“Streetcar” & “Purpose” Invigorate NY Spring Theater

Tennessee Williams’ classic plays seem to be particularly well suited to creative reimaginings by talented directors.  Among those directors who have worked theatrical magic reviving Williams’ plays are Sam Mendes, John Tiffany, Sam Gold and Benedict Andrews.  After seeing the latest revival of Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, I must add director Rebecca Frecknall to that list, as her “Streetcar” production is a masterpiece.

Frecknall’s vision, which is amply supported by the text, illustrates the deeply corrosive effects of toxic masculinity run amok, an especially timely topic given the troubling current state of our nation and world. Paul Mescal’s Stanley expertly embodies this toxicity, but Frecknall’s unexpected weapon here is Patsy Ferran’s revelatory performance as Blanche.  Ferran arrives on stage haunted by her own past misguided invocation of society’s masculinity expectations, making her especially vulnerable to Stanley’s bullying rantings which extract a visible toll on her Blanche.  The result is the most empathetic and devastating portrayal of Blanche I have seen.  By the end I was in tears but simultaneously in awe of the unified performances and stagecraft in service of the play’s themes.  Sadly, this short run ends on April 6, and to date I have not heard of plans to film a pro shot to preserve the magic of this revival.

The other current standout production of the NY spring theater season is Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’ outstanding new play “Purpose” at the Hayes Theater through July 6.  I had seen and loved this play at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre last summer, but Mr. Jacobs-Jenkins’ expert revisions and a few cast changes have strengthened this funny and smartly provocative family drama, such that it now plays like an instant American classic.  The acting is across the board sublime, and singling out any of the great performances from the ensemble cast would be disservice.  I have my fingers crossed that this play will win Mr. Jacobs-Jenkins a long overdue Pulitzer Prize.

Samuel D. Hunter’s now closed new play “Grangeville” at Signature Theatre was smaller in scope then his last few plays, but Hunter’s finely tuned writing and terrific performances by its two actors made for yet another compelling and moving work from this prolific playwright.

Silly British humor is not typically my jam, which lowered my expectations for the British import musical “Operation Mincemeat” now playing on Broadway.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at the extent to which I enjoyed this show, which had more wit and heart then I had envisioned.  The show currently features the original cast from London, which includes several of the show’s creators, and if you are inclined to see this show I recommend doing so before the outstanding original cast members depart.

“The Picture of Dorian Gray,” is another import now on Broadway, this one from Australia via London.  It is essentially a one person show with Sarah Snook playing all of the characters either live or via creative uses of live and pre-recorded video.  For most of the play’s first hour I was impressed with the creative melding of video into a live stage show, but eventually I found much of the video content supplanted rather than complemented what was happening on stage.  By the end of its 2 hour length I was getting restless and felt largely numbed.  Ms. Snook gives a largely fine performance, but I wonder if many of the audience accolades that she garners are for her endurance and hard work, as opposed to her live acting expertise.

The college set comedy “All Nighter” now playing at off-Broadway’s MCC theater complex is entertaining with ample humor, but the play would benefit from more depth and a better ending.  

In my view, not worth anyone’s time are the clichéd and repetitive Josh Harmon play “We Had A World” at New York City Center’s Stage II, and the similarly themed Matthew Lombardo play “Conversations With Mother.”  Both mother-gay son focused works suffer from poor writing despite both productions having fine actors making the most of what they can with the underlying scripts.

'Primary Trust' Is Beautifully Rendered in DFW

Eboni Booth's Pulitzer Prize winning play "Primary Trust" is one of the best written and structured plays of the past decade.  It is a deeply empathetic and progressively revealing look at an emotionally damaged young man who struggles to find connection and community in his small Northeastern town.  Much like Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," which "Primary Trust" seems to evoke at times, the challenge for successfully staging this work is to get the tone right so as to evoke an emotionally empathetic audience response.

The production of "Primary Trust" currently playing (through March 23) at Dallas Theater Center features pitch-perfect staging that precisely navigates the right tone throughout its 90 or so minutes of running time.  Critical to the success of this show are the astute direction by one of the Dallas area's finest directors, Sasha Maya Ada, and the uniformly excellent four person cast.  Of particularly note is the astounding performance of Lee George as Kenneth who had me on his side from the moment he uttered his first line and he did not hit a false note throughout.  And I cannot help but commend the multi-character portrayals of Tiana Kaye Blair, who deftly hits her characters' comedic notes without going too broad, enabling her to credibly portray one of her character's dramatic moments as the play progresses.

The physical staging is much more minimalist than the New York Roundabout Theatre off-Broadway premiere that I saw in 2023, but the intimate theater space, spare set, and appropriately timed music underscoring, enabled me to better focus on Ms. Booth's beautifully written and perfectly delivered words.  It made this an even deeper theatrical experience for me. 

This is essential must-see theater if you are in the DFW area over the next two weeks.  It will tug at your heartstrings while at the same time affirming your faith in humanity, something for which most of us are now in critical need.

2024 Theater's 10(ish) Best Shows

As a general matter, theatrically speaking this year was a significant improvement over the last one, and I had no trouble finding 10 plus productions for my annual year end list.  2024 may be most notable for the fresh and innovative revivals of existing works. However, I remain deeply concerned about the future of substanial new non-musical plays, but thanks to several nonprofit theaters in NY & Chicago several excellent new dramas made their way onto the stage in 2024 and onto this list.  

In order of preference my favorite shows of 2024 were:

1. "CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL"[PAC NYC]/ "SUNSET BOULEVARD"

Two revivals of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals topping a list of my favorite shows in any year is a real theatrical "pigs fly" moment for me, but these two revivals provided the most unexpected joy (in the case of "Cats") and awe-induced wonder at the thematically astute stage wizardry (in "Sunset") than I experienced in a theater this year .  Both shows were transportive in the best way imaginable, credit for which must be given to their directors (Zhailon Livingston & Bill Rauch for "Cats" and the Jamie Lloyd Company for "Sunset").  In a year in which trans people were politically scapegoated and reality was twisted and subverted for craven ends, it was unquestionably thrilling to see (in "Cats") a trans performer regally transported to the heavyside layer and experience (in "Sunset") the artifice of the reality bending camera being theatrically exposed.

2. "RAGTIME" [Encores at NY City Center]

When well performed, the Ahrens/Flaherty musical "Ragtime" is a potent mixture of unbounded optimism, followed by crushing defeat by sinisiter forces, ending with declarations of courageous defiance.  With an outstanding cast and orchestra, Lear deBessonant's two week revial of "Ragtime" was extremely well performed and then some, but seeing this just days after the crushing Nov. 5 losses highlighted that the potent mixture described above essentially describes the beats I experienced in the recent election.  For me, and I venture to say for the audibly sobbing audience I saw this with, this revival proved to be a cathartic balm that, together with the astounding performance of Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker, will hopefully help us make it through the next four years. 

3. "LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD"/"PURPOSE" [Steppenwolf Theatre/ Chicago]

Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre 23/24 season hosted world premieres of the two finest new American dramas I saw in 2024.  Both audacious, funny, beautifully written (by, respectively, two of my favorite contemporary playwrights, Samuel D. Hunter and Brandon Jacobs Jenkins) and expertly cast, "Little Bear" broke my heart and "Purpose" enagingly explored many of the societal fractures that plague us today.  Both plays deserve NY runs and serious consideration for the 2025 Pulitzer for Drama.

 4. "OUR TOWN"

I did not think I needed to see another production of Thorton Wilder's classic play, but director Kenny Leon and his fine cast proved to me that new and abundant riches were to be found in this smartly quick, fluid and gorgeously rendered revival that touched me at the core of my being.

5. "MOTHER PLAY"

Paula Vogel's semi-autobiographical play melded Vogel's rich writing, Jessica Lange's tour-de-force lead performance and Tina Landau's expert direction into a potent brew of a deeply empathetic late 20th century memory play that played too few performances to meet the strong audience demand.

6. "THE OUTSIDERS"

While the cast, book and score of this new musical provide many pleasures, the biggest star of this engaging and exciting production is the muscular and fluid direction by Danya Taymor, who working with her fine choreographers (Rick & Jeff Kuperman) conjure up the most memorable and affecting stage fight I have witnessed.

7. "BAD KREYÒL" [Signature Theatre]

Dominique Morisseau's entertaining and excellent new play is a multi-layered look at the familial and societal fissures that are exposed when a young Hatian-American woman visits her Haitan born and based cousin.

8. "THE EFFECT" [The Shed]/ "ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE"

Both of these plays are revivals of works I have previously seen in much weaker productions, and here the elevation of these plays is largely due to Jamie Lloyd's exciting direction of the "The Effect" and Amy Herzog's urgent adapatation and Sam Gold's crystal clear direction of Ibsen's "Enemy."

9.  "YELLOW FACE"

Another big surprise for me, as I had previously seen the 2009 world premiere of this David Henry Hwang play in Los Angeles.  My memory of the uneven 2009 production was that it was too navel gazey of its author, but substantial rewrites and time assisted perspective have greatly improved the humor, wisdom and universality of the play's themes.  A pitch-perfect cast also helped. 

10.  "ILLINOISE"

An innovative jukebox dance-ical that brings to life Sufjan Stevens' 2005 album of the (almost) same name in a way that felt fresh, empathetic and deeply moving.

"Sunset Boulevard" Electrifies Broadway; "Bad Kreyól" Is Off-Broadway's Highlight

"Dynamic," "thrilling," "cutting-edge" and "explosive" are words I could not have imagined being associated with any production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of the Billy Wilder film "Sunset Boulevard."  I saw the 1993 US premiere of this musical in Los Angeles and was largely bored by the lumbering show, which was redeemed only by a levitating stage, a good dramatic (not vocal) performance by Glenn Close, and two hummable songs.

Nevertheless, the above quoted words are those I would use to describe the "Sunset Boulevard" revival now playing on Broadway.  Director Jamie Lloyd uses his theatrical stage magic to deconstruct, then fluidly and stylistically reconstruct the show from start to finish.  Lloyd uses unparalleled sound, lighting and video effects to highlight the skills of his talented cast, which is led by a career defining performance by Nichole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond.  This is a high concept approach that smartly heightens the melodrama and the production stays committed to Lloyd's concept from start to finish.  It is hard to imagine that any musical this season will come close to this stunning work of art.

While off-Broadway plays tackling serious themes are getting harder to find these days, I am happy to report that Dominque Morisseau has premiered her excellent new drama "Bad Kreyól" at Signature Theatre.  The play focuses on a Haitian-American visiting her cousin in Haiti who has a long serving gay male helper.  The relationships between these three primary characters parallel the larger socio-political relationships that the play explores as it progresses.  Impeccably acted (with notable standout performances by Pascale Armand and Jude Tibeau) and directed (by Tiffany Nichole Greene), the play is beautifully structured, intricately layered and thoughtful.  If you are in New York before "Bad Kreyól" closes on December 1, I highly recommend seeing it.

Also well worth seeing is Jez Butterworth's British import "The Hills of California," which again has Butterworth teaming with director Sam Mendes.  While beautifully rendered, the play itself is largely a standard tale on well worn themes and fails to reach the heights of his last Broadway outing "The Ferryman."  But like his last play, this production features an outstanding performance by the playwright's partner Laura Donnelly, and her dual role performance here is alone worth the price of admisssion.

I had mixed feelings about two other shows I saw on a recent NYC trip.  The new musical "Maybe Happy Ending" was a pleasant enough experience with inventive stage design, but was too slight and twee for my tastes.  I thought Michael R. Jackson's (of "Starnge Loop" fame) "Teeth" started off well but became too unfocused and repetitive as it progressed.

I did not have mixed feelings about the new Elton John/Jake Shears/James Graham musical "Tammy Faye" which reopened the raised and finely restored Palace Theatre- it was just plain awful.  Watching this one with my mouth often agape, I could not help but notice that the most of the actors on stage appeared uncomfortable and awkward.  As an audience member at this fiasco, I could definitely relate.

In Chicago "Little Bear" Is Perfection, & Entertaining "Midnight" Needs Focus

 A few months back I posted on Steppenwolf Theatre's outstanding production of Brandon Jacobs Jenkins' new play "Purpose."  Well Steppenwolf has hit the theatrical jackpot once again with its world premiere of Samuel D. Hunter's perfectly written and staged new play "Little Bear Ridge Road."

"Little Bear," like nearly all of Hunter's plays, is set in his home state of Idaho, and focuses on the reunion of an aunt (played by the estimable Laurie Metcalf) and her estranged gay nephew (Micah Stock) after the passing of the nephew's troubled father.  Both main characters are complicated, difficult, misundertood, commitment-phobic and stubborn, yet both engender deep audience empathy while they navigate serious societal issues, all done with an incredible amount of humor.  I cannot imagine a better acted and directed (by Joe Montello) production would be possible, and sincerely hope this play with at least these two actors and director make their way to New York soon.

With "Little Bear" and "Purpose" Steppenwolf has gifted Chicago audiences the two best new American plays thus far of 2024.  Both have played to sold out audiences over the course of several extensions of the initially scheduled run.  It is heartening to see serious, challenging new dramas succeed artistically, critically and financially for one of the country's finest non-profit theaters.

Over at the Goodman Theatre, the world premiere musical adaptation of John Berendt's best selling non-fiction Savannah set book "Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil" is playing through August 11.  The show is uniquely structured thanks to Taylor Mac's funny and inventive book, and features a fine, lyrically textured and style-varied Jason Robert Brown score.  The star of the show is unquestionably J. Harrsion Ghee as The Lady Chablis, and the sizing up of their character's role as compared with the book is considerable and well justified.  I admire the risks taken in adapting the somewhat unweildy book for the stage, and in its current state this is a very entertaining new musical.  However, there is work to be done to provide more focus to the stories being told, which I would guess is especially confusing to audience members who have not read the book.  I hope to see a more refined version of this show in the future.

Finally, I give props to suburban Chicago's Writers Theater for staging Katori Hall's Pulitzer winning play "Hot Wing King," a comedy about a group of black gay males set in Memphis.  I loved this play in a prior production I saw just before the 2020 Covid shutdown, and had high hopes for seeing the play again.  Unfortunately, this production handles the dramatic elements of the play much better than the comedic elements, which I attribute to comedic acting deficiencies in one of the key roles.  This resulted in a play that felt off balance in the first act, but there was redemption to be found in the much better performed second act.

"CATS" Is Joyfully Resurrected in Ballroom Culture Infused Reimagining/Revival

Here is a sentence I never thought I would find myself typing- I love Andrew Lloyd Webber's  "Cats."  At least I love the reimagined and resurrected revival of the much maligned musical as embodied in "Cats: The Jellicle Ball" that is closing the inaugural season at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, which itself was resurrected amidst the 9/11 World Trade Center buildings footprints.

To be clear, this is not your grandmother's "Cats."  Co-Directors Zhailon Livingston and PAC Artistic Director Bill Rauch have adeptly reenvisioned Webber's feline pageant musical as a queer ballroom competition that seamlessly melds the worlds of queer ballroom and musical theater culture.  On paper, I feared this show could end up a hot mess of historical proportions.  But from the opening scene I was hooked and ultimately found this brilliantly conceived production to be among the most entertaining theatrical experiences I have had to good fortune to see.

What is among the most surprising aspects of this show is that it is largely faithful to the sung through score, albeit with the addition at times of a thundering house beat and some ballroom character name projections.  And while one could spot technical musical theater limitations on the ballroom associated cast members and technical queer ballroom deficiencies on the musical theater vets, these are small prices to pay to see these spheres so joyously combined.

In Los Angeles in the late 1990s, I saw Bill Rauch's ingenious melding of Cinderella (Rogers & Hammerstein's)/Madea/Macbeth.  The combination was head spinning in its audacity and intelligence.  It remains one of the most searing highlights of my theatergoing experiences.  Mr. Rauch, with able assistance from his co-director and his queer ballroom experienced choreographers (Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles) has with this "Cats" reimagining once again provided me a genre melding production that I will never forget and will likely remain among my all time favorite theatrical experiences.  Get your tickets now, as it is currently scheduled to run at the PAC only until August 11.

If I Were Picking The Tony Award Winners 2024

 If I were choosing the winner of the Tony Awards, which are awarded tomorrow evening, my choices (what I think deserves to win, not a prediction of what may win) would be:

Best New Play- Stereophonic (although I thought all five nominees were great)

Best New Musical- The Outsiders

Best Play Revival- Appropriate

Best Musical Revival- Merrily We Roll Along

Best Book of Musical- The Outsiders

Best Original Score- Here Lies Love

Best Direction of a Play- Daniel Aukin/ Stereophonic

Best Direction of a Musical- Maria Freedman/ Merrily We Roll Along

Best Lead Actor in a Play- Jeremy Strong/ Enemy of the People

Best Lead Actress in a Play- Sarah Paulson/ Appropriate

Best Lead Actor in a Musical- Jonathan Groff/ Merrily We Roll Along

Best Lead Actress in a Musical-Maleah Joi Moon/ Hell's Kitchen

Best Featured Actor in a Play- Tom Pecinka/ Stereophonic

Best Featured Actress in a Play- Sarah Pidgeon/ Stereophonic

Best Featured Actor in a Musical- Daniel Radcliff/ Merrily We Roll Along

Best Featured Actress in a Musical- Lindsay Mendez/ Merrily We Roll Along

Best Scenic Design of Play- David Zinn/ Stereophonic

Best Scenic Design of Musical- David Korins/ Here Lies Love

Best Costume Design of Play- Dede Ayite/ JaJa's African Hair Braiding

Best Costume Design of Musical- Tom Scutt/Cabaret

Best Lighting of Play- Jiyoun Chang/ Stereophonic

Best Lighting of Musical- Brian MacDevitt & Hana Kim/ The Outsiders

Best Sound Design of Play- Ryan Rumery/ Stereophonic

Best Sound Design of Musical- Gareth Owen/ Hell's Kitchen

Best Choreography- Justin Peck/ Illinoise

Best Orchestrations- Jonathn Tunick/ Merrily We Roll Along

NY SPRING THEATER REPORT #2: THIS YEAR, THE PLAYS ARE THE THING

At the end of 2023, things seemed dire for serious plays on Broadway.  Outside of the outstanding revival of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' "Appropriate," there was no other drama playing on Broadway.  Thankfully, the passing of a few months made all the difference one could hope, as the numerous spring openings revealed that the best new productions on Broadway are now unquestionably the wide array of excellent new play productions.  By contrast, outside of several fine new musical productions, the plentiful new musical productions this year are largely a yawn inducing lot.

As for the currently running plays, it is notable that"Stereophonic" has gained considerable weight and clarity in its move to the Broadway stage from Playwrights Horizons.  The larger stage allows the subtle character interactions to breathe and become more noticeable to the audience, and this perfect ensemble cast has honed the precision of their roles.  While there are many notable new plays this spring, for me "Stereophonic" stands head and shoulders above anything else currently playing on Broadway.

I was profoundly moved by Paula Vogel's engaging and finely written "Mother Play," which was rewarded with tonally rich staging and direction (by Tina Landau), and finely honed performances from Jessica Lange and Celia Keenan-Bolger.  While Vogel's biographically inspired brother-sister bond was previously explored in Vogel's 1990 play "The Baltimore Waltz," the portrayal here is not derivative or duplicative due to the wisdom and perspective Vogel (and all of us) have gained on the topics covered since the latter years of the last century.  

In what appears to be her professional theater debut, Rachel McAdams gives a searingly beautiful lead performance in Amy Herzog's lovingly rendered "Mary Jane" which also features outstanding supporting cast performances.  This play about a mother caring for her seriously ill toddler stays clear of the weepy Lifetime Channel type movie tropes, and provides an emotionally astute window into the world of empathy and acceptance from which everyone could learn.

Star casting (of "Succession's" Jeremy Strong and "The Soprano's" Michael Imperioli) may have helped obtain producing investors for Amy Herzog's terrific and resonant adaptation of Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People," but director Sam Gold and his strong cast turn this sometimes unwieldy and overlong drama into something timely and urgent.  This production keeps  the audience on the edges of their seats watching the twists and turns of the plot unfold.  Much as with McAdams' performance in "Mary Jane," here the celebrity actors acquit themselves with panache providing award worthy level performances.

While I previously reported on two new spring musicals that I found engaging and worthwhile ("Illinoise" and "The Outsiders") sadly the other new musicals this spring are largely a disappointment.  For exapmle, while I understand the commercial pressures that resulted in the audience pleasing changes to Shaina Taub's "Suffs," I nevertheless found the Broadway production to be a dumbed down version of the show's great, if overlong, off-Broadway production at the Public.  

I was ultimately mesmerized by the high concept journey to hell that is Rebecca Frecknall's revival of "Cabaret," although I could have done without the distracting and unneccesary "pre-show" with its unduly expensive food and drink urgings.  The one performance I found to be distracting was that of the usually fine Ato Blankson-Wood as Cliff, who has no chemistry with Sally or any other character for that matter.  Perhaps it is an intentional directorial choice, but it fell flat for me.

While I am pleasantly surprised by the number of excellent play offerings this spring on Broadway, I remain concerned about the dearth of supply and quality of new productions being mounted off-Broadway.  There were not many off-Broadway productions that I wanted to see this spring, and among the few I did see were a largely cliche "Lonely Few" at MCC and an interesting and well produced, if overstuffed, production of Suzan Lori-Park's "Sally & Tom" at the Public.

While this year's Tony nominations of five solid award quality new plays is encouraging, I cannot fail to note that they were all mounted by non-profit theaters, and 3 of the 5 started in off-Broadway houses.  I am concerned about the future supply of serious new plays at a time when theatrical non-profits are largely in financial straights, and tv and film offer increasingly more lucrative options for writers, actors, directors and other creative professionals.  Nevertheless, I will enjoy the play dominated riches of this season and hope for the best for the future.

DUPLICITY & DENIAL IN BRANDEN JACOBS JENKINS' "APPROPRIATE" & "PURPOSE"

At the end of 2023 I saw the current expertly cast revival of Branden Jacobs Jenkins' "Appropriate" on Broadway.  It was the only new drama playing on Broadway at the time, and thankfully it was being welcomed by sold out audiences.

Last week I saw the premiere production of Mr. Jenkins' new play "Purpose" at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and it is a triumph both artistically speaking and with audiences in Chicago.  This play seems destined to play Broadway, assuming Broadway remains a place where serious and well written dramas can be mounted.

What struck me about seeing both Jenkins plays within a relatively concurrent time period is how they are both tackling similar themes albeit in very different plot environments.  "Appropriate" focuses on a dysfunctional southern US raised white family coming to terms with its racist past and its legacy.  By contrast, "Purpose" zeros in on a well known Chicago black family whose patriarch is a civil rights icon as the family comes to terms with the disconnect between its public image and its private dysfunction.

Both plays have several female characters that are outsiders to the nuclear family units, and in both plays these outsider characters get drawn into and entangled into the family dysfunction.  Both are wildly funny but with a dramatic bite that has become a signature of Mr. Jenkins' plays.  I see these two plays as two sides of the same coin, and to me they are Jenkins' "D&D" plays, as central to both are the duplicity and denial of the family units depicted in each.

The current Broadway revival of "Appropriate" is as good as the smashing 2013 premiere NY production at Signature Theater, and the Steppenwolf premiere of "Purpose" has a terrific cast (with special mention owed to the pitch perfect Jon Michael Hill, Tamara Tunie and Alana Arenas).  If, as I suspect, "Purpose" is mounted on Broadway I would prefer to see it directed with a bit more directorial flash and my dream cast would include the three actors mentioned above, with Denzel Washington stepping in as Solomon Jasper in order to make the run the box office smash it deserves to be.

One day, I hope to attend a marathon performance somewhere of Mr. Jenkins' "D&D" plays, and I would venture that they can be seen in any order, but ideally both be seen in the same day of beautifully written and exciting theater.

NY SPRING THEATER REPORT #1

The Spring theater openings in New York are numerous and varied this year.  While April will yield the most numerous new offerings in years, I caught of handful of shows that opened in March, finding three very strong shows amongst the six I saw.

Especially powerful was the Jamie Lloyd directed National Theatre production of Lucy Prebble's "The Effect" at The Shed in Hudson Yards.  I was hesitant to see this show because the production of this play I saw off-Broadway nearly 10 years ago, directed by the normally reliable David Cromer, was so long and unfocused that I nearly fell asleep watching it.  However, I am a huge fan of Jamie Lloyd's work and had read that the script was shortened and revised, and so I gave this play another chance.  Watching the visceral and explosive production at The Shed, it felt like an entirely different play.  The lighting, sound and boxing match-like staging kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to end, and the acting, especially by Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell is stunning to behold.  Sadly, the limited run ends at the end of March, but the prpoduction was filmed for NT Live and hopefully will be made available for home viewing in the US by NT at Home.

Originality and creativity abounds in the dance/theater hybrid staging of the Sufjan Stevens' album "Illinoise" at the Park Avenue Armory.  The choreography artfully blend a number of different dance styles, but the work feels cohesive and the narrative (credited to director-choreographer Justin Peck and playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury) is clear and emotionally engaging.  The show is moving in late April to the St. James Theater, just in time to qualify for the 2024 Tony Awards consideration.  I would guess that a Best Musical nomination is in the cards for this production.

I further venture to guess that a Best Musical nomination will also be earned by the new musical "The Outsiders," which I caught in a preview performance.  I was not expecting much from this show going in, as the book on which the musical is based is aimed at a demographic many years younger than mine.  But a combination of great direction and staging (by Danya Taymor), a solid book (by Adam Rapp), a talented young cast, a fine score (by Jamestown Revival and Justin Levine), and exciting choreography (by Rick & Jeff Kuperman) kept me both engaged and moved throughout.  I am not sure how the NY critics will react to this show, but whatever that is, I hope this show finds audiences as appreciative as the one with whom I attended this show.

On the less positive side, the hugely popular Cole Escola comedy "Oh Mary," proved to be way too campy for my tastes, resulting in what felt an SNL skit that greatly overstays its welcome.  Your milage may vary on this one.  As for the revival of "Tommy" on Broadway, I was left feeling cold, unengaged and searching (but not finding) for a good reason in for reviving this show.  Finally, I have literally nothing favorable I could say about the poorly conceived, lacklusterly staged and at times insulting new musical adaptation of "The Notebook."

I expect to have another batch of new shows on which to report in May.

2023'S 10 BEST THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS

2023 was a relatively meager year for theater, and the first year in memory that I had to stretch to come up with 10 worthy productions that can accuartely be called "the best."  While I have serious concerns about the future of off-Broadway, regional non-profits and works of serious drama, I am somewhat heartened to find 4 new plays and revivals of 3 serious dramas on my list.  Plus, a year that brings a stellar new work plus a solid revival from Stephen Sondheim is noteworthy.

In order of preference my 10 best shows of 2023 were:

1. STEREOPHONIC [Playwright's Horizons]- surprisingly universal & sublime

2. HERE WE ARE [The Shed]- Sondheim's last great gift to the world

3. A DOLL'S HOUSE [Broadway]- Jessica Chastain's image & performance are imprinted in me

4. MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG [Broadway]- supporting cast is hugely improved from off-Broadway

5. PRIMARY TRUST [Roundabout]- beautifully written and emotionally astute

6. APPROPRIATE [Broadway/Second Stage]- Branden Jacobs Jenkins' best where it belongs

7. THE DOCTOR [Park Ave Armory]- Juilet Stevenson was mesmerizing in this thoughtful adaptation

8. THE COMEUPPANCE [Signature Theatre]- Branden Jacobs Jenkins again at the top of his game

9. BRIGHT NEW BOISE [Signature Theatre]- breathed new life into this Samuel Hunter play

10.  BEYONCE'S RENAISSANCE CONCERT*- it broke my soul, in a good way

Honorable Mentions: SHUCKED [Broadway]; ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW [Dallas Theater Center]

*Yes, a concert is not technically "theater"; but this was no ordinary concert and it was enormously theatrical in scope and execution, so it justifies its placement on this list.

Sondheim/Ives' "Here We Are" Is The Highlight of Fall NY Theater Season

Unfortunately, there is little to be excited about with respect the new shows opening this fall in New York City.  There is not a serious drama playing on Broadway, and all of the new shows this fall are either musicals or comedies.  Off-Broadway is also offering slim pickings this fall as most off-Broadway theater companies have significantly reduced their schedules presumably due to budgetary concerns.

Notwithstanding the above, one new show I saw on a recent trip to NY proved to be a winner on many levels, namely the new Steven Sondheim/ David Ives musical "Here Were Are" at The Shed in Hudson Yards.  While developed during Sondheim's final years, there was some doubt that the show (which was at one point entitled "Square One") would be staged because it was not quite finished when Mr. Sondheim passed away.  Thankfully the creators (book writer David Ives and director Joe Mantello chief among them) contniued their work on the show and have provided theatergoers with the gift of this impeccably crafted production of "Here We Are."

The show is "inspired by" two Luis Bunel films, neither of which I had seen before viewing the show, although I had a sense of the general plots of both films.   I am glad I had not seen either film, because it enabled to admire the brilliance of the show without any preconceived notions.  I had read online chatter from the earliest previews that the two acts were disjointed and that the work feels unfinished.  Neither proved to be the case for me, as I thought the two acts were beautifully integrated, and the relative dearth of music in the second act made perfect sense to me in the context of the show.   The interplay of the two acts in "Here We Are" are much like that in Sondheim's "Into The Woods," in that the first, more humorous act is the set up to exploration of more serious and deeper themes of the second act.  

The production elements of "Here We Are" are sheer theatrical perfection.  The cast includes many of the finest theater actors of our time, all working at the top of their game.  The direction is precise and fluid.  The scenic design, costumes (both by David Zinn), choreography (appropriately more movement by Sam Pinkleton) lighting (by Natasha Katz), sound (by Tom Gibbons, and orchestrations (by longtime Sondheim collaborator Jonathan Tunik) all work to create a work so professionally executed that I was in awe at the stagecraft on display from beginning to end.

While I hesitate to separate any cast member out given that they are all great, I cannot avoid noting that David Hyde Pierce and Rachel Bay Jones are standouts as the heart and soul of the show.

I left "Here We Are" wanting to see the show again, and I hope I have the opportunity to do so.  I am not sure this thoughtful and rather quirky show would find an audience on Broadway, nor am I confident that  it will be met with overwhelming critical acclaim.  But in a world in which many like me are feeling a sense of existential dread due to world unrest and upcoming elections, "Here We Are" for me proved to a balm of comfort for its glimmer of hope for where we are as a nation and world.

While I enjoyed the comedic elements of two new Broadway plays, Jocelyn Bioh's "Jaja's African Hair Braiding" and the revival of Ossie Davis' "Purlie Victorious," both suffered from flawed elements.  In "Jaja's" the attempt by the playwright to introduce a serious thematic turn of events felt forced and unnuanced.  In "Purlie" the wildly over the top performance of Kara Young offset the balance of the otherwise fine cast, a flaw for which I fault the direction.  Nevertheless, both are worth seeing in a current Broadway play landscape with few quality new productions.

The rarely revived and now revised Rome/Weidman 1962 musical "I Can Get It For You For Wholesale" is worth seeing at Classic Stage largely for the talent of its fine cast, especially the star affirming performance by Julia Lester as Miss Marmelstein, the role that started Barbara Streisand's stage career.  The show itself, at least in its revised form, is an odd one that proves to be less than satisfying.

The full day marathon of Sean O'Casey's trilogy by Ireland's Druid theater company was a mixed bag, as I found only one play of the trilogy ("The Shadow of a Gunman") to be truly successfully staged.  Surprisingly, the other two plays ("The Plough and the Stars" and "Juno and the Paycock") suffered from pacing issues and uneven acting.

Finally, the Goodman Theatre production of Rebecca Gilman's "Swing State" at the Minetta Lane was a welcome opportunity to see a well constructed and acted serious drama, although I had some credibility issues with the way the central character was written.  The play nevertheless packs an emotional wallop and is worth seeing.

Raucous & Rollicking "Rocky Horror" Rocks the Kalita Theater

How does one make the very campy, intentionally inane 1973 minted musical "Rocky Horror Show" feel fresh and current?  Indeed, the last few "Rocky Horror" stage productions I have seen, including its last Broadway revival in 2000, left me feeling that the show was becoming a bit stale.  Who would have thought it would take the close minded, right wing, holier than thou Texas GOP state legislators to give the show a new reason for being?  Certainly not me, but in passing the clearly unconstitutional (and thankfully temporarily suspended by the Federal Courts), sexual suggestion banning SB12, those legislators have inadvertently given new life to this musical.  That is abundantly clear in Dallas Theater Center's fearless, joyfully campy, entertaining, blissful "Rocky Horror" production that is skewering the prim spirit of SB12 on a nightly basis at Dallas' Kalita Theater.

Director Blake Hackler has skillfully assembled the cast and show elements, all while embracing, as he states in his program notes, "the absurd and the outrageous."   Two performances among the hard working cast stand out as key anchors of this production.  First, David Lungo's standup fueled Narrator elicits  hysterical audience laughter, with several allusions to the political undercurrents unleashed by SB12 and its ilk being among his funniest exchanges.  He holds this otherwise unwieldy show together.  And then there is my favorite Frank N' Furter of all time- L.Walter, who is fierce, funny and frolicsome, and commands complete attention every moment he is on stage. 

Some of the production's musical numbers could have been tighter in execution, although I caught the show early in its run and I suspect it will gain some precision in the course of its month long engagement.  And to be fair, precision is not essential to making an entertaining "Rocky Horror."

Indeed, I had a great time watching this "Rocky Horror," and I appreciated its ability to make the show feel timeless.  However, I left the theater spooked in one significant way- namely, this production highlighted that if SB12 or similar laws were to go into effect one day, the harmless joy that I witnessed on stage might land its participants in jail.  That threat has not gone away, making this production of "Rocky Horror" nothing less than an urgent call to action to ensure this never happens.

Spring Theater in NY: A Mesmerizing "Doll's House," A Lackluster "Sweeney Todd," & Updating Mythology Through a Black Lens in "Black Odyssey"

Spring theater in New York is approaching full bloom, and my latest visit was a mixed bag of shows.

By far, the best show of my visit was the Jamie Lloyd directed adaptation (by Amy Herzog) of Ibsen's "A Doll's House," which features a bravura performance by Jessica Chastain as Nora.  Herzog's adaptation, Lloyd's direction and Chastain's "can't take my eyes off of her" performance are perfectly in synch, yielding a production almost entirely centered on Chastain's Nora.  My interpretation is that the show is set in Nora's mind, with her remembering the actions that take place on stage.  This interpretation is buttressed by the pre-show appearance of Nora/Chastain seated on a circular roundtable where for appoximately 15 minutes she appears to be engaged in deep thought as other cast members slowly appear and take their own seats. 

The set design is minimalistic, which allows for greater focus on the words that are crisply and clearly delivered via the outstanding sound design.  This production calls for audience focus, and thankfully the audience at my performance was blissfully silent and seemingly rapt throughout the almost 2 hour intermission-less show.  This "Doll's House" feels current, urgent and explosive in no small part due to Chastain's beautifully rendered performance.  Audience complaints about the lack of set design or stage interaction (and there are quite a few such complaints being made) seem to me to miss the point of the bold and daring vision of the show's artistic creators.

Count me in the "not horrible, but far from great" camp for the lackluster "Sweeney Todd" revival currently playing on Broadway.  Josh Groban is miscast and proves the considerable limits of his acting abilities, Annaleigh Ashford starts out great but by the end seems to be mugging too much, and Jordan Fisher is not up to the demands of singing "Johanna," one of Sondheim's most beautiful tunes.  The choreography does not fit the show, and at times made the staging look like a Disney musical, and a bad one at that.   I also cannot help but plead for the removal of the cheap mechanical bird that furiously flaps its plastic wings as Fisher begins to sing "Johanna," which is beyond absurd and distracting.  The sound design is also lacking as the orchestra sounded way too quiet from my Row K orchestra seat.  The set design is just okay, but is overly clunky in Act 2.  Going in, I did not think Thomas Kail was the right director for this show, and what I saw on stage confirmed that fact.

On the positive side,  Gaten Matarazzo and Ruthie Ann Miles provide worthy dimensions to their roles, and Jamie Jackson and John Rapson are quite good as the Judge and Beadle (which they also proved to be in prior, better productions of this show).  In the end, I see no reason to see this show if you have seen prior professional productions of "Sweeney Todd," and this production in no way justifies the outrageously high prices being charged for tickets.

Although it could use a few more revisions by an expert dramaturge, I was thoroughly engaged, entertained and ultimately moved by Classic Stage Company expertly cast Marcus Gardley play "black odyssey," which revisits the Odysseus saga as seen through a Black American lens.  Stevie Walker-Webb's direction is sharp as he guides this journey of his supremely talented cast.  Yes, the play can be a bit messy at times, but perhaps that messiness is itself a comment on the black experience in contemporary America.

I caught the Signature Theatre's revival of Samuel D. Hunter's "Bright New Boise" in its last week of performances, and was glad that I did so.  I did not care for a prior production of this play I saw years ago at small theater in Los Angeles.  But Signature's production, which featured an excellent cast smartly directed by Oliver Butler made the best case I can imagine for this play, even if the ending still did not fully land for me.  Among the fine cast was the stunning young actor Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, who gives a career making performance here that portends his likely great future as an actor.

I also enjoyed Suzan-Lori Parks' musical adaptation of the film "The Harder They Come," which has an infectious energy even if it is unable to overcome the many cliches contained in the underlying work.  The talented cast and band go a long way towards making this show sing, and it never overstays its two hour running time.

MCC Theater's presentation of Soho Rep's "Wolf Play," proved to be a worthwhile exercise in theatrical ingenuity, although for me the inventive staging somewhat masks the elemental and basic nature of the underlying script.

Finally, despite some nice staging and a few good performances, Keith Bunin's "The Coast Starlight" at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi Newhouse lacked credibility and nuance, which left me feeling both disappointed and sour as to why this feeble play was accorded the considerable resources this prominent venue.

"The Whale" -A Great Play Becomes A Bad Movie

In 2012, I had one of my most rewarding and emotional theater experiences at Playwrights Horizons watching an exemplary cast (led by Shuler Hensley in the lead role of Charlie) perform Samuel D. Hunter's excellent play "The Whale."  I was so moved by the ending that I recall having to sit down in my seat for several minutes after the curtain call to reorient myself before rejoining the world outside the theater on 42nd Street.  Aided by Hunter's fine writing, Hensley's fine acting and Davis McCallum's precise direction, I formed deep wells of empathy for each of the play's characters, but especially for the lead character Charlie.  The ending gutted me.

Needless to say, I was somewhat skeptical when I heard that "The Whale" was being adapted into a film, even though Hunter was signed on as the screenwriter.  Hunter's theatrical works share much more than a geographical locus (in or near Idaho); they also typically mine deep wells of empathy for their finely wrought characters.  That is easier to do in the confines of live theater, and much more difficult to pull off in the much cooler medium of film.  But I was hopeful that the film could at least come close to approximating my 2012 experience in the theater.

Unfortunately, the film adaptation of "The Whale" not only failed to engage my empathy, but I found it a downright distasteful experience that I endured for its entire 117 minute running time only because I kept hoping it would improve.  It never improved.

So how does such a fine play become such a terrible film?  It is not the writing.  After watching the film I went back and read the play script, and while there were changes in the writing, the bulk of the play's dialogue is up on the screen.  I did note that in the play Charlie is constantly apologizing with repeated instances of  "I'm sorry" that I do not recall in the film.  I surmise that someone thought the often repeated self-deprecating "sorrys" of Charlie in the play script that were intended to (and did) evoke empathy, might be annoying on film.   But that is the only aspect of the writing changes that I thought could account for my very different reactions to the on stage Charlie as compared with his screen counterpart.

I was not impressed with Brendan Fraser's performance as Charlie, but I will cut him some slack because any actor would be challenged to realistically emote under all the latex and makeup in which his body and face are covered.  I think the fault in failing to successfully adapt the play lies primarily with Director Darren Aronofsky.  Aronofsky does everything he can, from making Charlie an unhuman appearing puppet, to grotesquely focusing on Charlie's gluttonous eating binges, to distance the film viewer from feeling for Charlie.  Indeed, it is very difficult to feel empathy for the on screen Charlie when Aronfsky's directorial choices seem aimed at making Charlie an inhuman freak.  Aronofsky's goal seems to be to evoke revulsion rather than empathy, and as such are in direct conflict with the essence of Hunter's words.

Would the film have worked in the hands of a director more attuned with Hunter's writing?  We will never know, but what I do know is that I cannot recommend seeing the film "The Whale" unless you want to explicate how a great play can be made in to a bad film.