"I don't believe in astrology. The only stars I can blame for my failures are those that walk about the stage." The grosses are out for the week ending 1/23/2011 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section. Up for the week was: TIME STANDS STILL (15.1%), MEMPHIS (5.8%), AMERICAN IDIOT (1.5%), Down for the week was: CHICAGO (-22.2%), MAMMA MIA! (-17.6%), THE LION KING (-14.8%), MARY POPPINS (-14.4%), LOMBARDI (-14.1%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-13.1%), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (-12.6%), COLIN QUINN: LONG STORY SHORT (-8.3%), BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL (-7.9%), LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (-7.7%), MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET (-6.2%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (-5.0%), JERSEY BOYS (-2.9%), DRIVING MISS DAISY (-2.0%), WICKED (-1.8%), THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (-0.3%),
Posted on: Monday, January 24, 2011 @ 04:06 PM Posted by: Michael Dale
The central figure of Diana Amsterdam's tragedy of manners is a young, terminally ill accountant named Paul (Ted Caine) who spends most of the evening silently lying in a hospital bed surrounded by a carnival of denial. Unable to communicate, it's unclear how much of his wife, Sheila's (Christine Rowan), mask of perkiness he must endure as she forces positive energy into the room with plans for their future and uses an annoyingly motherly tone to praise the fact that he ate a whole half a banana today and kept it all down. Their scenes in Carnival Round The Central Figure alternate with snippets from a televised gospel program, Speak Straight to Jesus, that features a fanatically energetic evangelist (Shane LeCocq), backed up by a frenzied choir, reminding us that death is simply the passing from this world into the next. While Amsterdam offers a promising set-up, the playwright never goes much beyond stating the fact that people generally don't like to talk openly about death. At times she even appears critical of faiths that comfort their followers with the promise of an afterlife. But while the text is too simple and repetitive, director Karen Kohlhaas' production for IRT keeps the evening visually interesting. The modest space is decorated with posters depicting a Mardi Gras skull and strings of light from above suggest we're seated under a carnival tent with an imposing nurse, who occasionally sucks blood out of Paul with an enormous syringe, seated throne-like on a raised platform, observing actors who perform ritualistically in whiteface. The company dives into the material admirably but there just isn't enough there. Photo Danni Simmons and Ted Caine by Deneka Peniston. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Friday, January 21, 2011 @ 05:25 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
First-time playwright Tommy Nohilly seems intent on ramming edgy family dysfunctions in the audience's faces with Blood From A Stone. Unfortunately there's no play underneath to support it all. Director Scott Elliott and The New Group do a heck of a good job covering up the flaws of the text most of the time, but the nearly three hours of animosity and head-banging symbolism can't help looking very silly now and then, despite the skilled ensemble. Ann Dowd, as his mother, Margaret, squeezes empathy out of her role; harshly verbally abusive to her husband, Bill (Gordon Clapp), and clinging to Travis for compassion. One of her complaints against Bill is that he refuses to fix their leaky kitchen ceiling, panels of which occasionally drop to the floor. As Bill, Clapp is a brutish lug who mumbles when he doesn't bellow. A major problem with the play is that we never see anything to suggest this was ever anything more than a hateful pair and when their anger flies over the top, even with these two fine actors, the moments feel more scripted than organic. Thomas Guiry is all meek and baby-faced as younger brother Matt, who has left his wife and kid for a married woman and is trying to pay off his gambling debts by selling stolen goods. A scene where Travis tries to get him to surrender to police waiting outside the door before they come in and arrest him will lack any tension for audience members who have read the program and know that there will be no other characters appearing. Margaret, Bill and Matt all seem defined by their flaws, giving the audience little to care about. The only reasonable well-adjusted family member is Travis' sister Sarah (Natasha Lyonne), who keeps herself distant from the domestic conflicts. The playwright keeps himself distant from Sarah as well, as the character is introduced and soon forgotten. Also seen too briefly is the excellent Daphne Rubin-Vega as his ex, the now unhappily married Yvette. Their post-coital reunion scene, where they evaluate where their lives have gone, contains the play's best writing and is superbly acted. Although, accepting that Yvette is afraid she's no longer sexually attractive, after watching the scantily-clad Ms. Rubin-Vega parading her exceptional figure about the room, does require some suspension of disbelief. Photo of Ann Dowd and Ethan Hawke by Monique Carboni. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 04:49 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
"I'm just an instrument through which La Mama functions. I never dictate.... Maybe it's fatalistic, but I know La Mama has its own spirit and if that spirit wishes to keep going, it will. All I can do is be a part of it." -- Ellen Stewart The grosses are out for the week ending 1/16/2011 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section. Up for the week was: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (5.3%), LOMBARDI (2.1%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (0.1%), Down for the week was: RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY (-24.3%), MARY POPPINS (-12.6%), AMERICAN IDIOT (-12.0%), THE LION KING (-11.8%), JERSEY BOYS (-10.7%), BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL (-8.1%), MEMPHIS (-7.9%), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (-7.6%), COLIN QUINN: LONG STORY SHORT (-6.3%), TIME STANDS STILL (-5.6%), MAMMA MIA! (-4.9%), NEXT TO NORMAL (-4.9%), MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET (-2.7%), CHICAGO (-2.4%), DRIVING MISS DAISY (-1.8%), LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (-1.7%), WICKED (-1.7%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-0.7%),
Posted on: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 @ 08:34 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
How remarkably tragic it is that the triumphant opening night of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, perhaps the greatest comedy ever penned in the English language, was also the event that led to the author's personal downfall and eventual public and financial ruin. And yet Wilde's final theatre piece, subtitled "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" is a divine scoop of fluff representing the artist at his most scathingly clever. But while the last major production of Earnest to hit this area - David Schweizer's mounting seen at Paper Mill - was a madcap laugh-riot, the new Broadway outing helmed by Brian Bedford takes a subtler, more realistic approach to the piece; gently charming its way through three acts and establishing more romance and empathy. Classic observations such as, "More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read," and, "In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing," still land, but inspire more chuckles than guffaws. And while my personal preference would be to play up the individual jokes a bit more, you certainly can't fault Bedford or his exceptional company for a moment of this delightful production. Romantic complications arise when Jack proposes to Algernon's cousin, Gwendolyn (Sara Topham), only to find her love for him has been prompted by a desire to marry a man named Ernest. Later, Algernon becomes smitten with Cecily, only to find that she too has latched on to this fashion of desiring a husband named Ernest. Hovering over the romantic dealings is Bedford himself, as Gwendolyn's socially-conscious mother, Lady Bracknell. Played straight and without a moment of camp, Bedford's Bracknell puts up a shield of haughtiness to cover her fear of not giving the best of appearances; giving her stern exterior a layer of sympathetic softness. (Exemplary of the production's realistic approach is that Bracknell's most famous comic line, one that is often used to compare and define different interpretations of the role, seems to be uttered here with no intention of getting a laugh.) But it's the frivolity of the young lovers that makes Earnest fizz and Bedford has produced a formidable foursome. Fontana's Algernon is a snarky adolescent who matures as he grows more and more in love with Cecily; played by Parry with breezily controlling femininity. Topham's Gwendolyn is a youthful replica of her mother's social-climbing seriousness and much of the fun of Furr's awkwardly proper Jack comes from how the scenes where he courts Gwendolyn mirror those where he tries to win Lady Bracknell's approval. Nobody tops Paxton Whitehead when it comes to playing jolly old English gentlemen and his skills are put to fine use as Reverend Chasuble; particularly when paired with Dana Ivey, whose no-nonsense teacher Miss Prism melts just a bit into girlish flirtatiousness in his presence. Desmond Heeley's sets and costumes provide a subdued elegance to the affair, perfectly in line with Bedford's gracefully engaging evening. Photos by Joan Marcus: Top: Sara Topham, David Furr and Brian Bedford; Bottom: Dana Ivey and Paxton Whitehead. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 @ 05:24 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
I imagine Richard Skipper must approach his embodiment of Carol Channing a bit differently than most successful female celebrity impersonators. When doing Barbra or Eartha or Ethel there are certain idiosyncrasies one can latch onto and exaggerate as punch lines. Channing, however, has always presented herself on stage as a sort of self-satire. To broaden up what is already such an extreme can easily slip into vulgar mockery. Thus the show, directed by Mark Robert Gordon, becomes less about Skipper's impersonation and more about admiring the lady he honors. It's no wonder that the Broadway legend herself is one of his biggest fans. With music director John Fischer leading a three-piece combo, the standards you expect from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Hello, Dolly! are naturally included (plus Dolly's tender "oak leaf" monologue, serving as a reminder of what an underrated actress Channing is) as well as her big Thoroughly Modern Millie number, "Jazz Baby" and the Ervin Drake novelty song, "Widow's Weeds." And there are anecdotes about David Merrick and Jerry Herman and Jule Styne, but it's during Skipper's frequent interactions with the audience where he truly gives us a sense of Channing and her genius for sharp-witted eccentricity. Innocuous exchanges with patrons get whipped into gags throughout the evening. At one point a male viewer is invited to come on stage for the star to teach him a little dance for "Bye, Bye, Baby." The night I attended, the gregarious guest wasn't lacking for hamminess and Skipper was generous enough to allow him to steal the moment, just as you might expect Ms. Channing would have been delighted to do. But woe to those who might casually flip through their programs during a performance, as they'll be dealt with firmly, though charmingly. If I have any reservation, and this is more a matter of personal preference, it's that the stories and songs are all very familiar to anyone with more than a basic knowledge of Carol Channing's Broadway career. Time used for songs introduced by others ("Broadway Baby," "Gee, But It's Good To Be Here") might be more interestingly spent with material from The Vamp or Show Girl. But you can't blame a gal for sticking with the crowd-pleasers, nor can you blame a fella. And pleasing a crowd is something both Ms. Channing and Mr. Skipper know plenty about. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Friday, January 14, 2011 @ 03:14 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
Dear Glenn Beck, So you really loved Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark? Good for you! I'm glad you had a great time and I think it's terrific that you shared your enthusiasm for the show with your listeners, encouraging them to buy tickets and have the same swell time you had. Except you completely discredit yourself by prefacing your remarks with ridiculous generalizations about the New York theatergoing public that are based on unfounded clichés. You say theatre lovers don't like rock music. Ever hear of a little show called Hair, big guy? You say we think having actors flying around cheapens the theatre? Yeah, that's why Mary Martin's performance in Peter Pan is so lowly regarded by us all. And you say we don't like musicals based on comic book characters? Got two words for ya, genius... An. Nie. Look, you do what you want when you're talking politics, but when you step up to the Sardi's bar to mix with the musical theatre crowd you play by our rules, and that means freely expressing your opinions and then respecting anyone's opposing viewpoint. And by the way, they're called understudies, not stand-ins. You want to hang with the theatre kids, you learn the lingo. Saltpeter, Michael Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Thursday, January 13, 2011 @ 12:17 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
The old showbiz adage about always leavin' 'em wanting more isn't always the best advice, as exemplified Adam Bock's fascinating, understated and, in the end, frustratingly incomplete, A Small Fire. In his usual fashion, especially when teamed up, as he is here, with director Tripp Cullman, Bock takes us on an engrossing journey just beyond the outer edges of reality. There is some extraordinary scene work, both in his writing and in the collaborative efforts of the director and his two superlative leads, Michele Pawk and Reed Birney. But while the 80-minute production satisfies in so many ways, the text also leaves out too many delicious details. Pawk hits the mark perfectly as Emily Bridges, the hard-shelled, softie on the inside owner of a construction company, first seen administering some tough love on her second in command, Billy, played by Victor Williams; loveable and engaging as a sensitive lug who races homing pigeons. While the plans for her daughter's (Celia Kennan-Bolger) wedding are in full swing Emily, as evidenced by her inability to notice a small kitchen fire, inexplicable loses her sense of smell. Other senses gradually follow and she is forced to become dependent on her husband, John (Birney), a situation the fiercely independent woman is not going to settle into easily. What could easily slip into a melodramatic tear-jerker is made more touching by the production's lack of sentimentality. Emily's humiliation at needing help to get dressed for her daughter's wedding is conveyed by Pawk with simple, matter-of-fact resignation. A wonderfully written and played scene at the reception has John, whose senses seem to wthen as Emily's diminish, excitedly describing the event for her. Another moving scene has Billy describing for John his recollections of losing a boyfriend to AIDS. But the play seems to lack its bookends. The reasons for the strained relationship between Emily and her daughter are left unexplored, giving Kennan-Bolger little of depth to do. More critical, though, is that the final moments suggest a powerful new intimacy between Emily and John (climaxing in a hilarious moment, courtesy of Ms. Pawk), leaving us dangling a bit as to what will happen when everything the play seems to be leading up to eventually occurs. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 02:50 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
"I'm a bad liar. I don't know what to say backstage." The grosses are out for the week ending 1/9/2011 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section. Up for the week was: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (19.3%), LA BETE (18.1%), A FREE MAN OF COLOR (12.2%), A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (9.7%), ROCK OF AGES (5.9%), NEXT TO NORMAL (5.1%), IN THE HEIGHTS (4.5%), RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY (2.4%), DRIVING MISS DAISY (1.2%), LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (0.7%), Down for the week was: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-19.7%), MARY POPPINS (-15.4%), MAMMA MIA! (-13.3%), CHICAGO (-12.6%), MEMPHIS (-9.0%), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (-7.7%), AMERICAN IDIOT (-7.1%), LOMBARDI (-5.1%), THE LION KING (-4.6%), TIME STANDS STILL (-2.6%), JERSEY BOYS (-2.3%), BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL (-2.3%), MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET (-2.2%), COLIN QUINN: LONG STORY SHORT (-0.2%),
Posted on: Monday, January 10, 2011 @ 05:52 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
I'll resist the temptation to call director Paul Alexander's Off-Broadway mounting of Dracula anemic or toothless, but will note his remarkable achievement of assembling a production that manages to be aggressively bad in so many ways and yet never achieves the "you gotta see how bad this is" status. Though plagued by inept acting, questionable character choices, cheap-looking (and sounding) effects and a glacial pace, the evening is too dull to be enjoyed on any level. The only scary aspect of this moodless production is that the most understated performance is being given by George Hearn. Keeping it low-key as Professor Van Helsing, the mounting's name star escapes with his dignity, as does Timothy Jerome as Dr. Seward. I'll lean toward blaming the director for the performances of the supporting cast, which range from ineffectual to inexplicable. John Buffalo Mailer's drawling Renfield certainly goes for the jugular during his mad scenes and Rob O'Hare, as attendant Butterworth, deserves sympathy for having his big moment undercut by the decision to display his character's fright by having his hair stiffly molded into a standing-on-end cowlick. When Hearn, cradling the lad's head in his arms in an attempt to calm him, tries petting the hair down, you might, if you're like me, detect just the slightest expression in the Tony-winning actor's sorrowful eyes that seems to be trying to say to the audience, "I know. I'm sorry." Photo of Michel Altieri and George Hearn by Carol Rosegg. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Sunday, January 09, 2011 @ 04:27 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
No, that nice young man offering to pour you a glass of wine as you enter the New York Theatre Workshop's auditorium is not an intern or an Equity membership candidate earning weeks; it's one of the three madcap musicians who will be spending the next two hours trading punch lines, wheeling a trio of pianos around the stage and, somehow through it all, taking the inspiration for their antics from Franz Schubert's 1827 song cycle, Winterreise. Under the direction of Rachel Chavkin, who I imagine faced the same sort of challenges as whoever it was who directed The Ritz Brothers, writer/arranger/performers Rick Burkhardt, Alec Duffy and Dave Malloy offer a modern variation of that theme with Three Pianos. With set designer Andreea Mincic's classic wintery view of a church and its graveyard in the background, the action is triggered by Rick and Alec's attempt to help mend Dave's newly broken heart via Schubert's setting of Wilhelm Müller's series of 24 poems telling the story of another broken-hearted lover. Playgoers should not expect a complete or well-sung presentation of the song cycle. That's not the point. What matters more is the display of affectionate camaraderie as the wine-flowing festivities lead to pronouncements such as, "Schubert was all drunk and stoned when he was writing." The boys are a charming trio and while the evening has its slower stretches, most of it is good fun. Just expect to leave the theatre knowing more about Schubert as "a guy" than as an artist. Photos of Dave Malloy, Alec Duffy and Rick Burkhardt by Joan Marcus. ************************************* Less glitzy than the Rockettes and a lot funnier than Messiah, the annual winter performances by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players never fail to fill me with holiday cheer; especially when they're serving up that delicious old chestnut, The Mikado. First performed in 1885, The Mikado remains one of the English language's funniest and most sumptuously musical theatre pieces. Inspired by the British fascination with Japanese style and culture in the late 1800's, it may be set in the fictitious town of Titipu in long-ago Japan, but it's clearly English manner and politics that W.S. Gilbert's libretto is spoofing. The story concerns a meek tailor named Ko-Ko who has been sentenced to be beheaded for the crime of flirting, but the people of Titipu decide instead to appoint him Lord High Executioner, figuring that since he's next in line to be executed, he can't cut off anyone else's head until he cuts his own off. Ko-Ko plans to marry his lovely ward Yum-Yum, but she's in love with the wandering minstrel named Nanki-Poo. When a dispatch from The Mikado of Japan advises that, since no one in Titipu has been executed for a year, somebody's head has to roll soon, otherwise... well, heads will roll. Performed in the traditional D'Oyly Carte style, this is very much the same production the company has been offering for three and a half decades (stage and music direction by conductor, artistic director and set designer Albert Bergeret) and while I believe this to be my fourth visit to NYGASP's version of Titipu, the proceedings remain fresh, lively, humorous and energetically sung and played. Though the company double-casts its roles, this was the third time I've been treated to seeing the immensely entertaining patter clown Stephen Quint as Ko-Ko. Nimble with quips and physical comedy, Quint conveys the loveable pathos of a very verbal Harpo Marx. Caitlin Burke makes for a non-traditionally youthful and attractive Katisha, Nanki-Poo's royally-intended bride. While the character is written to be "plain of face" her fierce Kabuki makeup and cat-like physicality give her a dangerous allure. Instead of offering, "beauty in the bellow of the blast," her powerful voice is wrapped in inviting textures. David Wannen's smooth and rich bass gives the humor of the title role extra oomph and fine comical turns are also provided by Louis Dall'Ava, encased in an oversized fat suit as the enterprising Pooh-Bah, a smarmy Edward Prostak as nobleman Pish-Tush and Amy Maude Helfer, whose flirty Pitti-Sing is sung with an expressive mezzo. Cameron Smith sings with a charming glint as the juvenile Nanki-Poo and Sarah Smith's soprano is just lovely as his beloved Yum-Yum. As is traditional with The Mikado, topical references are added to the mix, particularly with Ko-Ko's "little list" song pointing out potential heads for the executioner's block. Lyrics referencing Tea Partiers, Jersey Shore stars and the snowbound New York Sanitation Department received appreciative laughter, and with congress back in session this week, new lyrics might be available any day now. Photo by Noah Strone. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Friday, January 07, 2011 @ 10:39 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
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