The Miracle Worker (The SOB Review) - Circle In The Square Theatre, New York City, New York*1/2 (out of ****)It's been just over 50 years since
William Gibson's
The Miracle Worker made its debut on Broadway and became a major hit.
The
1959 work famously teamed
Anne Bancroft as teacher Annie Sullivan with a very young
Patty Duke as
Helen Keller, the inspirational figure who lost her vision and hearing as an infant. The dramatization, which ran one and a half years, earned four Tony Awards, including for Best Play and Bancroft's performance.
Now, after helming the miraculously stunning
Ruined, Kate Whoriskey is making her Great White Way directorial debut with the first Broadway revival of
The Miracle Worker. You'd think Whoriskey could at least be capable of working miracles with a time-honored play such as this.
Sadly, instead of further demonstrating she knows her way around a stage, it's almost as if she's feeling her way through. Whoriskey and the cast -- headlined by the amazing
Alison Pill as Annie and Academy Award-nominated child actress
Abigail Breslin in a solid performance as Helen -- are simply ill-served by the
Circle in the Square's theatre-in-the-round staging. As a result, the audience suffers.
As purposely spare as
Derek McLane's scenic design is, no doubt to leave the actors largely unobscured, there are just one too many instances in which the blocking of the actors themselves conceal pivotal moments in the play, often at the edge of the stage. In what seems to be a cruel joke on the audience, we've been forced into Keller's sightless shoes by having to fill in the blanks for what we're missing.
However impactful the play might be is nearly negated from the fact we cannot see. How ironic. It's not only frustrating, but maddening.
Miracles may happen. Just not at the Circle in the Square.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Abigail Breslin, Alison Pill, Broadway, Elizabeth Franz, Kate Whoriskey, Matthew Modine, Patty Duke, Play, Revival, The Miracle Worker, William Gibson
Paying A Film VisitWant to know what one of my greatest entertain-ment pleasures is aside from seeing live theatre?
It's seeing some of the stage's greatest talents on the silver screen. Every now and then, a film comes along that surprises with the number of decidedly un-Hollywood actors in them.
In 2007, for example, it was the
Steve Carell comedy/drama "
Dan In Real Life" that surprised with an exciting cross-section of today's top talents known primarily for their work treading the boards, including
Norbert Leo Butz,
Alison Pill and
Matthew Morrison, alongside several actors who have successfully straddled the seemingly widening gulf between stage and screen:
John Mahoney,
Dianne Wiest,
Amy Ryan and
Juliette Binoche. Not incidentally, the Rhode Island-based flick also features such names from live theatre as
Frank Wood and
Jessica Hecht.
Yesterday, in an effort to catch up on some of the most talked about flicks from 2008, I finally saw the tender little New York City-based gem called "
The Visitor," for which
Richard Jenkins has earned an Academy Award nomination. What an absolute delight to see cameos from the likes of
Marian Seldes as a bluntly honest piano teacher,
Michael Cumpsty as Jenkins' university colleague and
Richard Kind as an exuberant next door neighbor.
The moving film itself is an examination of an unexpected friendship that develops between a less-than-hardworking college professor and Muslim émigrés over a shared loved of music. Broadway itself also makes a surprising cameo as one of the characters expresses a desire to see
The Phantom Of The Opera -- placing that 21 year old tuner in the most touching light I've seen it in years.
I've often lamented the fact that more American films don't feature more of the great stars of the Great White Way. But thankfully, every now and again, the stage actors and actresses we've come to love have their chance to shine for the whole world to see. "The Visitor" certainly provides one of those rare opportunities.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Alison Pill, Broadway, Dan In Real Life, Film, Hollywood, Marian Seldes, Matthew Morrison, Michael Cumpsty, Norbert Leo Butz, Richard Kind, The Phantom Of The Opera, The Visitor
LaBute's Play About La Beauts Broadway BoundAccording to
Variety,
MCC's Off-Broadway production of
Reasons To Be Pretty will transfer to Broadway early next year. This will mark the Great White Way debut for a work by playwright
Neil LaBute.
Under the direction of
Steppenwolf founder
Terry Kinney, the current castmembers
Piper Perabo,
Alison Pill,
Thomas Sadoski and
Pablo Schreiber will all be part of the Main Stem incarnation, which will be produced there by three of the individuals responsible for bringing
August: Osage County to New York:
Jerry Frankel,
Jeffrey Richards and
Steve Traxler.
The last time Kinney helmed a show on Broadway, it was the Tony-winning revival of Steppenwolf's
One Flew Over A Cuckoo's Nest back in 2001. More recently, he's directed the world premiere of
Richard Greenberg's
haunting post 9/11 play
The Well Appointed Room at Steppenwolf in 2006. That production starred
Kate Arrington,
Josh Charles and a couple actors you may have heard of recently named
Tracy Letts and
Amy Morton.
Anything Kinney directs, I'll be interested in seeing, and given it's Neil LaBute with a cast including Alison Pill? Are you kidding? I'll be there!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Alison Pill, Broadway, First Word On New Show, Neil LaBute, Off-Broadway, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Play, Reasons To Be Pretty, Terry Kinney, Transfer
Mauritius (The SOB Review) - Biltmore Theatre, New York, NY
***1/2 (out of ****)Years ago -- about the time I was in the third grade and just having my appetite whetted for my lifelong interest in history -- I began collecting stamps.
Nothing serious, mind you. In fact, I’m quite confident if I dug up whatever it was I actually placed meticulously into my book, I’d surely find virtually nothing of value. That’s because like many passing fancies in our adolescence, I moved on to the next big thing.
If only I had known then what I know now.
Thanks to
Theresa Rebeck’s surprisingly thrilling and highly entertaining
Mauritius, I enjoyed a crash course in
philately.
Thanks to
Doug Hughes’ taut direction,
Mauritius provides one of those exceptionally riveting, edge-of-your-seat theatrical experiences -- a veritable roller coaster ride of delicious deception that literally pulls no punches.
In fact, the play -- about two half-sisters arguing over the rightful ownership of a potentially invaluable stamp collection left behind by their now deceased mother -- packs quite a wallop that’s as rare in theatre as the collection’s two 19th Century stamps from
Mauritius.
With a superb ensemble collection, Rebeck spins a diabolically delicious yarn -- aided by
John Lee Beatty’s evolving set design -- about who lays authentic claim to the collection: Jackie (
Alison Pill), who claims to have been given the stamps directly by her dying mother, or Mary (
Katie Finneran), whose grandfather once owned the collection and shared his secrets and interest with his granddaughter until his death.
As desperately destitute Jackie, Pill scores with a truly extraordinary, breathtaking performance by inhabiting the darkest recesses of someone willing to sell her very soul for a shot at money. To say she delivers a nuanced portrayal would be an understatement. Pill only cements her reputation as Broadway's top young actress.
As Mary, a measured Finneran more than ably goes toe to toe with Pill. But the action extends to a trio of men whose lust for the holy grail of stamp collecting means that they’ll stop at virtually nothing to ensure they profit.
First, there’s Dennis (a charming, cunning
Bobby Cannavale), whose dubious knowledge about authenticity never stands in his way of triangulating his alliances. Then there’s Sterling (a thoroughly menacing and maniacal
F. Murray Abraham), who claims ownership of the stamps before any money has even been exchanged. And no one can lick the wimpy stamp authority (a sly
Dylan Baker), who’s only to be underestimated at tremendous cost.
Mauritius scores on virtually every level and is one production that deserves to collect more than a few Tony nods. See it while you can.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:Did Mauritius Merit Stamps Of Approval? (October 5, 2007)
Theresa Rebeck Collects First Broadway Opening Night With Mauritius (October 4, 2007)
From Manhattan To Mauritius (June 28, 2007)
Well, Well, Well, If It Isn't Boston... (June 9, 2006)
Labels: Alison Pill, Broadway, Doug Hughes, F. Murray Abraham, Katie Finneran, Mauritius, Play, The SOB Review, Theresa Rebeck
Did Mauritius Merit Stamps Of Approval?Last evening,
Theresa Rebeck's
Mauritius opened at Broadway's
Biltmore Theatre. The critics have weighed in with mostly lukewarm reviews, and more than one has compared Rebeck's efforts to those of
David Mamet.
Praising
Mauritius as a "ripping good play,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News offers perhaps the most laudatory review of all: "
Doug Hughes (
Doubt) directs, and his mint-condition production made me gulp twice. First, 10 minutes into Act I, when
John Lee Beatty's wondrous set shape-shifts and gooses the play to life. Second, 10 minutes before intermission, when Jackie screams about sprouting 'bug wings, the kind that move really fast' and shows how disturbed she is. I can't recall being so eager for intermission to end. In (Rebeck's) Broadway debut, she keeps things lean and mean, while exploring a provocative parallel."
Labeling the work an "entertaining play,"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes offers a two-and-a-half star review: "The play's conceits -- that any dealer would be trusted to vouch for a stamp's authenticity just from looking at it, and that any collector, however rich, however nutty, would accept such judgment without any details of provenance -- is ridiculous. So it all depends on the writing -- and Rebeck is nifty in catching the criss and cross of convincing dialogue -- the staging, and even more on the acting. Doug Hughes' direction, little helped by John Lee Beatty's bland settings, is as expert as ever, applying a certain needed crisis control to a play often threatening to spiral into bombast."
Deeming it a "deftly formulaic play,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley is rather tepid: "[T]he production mostly has the ersatz air of an expertly drawn blueprint on tracing paper. Directed by Doug Hughes,
Mauritius is neatly structured, fleetly paced, handsomely mounted and engagingly acted....Ms. Rebeck knows that teasing ambiguity is the key to holding an audience’s interest in a play like
Mauritius....But Ms. Rebeck never really makes good on the promises of her atmospheric dialogue, with its talk of the nature of obsession and how it is the errors that make people, like stamps, of interest."
Allowing that the show is an "intermittently diverting mash-up of con game and domestic drama,"
Eric Grode of
The New York Sun laments: "The labyrinthine plot hinges on the musty world of rare postage stamps, where mistakes (upside-down airplanes and the like) do indeed boost the value, and the inference is that Ms. Rebeck's quintet of schemers similarly benefit from their imperfections. But Ms. Rebeck, a prolific playwright making her Broadway debut, hammers this metaphor with a doggedness that draws unwelcome attention to her own plotting gaffes and ungainly speeches. In the process, she and director Doug Hughes squander a strong cast and allow the play's twists and turns to spin a promising narrative into a series of credulity-straining confrontations."
Calling
Mauritius "slick, unconvincing,"
Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press finds at least one point of praise: "Nobody can do menace quite like
F. Murray Abraham, a man born to inhabit sinister. The actor expertly demonstrates how in
Mauritius....Abraham isn't even the main character, but his formidable presence dominates the evening's convoluted action....Rebeck's style is more diffuse (than her other works), diluted by the uncertainty of the play itself. Its unwieldy plot veers from a David Mamet-like caper (complete with a flurry of four-letter words) involving a rare stamp collection to a soggy tale of two quarreling siblings to the intriguing interaction between two of the play's more off-kilter characters. And director Doug Hughes has a hard time corralling all three parts into a credible whole."
I'll be offering my own SOB Review over the next few days. Tickets are on sale for this limited run through November 25.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Theresa Rebeck Collects First Broadway Opening Night With Mauritius (October 4, 2007)
From Manhattan To Mauritius (June 28, 2007)
Well, Well, Well, If It Isn't Boston... (June 9, 2006)
Labels: Alison Pill, Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Doug Hughes, F. Murray Abraham, Katie Finneran, Manhattan Theatre Club, Mauritius, Play, Theresa Rebeck
Theresa Rebeck Collects First Broadway Opening Night With MauritiusThis evening marks American playwright
Theresa Rebeck's Broadway debut with
Mauritius, a play about half sisters and their deceased mother's stamp collection. Opening at the
Biltmore Theatre,
Mauritius is the
Manhattan Theatre Club's first Broadway production this theatrical season.
Helmed by
Doug Hughes (
Doubt, Inherit The Wind),
Mauritius' impressive cast includes
Dylan Baker,
Bobby Cannavale,
Katie Finneran (whom I last saw in her well-deserved Tony-winning romp in
Noises Off in 2001),
Alison Pill, and a return to the Great White Way by Academy Award-winning actor
F. Murray Abraham, who's been absent from Broadway since 1997's
Triumph Of Love. (I haven't seen him since he appeared as Roy Cohn in
Angels In America: Millennium Approaches back in the mid-90s)
Will all these credentials add up to a collection the critics believe is worth seeing? Find out tomorrow as I provide a critics' capsule.
Tickets for this limited run show are on sale through November 25.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
From Manhattan To Mauritius (June 28, 2007)
Well, Well, Well, If It Isn't Boston... (June 9, 2006)
Labels: Alison Pill, Broadway, Doug Hughes, F. Murray Abraham, Katie Finneran, Manhattan Theatre Club, Mauritius, Noises Off, Opening Night, Play, Theresa Rebeck
From Manhattan To MauritiusThe melting pot known as
Mauritius has long been the vacation destination of choice for the well-heeled in Africa and southwest Asia, thanks in part to the gorgeous scenery and pristine beaches the island nation offers.
Now,
Theresa Rebeck's version of
Mauritius will come to life for the first time on the New York stage, thanks to the
Manhattan Theatre Club's fall production scheduled to open at the
Biltmore Theatre on October 4.
With
Doug Hughes at the helm, the "sinister comedy" will feature a phenomenal cast, including the effervescent Tony-winning actress
Katie Finneran (
Noises Off) -- who's finally returning to the Great White Way after a five year absence -- and the hot, young Tony-nominated actress
Alison Pill (
The Lieutenant Of Inishmore) as half-sisters grappling with their mother's death and bequest. Rounding out the cast will be
F. Murray Abraham (in his first return to Broadway since 1997's
Triumph Of Love),
Dylan Baker and
Bobby Cannavale.
The casting alone certainly might make this
Mauritius worth the trip.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Alison Pill, Broadway, F. Murray Abraham, First Word On New Show, Katie Finneran, Mauritius, Play, Theresa Rebeck
