridge has returned as Matilda's champion, the librarian, Mrs. Phelps, who is moved to shout outloud when Matilda tells her stories.

Jill Paice is Miss Honey. Photo
© Joan Marcus

The book, based on Roald Dahl's children's story, by Dennis Kelly won the 2013 Tony for Best Book of A Musical. Tim Minchin's tunefull score and clever lyrics (he was a nominee but lost out to Cyndi Lauper's "Kinky Boots") add to the many pleasures of seeing "Matilda."

"Matilda" is an unexpected musical, with a little touch of "Naughty" and a lot of "Miracle."

The cast, under the direction of Matthew Warchus, and dance guidance of choreographer Peter Darling, deliver a rousing entertainment. The letter blocks that decorate the stage are just one of the inspired touches on the fine set design by Rob Howell (who is also responsible for the costumes.)

Come to the party, it really is not too late!

For more information, please vist http://us.matildathemusical.com/

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

What's Happening? The Shortlist

photo from Richard Maxwell's "Isolde"
by Simon Hallström

April 2: Dominic Chianese at The Café Carlyle

April 3- May 4: "The International" plays at the cell

April 10-26: "Isolde" (US premiere) at the Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street)

April 15 through 19: Lucie Arnaz at The Café Carlyle

April 23 through May 18: "Peddling" part of Brits Off Bway at 59E59

May 30 through July 5: Summerworks Festival at The Wild Project

April 2: Dominic Chianese at The Café Carlyle

He may always be "Uncle Junior" to some of us, but Dominic Chianese has long been a man of many talents. He is a singer and guitarist, who has released two albums and performed in cabaret, as well as on stages on and off-Broadway. In his Café Carlyle debut, An Evening with Dominic Chianese, he will perform songs running the gambit of American music, from country to the Great American Songbook, as well as standards in Italian and Spanish.

www.thecarlyle.com

April 3- May 4: "The International" plays at the cell

"The International" is inspired by events in the Bosnian War of 1992-95. Tim Ruddy’s award-winning and probing three-character play looks at the same events taking place during an ethnic-incited conflict through the eyes of three different people in three different parts of the world. Origin Theatre Company’s production is directed by Christopher Randolph and stars Timothy Carter, Carey Van Driest and Ted Schneider.

www.origintheatre.org (Running time 80 minutes)

April 10-26: "Isolde" (US premiere) at the Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street)

Based on the legend of Tristan and Isolde, Richard Maxwell's "Isolde" is about Patrick, the owner of a successful construction company and his wife, Isolde, a successful star.

Patrick and Isolde appear to be happly married. But Isolde finds herself increasingly unable to remember her lines. To occupy herself, she decides to build her dream house and her husband is eager to help. The project is jeopardized by Massimo, an award-winning architect that Isolde hires.

Written and directed by Maxwell for his company, New York City Players, "Isolde" marks 15 years of new plays by Maxwell in New York. The production features Jim Fletcher, Brian Mendes, Tory Vazquez and Gary Wilmes.

www.abronsartscenter.org, (Runs 90 minutes without intermission)

April 15 through 19: Lucie Arnaz at The Café Carlyle

"Spring is Here" is Lucie Arnaz's new show. The talented daughter of one of show business’ most prominent couples, Lucie Arnaz has forged a distinct career of her own, starring in roles on Broadway, television and film, and has won awards including an Emmy, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

www.thecarlyle.com

April 23 through May 18: "Peddling" part of Brits Off Bway at 59E59

Henry Melling, known as Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter franchise, has written a fascinating new play featured in the 10th annual Brits off Bway Festival. In "Peddling." a peddler wakes up in a field, somewhere in London, surrounded by the burnt and empty remnants of the night before. With no memory of how he has come to be there, he knows he must go back to ‘the very start of it all'. His attempts to retrace events from the previous day lead him on a haunting journey where everything comes into question: his life, his world, his future.

Harry Melling’s remarkable debut play follows the day in the life of a man on the fringes of society as he battles difficult questions and attempts to come to terms with the answers.

www.59e59.org

May 30 through July 5: Summerworks Festival at The Wild Project

The 2014 fest features plays by Jenny Schwartz, Ariel Stess, Peggy Stafford. Summerworks 2014 features "41-derful", written and directed by Jenny Schwartz; "I’m Pretty Fucked Up" by Ariel Stess, directed by Kip Fagan; and "16 Words Or Less" by Peggy Stafford, directed by Portia Krieger.

Summerworks 2014 will also feature various free events, including a collaborative piece and individual readings written by Clubbed Thumb’s Early-Career Writers’ Group: Jaclyn Backhaus, Adam Blodgett, Tasha M Gordon-Solmon, Ken Greller, MJ Kaufman, Dan Regelski, and Ariel Stess. Further details on these events will be announced soon.

www.clubbedthumb.org

Monday, March 31, 2014

Depression-era Dance Contests

Paul Taylor's "Sunset" in performance.

There is something brutalizing about those depression-era dance marathons. The contestants are equal parts hopeful and downtrodden. Paul Taylor captures the essence in his latest creation "Marathon Cadenzas," on view in the penultimate PTDC performance of the Spring 2014 season, just completed at David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center.

Taylor's 140th dance in a 60 year span is as vital and entertaining as any in his repertoire."Marathon Cadenzas" is set to music by Raymond Scott with sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by James F. Ingalls. The company are all standouts in this heartbreaking dance.

More PTDC Spring Ahead: Sotheby's auction to benefit PTDC on May 14th

On May 14th, the Taylor "Spring" extends to an auction at Sotheby's where works by Robert Rauschenberg, a friend and frequent collaborator of Paul Taylor's.The two met in 1954 after Taylor left Merce Cunningham's dance company to set off on his own Rauschenberg designed the sets and costumes for a number of Paul Taylor productions including: Jack and the Beanstalk (1954), the solo dance performance Circus Polka (1955), Three Epitaphs (1956), The Least Flycatcher, The Tower (1957), Seven New Dances (1957), Rebus (1958), Images and Reflections (1958), and Tracer (1962), for which he also

created a work of the same title that will be offered in May.

To learn more about the May 14th auction event, click here.

To keep apprised of PTDC performances, visit www.ptdc.org.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Shakespeare At The Bar

It has come to our attention that there are two theatrical companies hard at drink to bring you Shakespeare under the influence.

By W.J. Morgan & Co. Lith. of Cleveland, Ohio.
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The New York Shakespeare Exchange has created ShakesBeer, a crawl-cum-performance.

In the meantime, the troupe Three Day Hangover has launced DrunkShakespeare.

The former gathers on on April 12, May 31, June 7, August 9 & 16, October 4 & 11 and December 6 at 2:30pm for three hours of beer and Bard at four bars.

Drunk Shakespeare opens in its home at Quinn's Bar & Grill in midtown for drinking and tragedies on March 26th.

For tickets and information about Drunk Shakespeare, go to http://www.drunkshakespeare.com/calendar/

Information about the upcoming crawls and tickets for ShakesBeer can be found at http://shakespeareexchange.org/content/shakesbeer-2014.

ShakesBeer

Monday, March 24, 2014

Paul Taylor's Ever Lively Dance

In posters and on billboards for each of their Spring seasons, PTDC flies off the page. In person, the they do a similar trick.

Francisco Graciano and Michael Apuzzo in Paul Taylor's "Gossamer Gallants,"
once more on the program on March 29th at 2pm.
Photo by Tom Caravaglia.

Paul Taylor Dance Company always seems to be in motion, just off and above the stage. Theirs is an energetic force. PTDC is always propelling through air.

The momentum is intellectual as well as physical. A Paul Taylor dance is well-thought out and intelligent.
Taylor, in fact, is a man of many parts-- an author with a nice sense of humor, a dance maker with a great sense of humor, irony, and a vision all his own.

There are 8 performances left to the PTDC Lincoln Center Spring at this writing, and we urge you to catch
at least one of our favorites: tonight at 7pm, "Mercuric Tidings" and "Sunset" are on the bill with "Fibers" and "Troillus and Cressida (reduced)." On Wednesday, March 26th, go see "A Field of Grass." Friday, March 28th at 8pm brings a chance to see the new "American Dreamer," and Saturday at 2pm, "Marathon Cadenzas" premieres again; these are numbers 139 and 140 in the Paul Taylor oeuvre. "Piazzolla Caldera" is on the final program for this season on Sunday, March 30th at 6pm.

You can purchase tickets and view the schedule here and follow PTDC on FB.

Paul Taylor's most recent book are the essays in "Facts and Fancies" published in 2013.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

"All The Way" with LBJ: A Year in the Life

Is the fascination we have with politics and politicians all about power and those who wield it?

Robert Schenkkan's "All The Way," at the Neil Simon Theatre through June 29th, looks at one critical year in the life of one of the great political practitioners.

Bryan Cranston and Betsy Aidem. Photo Credit: Evgenia Eliseeva

Lyndon Baines Johnson (Bryan Cranston) was one of the great negotiators in our country's presidential history. You know the famously effective politician whose arm twisting got legislation passed, but the author posits an LBJ who may have been a better man than his reputation suggests. Lady Bird Johnson (Betsy Aidem) has a particularly poignant take on LBJ the man in one scene, making it clear that the man was the politician.

Robert Petkoff, Bryan Cranston.
Photo Credit: Evgenia Eliseeva

LBJ took office in November 1963 as "an accidental President" after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He had just one year to establish his presidency and launch the campaign for the 1964 elections. That year hinged on LBJ's role in the struggle for civil rights. He was left to polish his predecessor's legacy, and create his own. The pressures he faced during that year are history, and as told by Schenkkan it is a compelling and dramatic story.

Bryan Cranston, Brandon J. Dirden and
Richard Poe in the back.
Photo Credit: Evgenia Eliseeva

There were the rightfully disgruntled factions in the Negro caucus. He also had to deal with the recalcitrant segments of his own party's Dixiecrats, most prominently represented by LBJ's mentor, "Uncle" Dick Russell (John McMartin), the Senator from Georgia. Hubert Humphrey (Robert Petkoff) of Michigan was the Senator most sympathetic to the cause of equality for all Americans.

Among the groups of black leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr. (Brandon J. Dirden) is the acknowledged head. He lobbied the President, often through Humphrey, for the assorted black organizations, which included Stokely Carmichael's (William Jackson Harper) radical SNCC and the much tamer NAACP lead by Roy Wilkins (Peter Jay Fernandez). LBJ not only supported civil rights, but was instrumental in passing legislation to insure that fairness and equality were the law of the land.

Rob Campbell, Susannah Schulman on the desk. On left on floor:
James Eckhouse and on right on floor: Christopher Gurr
Photo Credit: Evgenia Eliseeva

The sets in "All The Way" often depend on projections to identify the locale of a scene. Credit Christopher Acebo for the simple multi-functional scenic design and Jane Cox for the lighting.

The acting, with Bryan Cranston embodying LBJ in an astonishing performance, and Brandon J. Dirden embodying MLK down to the cadences of his speech, is universally excellent. Under Bill Rauch's well-paced directing, the nearly three hours of politics and power go by in a flash; there is not a wasted minute.

Among other standouts in the outstanding cast are William Jackson Harper, Rob Campbell as Governor George Wallace (and others), and Eric Lenox Abrams as Bob Moses (and others.) Michael McKean is a wry and formidable J. Edgar Hoover.

To find out more about "All The Way," please visit http://allthewaybroadway.com/

Monday, March 17, 2014

The Taylor Spring is Here (At Last)

Michelle Fleet and Robert Kleinendorst in "A Field of Grass"
choreograhped by Paul Taylor, set to songs by
Harry Nilsson with costumes by Santo Loquasto and
lighing by Jennifer Tipton. First performed in 1993.
Photo by Paul B. Goode

It's spring-- at least it is a Paul Taylor Dance Company spring. The weather outside the David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center, where the season lasts from March 11th through 30th, may still be iffy, but you can count on the warmth and good humor of PTDC to welcome you once inside.

Poster for "Airs" by Paul B. Goode.

Paul Taylor's vision is often edgy and a bit cockeyed, but it is always intelligent and interesting. For Paul Taylor, dance is social commentary or sometimes just social observation. He is often caustic, sometimes pointedly so, sometimes more genially. Paul Taylor sets the ordinary askew in his little jewels of invention.
His sharp insight into the human condition was well on display in the weekend programs we saw.

"Gossamer Gallants" took a place as a favorite when it first presented in 2011. This weekend, it had competition from a new work, that is new to me, "A Field of Grass," first performed in 1993. In the interests of transparency, it is important to reveal that this reviewer has many favorites in the PTDC repertoire-- from "Company B" to the transcendent "Aureole," and on and on. "A Field of Grass" just happens to be a proximate fave.

Photo by Tom Caravaglia.

Leading a hippie circle-- yes it is that kind of grass-- that includes the outstanding Michelle Fleet, Robert Kleinendorst goes from joy to a little bit of a bummer and back again in "A Field of Grass." The lively songs of Harry Nilsson accompany the ensemble, which on this occasion also included the splendid Aileen Roehl, Sean Mahoney, Francisco Graciano, Heather McGinley and Christina Lynch Markham.

Photo by Paul B. Goode

For "Sunset," set to Edward Elgar's Serenade for Strings and Elegy for Strings, the mood is appropriately more elegiac. The cast puts aside its bell bottoms (designed by santo Loquasto for "A Field of Grass") and trades them in for shirtwaists and crisp khakis (set and costumes designed by Alex Katz.)
Both dances are more balletic than we've come to expect from Paul Taylor, and very beautiful to watch. In "Sunset," the men's movements have a Gene Kelly quality.

Photo by Paul B. Goode

"Airs," a classic out of the PTDC repertoire first performed in 1978, is danced to Handel. It's formality is belied by the the short gowns and leotards worn by the men and their bare chests (costumes by Gene Moore.) On the same bill, "Dust," set to Francis Poulenc's Concert Champetre, is amusing and lively, but the pièce de résistance on this day's program is "Piazzolla Caldera" (1997).

"Piazzolla Caldera" breaks down the tango. There is the tango for one, a solo that seems impossibly sad in the context of this very sexy dance. A same sex tango relies heavily on horseplay and a tango a trois plays up the aggression that is also germaine to the genre.The music is by Astor Piazzolla and Jerzy Peterburshaky with costumes by Santo Loquasto.

Going forward into the searon, you can see "Gossamer Gallants" on March 22nd at 8pm with "Sunset" and on March 29th at 2pm with other works. "Piazzolla Caldera" reappears on March 21st at 8pm, and with "Dust" on March 30th at 6pm. "A Field of Grass" is on the program on March 26th at 6pm. and "Airs" repeats on the March 29th performance at 8pm.

For more information on Paul Taylor Dance Company, visit www.ptdc.org. For a schedule of the Spring season, visit the David H. Koch Theatere website.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Coming soon to a theater near....

Not so soon, in fact 2014-15 season at the Public:

"Hamilton," written by the Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, will have its world premiere next January as part of The Public’s 2014-15 season at Astor Place. Directed by his In The Heights collaborator Thomas Kail, this new musical features Miranda playing Alexander Hamilton, one of our country’s Founding Fathers and the first Secretary of the Treasury.

The brilliant musical "previewed" at an American Songbooks presentation in 2012. Performances begin at the Public on January 20, 2015.

“Lin-Manuel Miranda is a marvel, but nothing could have prepared us for the astonishing achievement of Hamilton,” said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. “Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies, the only Founding Father who was an immigrant, and Lin’s genius is to tell the story of the birth of the United States as an immigrant’s story. The energy, the passion, joy, tragedy, and raw intelligence of this show are stunning.”

More information at http://www.publictheater.org/

February 25-March 30

Do we exist only as constructs in each other's minds? Explore this concept and Sartre's famous bon mots, "Hell is other people," at the Pearl Theatre's production of "No Exit." For tickets and informaiton, please go to http://www.pearltheatre.org/1314/noexit/

Jolly Abraham as Inez and Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Estelle in a scene from "No Exit."
Photo by Al Foote III

March 11-April 12

Paula Vogel's "And Baby Makes Seven" is an uproarious and timely comedy that has not been seen professionally in New York in 20 years. Marc Stuart Weitz directs an ensemble including Ken Barnett, Susan Bott and Constance Zaytoun. Vogel’s "And Baby Makes Seven" tells the story of Anna and Ruth, a lesbian couple, who enlist their gay friend Peter to help them create a family. But are any of them ready for parenthood?
For tickets and to find out more, visit newohiotheatre.org

March 14-April 5

The Chocolate Factory Theater is presenting the world premiere Target Margin Theater's "Uriel Acosta: I Want That Man!" from March 14-April 5. This new adaptation of one of the central plays of Yiddish history is taken from a variety of literary and historical sources and created and directed by TMT’s Artistic Director, David Herskovits. Original songs are by Rebecca Hart, with toy theater created by Kathleen Kennedy Tobin for this production.
Tickets and information are available at chocolatefactorytheater.org

April 1-12

Singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel, Christine Brinkley's and Billy Joel's talented daughter, makes her premiere at Cafe Carlyle.
Visit www.thecarlyle.com to find out more.

April 5

Patricia Kenny Dance Collection presents "Spring Collection" which includes their world premiere of "Unrest" choreographed by Patricia Kenny Reilly. Excerpts of "Unrest" were released on film in an open rehearsal series web forum, and this evening PKDC will share the culmination of the work-in-progress. The evening of dance is at the Queens Theatre for one night only.
For tickets, visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/9883433. To learn more about PKDC, go to www.patriciakennydancecollection.com.

April 17-30

Ripe Time, the Brooklyn-based company led by Rachel Dickstein, will premiere "The World is Round,"
which adapts the Gertrude Stein book, at BAM Fisher. Conceived, written and directed by Dickstein, the work is a fable (for grownups and mature children) full of original live music by Heather Christian and aerial movement choreographed by Nicki Miller. "The World is Round" is Ripe Time’s first new show since 2011 when it launched its celebrated Mrs. Dalloway adaptation Septimus and Clarissa.
Go to www.bam.org/theworldisround for tickets and informaiton.

April 17-May 11

"The Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill, Volume 2" in sequel to the award-winning "... Volume 1" is adapted and directed by Christopher Loar, ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists.

Now he's a legendary playwright and a Broadway mainstay, but Eugene O'Neill was once considered an experimental, downtown playwright. His plays defied the melodramatic conventions of the day and much of his work premiered with the Provincetown Players on MacDougall Street. The New York Neo-Futurists return O'Neill to his experimental roots, and "...Volume 2" spans the years 1913 - 1915, and includes his plays Recklessness, Warnings, Fog, Abortion, and The Sniper.
Tickets and informatiokn at www.nynf.org

April 23- May 18

Part of the Brits off Broadway at 59E59, Harry Melling's debut play, "Peddling" makes its US premiere.
A peddler wakes up in a field, with no memory of how he got there or what happened the night before. In his attempt to find out what happened, everything comes into question.
Learn more at www.59e59.org

50 Shades of Gray, the musical and Beauty and the Beast are among the shows still playing in these listings:
http://tbontheaisleatheaterdiary.blogspot.com/2014/02/around-town.html

"Fast Company" plays through April 6th and "The Pig, or Vaclav Havel's Hunt for the Pig" only through March 29th.. At the latter, dinner is served at the 3 Legged Dog production, provided by the Slovakian restuarant Korzo.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

"The Architecture of Becoming" -- Is It Too Many Chefs?

L-to-R Christopher Livingsont, Vanessa Kai, Jon Norman Schneider and Claudia Acosta. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

In Sarah Ruhl's brilliant "Stage Kiss," the character named He disparages a play that required more than
two collaborators-- "Isn’t a bad sign when three people wrote a play? I mean if two people wrote it, it’s
one thing, but three, come on, three?"

So it's probably not a good sign that there are five named playwrights on "The Architecture of Becoming," at City Center Stage II through March 23rd. The enterprise, penned by Kara Lee Corthron, Sarah Gancher, Virginia Grise, Dipika Guha and Lauren Yee is represented by Siempre Norteada (Claudia Acosta), a writer who has a commission on the City Center. By the way, not only are there 5 writers, there are 3 directors for this hour and a half interlude.

L-to-R Christopher Livingston, Danielle Skraastad, Vanessa Kai and Claudia Acosts. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

There are other storytellers enacted in the vignettes that comprise this "play," including Vanessa Kai's
Tomomi Nakamura, a 1940 Japanese housewife who wants only to tell her own story. "I only want to play
myself I only want to tell my story. I only want to tell my story. Does that mean I am not an actress?"
Siempre Norteada merely connects the pieces, or does her best to do so.

Vanessa Kai as Tomomi and Danielle Skraastad as Virginia, the fishmonger. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

"The Architecture..." is meant to be a paean to the building, in which the Women's Project has found its

home. There are references to the City Center's rich history. It is also an ode to artists who come to New York to seek inspiration.

The actors, Danielle Skraastad, Jon Norman Schneider, Christopher Livingston, and the aforementioned

Vanessa Kai and Claudia Acosta, all fine, are ill-served by this hodgepodge.

City Center, the glorious recently restored 90 year old landmark which started life as a Masonic Temple,

and now is home to theater and ballet from around the world, deserves better too.

To find out more about "The Architecture of Becoming," visit http://wptheater.org/

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Let's cross that "Bridges..."

Marsha Norman has fashioned an appealing drama with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown from Robert James Waller's over-the-top romance for the musical version of "The Bridges of Madison County." In this open run at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Kelli O'Hara plays the Iowa housewife, Francesca, with Steven Pasquale as the itinerant photographer, Robert Kincaid.

Kelli O'Hara as Francesca and Steven Pasquale as Robert Kincaid in "The Bridges of Madison County,"
at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in an open run. Book by Marsha Norman, adapted from Robert James Waller, music
and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Robert Kincaid has lost his way, looking for the last of the covered bridges he was sent by National Geographic to photograph. Francesca Johnson takes him to it, and asks him to stay for dinner.

Caitlin Kinnunen as Carolyn and Hunter Foster as Bud in
"The Bridges of Madison County." Photo by Joan Marcus.

Her family, Bud (Hunter Foster) and the children, Michael (Derek Klena) and Carolyn (Caitlin Kinnunen) have gone to the Indiana State Fair so that Carolyn can compete with her prize steer, Stevie. As Francesca tells Robert, they will have a better time without her looking at prize pigs and large zucchini squash.

Hunter Foster as Bud and Kelli O'Hara as Francesca in
"The Bridges of Madison County." Photo by
Joan Marcus.

She married an American soldier in Naples right after the war when they were very young, came to Iowa, made a home for herself but isn't completely comfortable as a farmer's wife.

Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale in a scene
from "The Bridges.." Photo by Joan Marcus.

There are many seriously powerful voices singing Jason Robert Brown's lovely songs. In addition to the excellent leads, there is Cass Morgan as Marge whose torchy "Get Closer" is very close to a show-stopper. Katie Klaus as the State Fair Singer and Whitney Bashor in a flashback to Robert's ex-wife lend voltage in their roles. Michael X. Martin is very natural as Marge's down-to-earth husband, Charlie.

It's only fitting that such an operatic love story should get the full operatic treatment Brown gives it. "The Bridges of Madison County" is melodramatic and overwrought, but its cast remain cool-headed and dry eyed, even if we cannot.

Suggestion of a setting drops from rafters-- the outline of a roof, window frame, doorway-- and the ensemble doubles as stage hands, pulling up fences, moving in the kitchen table-- in Michael Yeargan's imaginative design for "The Bridges of Madison County."

Fade to violins, cue tears. [For more commentary see VP.]

For more information about and a chance to preview the music of "The Bridges of Madison County," please visit http://bridgesofmadisoncountymusical.com/.

Monday, March 3, 2014

"Stage Kiss"

Extended through April 6th
Actors lead different lives from the rest of us. Their nine-to-five is generally more like 7:30 to midnight.
For them, a kiss is work, and for actors just part of their day at the office.

"Stage Kiss," at Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater through March 23rd, is immensely clever. The play that wraps around the play within the play in Sarah Ruhl's brilliant new comedy mirrors the events in the play being staged in the first act.

She (Jessica Hecht), an actress in her 40s, auditioning for the role of Ada Wilcox, is surprised that the actor He (Dominic Fumusa), playing opposite her is her first love, just as Johnny Lowell is Ada's in the melodrama they are rehearsing.

"Stage Kiss" is about and of the theater. The perils of acting, like its joys, are in getting to embody anyone but yourself and getting to try out being someone else. A "Stage Kiss" can be bestowed even on the unlikeliest of partners, as when She rehearses with Kevin (Michael Cyril Creighton), the understudy whose approach to the project is far more tentative and less empassioned than the one He plants.

"Stage Kiss" is in part about creating character, and understanding love. Real life jeopardises theatrical life and messes with stage craft. Like Ada, She has an understanding Husband (Daniel Jenkins), and a life that takes on an over-the-top turn.

Will She and He rekindle their love?
Would she rather live in squalor with her first love than go back to her well-to-do husband?
What can her husband do to tip the balance in his favor?
Is that first love all we've cracked him/her to be?

Jessica Hecht lends a sophistication and an innocence to her character in "Stage Kiss." Hecht has a distinctive voice that seems to both quesiton and admonish at the same time. In "Stage Kiss," she gets to mimic, impersonate and do accents. At every nudge from The Director (Patrick Kerr), she nails it immediately and creates another persona.

There are so many facets to this superbly intelligent play.

There are in-jokes for theater folk: the ineffectual laissez-faire Director; the actress who hasn't found work for years; the relentless optimism of reviving a less than mediocre play; the dangers of stage romance.

For the marrieds, there are questions about fidelity and temptation, and the risks in workplace romance.

Rebecca Taichman directs this excellent cast, which also includes Emma Galvin as Angela, Millie and the Maid; Clea Alsip as Millicent and Laurie; and Todd Almond as The Accompanist. Todd Almond has also provided originally music for the production that fits the spirit of the enterprise very neatly.

The sets which build from an empty rehearsal space to an elaborate 1930s drawing room and a truly delapidated and overcrowded East Village mess of an apartment are the work of the talented Neil Patel. Costume designer Susan Hilferty is responsible for dressing the cast over various periods.

"Stage Kiss" is top-to-toe marvellous. Go and enjoy a wonderfully engaging theatrical experience.

For more information on "Stage Kiss," please visit Playwrights Horizons. For more review, visit VevlynsPen.com.