"Springsteen On Broadway" Is A Masterpiece

KenderTheater (‪@KenderTheater‬)

11/7/17, 11:41 PM

Much more than a concert, and way more than a typical theatrical one person show, "Springsteen on Broadway" is a beautifully rendered story of love & loss told by a hugely talented musical poet-philosopher who makes his story universal.  It provides the summation of an artistic career in a empathetic and moving way.  This quiet show is a triumph because it enables this artist to effectively communicate the purpose he was aiming to achieve through his art, inspiring his audience to do the same through their own tools and trades. 

Zoe Kazan's "After The Blast" Is Smart & Engaging

KenderTheater (‪@KenderTheater‬)

11/6/17, 10:51 PM

Zoe Kazan's wonderful new dystopian, post-apocalypse play "After The Blast" at Lincoln Center's LCT3 is intelligent, emotionally astute, finely acted & expertly staged.  I was impressed with two of Ms. Kazan's two prior written works, namely, her screenplay for "Ruby Sparks" and her play "Trudy and Max in Love."  Her writing in "After The Blast" is even better here, perhaps because in the current play she seems to have less trouble with her ending.  Kazan writes with a quirky intelligence that I find emotionally resonant and true.

This LCT3 production is excellent.  Lila Neugebauer's expert and crisp direction is perfectly suited to this material, and her work is amply supported by a fine cast led by Cristin Milioti.  Ms. Milioti gives an especially affecting lead performance that holds its own with an adorable robot.

One of the reasons I found this play among the best of the fall season is that I thought it dealt with how one can hold on to sanity in a world (like the one we are experiencing with Trump occupying the White House) that at times provides little hope for the future.  This play manages to be life affirming in a smart and non-cloying way, and is highly recommended.

"Torch Song" Ultimately Succeeds; "Treasurer" Effectively Tackles Tough Issues; "Too Heavy" is Too Light; "Illyria" Captivates

Admittedly, I had some issues with the current revival of Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song" now playing at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theater.  I found some of the acting too broad and the affectations that Michael Urie adopted in an apparent effort to partially channel Fierstein in the lead role were initially off-putting to me.  After the first two acts that precede the intermission, I was left feeling that the work was just too dated to retain any emotional impact.  But then the third and final act, anchored by a perfectly cast Mercedes Rule, brings out the best in Urie's performance and completely engaged me on an emotional level that was absent during the first two acts.  Ultimately, this left me feeling that overall this is a successful revival of a seminal work and despite its flaws, I recommend this production with the caveat that it is best judged on the post-intermission content.

Young playwrights are the future of theater, and for that reason I get very excited when I see a new play by a promising young playwright.  This excitement was on full display as I watched "The Treasurer," a new commissioned play by Max Posner.  Posner's play is a probing look at the dueling emotions a middle aged son has towards his complicated, and dementia suffering mother.  This an a finely written play that is given a sterling production helmed by David Cromer.  The acting is outstanding across the 4 person cast, with especially fine performances from Chicago based actress Deanna Dunagan and Peter Friedman, who play the mother and son, respectively.

The Roundabout Underground is also mounting a play from a promising young playwright in the form of the civil rights themed drama "Too Heavy For Your Pocket" by Jireh Breon Holder.  The acting, singing and physical production here are of the highest quality, but the writing has too many shifting tones and focuses to make this a truly successful play.  The handling of civil rights issues felt too facile and undeveloped, and did not integrate well with the inter-personal aspects of the drama.  With a bit more work the script could be edited and revised into a much better play, but there is nevertheless much to admire here.  Indeed, I look forward to seeing future plays by this playwright.

I also caught a poorly attended performance of the Richard Nelson play "Illyria," which takes a look at the early days of Joe Papp as he encounters growing pains in 1958 with regard to his recently formed New York Shakespeare Festival.  This is a quiet, conversational play that may well bore many viewers, but I found it a fascinating slice of NY theater history that engaged me from start to finish.  Given that the play is mounted at the theater which is the legacy of Joe Papp, it was surprising the portrayal of Papp was so complex, with both his strengths and flaws on full display.  I applaud the Public for mounting this interesting drama.

Great Acting Propels "A Train"; "Junk" Is A Major Misfire

Among my favorite contemporary playwrights are Stephen Adly Guirgis and Ayad Akhtar, both winners of the Pulitzer Prize for drama (for, respectively, "Between Riverside & Crazy" & "Disgraced").  Plays by each playwright are now playing in New York- a Guirgis revival off-Broadway and a new play on Broadway by Akhtar.  I liked one and was surprised by my major disappointment in the other.

First the good news.   Guirgis' prison dramedy "Jesus Hopped The A Train" is given a solid production at Signature.  Guirgis talent writing insightful and funny dialogue with a bite is on full display in "A Train."  Here the terrific actors bring his great dialogue to life aided by Mark Brokaw's strong, but unfussy, direction.  The play is more of a play of ideas, and the plot is somewhat marred by an unrealistic and unconvincing public defender character that I wish had been excised or at least minimized.  But the true drama of the play is derived from the interaction between two inmates exquisitely played by Sean Carvajal and Edi Gathegi, and one of their prison guards finely portrayed by Ricardo Chavira.  Mr. Gathegi performance is one of the finest I have seen this season and I look forward to seeing more work from this extremely talented actor in the future.   The masterful acting makes this production sing, and makes this a recommended production.

I have greatly admired the three prior Akhtar plays I saw before "Junk," so much so that I anticipated great things from this new Lincoln Center production which explores the 1980s era junk bond market.  Indeed, Akhar's analysis of negative consequences arising from stock market forces in "The Invisible Hand" was nuanced and masterful.  But unfortunately, "Junk" is a apt description of this play and this production.  The writing is just plain bad and sloppy (note to fact checker-  there was no Peninsula Hotel in LA in the 1980s as referenced in this play).  There is nothing new here, and you know where it is headed within the opening minutes.  Drained of drama, the only hope is that perhaps the characters will be well flushed out and interesting, but no such luck.  The characters are all one note ciphers.  In Akhtar's prior plays there was a noticeable empathy for his characters, even those who did bad things.  Here there is no character empathy or depth on display.

To add insult to injury, the poorly written play is further denigrated by a bad production.  The acting is poor across the board and Doug Hughes' direction is messy and unfocused.  The only good things I can say about this production are that the set design, sound and lighting are terrific.

Aktar is an excellent writer, which is what made "Junk" such a huge disappointment for me.  I am confident that he rebound from this misfire and return to the quality depth of his prior works.

"Band's Visit" Charms; "M Butterfly" Fails to Take Flight; Denise Gough Shines in "People, Places & Things"

One of my favorite musicals and most unexpected theatrical surprises last year was the world premiere of David Yazbek & Itamar Moses' "The Band's Visit" at off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater.  I found this story of an Egyptian police band's mistaken visit to a small town in Isreal to be a sweet, subtle & beautifully rendered show that I feared would lose its welcome intimacy when I heard it would be remounted on Broadway.  But after re-visiting the show at the Barrymore Theater I am happy to report that the show's charms and subtlety have safely made the transfer to a larger house on Broadway.  While I preferred the original casting at the Atlantic of a few of the supporting roles, and the simplicity of the show's plot loses a bit of luster on repeated viewing, I am happy this show has found a home on Broadway to enable its charms to be experienced by larger crowds that seem to be taking to this fine production that is helmed by the enormously talented directed, David Cromer.

Director Julie Taymor bears the largest responsibility for the misbegotten and lifeless revival of David Henry Hwang's fine play "M Butterfly."  Many of her directorial choices mystify me, and her mounting of the Chinese opera and dance scenes are downright painful.  But the blame is not entirely hers, as Hwang's rewrites detract from the play's central themes and Clive Owen's performance is lackluster at best.  However, if you have never seen the play staged before, it may be worth seeing for the play's inherent compelling nature combined with Jin Ha's interesting take on the Song Liling character.  This revival is a poor successor to the stunning original Broadway production (grounded by a career making performance by BD Wong as Song Lilling), and I could not help but wonder what a director better suited to this material would have brought to this work.

Duncan MacMillan's play "People, Places & Things" which explores an actress' substance addiction issues is well worth seeing at St Ann's Warehouse both for the inventive staging and incredible performance of the lead character played by Denise Gough.  This National Theatre import can be difficult to watch at times, as it effectively portrays the disorientation experienced by its lead character who is suffering from addiction and withdrawal problems.  The discomfort is intentional and effective at immersing the viewer into the world of its main character.  Ms. Gough's performance is especially compelling because she is able to maintain the viewer's interest and sympathy while engaging in awful behavior- a difficult thing for any actor to pull off.