Hedda Gabler

"Hedda Gabler" presented by Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, January 8, 2009

Ibsen's great heroine...in a new adaptation that is both literal and anachronistic at the same time.

Here's another one I had really high hopes for, although I'll admit to having a few feelings of wariness about it. I'm a big Mary Louise Parker fan - "Weeds"? Love her, all the way back to "Longtime Companion." "Proof" blew me away - what an amazing tour-de-force performance!

Then I hear that the Roundabout is producing "Hedda Gabler" which I found a bit curious after the fairly recent and most excellent production featuring Cate Blanchett at BAM.

Disclaimer: I did see a fairly early preview, so there may be some issues that resolve themselves before opening.

Director Ian Rickson, coming off a lovely (if partly miscast) "Seagull" starts out with some eerie mood music and the first of several bizarrre "furniture ballets" which never really seem to indicate anything about the play or move the story along. The static and irregular staging became difficult to follow, particularly in a slow passage before Hedda shoves Lovborg's hand up her dress as she shoves her tongue down his throat. If that sentence sounds jarring, imagine that same response when you see it performed.

And don't get me started on fumbling lines.

Ms. Parker fully commits to her role, but here our Hedda is so disdainful and contemptuous of everyone around her, it's hard to imagine what has earned her such reverence and respect. She insults, dismisses, stalks and plots with total disregard for those around her. It isn't until Act II that she even touches her husband with anything nearing tenderness. Michael Cerveris' Jorgen Tesman bows and scrapes to the point of humiliation - not one of his finer performances.

Christopher Shinn's adaptation comes up short on subtlety and long on sarcasm. I think others have done better with this material. Hildegard Bechtler's tall and heavy set creates more viewing problems than it solves, moving some action so far to stage right that much of the audience can't see what's going on, as well as a small dark room upstage center that distracts more than it hides. Ann Roth's costumes are an eclectic mix of period and Art Nouveau.

I really wanted it to be good - I really did.

Star watch: Annie Parisse in the audience.

The American Plan

"The American Plan" presented by Manhattan Theatre Club at the Biltmore Theatre, January 8, 2009

Richard Greenberg's latest outing on the Rialto is a revival of his fractured fairy tale of sorts, set in a Catskills resort area in 1960.

The princess, Lili Adler (Lily Rabe) sits on a dock watching the social games going on across the lake at the all-inclusive and exclusive resort. Her callow and flawed prince, Nick Lockridge (Kieran Campion) climbs from his swim across the lake onto the dock to join her, apparently unaware that the property is not part of the hotel.

Lili's widowed mother Eva (Mercedes Ruehl), controls the ample purse strings left from her father's death, and the accusations quickly begin. "She murdered him, my father, you know." Eva enjoys her notoriety among the summer guests who refer to her as the Duchess or Czarina ("One should always have a population one can be superior to!"). Rounding out the household is Olivia (Brenda Pressley), the maid.

Seeing such a damsel in distress, Nick is soon enthralled to save her despite already being engaged to a social climber at the hotel, but has motives of his own. Family fortune lost, mother dead, his father was killed when cleaning his gun. Lili forces Nick's loyalty when she starts a rumor that he has an STD. This ends the engagement, not because the fiance' is disgusted, but because she fears she may have been the one to give it to him.

Eva, after some research of her own, learns some of Nick's secrets and rather than use them to get rid of the boy, she lures him into her own trap masked in goodwill. After Gil Harbison (Austin Lysy), another hotel visitor, wanders onto the property several week later, the plot thickens with some not unexpected Greenberg plot twists over who is telling the truth and when.

The story moves well enough at the lakeside, but Mr. Greenberg has tacked on an epilogue of sorts which takes place ten years later in the Adler's NYC apartment. Eva has died and Nick turns up to see Lili - it was never really clear why he came, nor were the protests heard outside her window given so much attention. Their cause was never stated, presumably Columbia students protesting the Vietnam war, but who knows?

As Lili, Ms. Rabe captures the manic child who can't escape the safe, if cloying, clutches of her domineering mother. Mr Campion, who makes his first entrance in only bathing trunks (thankfully!), masks his character a bit too much, leaving his performance slightly lacking. Ms. Pressley avoids the stereotype of household staff (unlike those in "Dividing The Estate"), in a slightly underwritten role.

It is Ms. Ruehl who commands every moment she is on stage. Though the German accent tended to obscure her lines, the character was always clear. She's the monster who suspects she may be a monster, enough so to tell other that possibility exists, but in the end fulfills the foregone conclusion without admitting the truth.

Jonathan Fensom, whose WWI trenches for last year's "Journey's End" evoked such cool dampness has put a nice spin on this revolving set, a tilting dock on a glassy black floor. He has also repeated the use of a traveling curtain for changes, quite similar to his design for "Faith Healer" from 2006. Mark McCullough's lighting completes the effect nicely.

Director David Grindley, who sat silently in the back of the orchestra section as cell phones and pagers continuously sounded during both acts, could work a bit on the pace. The show opens in two weeks, so time remains to tighten up scenes and get all the lines down cold.

I would hope that Manhattan Theatre Club might invest a bit of the Dentyne money to toss out some of the offending cell phone using ticket-holders, since the company sponsored the pre-show announcements and program stuffers. Shame on the offenders and shame on MTC for their inaction afterwards!

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.

Dividing the Estate

"Dividing the Estate" at the Booth Theatre, January 1, 2009

(photo by Joan Marcus)

Horton Foote's version of a Tennessee Williams premise left a bit of a disappointing legacy for me, despite what should have been an excellent cast.

I had decided to see this show mostly to see Elizabeth Ashley. Much to my disappointment, Miss Ashley (or Ahsley, as it was spelled on the notice) was out for this performance and her role was played by less than impressive Jill Tanner. It's got to be terrifically difficult to serve as an understudy on a Broadway show, and I don't mean to diminish Ms. Tanner's efforts. However, minimum requirements when stepping in are to know ALL of the lines as well as NOT throwing away ALL of the jokes. Sadly, Ms. Tanner failed on both counts.

I found the plot relatively predictable, telegraphing character deaths in short order. I also found several characters to be severely one-dimensional, either by script, direction or performance. It was sometimes difficult to tell which was most at fault.

There were one or two bright spots. Penny Fuller as Lucille turns in a lovely performance as the widowed daughter fighting for her son's legacy. Hallie Foote's portrayal of Lucille's sister, the greedy and selfish Mary Jo took until the second act for me to find any note of character shading. The rest of the cast fell victim to either stereotype (in the case of the house staff roles) or wooden delivery (in the case of Devon Abner, Maggie Lacey, Nicole Lawrence and Jenny Dare Paulin).

Jeff Cowie's set works hard to cram in the plethora of features required by the script, but doing so ultimately compromised the grand, but fading elegance of the family manse.

Director Michael Wilson provides a meandering pace giving room to allow the mouse I saw crossing the house left aisle to upstage the entire first act. (Really, a mouse in the aisle!)

Pal Joey

"Pal Joey" presented by Roundabout Theatre Company at Studio 54, December 2, 2008

In its first Broadway revival since 1976, the Roundabout has assembled a fairly impressive cast and creative team of the Rodgers and Hart classic. With a new book by Richard Greenberg (who either left much of Mr. Hart's original zingers, or significantly studied up on his Noel Coward) the story has been streamlined a bit (farewell Melba Snyder), maintaining the sophistication that is the hallmark of Rodgers and Hart. I did question the new subplot for Mike, the club manager (Robert Clohessy), though it works overall.

As Joey, Peggy Sawyer Matthew Risch has leapt from the chorus to land above the title, replacing Christian Hoff. (Mr. Hoff withdrew as the result of a "foot injury.") Mr. Risch, dark and handsome, is a talented dancer and acquits himself well in the book scenes. Stockard Channing returns to Broadway for the first time since 1999's revival of "Lion In Winter" (also courtesy of the Roundabout). Her Vera is classy, though a bit breathless in song (perhaps she's strapped in a bit too tightly in William Ivey Long's gorgeous gowns?).

For me, it's Martha Plimpton who steals the show as Gladys Bumps. Mr. Greenberg's rewrite has tossed "Zip" her way in Act II - who knew she could sing? She's well on her way to a Bea Arthur-baritone. I can't wait to see what she'll do next.

Ms. Plimpton and Ms. Channing both owe a debt to Graciela Danielle for choreography that swirls the company around each (a la Faith Prince in "Guys and Dolls"). The choreography is excellent overall, but the ballet ending Act I did feel a bit creaky from time to time. Paul Gemignani maintains his standard of excellence with the 16 piece orchestra, though there were times when singers suffered as a result, particularly Mr. Risch and Jenny Fellner as Linda English.

Scott Pask's creative set did feel either a bit over designed or underused. The El train scaffold begged for more attention than just to create extra shadows in Paul Gallo's excellent lighting.

Mr. Mantello should be proud of his work here, creatively staged with fine performances from all.

UPDATE: John Lahr offers a nice analysis with some valuable comparisons between the original book by John O'Hara and the new book by Richard Greenberg. Check it out here.

Streamers

"Streamers" presented by Roundabout at Laura Pels Theatre, November 15, 2008

Set in an army barrack during 1965, three roommates, Richie (Hale Appleman), Billy (Brad Fleischer) and Carlyle (Ato Essandoh) navigate the politics of race and sex. Richie's crush on Billy is either his running joke, or one to disguise the truth of it. Carlyle, the African American with two white roommates is just trying to keep his head down and survive. Billy wants everyone to get along and act "normal."

Roger (JD Williams) shows up, fresh from basic training, looking for a fellow "brother" to connect with in the white man's army of the Vietnam era. He's a loose cannon, foretelling from where the trouble will arise.

Sgt. Rooney (John Sharian) and Sgt. Cokes (Larry Clarke) are tossed in as a tension source, but end up as little more than comic relief until the brutal events of Act II.

David Rabe's play falls victim at times to the period in which it was written, but there are some themes (though clumsily explored) that still ring true regarding class and sexual identity. Mr. Appleman gets the most to work with here and gives a fine performance. Messrs Fleischer and Essandoh are almost as good, pulling what they can from the script. Mr. Williams has flashes of brilliance, but remains inconsistent.

Scott Ellis does well to keep the pace moving and has elicited strong and moving performances from his company. Rick Sordelet should be commended for the fight choreography. It's better than much of what I've seen of late.

Neil Patel's set holds up well to the abuse of the action, complemented by Jeff Croiter's lights. Tom Broecker's costumes are appropriate, but someone should tell Sgt. Rooney that his belt is to be worn brass-on-brass, not flopping around like a curtain tassel. A true sergeant would know that, regardless of his flaws or shortcomings.

What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling

"What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling" at New World Stages, November 14, 20008

After a limited run at Atlantic Theatre's Stage 2, David Pittu's take on an off-Broadway composers has transferred to New World Stages for an open-ended run.

Mr. Pittu has managed to capture the painful essence of Jacob Sterling, an off-Broadway wannabe-but-doesn't-really-have-the-talent theatre composer who is still trying to make it to the bright lights of the Great White Way.

Set as an episode of a small-time cable show, "Composers and Lyricists Of the Theatre," (CLOT) is hosted by Leonard (Peter Bartlett effectively recreating his last role in Paul Rudnick's "The New Century" at Lincoln Center), who finds the inane and convoluted material to be one of America's undiscovered treasures.

Jacob Sterling studied at the San Palo Academy for the Study of Music (SPASM), and has been a featured artist at the Cedar Rapids Association for Musical Performance (CRAMP). The puns run rampant and the musical jokes are spot on.

A highlight of Jacob's college career was his musical stage adaptation of the film "Private Benjamin" as a vehicle for Loni Anderson. (Seems the two had a falling out when she learned he'd never inquired about getting the rights to adapt it from Goldie Hawn. He says fondly, "I can still remember my last conversation with Loni when she found out, Burt shouting in the background.")

Then there is his first New York song cycle, inspired by his mother's first visit to NYC. Everywhere they went, she kept asking, "What's that smell?" Inspiration indeed for such lyrics as "Is it cole slaw? Is it cheese? Is it just old meat?"

Directed by Mr. Pittu and Neil Pepe, the pace is fast and the jokes are rapid-fire. The result is hilarious.

Go see it!

Mindgame

"Mindgame" at the Soho Playhouse, November 7, 2008

I know it's still in previews, but it does officially open on Sunday, November 9.

I know it's billed as an acclaimed thriller transferring from London.

I know it has a named star (Keith Carradine) and director (Ken Russell), each with his own reputation for excellence.

The play, by Anthony Horowitz, felt like a warmed-over "Deathtrap." The pace was leaden. The British accents only visited England on occasion.

The set was excellent (Beowulf Boritt).

I left at intermission.

UPDATE: November 10, 2008

Seems Mr. Isherwood shares some of my concerns, here.

Fifty Words

MCC Theatre at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, September 13, 2008

"War of the Roses" meets "Private Lives" (Act II), without the star power of the former, nor the wit and sophistication of the latter.

Michael Weller, now running two shows off-Broadway (the other is The Beast at NYTW), shows a bit of range in these diverse subjects, but still doesn't offer anything more than a "Lifetime" movie as if produced for HBO, complete with unnecessary expletives and a bit of gratuitous nudity.

Adam (Norbert Leo Butz) and Jan (Elizabeth Marvel) appear to have it all. He's an architect with a small boutique firm. She's a former dancer now in an Internet-database start up business of her own. Their only son Greg, age 9, is off for his first sleepover with a friend. Since it's the first time they've been alone together in 9 years, it's the perfect opportunity to confess and batter each other with all the sins, regrets and recriminations that have made up their 18 year relationship.

It begins with inconsequential bickering, which doesn't quite boil up to a full argument, followed by reminiscing over how they met, which does.

He's immature and self-centered. She's cold and insensitive. Fireworks ensue culminating in a slap which leads to a significant episode of passion. He sees the passion as reconcilement. She sees it as one for the road.

Much like The Beast, Mr. Weller has an interesting premise, but it only wanders around itself for an hour and 45 minutes. His Adam and Jan are painfully co-dependent and almost bi-polar. Mood swings of 180 degrees are frequent for both, but only occasionally justified by the script.

Mr. Butz and Ms. Marvel are indisputably talented actors, and muddle through the muck valiantly. They both bring a humanity to their roles that begs the audience's indulgence. For any of you who might have seen "In Treatment" on HBO, the dynamics of their power struggle reminded me of the couple from the first season of that show.

Director Austin Pendleton does well to find the laughs in some of the horror of their battle, but as a one-act the play feels long. the pace is fine, but clocking in at one hour, 45 minutes, he either needs to trim a bit or add an intermission. Too, it's early in previews so there is time before locking the show down for the run.

Neil Patel's Brooklyn brownstone interior is spot on with the Viking range, stainless appliances and Pottery Barn fixtures and accessories, but I think Michelle Habeck as overworked the light plot. For me, the sign of good lighting is not noticing it. I've never seen a first floor kitchen with such cinematic ambiance.

The Beast

New York Theatre Workshop, September 6, 2008

I haven't seen lots of what you might call "political theatre," mostly because that's not the kind of theatre I'm drawn to.

Michael Weller's The Beast, now in previews at NYTW is such a play, pushing a very strong anti-war message. Jimmy Cato (Logan Marshall-Green) is mourning his sergeant, Ben (Corey Stoll) who was died after an attack in Iraq. Both had been wounded and lost limbs (Jimmy's left arm, Ben's right arm) and both were badly burned. Ben died unexpectedly and Jimmy is lost without his hero.

Well, Ben pops up out of the coffin and leads Jimmy on a tour of murder and havoc from Germany to Mt Rushmore to Crawford, Texas (exactly). The stage is not littered with bodies in Shakespearean fashion, but the results are gruesome nonetheless.

As a play, The Beast is still in its developmental stage. Mr. Weller was inspired to write in December of 2007 and finished the script at the end of January 2008 (fast track approval, huh?). He has a strong story and incorporates some very interesting and effective concepts, but it feels particularly unrefined as yet.

In the title role of Ben, Mr. Stoll's make-up becomes an impermeable mask. What's left is a lot of bluster and the sounds of forced emotion. Mr. Weller's script doesn't provide much for him to work from, either. The transitions from ghost to monster reveal appear in toggle switches from one to the other.

As Ben's side-kick Cato (Green Hornet, anyone?) Mr. Marshall-Green is much more successful. He has the advantage of a better-drawn character and a lighter make-up burden to bear. His opening grief over Ben's death is palpable, and we see his excitement at Ben's resurrection slowly degenerate into resentment, then apathy. It's a highly effective performance.

Supporting in multiple roles is Dan Butler, first as a sleazy Captain selling arms intended for US forces in Iraq to terrorists, then as GW (as in George W. Bush), taken hostage by Ben and Jimmy at the end of their quest for a mission with meaning. I won't reveal their horrific plan here (which does involve Mt. Rushmore). Mr. Butler has a grand time playing these two scheming, yet painfully short-sighted men.

Also worth note is Lisa Joyce, playing multiple roles from a German barmaid, to a blind hooker, to Ben's wife. She clearly delineates each character and is almost unrecognizable from one to the next.

Eugene Lee's sets incorporate some interesting concepts. I liked way he kept increasing the number of flag-draped coffin pieces which served as various furniture pieces, building up to a full flag backdrop in the final scene. It's a telling statement, our flag created from the bodies of soldiers killed in a war of questionable purpose and value.

NYTW is also offering the following to you:

Tickets for performances August 29 – September 7 are just $40 each (reg. $65).

Tickets purchased by September 15 for performances September 9 – October 12 are just $45 each (reg. $65).

Use code BST4LES when ordering.

To purchase tickets, call (212) 947-8844 or visit www.broadwayoffers.com

New York Theatre Workshop also offers both Student Tickets and CheapTix Sundays.

CheapTix Sundays: All tickets for all Sunday evening performances at 7pm are just $20 each! Tickets are available in advance but must be purchased at the NYTW box office on a cash-only basis.

Student Tickets: Full-time students with a valid student ID may purchase $20 tickets for all performances (subject to availability). Limit one ticket per ID. Tickets must be purchased in person and require an ID at the box office.

The NYTW box office is located at 79 East 4th Street (between Second Avenue and Bowery) and is open Tuesday - Saturday from 1pm - 6pm.