My guest this week is author Deborah Phillips whose new book is titled: AND THIS IS MY FRIEND SANDY — SANDY WILSON’S THE BOY FRIEND, LONDON THEATRE AND GAY CULTURE. Sandy Wilson's The Boyfriend — for which he wrote the book, music, & lyrics — is one of the most successful British musicals of all time.
Figaro/Figaro: This Plum is Too Ripe
By: Duncan Pflaster
There's nothing a certain brand of playwright likes more than to write a sequel to a popular work, critiquing its flaws, and making art out of the previous work. Ödön von Horváth's 1936 Figaro Gets a Divorce wonders what would happen to the petty and indulgent characters of Pierre Beaumarchais' 1778 play The Marriage of Figaro, when a Communist revolution comes and the noble characters were deposed. In 1994, Eric Overmyer (commissioned by Yale Rep) adapted the two plays together into one evening, called Figaro/Figaro, and now (re:)Directions Theater company tackles the script.
Though Overmyer's text doesn't mention the operas based on the characters, musical director Tom Berger has arranged a roaming group of musicians (Drew Kirschfeld, Jordan Kaplan, Mike Rosengarten, Katrina Stodd, and Elizabeth Helitzer) to set the mood with selections from Mozart and Rossini (the musicians also tackle minor roles in the second play).
The cast is good, though some of them (especially Teddy Alvaro as Figaro) seem to be playing the more somber events of the second act while still in the farcical first. Alvaro, though not the ideal comic for act I, rallies in act II. Ralph Petrarca is a wonderful Count Almaviva, effectively managing the transition between acts. Amy Ludwigsen gives the Countess a quiet dignity. Gillian Wiggin plays the long-suffering Susanna with a mild grace. Katie Yamulla and Andrew Schechter play the comic servants Fanchette and Pedrillo wonderfully, nearly stealing the show. Kathryn Elisabeth Lawson is amusing in the trouser role of Cherubino, though is not very convincing as a horny young man. Drew Hirschfeld is smarmy as an officer with eyes for Susanna, and Katrina Stodd is hilarious as a meddling midwife.
David Withrow's costumes are top-notch, as usual; all brightly colored fairy tale for act I, and drab 30s styles for act II. Jack Blacketer's set looks fine till people actually begin to use it, then it seems as though it might topple at any moment.
Figaro/Figaro is a rather ambitious undertaking, and though this is an adequate production, it seems that this time (re:)Directions Theater bit off more than it can chew.
Figaro/Figaro
Eric Overmyer
14th Street Theater (344 E. 14th Street)
February 27-March 2 at 8pm, March 5-8 at 8pm, March 12-15 at 8pm, March 19-21 at 8pm and a matinee performance on March 22 at 2pm
http://www.redirectionstheatre.com
Photo Credit: Ryan Baxter- Cherubino (Kathryn Lawson) Susanna (Gillian Wiggin) and Count Almaviva (Ralph Petrarca)
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