Anyone Can Whistle

"Anyone Can Whistle" presented by Encores! at New York City Center, April 11, 2010

(Looking back for a link to another review, I discovered that this one never got published.  A year later, here it is! - M)

Playing along the Sondheim tributes of the season, Encores! presents Mr. Sondheim's biggest flop, which ran for 9 performances in 1964.  Originally written and directed by Arthur Laurents, the legend of the bizarre production proves true.  The twisting tale of a failing town led by a corrupt mayor, capitalizing on a phony miracle and offering period-enthrallment with the concept that crazy equals genius.

The book really is a train wreck.  You could practically see the question marks appearing over every head in the audience as one ludicrous plot turn followed another.

Donna Murphy pulls out all the stops as the ambitious and shady mayoress, Cora Hoover Hooper.  In a Jackie O suit and blond wig, the effect ranges from Mitzi Gaynor to Judy Garland, but the energy is non-stop regardless.  Sutton Foster struggles under the weight of the strangely written Nurse Apple, who can only relax in the guise of a French hooker.  She sings well, better in her character's more vulnerable moments.  Raul Esparza fares a little better as J. Bowden Hapgood, looking dapper in a sharkskin suit.

Still, Mr. Sondheim's score rings through clearly, skillfully led by musical director Rob Berman.  Director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw wisely spends little time trying to make sense of the book scenes, but focuses on the musical numbers to delightful effect.

Angels In America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes

"Angels In America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" presented by  Signature Theatre Company at the Peter Norton Space, March 17 and 22, 2011

This revival, which opened last fall, was the hard-to-get ticket and I can see why.  The cast has evolved a bit, some changes more successful than others, but in the end, this production confirms the strength of Tony Kushner's writing about the height of the AIDS crisis.

If you're not familiar with the plot, there's an adequate summary here.

Director Michael Greif and Signature Theatre Company have staged a powerhouse production.  Mark Wendland's rotating sets accommodate the varying locations, give fluid transitions and are well-complemented by Wendall K. Harrington's projection design.  The special effects are particularly well done.

The cast is strong overall, with the exception of Kiera Keeley as Harper Pitt in a particularly uneven performance.  Michael Urie's Prior Walter seems a bit overly vulnerable in Part 1, where I think Prior's anger and resentment over his situation should be stronger.  This vulnerability does play better in Part 2, as Prior comes to terms with his disease, and the demands of the angel.  Adam Driver's Louis was capable, best in scenes when Louis argues about points of history or theory.  His more emotional scenes were less effective.  Bill Heck's Joe Pitt fills the bill completely, tall blonde and handsome.  Billy Porter brings us a particularly maternal Belize.  Lynne McCollough as Hannah Pitt and Sofia Jean Gomez as the Angel, serve well in those and other roles.  Ms. McCollough's Ethel Rosenberg has some excellent moments.  The real work is accomplished by Frank Wood as the sleazy, slobbering, slimy Roy Cohn.  Mr. Wood is one of the most under-rated actors in NY and he totally excels as the salivating bottom-feeder that was the late Mr. Cohn.

Of the two plays, the Part 1: Millennium Approaches is the more traditional.  Part 2: Perestroika reaches for more political bite and offers a more theatrical bent. 

After several extensions, Angels In America will close on April 24.  If you haven't seen it yet, get your tickets now!

The Book of Mormon

"The Book of Mormon" at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, March 7, 2011

In their first outing on Broadway, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the Southpark TV series and movies, have teamed up with Avenue Q's  Robert Lopez.  For any of you who have seen the Southpark films, you know restraint is not a feature of their writing style.  In an interview on The Daily Show this week, they confessed that writing a musical has been a common goal for years.

Looking back over many of the Southpark episodes, plus their film, Southpark: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, the two have been traveling in this direction for years.  The TV show has demonstrated a consistent fascination with the Mormon church, even dedicating the majority of one episode to the story of Joseph Smith, so when the opportunity arose to explore their musical theatre interests, it makes perfect sense that they would connect with Mr. Lopez, whose work follows a similar path of irreverence.

Spoiler Alert

The Book of Mormon, rather than focusing on a retelling of the Joseph Smith story, follows two mismatched young Mormon missionaries, Elder Price (Andrew Rannells) and Elder Cunningham (Josh Gad) on their mission assignment in the most brutal part of Uganda.  The authors offer frequent tributes to great moments in musical theatre history.  The Lion King gets the most attention in Act 1.  "Hassadiga Iboway" welcomes the boys to Uganda in "Hakuna Matatta-style" but with a very different translation, among other smaller references.  The daughter of the village leader is Nabalungi (Nikki James), still innocent somehow, despite the rampant AIDS, violence and genital mutilation that make up daily life.  She buys into the missionaries' message, dreaming of a better life in "Salt Lake City" - an erstwhile "Somewhere That's Green."

Price gets disillusioned by his assignment, having hoped for Orlando instead and tries to quit the mission.  During his absence, the task of conversion falls to Cunningham, who has a tiny problem with creative thinking outweighing the truth.  He leads the village to conversion drawing the attention of the home church, who sends officials to witness the baptisms.  Price, terrorized by a "spooky, Mormon, hell dream" returns to the mission with "I Believe," a tribute to Rodgers & Hammerstein reminiscent of, and borrowing a lyric or two from "I Have Confidence" from The Sound of Music.  On the day of the baptisms, the villagers perform the story of Joseph Smith, a la Elder Cunningham's twisted interpretation, with a King and I style number like "Small House of Uncle Thomas" - - brilliant!

Just like each episode of Southpark, The Book of Mormon ends with a tidy moral, that is, oddly, uplifting.  As much time as is spent running down the mythology and absurdity of religion in this show, the message is one that supports a place for faith and belief, even with a wink and a nod.

Directors Trey Parker and Casey Nicholaw have assembled an excellent cast.  Mr. Gad gets the benefit of the meaty role of Elder Cunningham and lets no opportunity go to waste - hysterical.  Ms. James' sings sweetly as Nabalungi, if a little bland at times. Mr. Nicholaw's choreography and musical staging, though not quite Robbins, enhances the proceedings.

The Book of Mormon is not for the thin-skinned.  Like the Southpark movie, no minority group comes away unscathed.  (I must say, even with Jackie Hoffman in the audience, the crowd of ironic hipsters almost outweighed the irony on stage.)

Ghetto Klown

"Ghetto Klown" at the Lyceum Theatre, March 3, 2011

John Leguizamo returns to Broadway with another biographical show, taking us from his childhood to the present.  Much feels like a retread from previous efforts, though we get a bit more about his parents this time around, including the contentious relationship with his emotionally detached and dismissive father and his self-centered mother. 

He points an accusing finger at both to blame them for his own early, unsuccessful marriage, and again over his later troubles in his second marriage.  In his defense, he points the finger at himself as well, but there is still an overall whine in his message.

He also blows his own horn as the opportunities present themselves, including his work with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio, along with his complete filmography.

Yet, there are still plenty of laughs.  Mr. Leguizamo is still quite the clown, claiming to have returned "home to Broadway" after recounting several films that haven't led to him as a Hollywood leading man.

The only thing that appears to bring him home to Broadway is the chance to pick up some cash.

Ghetto Klown is scheduled for a limited run through May 15.

Arcadia

"Arcadia" at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, February 28, 2011

I've got to say, after my last two exposures to the work of Tom Stoppard, I had some hesitations about seeing this revival of his 1993 Arcadia.  Its Broadway debut in 1995 included Billy Crudup, who returns in a new role this time around.  Mr. Stoppard's skill for construction is at its height here in a double tale of scholars in the same English estate separated by two centuries.  The two-thirds of Coast of Utopia and Rock 'n' Roll were overwhelming in intellectual concepts and history.  Stoppard's structure in Arcadia reveals plot points bit by bit, illuminating from one time period to the other and exposing how the foibles of human interaction distort reality.

In 1809, the Coverly's are wealthy, hosting friends and scholars like Lord Byron.  200 years later, scholars are scouring the estate library, still owned by the Coverly's, for evidence that Byron actually was there, and how he figured into the history of the family.   Parallels spring immediately as scholars in both eras have achieved some notoriety for severe reviews of works by past and present occupants of the estate.  1809's tutor Septimus Hodge (Tom Riley) has decimated the work of would-be poet Ezra Chater (David Turner) and others.  Currently, Bernard Nightingale (Billy Crudup) has made similar short work of with writings of Hannah Jarvis (Lia Williams) and then turns up at the estate to continue his own research on Byron.

The parallels continue as attractions heat up between Nightingale and Jarvis, and Hodge and his employer, Lady Croom (Margaret Colin), followed by the men's dalliances with others.  I'd attempt to give more plot, but it only gets more confusing to explain without seeing the play yourself.  Read more about it here.

Director David Levaux has assembled a capable, if slightly uneven, cast for this revival.  Mr. Crudup and Ms. Colin are the stronger among this cast.  Mr. Crudup fully captures the effete British academia of Nightingale without pushing him into stereotype or femininity. Ms. Colin gives us a woman of nobility who, though intelligent, is nowhere near the scholar her daughter might become.  Ms. Williams gets a bit lost in Hannah's fury from time to time, but manages to remain aloof without losing sympathy.  Raul Esparza as Valentine Coverly captures the accent, but occasionally gets tripped up in the words.

Hildegard Bechtler's simply furnished, white-washed set fills the two time periods simultaneously behind a beautiful Fragonard-esque act curtain.  Given the theoretical questions about science and knowledge the play explores, the lack of color, including a white upstage scrim allow focus to remain on the story and subjects.  Gregory Gale's period costumes convey household position nicely.

Arcadia is schedule for a limited run through June 19.

Kin

"Kin" at Playwrights Horizons, March 5, 2011

Playwrights Horizons continues to bring interesting new plays to their stages.  Bathsheba Doran's new play, Kin may not be as high up the quality list as previous productions like Circle, Mirror, Transformation, but it's a respectable effort if a little unfocused.

Anna (Kristen Bush), an English poetry researcher, is heavily involved with an Irish physical trainer, Sean (Patch Darragh).  Her best friend Helena (Laura Heisler) is a struggling actress - manic, nerdy and awkward.  Anna's widowed and distant father, Adam (Cotter Smith), has had a long term, on-again-off-again affair with Kay (Kit Flanagan) who is suffering from cancer.  Add to that Sean's widowed mother, Linda (Suzanne Bertish) who remains agoraphobic in Ireland after a physical assault when Sean was a child.

Spoiler Alert

There are some very interesting scenes that explore bits of the various relationships, but I struggled to find much of a through line that tied all of the unrelated subplots together.  It was certainly a step above a Lifetime movie, yet it ends abruptly on an oddly existential note.


Director Sam Gold generates uniformly capable performances, with only a few worth noting further.  Ms. Flanagan created a lovely moment as Kit lay on her deathbed, consoling Mr. Smith's Adam, who in turn supports Sean's mother very tenderly as she confesses the nature of her physical assault.

Paul Steinberg's set works a bit too hard to frame the various settings, requiring some overlong transitions from scene to scene.

Kin runs through April 3, 2011.  Check here for discount ticket information.

Molly Sweeney

"Molly Sweeney" at The Irish Repertory Theater, February 5, 2011

I haven't had much exposure to the work of Brian Friel, other than the revival of Faith Healer with Cherry Jones and Ralph Fiennes in 2006.  I remember that piece primarily because of the excellent performances turned in by Mr. Fiennes and Ms. Jones, as well as Ian McDiarmid. 

For that reason and that I had yet to see a production from Irish Rep, I was excited to attend Molly Sweeney. 

If only this production had met my high expectations.  This tale of a woman, blind since early childhood, follows a similar pattern as Mr Friel's Faith Healer, but in this play the monologues of the title character (Geraldine Hughes), her husband Frank (Ciaran O'Reilly) and the surgeon, Mr. Rice (Jonathan Hogan) are randomly interspersed as each characters tells his/her version of the story.  The result is a documentary-style disclosure of the events in Molly's life. 

Director Charlotte Moore has divided the small Irish Rep stage into thirds, characters trapped in their respective boxes and waiting their turn to speak.  The performances were competent and delved into the emotions of the premise, but like the story, they were not compelling.  The medical details are slightly interesting, but I found myself wondering early in the first act why this was a play. The story is neither inherently theatrical nor Irish, inspired by An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by neurologist Oliver Sacks.

Molly Sweeney has just extended its run through April 10.  Tickets available at The Irish Repertory Theater website.

Gruesome Playground Injuries

"Gruesome Playground Injuries" at Second Stage Theatre, February3, 2011

Despite some excellent make-up effects, Rajiv Joseph's two-hander about two friends who spend their lives meeting up at the emergency room with injuries ranging from nausea to sprained angles to missing teeth and eyes doesn't quite find a focus.  (I could practically hear Darren McGavin saying, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid.")  Mr. Joseph adds to the confusion by bouncing the plot in non-sequential five year increments.

Pablo Schreiber is Doug, whose injuries are always much more physically damaging than those of Kayleen, played by Jennifer Carpenter.  Both make a valiant effort to bring credibility to their roles, but the evening is undercut the painfully overlong transitions when the actors must change their costumes and sets themselves.   Ms. Carpenter is, to quote a casting director I once heard, "strong by wrong."  I'd like to see her again in a role that suits her better.  Mr. Schreiber is much stronger than his material, as well as being a good bit more physically robust than the accident-prone character he portrays.

Director Scott Ellis does well enough getting the most from his actors, but he's held them back as well, particularly with the mechanics of scene transitions.  The best feature of this play is Neil Patel's open set, which allows additional seating on what is traditionally the upstage area.  Drawers and cabinets open on each end, and acrylic compartments provide a quick wash to clean up after some of the more "gruesome" accidents.  Donald Holder's lighting maximizes the set's ingenuity.

Gruesome Playground Injuries closed February 20, 2011.

The New York Idea

"The New York Idea" presented by Atlantic Theater Company at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, January 30, 2011

I'm not sure if it's the play itself, or just this latest adaptation by David Auburn, but Langdon Mitchell's premise of a divorced woman, newly engaged to a divorced man was better told by the prolific Phillip Barry in The Philadelphia Story, which premiered on Broadway some six years after The New York Idea's last revival.  One can't help but wonder if Mr. Barry had seen that production.

Set in 1906, Mr. Mitchell's work plods through the unseemliness of divorce at the time, punctuated by the dithering and frowns of the mother and aunt of the groom.  The result is an evening of theatrical fluff, verging on lint.

The cast is up for the game and make noble if unsuccessful efforts to breathe life into the stodgy plot.  As Cynthia Karslake (the divorced bride-to-be), Jaime Ray Newman is perky, but trapped.  Jeremy Shamos's John Karslake, her ex, comes across as mostly embarrassed to be caught up in the proceedings, and not from just his character's perspective.

The most fun to be had is by Francesca Faridany as Vida Phillmore, the groom's ex-wife.  Coming from her recent turn in the title role of Orlando at Classic Stage Company, she gives her best take on a nouveau vamp, bohemian and "modern."  It demonstrates a nice departure from her previous role.

Set designer Allen Moyer gives us a luscious and efficient, Austrian-shade draped set with a rotating collection of fireplaces to represent each location.  Michael Krass' gowns are beautiful.

If only the visual production were enough to make all this effort worthwhile.  The New York Idea runs through February 26.

Playwrights Horizons Discount Offer - Kin

Special KIN offer for Third Row, Mezzanine blog readers!
Order by March 21 with code KINGR and tickets are only:

• $40* (reg. $70) for the first 16 perfs (Feb. 25 – March 10)
• $55 (reg. $70) for all remaining performances March 11 – April 3

HOW TO ORDER:

• Order online at www.ticketcentral.com. Use code KINGR.
• Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)
• Present a printout of this blog post to the Ticket Central box office at 416 West 42nd Street (Noon-8pm daily).

*A limited number of $40 discounted tickets will be available for purchase. Subject to availability. Valid only in select rows.