Thinking: As In "What Were They (Critics)..."One of this theatre season's most anticipated plays,
The Year Of Magical Thinking, opened last night at Broadway's
Booth Theatre. Based on
Joan Didion's acclaimed memoir of the passing of her husband while her daughter was dying, the production is directed by
David Hare and stars
Vanessa Redgrave as Didion. Critics were mixed in their reviews.
Praising the show as "unmissable theatre,"
Variety's
David Rooney seems downright awestruck: "Didion has filleted the text into a spare but compelling solo piece. Whether or not it's a play is difficult to judge in David Hare's audaciously austere production, given how inextricably linked the work is to Vanessa Redgrave's riveting interpretation...[T]he sobriety of this incarnation is entirely true to the tone of her memoir. The startling intimacy and affecting altruism of its insights on loss and their rigorous refusal of any of the standard dealing-with-death rhetoric allow the monologue to continue resonating well after Redgrave has taken her bows."
Proclaiming this "a 90-minute, semi-stream-of-consciousness monologue of virtuoso brilliance by a great actress,"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes provides accolades in his three-star review: "Redgrave and Hare have created a starkly honest theatrical miracle out of Didion's text, which I find admirable yet suspect in its all too rational agony....Slowly, with the certainty of theatrical genius, nothing matters, as Redgrave -- assisted by Hare and
Bob Crowley's scenic design, which is simply a series of collapsing curtains patterned like watered silk -- takes both text and audience into a never-never land of acceptance....This is acting at its grandest."
Also offering three out of four stars is Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "The play, directed with rigorous elegance by David Hare, is marked by the same lack of sanctimony and sentimentality. Dignity is the word that comes to mind in describing Redgrave's performance and Didion's script....[T]here are few elements of mystery or, in truth, revelation in their retelling."
Calling it an "arresting yet ultimately frustrating new drama,"
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times divulges that the original source material helped him weather the loss of three individuals close to him. But apparently, the play is a disappointment when compared to the book: "[I]t is in the quiet between the words, as she tastes and digests what she has said, that Ms. Redgrave -- playing a character named Joan Didion -- comes closest to capturing Ms. Didion’s voice and the delicate layering of harsh feelings that made the book such a stunner....I never felt the magnetic pull that I experienced in reading the book. Though the script is by Ms. Didion, with many of its sentences lifted directly from the memoir, I never heard Ms. Didion’s voice when Ms. Redgrave was speaking."
Noting that the piece "still works better on the page than on the stage," the Associated Press'
Michael Kuchwara clearly shares Brantley's disappointment: "David Hare, better known as a playwright than a director, has statically staged
Magical Thinking. Redgrave is anchored to that chair for much of the evening. Behind her are a series of curtains resembling a shoreline -- perhaps the beach at Malibu where Didion, Dunne and their daughter spent some of their happiest times together....Redgrave wisely refuses to resort to impersonation, although she does affect an odd accent that sounds vaguely mid-Atlantic American."
Even less complimentary is
Eric Grode of
The New York Sun: "As counterintuitive as it may seem, the stage incarnation has a sterility that the book lacked, despite the presence of a living, breathing presence to lead us through these memories. Ms. Didion (portrayed by Ms. Redgrave) informs the audience that we are all going to lose our loved ones most likely sooner than we think. 'You don't want to think it could happen to you,' she says. 'That's why I'm here.' This shift in tone is understandable but not necessarily wise....Mr. Hare's obvious directorial contributions are few and far between: a few unnecessary dollops of sound effects and a series of wistful, watercolor-style backdrops from set designer Bob Crowley that subdivide the play into what amounts to chapters. He has also helped whittle Ms. Redgrave's performance to a piercing minimum, drawing upon her regal composure and her ability to rivet audiences with the sparest of movements."
Personally, I have not yet taken the time to read Didion's book. Given the disappointment in the reviews by those who already have -- and Clive Barnes' brave admission that he has not -- I think I'll be waiting to do so until after I've taken in the performance in early May.
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Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:The Night Of Magical Openings (March 29, 2007)
First Night Of Magical Redgrave (March 6, 2007)
Survey Says.... (October 23, 2006)
Vanessa Redgrave to Make Broadway Return as Joan Didion (May 26, 2006)
Labels: Book, Broadway, Critics' Capsule, David Hare, Joan Didion, Play, The Year Of Magical Thinking, Vanessa Redgrave
Did London Critics Offer Bouquets For Rose Tattoo Revival?Last evening, the
National Theatre's revival of
Tennessee Williams'
The Rose Tattoo opened in the company's Olivier Theatre. With the late
Steven Pimlott and
Nicholas Hytner sharing direction credits (Pimlott died one week into rehearsals) and the estimable
Zoë Wanamaker leading the cast, critics were mixed. However, they agreed that Wanamaker was superb and admired Hytner for soldiering on.
The Times'
Sam Marlowe offers what is arguably the most favorable review: "The production makes the play’s intensely feminine world teem with colour without overcrowding the central drama....It all has a seductive dreaminess, and Zoë Wanamaker’s Serafina is an irresistible creature of sensuality....There’s a madness to this writing, but it is the joyous madness of love and of life. Hytner and Pimlott are true to the wildness of Williams’s spirit, and make no attempt to tame its excesses. That might make the whole seem a little crazy; it’s also what makes it a creation of ripe, shameless, full-blown beauty."
Dominic Cavendish of
The Telegraph is mostly positive: "Nicholas Hytner, filling the shoes of a longtime friend (Pimlott died one week into rehearsals), could have paid no greater tribute than the production that he has brought, apparently untroubled and wholly delightful, to the stage....It's a mark of just how great an actress Zoe Wanamaker is that she negotiates the play's uneasy mixture of laughter and tears, absurdity and poignancy without showing the slightest strain - the force-field of her personality holds the contradictions in place."
Proclaiming this a "buoyantly comic celebration of life and its inexhaustible capacity for breaking free from the past,"
The Independent's
Paul Taylor provides a review that is ultimately upbeat: "The idea of the play seems like it might be more enjoyable than the actual experience of watching it. English actors don't find it easy to plug into hot Latin passion, and the portrayal of the community has a rather deliberate and unspontaneous feel here, with the half-hearted gaggle of kids and chorus of squabbling women....True, this play that is rampant with rose-imagery peers at the world through rose-tinted spectacles, but by the end it, it would be a hard heart that failed to surrender to its generous adult fairytale vision."
Claiming that
The Rose Tattoo "gives the illusion the play is better than it is" in his three-out-of-five star review,
The Guardian's
Michael Billington manages praise for Wanamaker: "[W]hile one applauds the play's affirmation of life and Williams's sly humour, the exposition is lazy, the rose-symbolism wildly excessive and the parallels between Serafina and her daughter, who finally conquers an improbably virginal sailor, over-contrived. Never mind. Williams created a great character in Serafina that produces from Zoe Wanamaker the performance of her career."
Not so impressed was the
Evening Standard's
Nicholas de Jongh, who gave the production two out of five stars: "The idea has been to treat Williams's overblown romanticism with reverent faithfulness. It does not work. An air of preposterousness and contrivance clouds the dusky, cicada-laden scene which is dominated by
Mark Thompson's revolving bungalow set....Other irritations accumulate. Devil-substitutes in the shape of
Rosalind Knight's long-haired, gym-shoed Strega and a real-life goat keep intruding together with gawping village women and kids. Too much of the dialogue, usually Williams's strong, poetic suit, sounds like eerie premonitions of lyrics for a
Lloyd Webber musical."
With such a mixed lot,
I turn to the West End Whingers for the last word on the production -- let's just put it this way, the production got their goat.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets. Labels: Critics' Capsule, London, Nicholas Hytner, Play, Revival, Tennessee Williams, The Rose Tattoo, Zoe Wanamaker
Easter Parade (The SOB Review) - Main Stage, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Chanhassen, MN
**1/2 (out of ****)
On paper, it at least seems like an intriguing idea.
One year to the day after The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization announced they'd be co-developing
Easter Parade with Minnesota's
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres -- the same theatres where
Laura Osnes portrayed Sandy in its version of
Grease prior to being vaulted to national stardom via "
Grease: You're The One That I Want" -- I took in the world premiere production of
Easter Parade, which they've dubbed, "The Happiest Musical Ever Made."
Just like a big old fashioned Easter egg, this musical rolls along with a terrific color-coated sheen. For the most part, this surprisingly hard-boiled show goes
over easy. But scratch beneath that appealing veneer and you'll find more than a few cracks, including the somewhat scrambled book by
Tom Briggs (who previously took
State Fair to the Broadway stage), particularly where the happy ending is dramatically altered from the silver screen version.
Set in 1910 and 1911, this pygmalion-like story begins with vaudeville dance partners Don Hewes (a dashing and debonair
Michael Gruber) and Nadine Hale (a strong, forceful
Michelle Barber) splitting up their act so Hale can join the Broadway cast of a show called, "Way Down South," which in this version
really goes way down south, far beyond the Rio Grande and all the way to Rio in its outlandish, yet riveting retelling of the dance number, "Shaking The Blues Away."
Depressed, Hewes nurses his wounds with a trip to a nearby dancehall and wagers with his best buddy Johnny Moore (a terrific, self-effacing Keith Rice) that he can turn any of the dancers into his next partner. Out stumbles a bumbling Hannah Brown (gifted musical comedy actress
Ann Michels, who possesses a lovely singing voice), who ultimately accepts Don's entreaties.
Predictably, Don sets out to make Nadine jealous by initially trying to recast Hannah in his former partner's image. Both Hannah and Don realize independently that it's just not working and that Hannah just needs to be herself (ironically, Michels really just needs to be herself instead of continually trying to mimic the speaking voice of Judy Garland). Their epiphany gives way to a song and dance act allowing Hannah to primarily sing while Don concentrates on the dancing. One of the show's best numbers, "When The Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam," hints at the potential that this Easter Parade could have been. From there, we get hints that love is in bloom between Don and Hannah.
Where Briggs' book should have been clarified, along with more precise direction from
Michael Brindisi, is in the second act. Yes, there are many terrific production numbers, particularly "Steppin' Out With My Baby" featuring Don and the chorus, as well as a lovely "Mr. Monotony" sung as a duet by Nadine and Hannah (both of which underscore the timeless genius of Irving Berlin), but there's no clarity around why Don would be performing without Hannah, or why Hannah would be singing with Nadine. As I indicated earlier, it's quite scrambled.
But nowhere does this production end up with egg on its face more than in the surprise ending. I won't give it away here, but let's just say if you loved the movie and you're a purist, you'll probably be very disappointed by what happens to the show's lovebirds. Yes, new books can and should take liberties with source material to move the story along and clarify points, but Briggs has, in my opinion, tinkered a bit too much. And unfortunately, I found the "Easter Parade" finale number a few steps short of rousing.
Make no mistake, the cast is exceptional, and there's plenty of romantic chemistry among the lead actors. Indeed, there's also a sweet sidebar love story between Nadine's dresser Essie (a wonderfully sassy Angela Timberman) and Mr. Johnson (comic deadpan Jay Albright, Timberman's real-life husband).
But while Tamara Kangas' choreography has touches of brilliance, I found myself missing the movie's dazzling dance moves from Fred Astaire and
Ann Miller (I couldn't help but wonder what a
Noah Racey and
Charlotte d'Amboise would do in the Don and Nadine roles if given the chance). That, coupled with the misfires in the book, left me understanding why this occasionally entertaining parade ultimately passed me by.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories: Labels: Easter Parade, Film, Irving Berlin, Musical, The SOB Review
The Night Of Magical Openings
Whatever you decide to call it, The Year Of Magical Thinking will no doubt provide inspiration for many non-theatregoers to visit the Booth over the next couple of months. I'll let you know tomorrow what the critics thought of their visits over the past few nights.
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Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, David Hare, Joan Didion, Opening Night, Play, The Year Of Magical Thinking, Vanessa Redgrave
Amazing Candor From Amazing KanderAs I hope I've made abundantly clear over the last year of writing Steve On Broadway (SOB), I truly love what the legendary songwriting team of
John Kander and the late
Fred Ebb has bestowed upon the theatre world. Their style, grace and wit have made for enduring and riveting entertainment that will last for generations.
With classics like
Cabaret and
Chicago to lesser known fare like
The Rink to their current Broadway treat
Curtains, I've cherished my opportunities to enjoy the scores that the two have supplied to the Great White Way since 1965. That's when the duo's first collaboration, for
Flora, The Red Menace,
landed on the boards of the
Alvin Theatre and made a bona fide star out of then 19 year old
Liza Minnelli, who took home the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical.
Now, in a
Playbill interview, Kander speaks candidly about life without Ebb, as well as his continued efforts to soldier on with material the two started together. In the interview, Kander says: "I mean, I have no pride about all this. I'm enjoying the lyric writing that I'm doing -- that I do with much less confidence (than the music), of course. I would have no compunctions about asking somebody for help."
Help has certainly come to him from
Rupert Holmes, who aided
Curtains on both the score and the book (after the death of
Peter Stone). But according to the Playbill story,
Curtains does not necessarily spell curtains for the slew of shows Kander and Ebb had been writing prior to the former's death.
Still to come:
All About Us (artwork for the production is to the left), based on the Thornton Wilder Pulitzer Prize-winning classic "Skin Of Our Teeth." The musical, with a book by
Joseph Stein (
Fiddler On The Roof), will be produced next month at the
Westport Country Playhouse. The
Gabriel Barre-helmed show features some high-test talent, including
Eartha Kitt,
Shuler Hensley and
Cady Huffman.
The Visit, revised with help from
Terrence McNally from its earlier
Goodman Theatre (Chicago) incarnation, will be produced this fall at the Washington DC-area's
Signature Theatre.
Chita Rivera will reprise the role she originated at the Goodman.
The Minstrel Show, with help from
Susan Stroman and
David Thompson, the latter of whom has collaborated with Kander and Ebb on
Chicago and
Steel Pier.
According to Playbill, Kander describes this as a "vicious" musical that examines racial inequities in the United States during the Great Depression. The Playbill story indicates that the show is "in limbo."
Given that the tuner, quite shockingly, is intended to be presented in blackface, I can't say I'm surprised even if it was close to completion when Fred Ebb passed away. Personally, I hope the conception of this show is being carefully considered so as not to leave a permanent black mark on their otherwise wonderful record of musical success.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for All About Us tickets.Click here for Chicago tickets.Click here for Curtains tickets.Related Stories:Did Curtains Rise On Critics' Reviews? (March 23, 2007)
Curtains Finally Open On New Kander & Ebb Tuner (March 22, 2007)
The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Laurence Olivier Award Nominations Announced (January 18, 2007)
Chicago (The SOB Revisit) - Ambassador Theatre, New York, NY (January 16, 2007)
Revisiting Chicago (January 12, 2007)
Happy Birthday, Chicago! (November 14, 2006)
Curtains To Rise At Al Hirschfeld Theatre In March (November 3, 2006)
LuPone Likely for London? (November 3, 2006)
Survey Says.... (October 23, 2006)
Did London Critics Care Much For Cabaret Revival? (October 11, 2006)
Cabaret Opens Its West End Doors This Evening (October 10, 2006)
Chita Rivera to Make Return "Visit" in DC (August 25, 2006)
Cabaret's Conservative Casting Choices (August 18, 2006)
Curtains Meets the Critics (August 10, 2006)
Curtains (The SOB Review) – Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center, Los Angeles, CA (August 10, 2006)
Curtains Set to Rise on Curtains Tonight in LA (August 9, 2006)
Curtains Pulls Advance Buzz (August 1, 2006)
Curtains' Calling on Broadway? (July 24, 2006)
Another Cabaret? It Couldn't Please Me More (July 5, 2006)
Kander and Ebb's Curtains Set to Rise in LA This Summer (May 11, 2006)
Labels: All Of Us, Broadway, Cabaret, Chicago The Musical, Curtains, Fred Ebb, John Kander, Musical, Revival, The Minstrel Show, The Rink, The Visit
Chaperone: No More Foster Care
After nearly a year on Broadway in her Tony nominated turn as twenties starlet Janet Van DeGraaff in
The Drowsy Chaperone (and longer than that if you count the Los Angeles tryout), actress
Sutton Foster is set to depart the production on April 15.
Co-star
Georgia Engel (pictured above right, dancing the "Toledo Surprise" with Foster) will exit the show on April 1. Seems like a perfect day for the lovably ditzy Engel.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for The Drowsy Chaperone tickets. Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, Casting Changes, Georgia Engel, Musical, Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein
In The Company Of Underperforming ShowsTake a look at this past week's box office totals for Broadway, and you'll see familiar names in the top two slots in terms of both capacity and total dollars earned.
Wicked remains Rialto's top grossing show with $1,380,917 and 100% capacity.
Jersey Boys continues its reign as the top capacity show at 100.7% while earning $1,166,505, enough to make it the second top-grossing production of the week yet again.
But look down the list, and you'll see largely well-reviewed shows in the bottom five, both in terms of capacity and earnings for the week:
Lowest Grossing Shows:
Journey's End ($157,884)
Prelude To A Kiss ($198,534)
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ($251,860)
Talk Radio ($305,723)
Company ($314,585)
Lowest Capacity Shows:
Journey's End (41.2%)
The Producers (53.9%)
Company (56.5%)
Talk Radio (61.4%)
Grey Gardens (71.4%)
Look below those numbers, and you'll find that the limited run of
Prelude To A Kiss has the distinction of having the lowest average ticket price of just $42.88, followed by
Journey's End at $47.10. That tells me that
Prelude To A Kiss has been very successfully selling cheap seats through TKTS -- enough that the
Roundabout Theatre production has been boosted to 78.2% of capacity.
Journey's End, on the other hand, appears to be flat out suffering from America's battle fatigue from all things warlike. Indeed,
The Playgoer reports that the end of this limited run show may be expedited.
No surprise on the other end of the spectrum as
Jersey Boys and
Wicked provide the one-two punch in terms of highest average ticket price, coming in at $118.51 and $95.42, respectively.
Granted, a couple of the shows that turn up on the bottom end have run their course:
The Producers and
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee -- the former is already set to close, while the latter's Chicago sitdown incarnation closed Sunday.
Grey Gardens' 70%+ capacity is probably not sounding alarm bells at the
Walter Kerr just yet.
But
Talk Radio's placement on both charts demonstrates that not even a critically-acclaimed performance by
Liev Schreiber, who was dubbed
"the finest American theater actor of his generation" by Ben Brantley, is enough to attract theatregoers.
Much to my personal chagrin, Company appears to be losing steam. In a week where the majority of shows enjoyed an upward bump at the box office, Company lost 5.8% of its capacity week over week, although if there's a silver lining, its average ticket price increased from $63.50 to $66.49.
After finally getting around to seeing this production last month,
I was struck by how good it actually is, and I couldn't help but think how deserving it was of a larger audience. But judging from its box office, it could very soon be placed in the company of other closing shows. That would be a shame.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Company tickets. Click here for Grey Gardens ticket information. Click here for Jersey Boys ticket information. Click here for Journey's End ticket information. Click here for Prelude To A Kiss tickets. Click here for Talk Radio tickets. Click here for The Producers ticket information. Click here for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee tickets. Click here for Wicked tickets. Labels: Box Office, Broadway, Company, Jersey Boys, Journey's End, Musical, Play, Prelude To A Kiss, Revival, Talk Radio, Wicked
West End Boys?
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Click here for Jersey Boys U.S. ticket information. Related Stories:
Labels: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Broadway, Cameron Mackintosh, First Word On New Show, Jersey Boys, Jukebox Musical, London, Musical, Transfer
Max And Laura Go Together
As I revealed last Thursday, the
two were my personal picks for the upcoming $10 million
Kathleen Marshall-helmed
Grease revival that will land at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre on July 24; opening night is currently set for August 16. For once, it appears that a production of
Grease will enjoy near age-appropriate talent -- for the first time, I'm actually considering buying a ticket for the show.
What do you think? Are you now compelled to visit Broadway this summer to see Max and Laura? Or will you avoid the show altogether? I invite you to vote in my latest SOB Poll on the right hand column of this site and then weigh-in with your comments.
So what were they saying in the hometowns of the dynamic duo this morning? Here are links to today's
Arizona Republic (Phoenix) and
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) stories.
Beyond the announcement of who captured the most votes to win the roles, one of the more interesting aspects of last night's show was the introduction of the new cast members. Unfortunately, we were only told the cast members' character names, so I'm still waiting to see the list of bona fide actors/chorus members who have been selected.
But a nice touch was showing the new stars their names in lights over Times Square. I'm genuinely excited by the selections of Max and Laura. Congratulations to you both!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, Grease, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Musical, Revival, Television
Behind The Grease Paint
As you might expect, local media from the contestants' hometowns are providing plenty of coverage of their favorite sons and daughters. Here are links to local stories that have been written about each of them on the eve of the big evening that will propel two of them to a Broadway stage this summer:
- Max Crumm, Arizona Republic (Phoenix) first and second stories, March 24.
- Laura Osnes, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), March 23, and Pioneer Press (St. Paul), March 19.
- Austin Miller, Houston Chronicle, March 22, and The Facts (Brazoria County, TX), March 8.
- Ashley Spencer, The Independent (Masillon, OH), March 18, and Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 18.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Grease, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Revival, Television
Summer Brings Old Acquaintance Harris Back To Broadway
But Harris has been busy earning accolades elsewhere for her breathtaking stage versatility. Her range has taken her from Vera Charles in
Mame (Washington DC's
Kennedy Center) to her current portrayal of Amanda in
The Glass Menagerie (Minneapolis' Guthrie), which ends Sunday.
In
my review of the former show, I called her "brilliant," while for her latter performance,
I was downright smitten: "Harris erupts with a volatile mix of authentic neurosis and delusional charm to make you believe she understands the archetype Williams intended perfectly. An actor's actor if ever there was one, Harris masters this role with clarity and precision, even when she's not speaking a word. Hers is one of the best performances of the year."
Harris is among a select group of actresses for whom I would go out of my way to see on the stage. Congratulations to Roundabout for once again tapping into this amazing and talented treasure.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, First Word On New Show, Harriet Harris, Mame, Old Acquaintance, Play, Revival, Roundabout Theatre, The Glass Menagerie, Thoroughly Modern Millie
London Porgy And Bess Soon To Be Gone, Gone, Gone
So extraordinary was the reworking of
Porgy And Bess that the show was Olivier-nominated for Best
New Musical earlier this year; the production would lose to
Caroline, Or Change. Peters and Hughes were also nominated for their performances.
Porgy And Bess is reportedly still being readied for a Spring 2008 transfer to Broadway. And speaking of transfers, the show's early departure from the Savoy provides a West End opening for the transfer of
another musical revival, this time from Northern England's
Sheffield Crucible Theatre.
Personally, as a huge fan of Porgy And Bess' classic score, I'm looking forward to seeing it once it makes the journey "home" to America.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Fiddler On The Roof tickets. Click here for Porgy And Bess tickets. Labels: Closing Notices, Fiddler On The Roof, First Word On New Show, London, Musical, Porgy And Bess, Revival, Transfer, Trevor Nunn
Can Pirate Queen Be Salvaged?
This morning,
New York Post's
Michael Riedel holds out hope that the notorious salvage operation might be working:
Insiders say the new script is much more action-driven that it was before, and that (Graciela) Daniele has made more fluid a production that had been a static pageant of pretty stage pictures. ([Frank] Galati's still on board, but Daniele's calling the shots.) The show's still heavy on Irish dancing -- you know, happy peasants jumping around without moving their arms -- making The Pirate Queen something of a "Riverdance With Oars." But, by all accounts, this isn't the same show that opened -- and nearly sank -- in Chicago.
Despite those changes, the buzz I continue to hear on the show is far from positive. But there's still more than a week to go before critics can founder the tuner, which is currently drawing a capacity of about 80%, for good. If the $16 million musical sinks, it would become one of the biggest flops in Broadway history.
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Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, Buzz, Chicago, Frank Galati, Graciela Daniele, Musical, Rewrite, The Pirate Queen
Did Curtains Rise On Critics' Reviews?Last evening,
Curtains opened at Broadway’s
Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The show is among the final collaborations between
John Kander and the late
Fred Ebb (the book, along with added elements of the score, were written by
Rupert Holmes). The new musical received positive to mixed notices, although critics were near unanimous in their adoration for
David Hyde Pierce.
Proclaiming
Curtains “a gust of giddy good fun,”
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York’s
Daily News praises the show: “It's no wonder
Curtains is set in 1959. The era recalls the Golden Age of Broadway musicals, when many a show had hummable tunes, laugh-out-loud-able lines and adorable characters (even when they were horrible)…. The score is lighter than
Chicago and
Cabaret, but the legendary team has penned a show's worth of good tunes….Choreographer
Rob Ashford also deserves big credit. The dancing is athletic and intricate and will knock your socks off….[T]he cast is fantastic.”
Deeming the show “a thoroughly entertaining new musical,” Associated Press’
Michael Kuchwara is positive: “It's a blissful, often very funny celebration of a bygone era, a theater world that has largely disappeared….It's the kind of corny, slightly naughty joke, courtesy of book writer Rupert Holmes, that propels the musical's genial self-mockery. Yet behind that tweaking is an affection for musical theater, a genuine appreciation of the craft and hard work that goes into making a show work. Director
Scott Ellis artfully keeps that balance intact while pushing the convoluted plot forward.”
Concluding that
Curtains “works,” Variety’s
David Rooney was ultimately charmed by the show: “That this determinedly old-fashioned murder-mystery musical actually comes out on top is a credit to the talented creative team involved, on- and offstage. Rarely does a show with such a meandering first act -- enlivened by low-key laughs but alarmingly light on momentum -- bounce back after intermission with such infectious, ingratiating spirit….Amusing when it should be uproarious, pleasantly tuneful when it should be transporting, the show diverts but never dazzles. Somewhere early in act two, however, it quietly builds charm, cheek and cleverness, making it register as satisfying entertainment by final curtain. Much of the credit goes to an expertly chosen cast.”
Even
Eric Grode of the
New York Sun is mostly favorable: “What this gang of merry miscreants did is breathe a faint but nonetheless refreshing blast of air into a format that has been hurting for oxygen of late -- the good old-fashioned musical comedy. They may not have gotten away with it entirely, but John Kander, Fred Ebb, and a passel of other pros led by the sure-footed director Scott Ellis have added a harmless new entry into a sadly underrepresented subgenre: the murder-mystery musical….the show's deep-rooted affection for the (literally) wicked stage could bring the lieutenant Frank Cioffi out of any but the most grumbly theatregoer.”
In her two-and-a-half-star review,
USA Today’s
Elysa Gardner provides a mixed assessment: “There are some endearing tunes (Holmes contributed additional lyrics) and likable performances from Pierce, sporting a droll Baah-stin accent, and
Karen Ziemba, who plays Robbin' Hood's lyricist-turned-replacement star.
Debra Monk and
Edward Hibbert have audience-pleasing turns as a sassy veteran producer and a smug, flamboyant director….But in the end, the cast members, like the players they play, are confined by their material.
Curtains may be a sweet swan song, but it will hardly be remembered as Kander and Ebb's finest hour.”
Referring to
Curtains as a “talent-packed, thrill-starved production,”
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times provides a review that’s mixed at best: “Perhaps (the) switching of creative horses accounts for the enervation that seems to underlie the lavish expenditure of energy by a top-of-the line cast that includes Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba and
Jason Danieley. Brightly packaged, with
Kiss Me, Kate-style sets by
Anna Louizos and costumes to match by the industrious
William Ivey Long,
Curtains lies on the stage like a promisingly gaudy string of firecrackers, waiting in vain for that vital, necessary spark to set it off.”
In his two-star review,
New York Post’s
Clive Barnes is perhaps the most negative: “The John Kander/Fred Ebb/Rupert Holmes musical that opened at the Hirschfeld last night has two things going for it: the effortless performances of its star, the nervy, impeccable David Hyde Pierce as a stage-struck 1959 Boston detective brought in to solve a backstage murder, and, in a smaller role, Edward Hibbert as that show's effetely acerbic director….I just found it awe-inspiringly bad. Unfortunately, it was difficult to discern just where the joke musical ended and the actual one began.”
Readers will recall how much
I enjoyed this tuner during its out of town tryout last summer in Los Angeles. Coupled with the generally positive audience buzz, there is much to market in these reviews. We’ll see what impact, if any, they have on the upcoming box office.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Honorable Mentions: SOB's Singular Sensations Of '06 (December 30, 2006)
Curtains To Rise At Al Hirschfeld Theatre In March (November 3, 2006)
Calling It Quits: The Wedding Singer Set To Close At Year’s End (October 26, 2006)
Survey Says.... (October 23, 2006)
High Fidelity Tunes In To High Capacity Imperial (August 24, 2006)
Which Broadway Musical Will Depart Next? (August 21, 2006)
Curtains Meets the Critics (August 10, 2006)
Curtains (The SOB Review) – Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center, Los Angeles, CA (August 10, 2006)
Curtains Set to Rise on Curtains Tonight in LA (August 9, 2006)
Curtains Pulls Advance Buzz (August 1, 2006)
Curtains' Calling on Broadway? (July 24, 2006)
Kander and Ebb's Curtains Set to Rise in LA This Summer (May 11, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Curtains, David Hyde Pierce, Fred Ebb, John Kander, Musical
Grease: The Ones That I Want
OK, so the television show that's about to select Broadway's new
Grease stars -- Sandy and Danny -- was not quite the
electrifying experience I had hoped for. But I did find myself tuning in whenever I happened to be home.
And when I did tune in, I found myself rooting for the underdogs. I must not have been alone.
Max Crumm and
Laura Osnes have transformed themselves from longshots into finalists.
Sure,
Austin Miller is a great entertainer. His status as a veteran musical actor has been unquestioned from the start of the show. Indeed, he played the romantic lead role of Link in the original touring production of
Hairspray; when I saw the show, I was struck by his terrific on-stage presence. Yet his sparkle never quite translated through television.
And sure,
Ashley Spencer possesses that certain
Meg Ryan girl-next-door look. She even has pretty decent pipes on her.
But my votes go to Max and Laura.
Simply put, Max
looks and sounds like Danny Zuko. Plus he's age appropriate. I think he's the reality show's ultimate find and has the greatest potential for moving viewers to actually buying tickets to see
Kathleen Marshall's stage production.
As for Laura, she may not have Ashley's blonde mane, but she more than makes up for it in charm and innocence that her competitor just can't touch. Maybe it's the fact that she's not from LA. To me, Laura epitomizes Sandy.
Now, I realize that all this is a moot point for many of you. According to my recent SOB Poll, 38.2% of you either refused to watch any of "
Grease: You're The One That I Want" or it simply wasn't of any interest to you in the first place.
But to the 55.9% of you who either watch the program regularly or at least on occasion, as well as the additional 5.9% of you who said you'd finally succumb to watching when it came down to the final four, I'll be interested in hearing whether your picks match mine. And more importantly, do you see yourself buying a ticket to the revival that opens this summer?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, Grease, Hairspray, Kathleen Marshall, Musical, Revival, SOB Poll, Television
Curtains Finally Open On New Kander & Ebb Tuner
What is particularly bittersweet about the show is that it is one of the final tuners to spring from the canon of the legendary team of
John Kander and
Fred Ebb, the latter having passed away nearly three years ago. And while the late
Peter Stone is credited with the original conception behind the book, it's
Rupert Holmes who furnished the final book and additional lyrics for the new show.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Honorable Mentions: SOB's Singular Sensations Of '06 (December 30, 2006)
Curtains To Rise At Al Hirschfeld Theatre In March (November 3, 2006)
Calling It Quits: The Wedding Singer Set To Close At Year’s End (October 26, 2006)
Survey Says.... (October 23, 2006)
High Fidelity Tunes In To High Capacity Imperial (August 24, 2006)
Which Broadway Musical Will Depart Next? (August 21, 2006)
Curtains Meets the Critics (August 10, 2006)
Curtains (The SOB Review) – Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center, Los Angeles, CA (August 10, 2006)
Curtains Set to Rise on Curtains Tonight in LA (August 9, 2006)
Curtains Pulls Advance Buzz (August 1, 2006)
Curtains' Calling on Broadway? (July 24, 2006)
Kander and Ebb's Curtains Set to Rise in LA This Summer (May 11, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Curtains, David Hyde Pierce, Debra Monk, Fred Ebb, John Kander, Musical, Opening Night, Rupert Holmes
Fierstein To Musicalize Bette Davis' Fave Flick
According to
Michael Riedel of the
New York Post, Tony winner
Harvey Fierstein is planning a return to Broadway via a musical version of
Paddy Chayefsky's "
The Catered Affair." In addition to starring in the new tuner, Fierstein has written the book.
John Bucchino is penning the score, while
John Doyle is reportedly set to direct, although don't expect to see Mr. Fierstein playing any instruments. Fierstein is quoted as saying, "I told him, I ain't playing no damn tambourine. I'm very pro-union. I ain't taking no jobs from musicians."
"The Catered Affair" was originally a 1956 teleplay starring
Bette Davis,
Ernest Borgnine,
Debbie Reynolds and
Rod Taylor. Reputedly, it was Davis' personal favorite role.
Look for the musical to arrive on Broadway sometime during the 2007-08 Theatrical Season.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Bette Davis, Broadway, Film, First Word On New Show, Harvey Fierstein, John Doyle, Musical, Paddy Chayefsky, The Catered Affair
Out Of The Mouths Of Rockers: Flaming Lips Musical Headed For Broadway?
Of the source material, lead singer
Wayne Coyne told EW.com that "[I]t's not really a story. It's more like a mood...'There's a Japanese girl; she fights some robots; that's five minutes. After that I don't know.''
EW advises that the while the details of this anti-jukebox musical are not specific, expect a dystopian fantasy not unlike
Terry Gilliam's "
Brazil."
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Aaron Sorkin, Broadway, Des McAnuff, First Word On New Show, Jukebox Musical, Musical, The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Lady: Did Critics Sing The Blues?
In his four-out-of-five-star review of what he calls a "silk-smooth production,"
Michael Billington of
The Guardian has praise: "I was simultaneously tantalised, intrigued, and entertained....But a work dismissed as obscure in 1980 now seems politically prophetic....Albee's cryptic jeremiad about the state of the nation is delivered with immense style. Maggie Smith, enigmatic in black as the lady from Dubuque, perfectly blends choric irony with compassion for the dying....the great thing about a play in which nothing is ever resolved is that Albee leaves the audience the dignity of interpretative choice."
Taking the middle ground is
Nicholas de Jongh of the
Evening Standard, who in providing three out of five stars, offers this: "How it mystifies and irritates, disturbs and affects, but leaves you in the dark - provoked and unsatisfied!...It is Dame Maggie Smith's undimmed allure, though, rather than Albee's play that will insure
The Lady From Dubuque, in
Anthony Page's otherwise poorly acted production, lasts far longer over here. Dame Maggie discards most of her fabulous bag of comic manners and mannerisms to become the mysterious Lady, Elizabeth, radiant with wintry compassion and a flair for mocking disdain. She rediscovers that register of serious, heart-felt emotion she famously employed as a centenarian in Albee's
Three Tall Women."
Describing the show as "an arch mix of sub-Pirandello and recycled Albee,"
Paul Taylor of
The Independent provides a mixed review: "This belated London premiere, though spirited and stylish, is not going to persuade many people that
The Lady of Dubuque is an Albee gem rescued from unjust neglect....Smith has a lot of sly fun with the role, seamlessly combining an air of mischievous ladylike puzzlement ("Pink hair? On purpose?") with quizzical hints of implacable purpose and metaphysical depth ("Oh, we exist. Worry about yourself," she majestically informs the distraught Sam)."
Offerings up just two out of five stars,
The Times'
Benedict Nightingale pans the production: "[T]his is a play that teases, tantalises and, without either arresting or exactly boring you, leaves you wondering what the hell it’s on about: which is maybe why it flopped on Broadway in 1980, lasting 18 previews and 12 performances, and has waited 27 years for its London premiere....But despite the best efforts of Anthony Page’s fine cast, I remained pretty much unimplicated and, worse, uninvolved throughout."
The limited 14-week engagement of The Lady From Dubuque ends on June 9.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:
Labels: Critics' Capsule, Edward Albee, London, Maggie Smith, Play, Revival, The Lady From Dubuque
