Kristin Salaky - Page 7

It's a somewhat tricky business describing what makes Donald Margulies' new play, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment - The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself), a worthwhile venture without revealing details best discovered during the performance. Those familiar with the true story of de Rougemont will know exactly what I'm referring to but I'd advise those new to the facts to resist Googling for answers before taking in Primary Stages' charming new production.

'I'm a retired businessman,' the title character of Richard Krevolin and Joseph Bologna's new solo play, Lansky, keeps insisting. 'An honest businessman who kept clean and accurate books.'

Although operetta wasn't completely on its way out when Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II brought Music In The Air to Broadway in 1932, the popularity of the genre was indeed waning a bit as jazzy and witty scores by the likes of George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart and Cole Porter dominated the decade's theatre music. But the creators of Show Boat, just five years earlier, weren't done quite yet.

While waiting for my guest to return from the ladies room after Monday night's performance of J.T. Rogers' White People, I amused myself by observing the faces of those exiting the theatre and waiting for the elevator to take them up to street level. The white people in the audience were generally very quiet with serious faces that suggested they were deep in thought. The non-white people I observed all displayed that healthy vibrancy that comes with taking in a lively evening of exhilarating theatre; particularly the woman with the Obama baseball cap who was happily chatting away with her companions and the young man who was sitting in front of me during the show, whose hearty laughter throughout the 90 minute piece told the whole room he was having a ball.

If you can't tell the players without a scorecard at Charles Busch's charming new comedy, The Third Story, or if you need to visit the rest room in the middle of act one and, when you return to your seat, you get the strangest feeling you've entered the wrong auditorium, that's perhaps a little bit of what the playwright had in mind.

I don't know if Carol Burnett ever spoofed Hedda Gabler on her celebrated television variety show, but if she did I'm sure her reaction to a major plot twist late in Ibsen's 1890 drama would have been somewhat similar to Mary-Louise Parker's bug-eyed, open-mouthed, head-shaking, hands on cheeks shtick that drew appreciative howls from the audience at the press performance I attended. I suppose such an acting choice is consistent with a production that frequently has Michael Cerveris, as her bland academic husband, Jorgen Tesman, flashing goofy grins at his new bride while Paul Sparks, as her ex-lover, Eljert Lovborg, emotionlessly barks out his words of passion. Meanwhile, Peter Stormare, as the manipulative Judge Brack, appears to be playing 'Where's Waldo' with his sing-songy accent. (I lost count, but I believe this production has more accents than characters.)

While New York's cabaret scene is filled with great performers who work exclusively in clubs, a great deal on the genre's legendary names (Andrea Marcovicci, Julie Wilson & Karen Akers, just to name a few) first became known through musical theatre. Certainly, the songs of great theatre composers and lyricists are the staples of cabaret and each year new Broadway names try their hand at the solo stage. Our new poll asks BroadwayWorld readers about their interest in cabaret.

When the York Theatre first presented its mainstage mounting of Enter Laughing back in September I wrote that, while far too early to tell, it might well wind up being the funniest, most entertaining production of a musical we'll see this season. Four months later, I must admit that it has indeed been topped... by itself. After taking a hiatus while the space was committed for another show, director Stuart Ross' slam-bang mounting returns to the York a little funnier, a little snazzier and featuring the best male leading performance in a musical the season has seen thus far.

Count me among the many who consider Wilde's 1895 manners masterpiece to be the funniest play ever penned in the English language. Unfortunately, I've seen too many productions that seemed so focused on petty annoyances like character development and acting choices that they've missed the obvious fact that Earnest is a vehicle for some of Wilde's most t-shirt and coffee mug worthy witticisms:

Whether the title of Richard Greenberg's bitterly comic 1990 drama brings to mind a hotel package with all meals included or a corporate union-busting practice, it can be argued that both interpretations refer to methods of maximizing gain while minimizing responsibility. And while both definitions play supporting roles in The American Plan, a third variation on the theme - marry well, be an excellent spouse and secretly carry on with your less-than-affluent lover - takes center stage.

For the past few weeks I've been enjoying Gotham's slight theatrical lull that began just before Christmas and seems to have ended with the inauguration. Oh, it's not that nothing has been opening, but the relative scarcity of new Broadway shows and high-profile Off-Broadway productions has given me more time than usual to check out the goings-on Off-Off Broadway. While figuring out what could fit into my schedule, a recent column by my friend and esteemed colleague Peter Filichia, singing enthusiastic praise for The Roundtable Ensemble's Equity showcase of Linda Escalera Baggs' tense and heart-ripping drama, Silent Heroes, sent me scrambling through old emails to see who to contact for press tickets. Alas, as I'm writing these words there are only three performances remaining for this excellent production (Friday at 8, Saturday at 3 and 8), but at the recession-friendly price of only $18, this very well acted and conversation-stimulating 90 minutes is well worth squeezing into your weekend.

ImagiNe You're in Washington DC watching your father receive the National Medal of Arts, but you're more exited about dad's co-honoree, the man who helped turn your life in a direction away from your father, Stephen Sondheim. That was the unique experience of Dan Guerrero, star and author of ¡Gaytino!, the very funny and informative solo play about his personal clashing of Mexican and gay cultures that recently closed a two-night run as one of the final productions seen at the beloved Zipper Factory.

'Exciting' is not a word normally associated with productions of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Heartwarming? Sure. Chilling? When its climax is done well, certainly. But director David Cromer's non-traditional take on the play - which remains completely faithful to the author's text and themes - is one of the most exciting theatre events of the season.

I just got back from Avery Fisher Hall, where Frank Rich was partaking in a fireside chat (sans fireside) with Stephen Sondheim. I scribbled down as much as I could from the 90 minute conversation. Some of the more interesting topics included the inability for most theatre critics to critique the music in a musical and the greater gratification Sondheim gets from composition than lyric writing because of the way language can restrict him from expressing exactly what he wants to say. ('There are very few lyrics that are perfect lyrics.') I wish there was more time to discuss his observation that Jerry Bock's music has the same edginess as Fred Ebb's lyrics and John Kander's outpouring of music matches Sheldon Harnick's elegant lyrics, giving great dramatic tension to the songs of both teams.

That is, if I have anything to do with it. Who is Savannah Rafferty? Well, my dear readers may remember 2-year-old Savannah singing 'Don't Cry For Me, Argentina' in my year-end column, '2008's Ten Memorable Theatre Moments You May Have Missed.'

In my 30+ years of Broadway theatergoing there have been a few special moments that I know will stick in my memory forever. Michael Jeter dancing his giddy Charleston in Grand Hotel, is one example. Jerry Orbach, in 42nd Street, proclaiming 'musical comedy' as, 'the most glorious words in the English language,' is another. I witnessed the newest addition to my little list at Wednesday night's performance of Soul of Shaolin, when Yu Fei stood on the Marquis Theatre stage, lifted his left leg straight up in the air with his foot to the ceiling, then leaned over and hit the floor in a perfect split, groin first. He did it again at curtain call.

Although no one under 16 is permitted to enter the Duo Theatre for Company XIV's playfully sexy theatre/dance piece, The Judgment of Paris, there's really, as they say in Texas, nothing dirty going on. Perfectly placed within the faded elegance of the cozy 4th Street venue, conceiver/director/choreographer Austin McCormick's literary frolic taken from Greek mythology (he, along with Toby Burns and company members, adapted the text from several sources) mixes aspects of baroque dance with some pop culture and several spirited can-cans to prove one undeniable fact; guys go nuts over blondes.

You don't need an economic crisis to appreciate some good theatre at less than the price of a top shelf martini but at $15 a pop the Fifth Annual Under The Radar Festival (running through Sunday at various venues, but mostly at The Public Theater) can keep you stimulated all day with an international grab bag of adventurous productions for less than the price of freezing your butt off on line to buy a TKTS twofer.

As Broadway prepares for another mounting of Hair, the theatre community has received the sad news that the innovative director who helped make that musical such a success, Tom O'Horgan, has passed away. I asked the legendary and colorful playwright Robert Patrick to share a remembrance...

It's such a shame that Second Stage's crackling production of Becky Shaw, Gina Gionfriddo's comedy of ill manners, is scheduled to close on February 1st. I can't think of a better Valentine's Day entertainment for cynically single urbanites looking to combat the champagne and roses splendor with which the coupled celebrate February 14th than this acidic portrait of the down and dirty business of allowing oneself to be emotionally available. Populated with smart, articulate characters who say clever things while living sad little lives, a night at Becky Shaw can do wonders for the self-esteem of the lonely hearted looking to both be entertained by and feel superior to those in or looking for love.