A Steady Rain

"A Steady Rain" at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, November 12, 2009

Wolverine meets James Bond onstage in Keith Huff's two-hander, A Steady Rain. Interweaving two monologues of a pair of police partners, Messrs. Jackman and Craig don Chicago-style accents with mixed results in this intermissionless event.

Mr. Huff's tale of friendship, betrayal, corruption and devotion provides great opportunities for these two talented men to flex some emotional muscles. If only there were more of a play here, rather than 80 minutes of "... then I said..." This technique undercuts the bond that each character describes having with the other. The good-cop/bad-cop dynamic is one they've played out since childhood that forces its easily anticipated final blow. Toss in a drive-by shooting, a hooker, her pimp and his little brother, hush money, and a Jeffrey Dahmer type and it's time for the undershirt auction fundraiser for Broadway Cares.

Mr. Jackman is the bad cop, Denny, married with kids, and a fatal attraction to lost causes. He drags Joey along with him every sordid step of the way, setting him up with a hooker he hopes to raise out of her downward spiral. He's got the dark, fiery Italian thing down pretty well (though his accent occasionally escapes Chicago).

Meanwhile, Mr. Craig's Joey, fighting alcohol and a crush on Denny's wife doesn't have the willpower to pull himself away. His despair is palpable as he continues to let Denny pummel him emotionally and physically. When Denny finally hits bottom, Mr. Craig creates credibility despite the weak writing.

Director John Crowley handles the proceedings nicely, smoothing through the awkward transitions. Scott Pask's sets introduce impressive, if unnecessary, cinematic effects bleeding through the back scrim.

Impressionism

"Impressionism" at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, March 7, 2009

Lots of stars returning to their Broadway roots this Spring. This venture includes Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen in a new pilot play by Michael Jacobs.

I'm a big fan of both actors and was excited to get to see them onstage.

I wish I'd known more about the playwright beforehand. Mr. Jabobs' background includes NY theatre in the late 70s and early 80s, before seemingly settling into Burbank where he "created, produced or developed 14 series including...'My Two Dads' [and] 'Charles in Charge' " among others.

There are some great one-liners tossed about as Mr. Irons' Thomas Buckle, the realist photographer works in the Chelsea art Gallery of Ms. Allen's Katherine Keenan (though it's never clear why he's working there).

If I thought Jane Fonda was looking good at 71, Joan Allen looks nowhere near 52, which actually undercuts the final moments of the play since you've forgotten the age difference between the two of them is not really that significant. Mr. Irons, in his defense, is still wiry and slim, and ever-so-charming.

The play is a bit of a trifle, as we slog back and forth through time watching Ms. Allen's character devolve from the freest of spirited 6 year old, to a painfully inhibited 30-something to a closed book pushing 50. Parallels and analogies are all over the place from an aqua-tint print she associates with her own mother, to a little boy who dies from AIDS in Africa. The message seems to be: We are all wounded, but is it from reality or our impression of reality? (And on a side note, with as much furor over production costs, was it really necessary for the playbill insert with the scene listing to be full-color card stock?)

I did like some of Scott Pasks set choices: Mr. Irons' desk a stark white Parsons Table, compared to Ms. Allen's French antique, and a faux proscenium that looks like a blank canvas.

Director Jack O'Brien appears to have taken a page from Trevor Nunn's staging of last season's "Rock 'n' Roll" with overly long transitions using projections of impressionist art whose subjects hint toward the plot to come. He's also created some visual hindrances by using these same framed screens to dangle between the actors looking at the paintings and the audience. Seated in the right mezzanine, my view was not terribly blocked, but I can imagine someone paying over $100 might feel differently about this theatrical choice.

All My Sons

"All My Sons" at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, January 3, 2009

Arthur Miller's classic, nearing the end of its limited run and featuring the stunt-casting of Katie Holmes gets the Greek tragedy treatment in this uneven revival.

John Lithgow opens the show literally reading the stage direction from the script with the full cast standing behind him. It's an uninteresting choice of direction that didn't feel particularly fresh or unique, something one might have expected from this third revival on the Rialto. Simon McBurney directs with very broad strokes, aiming for the highest theatricality, but only getting there with some remarkable stagecraft. The storm sequence felt so real, I expected the wind to blow my hair back as rain fell on my cheek. Kudos to Christopher Shutt and Carolyn Downing's sound design. The highly-stylized train sequence was also impressive, but ultimately distracted from the realism with which the rest of the play was performed.

As for the performances, Mr. Lithgow is in his ever-fine form as Joe Keller, the flawed father whose overturned conviction for selling substandard parts to the military during WWII resulting in the deaths of 21 aviators tortures the remaining family and friends who surround him.

Dianne Wiest approaches Wagnerian form as his wife Kate. She doesn't quite get to the "Don't speak...don't...speak...no, don't...speak" theatricality that defined her brilliance in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, but she gets close as she rails in denial over her missing son Larry, who disappeared during a regular mission during the war and has never been recovered.

Patrick Wilson, playing Larry's older brother Chris seemed a bit too attractive for the role of one overshadowed by a sibling. Mr. Wilson struggles for gravitas and insecurity as a young man trying to move on with life by starting a new life with Anne, his brother's sweetheart. At least he meets the requirement of at least one shirtless scene per show.

As Anne, Ms. Holmes is lovely to look at and does exceed the low standard set by other television and film actors who have trod the boards such as Ashley Judd. She claws to approach the bar set for her by the rest of the cast, but never quite makes it, wavering between the self-conscious and amateurish. Still, her voice seems to have suffered from the strain of 8 shows per week, sounding gravelly and hoarse as she substitutes poor technique for emotional delivery.

It also bothered me that she spent so much time speaking while facing upstage. Note that she was not alone in this type of action. Much of the rest of the cast seemed to have been directed this way as well. (Had the original plan been to have onstage seating like Equus, Xanadu, Spring Awakening, and Inherit The Wind?)

The use of mixed media on the back wall creating ghostly images of the war, the family house profile and a disappearing window to Larry's old room distracted more than it added to Tom Pye's scenic design.

Star watch: Jim Norton (The Seafarer, Port Authority) in the mezzanine near me.

Dance: 7, Vocals: 3

"A Chorus Line" at the Schoenfeld Theatre, September 6, 2007

Well, I can honestly say that the second national tour of "A Chorus Line" now running on Broadway is everything you might expect...of a second national tour.

At one level, I can think of many reasons why this show should always be running on Broadway. On another level, this production is not the one that deserves that run. Bob Avian's restoration of Michael Bennett's ground-breaking work from 1975 neither does justice to the original nor finds significant relevance to Broadway theatre today.

The cast is truly a mixed bag, talent-wise. Some standouts are Bryan Knowlton as Paul, Michael Berresse as Zach, Will Taylor as Bobby and Jason Patrick Sands as Don. Dance-wise the cast is generally competent, but it is the vocals that undercut this production. Marvin Hamlish's score does have some hummable tunes, but it's not the strongest of scores. As a result, some numbers are not as easy as others to perform. Unfortunately, it is the weaker singers who get these songs. Pitch problems occurred the most, with Natalie Cortez (Diana), Jessica Lee Goldyn (Val) and Melissa Lone (Maggie) as the major offenders.

Another weak spot was Katherine Tokarz' Kristine, throwing away most of her jokes in "Sing!" by swallowing her words.

Even Charlotte d'Amboise as Cassie felt weak, rushing her lines leading into "The Music and the Mirror." Whether intentional or not, Ms. d'Amboise brought a piercing reality to Cassie. Talented and singled out early in her career, but never really becoming the star she could potentially be, her song was less than a show-stopper and she failed to hold her balance in her final dance pose. Even in the working version of "One" when Zack corrects her over and over again, she still doesn't conform and blend with the other dancers.

I think what troubles me most about this production is that this was one of the first that set the bar for Broadway performers to be triple threats (sing/dance/act), is that the number of triple threats in this cast is very small, limited to the standouts above along with Deidre Goodwin (Sheila), but even some of her jokes got tossed away.

Mr. Bennett's choreography soars in some numbers ("One"), yet stumbles in others (The Music and the Mirror"), as if out of a bad jazz dance class. The Ed Sullivan reference, among others were totally lost on a large part of the audience. I would much rather have seen some attempt at updating, or if not, a focus on the show as a period piece. Doing neither undercuts the potential power inherent in this show.