After having thoroughly enjoyed last year's brilliant London production with Ralph Fiennes and absolutely mesmerizing Janet McTeer -- click here for that SOB Review -- I find this morning's favorable critiques to be very tempting for a revisit to this visceral comedy. Oh, and if you'd like to see McTeer, your opportunity comes later this month as the London-cum-Broadway revival of Mary Stuart begins previews.
Yesterday, two days after suffering severe trauma to her head after a ski-related fall, Tony Award-winning actress Natasha Richardson died at the very young age of 45.
My heartfelt condolences are extended to her family and friends on their enormous loss.
While the world anxiously awaits definitive news on the state of Natasha Richardson, who earned a Tony in 1998 for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes' brilliant revival of Cabaret, I want to express two thoughts.
First and foremost, my heart goes out to Ms. Richardson's family and friends as we all wish for the best.
Second, I'm absolutely disgusted by the media's irresponsible rush to proclaim anything until the family is ready. Particularly grievous was yesterday's despicably premature pronunciations by Time Out New York, followed by Michael Riedel's New York Post declarations.
In the ensuing rush to get a scoop, including capturing photos of the shocked and devastated family, the worst within the media have pushed the boundaries of decency by debasing this news into the most unseamly of realms. Is it no wonder Americans have such a distaste for the news media?
Media: Give it a rest. Let the family and friends of Ms. Richardson cope this this tragedy in peace. Let them make any official statements on their own timetable without adding to the pain. Afford them the same courtesies you'd want if you were in their shoes.
UPDATE (3.18.09, 11:47 p.m. EDT): Earlier this evening, it was announced that Natasha Richardson has succumbed to her traumatic injuries from a skiing accident. Ms. Richardson was 45. My sincere condolences to this winning actress' family and friends on their immense loss.
You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bush (The SOB Review) - Cort Theatre, New York, New York
* (out of ****)
Rather than too little, too late, this occasionally funny retread of the last eight years feels like far too much so soon after the eponymous president left office. So much for mission accomplished.
While You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bushhas some genuine laughs and moments of inspiration, this Will Farrell vehicle tries to shock with purported images of the Commander-in-Chief's chief of staff. Yet its greatest offense is its crass, jokey use of the N word (Ferrell's Bush confuses the name of a certain African country with the worst epithet in the English language).
Replete with even more costume changes than Liza Minnelli had during her recent Great White Way outing, You're Welcome America dulls down into one of those overextended Saturday Night Live sketches that appears late in the program and swaggers sharply into obscurity. It's ironic that a show about a president often accused of intellectual laziness suffers from too much of the same.
While that may work on television, it's not quite ready for a prime Broadway berth.
Call it a crazy confluence of coinciding circumstances. Or call it the beginning of dramatically different Act Two after a bit of an intermission.
Though I'll spare you most of the personal details, after almost three years of nearly nonstop daily blogging, I have decided to suspend my regular postings on Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Alongside travel, history, politics and music, live theatre has been one my greatest passions since my formative years. I've been extremely fortunate to have seen some of the greatest shows of our time, along with some of the biggest and brightest stars of the stage.
Even more fortunate was my opportunity to share this most unique and entertaining of communal experience withsoverymanyofyou, myfellowenthusiasts (and truly dear friends). For that, I'm all the richer.
While I've been indisposed over the past week, I've had a chance to reflect on how blogging about live theatre has substantially detracted from my passion for this beloved art form. In my mad dash in trying to see everything (spending my own hard-earned dollars to boot), all the while reviewing each and every show, I've become much more critical of the form. I have sacrificed the opportunity to judiciously select what I'd most like to see. A consequence has been that I no longer just sit back, relax and enjoy each production for the entertainment that it is.
On top of that, I write all day in my professional life, which is squarely outside of the realm of theatre. When you write for a living, oftentimes the last thing you want to do is write on your own time, particularly when your inherent instinct is to live life to its fullest. As a good friend once told me, "If you're baking pies all day, who wants to come home and bake one?"
Unlike all too many others, including a disturbing number of family and friends, I'm extremely fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to continue working in this most difficult of economies. I'm resolved to be better than ever, not only professionally, but especially in my relationships with my loved ones. They're what matter more than anything else to me.
The death this past week of Horton Foote -- one of America's great playwrights, whose tender works not only centered on family, but quite often featured his own talented daughter Hallie -- had me further pondering the vital role my loved ones play in my life, as well as the cost of writing Steve On Broadway (SOB) at their expense.
So it's after much contemplation that I suspend regular, let alone daily, postings here. Having said that, if there's a theatre headline or personal experience worth writing about, rest assured I'll still be posting them. As far as the shows I see, I may attempt to write one or two lines about my overall experience in an easy-to-read nutshell, along with whether or not I actually enjoyed the performances. But that my friends will be about all.
For those of you who have visited here for the rundown of shows opening on Broadway, I advise you to regularly visit the two sites I visit most: Playbill and TheaterMania.
For those of you who have enjoyed my critics' capsules, I'd like to redirect you to Did He Like It? or Critic-O-Meter.
With frequent McDonagh collaborator Garry Hynes at the helm, the two have spun an exceptional yarn. Set in the Depression-era on a remote Irish island, a physically challenged reject nicknamed "Cripple" Billy -- an exceptional Aaron Monaghan in a breakthrough role -- finds fame, if not necessarily good fortune, when he's defied all odds in being cast in a documentary being filmed on the nearby isle of Inishmore.
With his trademark black humor, McDonagh infuses each character with remarkable shadings that reveal themselves with his characteristic complexity. Chief among them is the extraordinary David Pearce as Inishmaan gossip JohnnyPateenMike, who never met a rumor he didn't like to exploit, yet who ultimately maintains a secret that proves he has a heart.
Despite all the violence for which McDonagh is known, and Cripple Of Inishmaan certainly has its share, the playwright intrigues with his compassion for humanity. It certainly bubbles to the surface in this great work. Along with his rich humor, outstanding cast and Hynes' loving direction, this able play easily ranks among the year's better revivals.
Dear Readers, please accept my sincere apologies for neither posting my regular critics' capsule of Guys And Dolls nor my own SOB Review as previously announced and planned. Unfortunately, I've been incapacitated, thus precluding me from writing.
Lucky Sixes? Des McAnuff Rolls Dice Opening Sixth Broadway Guys And Dolls
Later today, the ultimate Broadway-based musical fable Guys And Dollswill open for the sixth time on the Great White Way. Helmed by Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys), this fifth revival opens at the newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre, a block south of 42nd Street.
This Guys And Dolls will be noteworthy, not necessarily because of it cast -- including Craig Bierko as Sky Masterson, Lauren Graham as Miss Adelaide, Kate Jennings Grant as Sarah Brown, and Oliver Platt as Nathan Detroit -- but because of McAnuff's incorporation of Dustin O'Neill's elaborate video projection design, as well as the introduction of the creator of the stories upon which Guys And Dolls' stories and characters were based, Damon Runyon himself (played by Raymond del Barrio) .
Of course, many Broadway audiences -- myself included -- still fondly recall the glorious 1992 revival that took home four Tony Awards, including for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Director (Jerry Zaks) and Best Actress in a Musical (Faith Prince as Miss Adelaide). In addition to Prince, that wondrous incarnation also starred Peter Gallagher as Sky Masterson, Nathan Lane as Nathan Detroit, and Josie de Guzman as Sarah Brown.
Will McAnuff's gimmicks be enough to make this revival erase 17 year old memories of the last Guys And Dolls mounting? Find out tomorrow as I not only provide my own SOB Review, but also share my regular critics' capsule.
Rain: A Tribute To The Beatles Limited run extended through May 31, 2011 (Show will go on hiatus starting January 15 and reopen at Brooks Atkinson Theatre on February 8)
Rock Of Ages - Open-ended run (Show will go on hiatus starting January 9 and reopen at Helen Hayes Theatre in March)
As someone who has been involved in both politics and public relations, it's no wonder I love watching theatre. Good or bad, it's the raw energy of seeing a live performance that gets my adrenaline pumping. From the moment I saw my very first Broadway show ("Annie" in London in 1979), I was hooked. Now I see as many as 70 shows each year ranging from soaring musicals to two-hander plays. And these eyes just may be in an audience near you!
What Hath God Wrought?
