Steve On Broadway (SOB)

SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Top Ten Of The Year

SOB’s Best Of 2007-08: Top Ten Of The Year

Over the past week and a half, I've offered up my "Best Of" lists for each of the five major stage categories observed by the Tony Awards, including Best Special Theatrical Events, Best Musical Revivals, Best Play Revivals, Best New Musicals and Best New Plays.

Now, before I launch into which Broadway shows would get my Tony vote if I could actually vote and my own prognostications on who will win, here’s how the best of the best rank in my personal countdown of the “10 Best” theatrical productions I saw over the course of this exciting 2007-08 Theatrical Season:

10 - From Up Here

Venue: Off-Broadway's New York City Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York, NY

Top 10 Worthiness: Liz Flahive's poignant, yet darkly funny From Up Here provided a heaping healthy dose of what troubled teens need more than anything else: hope.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Tobias Segal and Julie White.

Status: Closes June 8. Go see it. Now!

SOB Review Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)


9 - The Seafarer

Venue: Broadway's Booth Theatre, New York, NY

Top 10 Worthiness: Conor McPherson's chilling, mesmerizing and often funny The Seafarer was one helluva good morality play that came up all aces.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Jim Norton and Conleth Hill.

Status: Closed, but look for regional theatre companies, including Chicago's Steppenwolf, to mount productions over the next year.

SOB Review Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)


8 - South Pacific

Venue: Broadway's Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York, NY

Top 10 Worthiness: From the moment Ted Sperling cues his 30-piece orchestra, commencing the initial swells from the overture for one of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's most beloved musical scores, it's clear that this Bartlett Sher-helmed South Pacific is going to be a truly majestic revival.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Paulo Szot and Kelli O'Hara

Status: Originally slated for limited run through June, but has since become an open-ended run. National tour is in the works.

SOB Review Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)


7 - Dreamgirls

Venue: Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA

Top 10 Worthiness: Two words ... Jennifer Holliday reprising her quintessential Effie Melody White in Atlanta's glorious revival of Dreamgirls, which offered up some truly magical and electrifying performances from start to finish.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Jennifer Holliday and David Jennings.

Status: Closed.

SOB Review Rating: **** (out of ****)


6 - Cymbeline

Venue: Broadway's Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York, NY

Top 10 Worthiness: Lincoln Center's starry revival of William Shakespeare's celestial Cymbeline sent an unexpected, yet definable chill of delight shooting down my spine, thanks to Mark Lamos' brilliant, sparkling vision.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Martha Plimpton, John Cullum and Paul O'Brien.

Status: Closed.

SOB Review Rating: **** (out of ****)


5 - A Catered Affair

Venue: Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre, New York, NY

Top 10 Worthiness: Like a rare vintage wine that deserves to be sipped and savored, the seriously sublime A Catered Affair opens up across the tastebuds into a glorious bouquet making this beautifully-acted, earnest chamber musical, rich with integrity, very intoxicating.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Faith Prince, Leslie Kritzer and Tom Wopat

Status: Open-ended run.

SOB Review Rating: **** (out of ****)


4 - The Beatles Love

Venue: Love Theatre, Mirage, Las Vegas, NV

Top 10 Worthiness: I blew my mind out with the excellent The Beatles Love, which roundly serves as the ultimate showcase for the catalogue of The Beatles via the best Cirque du Soleil production I have yet to witness.

Exceptional Standout Performances: The entire troupe from Cirque du Soleil and those Four Lads from Liverpool.

Status: Open-ended run.

SOB Review Rating: **** (out of ****)


3 - Passing Strange

Venue: Broadway's Belasco Theatre, New York, NY

Top 10 Worthiness: Passing Strange was not only the year's most cosmic, most unusual and most unexpected new musical, it was also real, full of heart and simply the best new tuner to hit Broadway all year.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Stew and Daniel Breaker.

Status: Open-ended run.

SOB Review Rating: **** (out of ****)


2 - Gypsy

Venue: Broadway's St. James Theatre, New York, NY

Suddenly, highfalutin words like "excellent," "superb" and "top-notch" just don't seem sufficient enough to adequately describe the unique, exhilarating experience of seeing Arthur Laurents' incredible and thoroughly entertaining revival of Gypsy, which is most definitely a performance for the ages. This is the best musical, period, of the year.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines.

Status: Open-ended run.

SOB Review Rating: **** (out of ****)

1 - August: Osage County

Venues: Downstairs Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago, IL;
Broadway's Imperial Theatre, New York, NY;
Broadway's Music Box Theatre, New York, NY (present)

Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece August: Osage County rates as the best-written, best-acted play I've ever seen at Chicago's Steppenwolf and among the top five plays I've ever seen performed anywhere, anytime. Anna D. Shapiro's direction has made this a razor-sharp, whip-smart American classic. Without a doubt, this is the best show of the year, and it will win the Tony for Best Play.

Exceptional Standout Performances: Deanna Dunagan, Amy Morton, Rondi Reed and Francis Guinan.

Status: Open-ended run, now playing the Music Box Theatre on Broadway.

SOB Review Rating: **** (out of ****)


What shows would be on your top ten list? Do you think I've completely missed the boat, or would your choices largely mirror mine? I invite you to join the discussion and post your comments here.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best New Plays (May 30, 2008)
SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best New Musicals (May 29, 2008)
SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 28, 2008)
SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Revivals Of Plays (May 27, 2008)
SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Special Theatrical Events (May 24, 2008)
The SOB Five "Worst" Of 2007-08 (May 23, 2008)
SOB's Best & Worst Of 2007-08 Theatre Season (May 22, 2008)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Musicals (May 22, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Plays (May 21, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Plays (May 16, 2007)
The SOB Five "Worst" Of 2006-07 (May 14, 2007)
SOB's Best & Worst Of 2006-07 Theatre Season (May 14, 2007)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #1 - Theater Of The New Ear (May 30, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #2 – Guys And Dolls (May 26, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #3 – Hedda Gabler (May 25, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #4 – A Blameless Life (May 24, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #5 – Reeling (May 23, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #6 – “MASTER HAROLD”…And The Boys (May 21, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #7 – Love Song (May 19, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #8 - Billy Elliot The Musical (May 18, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #9 - The Well-Appointed Room (May 17, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #10 - Sweeney Todd (May 15, 2006)
SOB's Best and Worst of 2005-06 Theatre Season (May 12, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2004-05 (May 26, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2003-04 (May 25, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2002-03 (May 25, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2001-02 (May 24, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2000-01 (May 23, 2006)

Labels: A Catered Affair, August Osage County, Broadway, Cymbeline, Dreamgirls, From Up Here, Gypsy, Passing Strange, SOB's Best of 2007-08, South Pacific, The Beatles Love, The Seafarer

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, June 02, 2008 15 comments

SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Revivals Of Plays

SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Revivals Of Plays

Over the past year, I've had an opportunity to see 22 revivals of plays throughout the United States. Many tested the limits of my imagination, while others simply tested my nerves, but overall, there were many fine productions to be seen.

Here's my personal "5 Best" list of the revivals I'm thankful I had a chance to see:

5 - Boeing-Boeing (Longacre Theatre, New York, NY)

Looking for the funniest, laugh-out-loud comedy now on the Great White Runway? Look no further than the current Broadway revival of Boeing-Boeing. It's a mostly fantastic, high-flying farce. As absurd as the storyline is, Matthew Warchus portentously propels this first class flight to a new altitude with a turbocharged cruising speed that left me breathless from laughing. Much of the marvelous mirth comes from watching Mark Rylance, who proves even a great Shakespearean actor can be a worthy master of slapstick comedy. Nearly as wonderful is Christine Baranski's wickedly funny propensity for broad comic relief, whether it's with an exaggerated roll of her eyes or via her deadpan, droll response.

Boeing-Boeing is about the wildest ride on Broadway. Fasten your seatbelts!


4 - A Bronx Tale (Walter Kerr Theatre, New York, NY)

Chazz Palminteri's enthralling solo show A Bronx Tale arrived to well-deserved audience cheers from The Bronx and beyond when it was revived this season on Broadway. Palminteri vibrantly brought to life 18 different characters in an astonishing first-person account of his coming of age on some of New York City's toughest streets. A master storyteller, Palminteri succeeded in weaving a captivating ninety minute tale that built to a climax that can only be characterized as indisputably gripping theatre. I was in the palm of his hand.

Told from his heart, Palminteri's message was so powerful and breathtaking that it deserves to be heard far beyond The Bronx when the production begins its national tour this fall.


3 - The Trip To Bountiful (The Albert, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL)

A theatrical experience that plainly stated exactly what it was, right up front, in its title, Horton Foote's The Trip To Bountiful was just that and so much more in the wonderful revival playing Chicago's Goodman Theatre earlier this year. The playwright's brilliance was more than proficiently realized by director Harris Yulin through the incandescence of its performances. As the aptly named Carrie Watts, Lois Smith provided an astonishing luminescence, burning brighter as her yearning to return home to a place called Bountiful, one last time, became a transformative power. Never mind that she was trying to get there against the will of her control freak daughter-in-law Jessie Mae, magnificently and haughtily portrayed by the playwright's daughter Hallie Foote. Both actresses were nothing short of excellent.

With acting beyond bountiful, this was one show that was definitely worth making the trip to see.

2 - Pygmalion (American Airlines Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY)

Sure, some audiences may have been expecting My Fair Lady only to be disappointed by the lack of a score. But David Grindley's splendid five act revival of George Bernard Shaw's classic Pygmalion was practically pitch perfect nonetheless, thanks in part to a flawlessly superb performance by Jefferson Mays as Professor Henry Higgins and an equally compelling Boyd Gaines as the genteel Colonel Pickering. With aplomb and grace, Claire Daines proved a revelation as Eliza Doolittle. I adored this show and its genuine blissful humanity that echoed in the music of its lyrical spoken word.

Pygmalion is one period piece that remains timeless, and thanks to the Roundabout Theatre Company, audiences had another opportunity to revel again in the story that launched the famous musical.


1 - Cymbeline (Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York, NY)

Forget Macbeth. Broadway's far superior William Shakespeare revival of the year was Lincoln Center's underappreciated Cymbeline. Sending an unexpected, yet definable chill of delight shooting down my spine, I found myself utterly thrilled. Director Mark Lamos restored the work's long lost luster via his brilliant, sparkling vision, empowering his cast to maneuver through the Byzantine layers of plot unscathed, as well as to navigate through the cadences of Shakespeare's often difficult language with such natural precision, grace and gusto, that they never felt unnatural or forced. In fact, Shakespeare never sounded so crisp. She may have received a Tony nod for her amazing work in Top Girls for playing two very different roles, but in Cymbeline, the luminous Martha Plimpton moved every bit as skillfully from dazzled lover to forlorn royalty in hiding with unimpeachable ease that was equally moving.

Unquestionably, this was singularly the best production of one of the Bard's works I have ever seen.


So what were the best revivals of plays you saw over the past year? I invite you to join the conversation by sharing your own theatre experiences with me.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Special Theatrical Events (May 24, 2008)
The SOB Five "Worst" Of 2007-08 (May 23, 2008)
SOB's Best & Worst Of 2007-08 Theatre Season (May 22, 2008)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Musicals (May 22, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Plays (May 21, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Plays (May 16, 2007)
The SOB Five "Worst" Of 2006-07 (May 14, 2007)
SOB's Best & Worst Of 2006-07 Theatre Season (May 14, 2007)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #1 - Theater Of The New Ear (May 30, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #2 – Guys And Dolls (May 26, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #3 – Hedda Gabler (May 25, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #4 – A Blameless Life (May 24, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #5 – Reeling (May 23, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #6 – “MASTER HAROLD”…And The Boys (May 21, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #7 – Love Song (May 19, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #8 - Billy Elliot The Musical (May 18, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #9 - The Well-Appointed Room (May 17, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #10 - Sweeney Todd (May 15, 2006)
SOB's Best and Worst of 2005-06 Theatre Season (May 12, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2004-05 (May 26, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2003-04 (May 25, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2002-03 (May 25, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2001-02 (May 24, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2000-01 (May 23, 2006)

Labels: A Bronx Tale, Boeing-Boeing, Chazz Palminteri, Cymbeline, Lois Smith, Martha Plimpton, Play, Pygmalion, Revival, SOB's Best of 2007-08, The Trip To Bountiful

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, May 27, 2008 3 comments

Did Cymbeline Receive Posthumus Critical Acclaim?

Did Cymbeline Receive Posthumus Critical Acclaim?

Yesterday, the first William Shakespeare play to receive a Broadway revival in two years opened at Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont. The Mark Lamos-helmed Cymbeline includes quite the starry cast: Jonathan Cake, Michael Cerveris, John Cullum, John Pankow, Martha Plimpton and Phylicia Rashad, among others.

Critics were all across the board on this one.

Rejoicing is John Simon of Bloomberg, who raves: "Lincoln Center Theatre gives Cymbeline,' an imperfect play, a production as perfect as humanly possible. Impeccable direction, stylish acting, and enough lavish spectacle to carry the eye and ear past any demurral of the finickiest brain....All honor to Martha Plimpton for mastering the difficult role of Imogen....This Imogen transcends symbolic young womanhood into flesh-and-blood embraceableness....Most amazing, perhaps, is the Cymbeline of John Cullum, whose advanced age nowise impedes his commanding presence, youthful sprightliness and syllable-perfect diction relatively uncommon among non-British actors."

Calling the play both "emotionally charged" and "entrancing," New York Post's Clive Barnes celebrates with a three-and-a-half star review: "Cymbeline has traditionally had a reputation ranging from bad to difficult. It's not. It's a fairy tale for adults who have suffered enough to believe in fairies and heavenly providence. Perhaps the prime virtues of Lamos' elegant, eloquent staging (and the man is among the finest Shakespearean directors in the world) are its grace, speed and total intelligibility. More than any of the many productions of Cymbeline I've seen, it has an immediacy that grips, grasps and tenaciously holds."

Proclaiming this work as "ever accessible," Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's Daily News is similarly positive: "Director Mark Lamos' command at balancing light, dark and magical elements makes the chockablock tale cohesive....For Cymbeline to resonate, it helps to care about Imogen. Plimpton, who has fully shed her gawky "Goonies" tomboy past, makes a likable and plucky heroine who reeks intelligence, even when she's disguised as a man wearing a hat that looks like a small ottoman. Cerveris brings the right mix of heartbreak and rage, while beefy Cake layers on the villainy and sexiness."

Noting that "this is a work not easily tamed," David Rooney of Variety recommends the play by lavishing praise on Martha Plimpton: "Her Imogen in Lincoln Center's sumptuous Cymbeline is more complex and more complete -- the intensity of her love and pain, her exaltation and sorrow anchored by a clear-eyed intelligence that makes her nobody's fool. If not everything in Mark Lamos' production quite matches the exquisite depth and scope of Plimpton's characterization, the fault lies more in this late problem play than in the work of the director or his generally accomplished cast. Unswerving in her fidelity, Imogen may be Shakespeare's most mature heroine, but she's been given an unsteady showcase."

Offering a so-so review is Charles Isherwood of The New York Times: "Lincoln Center Theater’s stately production of Cymbeline, Shakespeare’s late romance, or tragicomedy, or whatnot, is remarkable for its lucidity. In imposing a formal elegance on one of Shakespeare’s most wayward plays, the director, Mark Lamos, keeps confusion firmly at bay, smoothing its kinked story line into a well-drilled parade of avowals and betrayals, plots and counterplots, deaths and resurrections. The clarity and restrained opulence of the production are more satisfying, unfortunately, than the caliber of the performances, which tend toward blandness or overstatement. The singular exception is an outstanding turn from Michael Cerveris, who provides the play with a wrenching emotional center as a husband who believes himself to be grossly betrayed, and who betrays his own nobler self in seeking to avenge this wrong."

Lamenting this as "a work that is endearingly broken," Eric Grode of The New York Sun is largely negative: "Mark Lamos gets through Cymbeline without painting himself into any corners. If only he had. Instead, with the help of a top-notch design team and a somewhat baffled cast, the dependably picturesque director has planted himself in the middle of the room, far from the weird angles and vertiginous gaps that make Cymbeline such an odd and potentially spellbinding play....Establishing a throughline that can prop up these wildly discordant threads is the challenge, one Mr. Lamos only halfheartedly addresses. Perhaps this stems from his recent efforts directing opera, with its implicit strata of recitatives that exist largely to prop up the arias. Or perhaps the relative unfamiliarity of the play's soliloquies, particularly those for the beguiling Imogen, resulted in a disproportionate amount of rehearsal devoted to these set pieces."

Despite calling the production "handsome," Newsday's Linda Winer offers the one flat-out pan: "What we don't know is why the ambitious Lincoln Center Theater chose to run this one by us again. Perhaps director Mark Lamos believes he found a key into mature profundities in this very silly play. One of the four late romances, which peak in the fantastical wisdom of The Tempest, Cymbeline remains a mishmash of incompatible styles and improbable plot lines. The language is not especially beautiful or witty. And despite modern scholarly protestations, the final message of reconciliation does not merely tie up the laughable number of loose ends. It wraps them in nonsensical ribbons and finishes them off with plenty of bows."

Regardless of the reviews (including my own enthusiastic SOB Review), this incarnation of Cymbeline is, alas, to be very short-lived with a run only scheduled through January 6.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Cymbeline (The SOB Review) (December 3, 2007)
Cymbeline Opens Tonight (December 2, 2007)
I've Got A Secret (August 15, 2007)

Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Cymbeline, John Cullum, Lincoln Center, Mark Lamos, Martha Plimpton, Phylicia Rashad, Play, Revival, William Shakespeare

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, December 03, 2007 0 comments

Cymbeline (The SOB Review)

Cymbeline (The SOB Review) - Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont, New York, NY

**** (out of ****)

A funny thing happened on my way from the forum known as Lincoln Center. I left with a complete sense of wonder and downright amazement that I had finally -- and so thoroughly -- enjoyed a production of a William Shakespeare play.

As I've previously admitted in this space, the word-for-word retellings of the esteemed playwright's works tend to leave me decidedly cold. Yet the only shiver I felt upon leaving Cymbeline was the definable chill of delight shooting down my spine. I found myself utterly thrilled.

While Cymbeline became one of the Bard's most popular plays during the 18th and 19th Centuries -- the first known known production of Cymbeline occurred sometime between 1609 and 1611 -- somehow this enchanting blend of tragedy, comedy and romance managed to lose its luster at the onset of the 20th Century. In fact, the play had so fallen out of favor that director Mark Lamos' exquisite production is the first Broadway revival since the brief 1923 revival that consisted of a mere 15 performances.

Critics of Cymbeline may complain that the story is predictable, or worse, that it borrows too heavily on themes developed in Shakespeare's other earlier and more celebrated works. To be sure, there's a hint of Romeo And Juliet here and a taste King Lear there, but I beg to differ with anyone who claims that this is a predictable story. It's anything but. After all, if that were the case -- particularly if you pause to consider all of the Bard's greatest tragedies -- wouldn't the climax yield a far different conclusion in spite of the carnage and death?

It's to Lamos credit that the luster is back with a vengeance in this brilliant, sparkling revival. He empowers his cast not only to maneuver through the Byzantine layers of plot unscathed, but also to navigate through the cadences of Shakespeare's often difficult language with such natural precision, grace and gusto, that they never feel unnatural or forced. Thanks to Lamos and his cast, Shakespeare sounds unusually crisp, never mind how verbose it sometimes can be.

Chief among his players are the extraordinary stellar performances by Martha Plimpton as Princess Imogen, John Cullum as her father King Cymbeline and Paul O'Brien as the exiled lord Belarius.

The luminous Plimpton skillfully moves from dazzled lover of Posthumus (Michael Cerveris, whose performance among anyone in this cast flirts dangerously close to overreaching) to forlorn royalty in hiding with impeccable ease. Cullum aptly commands the stage as the King who's undermined by his deceitful Queen (deliciously played by Phylicia Rashad). And then there's O'Brien whose heartfelt, heroic performance as the man who unwittingly takes in each of the king's three children is both touching and exhilarating.

Other standouts in this large cast include Jonathan Cake as the ruggedly handsome Iachimo, a charming rapscallion who wagers with Posthumus that he can deflower Imogen; John Pankow as Pisanio, Posthumus' loyal servant -- it takes a strong actor to deliver such a humble performance; and Adam Dannheisser as the Queen's son Lord Cloten, who singlehandedly offers the play's best comic relief, while making the often wooden Shakespearean dialect sound vibrant.

Michael Yeargan and Jess Goldstein, respectively, offer alternately sumptuous and spare scenic and costume designs that vividly evoke the proceedings' regal grandeur, as well as the Roman baths and the harsh battle scenes, the latter of which are accentuated by the haunting lighting design offered by Brian MacDevitt.

If you are like me and have been holding out for the right time to see Shakespeare on Broadway, this is the production to see. It's one of those rare treats that I'd even consider going back to enjoy a second time. But you'd better hurry -- the limited run revival will close on January 6, 2008.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Cymbeline Opens Tonight (December 2, 2007)
I've Got A Secret (August 15, 2007)

Labels: Broadway, Cymbeline, John Cullum, Lincoln Center, Mark Lamos, Martha Plimpton, Phylicia Rashad, Play, Revival, The SOB Review, William Shakespeare

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, December 03, 2007 1 comments

Cymbeline Opens Tonight

Cymbeline Opens Tonight

This evening marks the first of many Broadway openings during a very crowded week, thanks to all the reshuffling done to accommodate shows shuttered during the recent stagehands strike.

But the show opening tonight is one of a small handful that thankfully was open for business throughout due to its being staged at the not-for-profit Lincoln Center. And the opening did not need to be rescheduled.

A revival of William Shakespeare's Cymbeline, which was last produced on the Great White Way more than 84 years ago, formally opens this evening with a star-studded cast including Jonathan Cake, Michael Cerveris, John Cullum, Martha Plimpton and Phylicia Rashad. Helmed by Mark Lamos, the limited run revival only performs through January 6 at the Vivian Beaumont.

I took in a performance during the final week of the strike and will provide my SOB Review tomorrow along with my regular critics' capsule. We'll see how much I agreed with the critics on this rarely mounted play.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
I've Got A Secret (August 15, 2007)

Labels: Broadway, Cymbeline, John Collum, Lincoln Center, Martha Plimpton, Michael Cerveris, Opening Night, Phylicia Rashad, Revival, William Shakespeare

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Sunday, December 02, 2007 0 comments

I've Got A Secret

I've Got A Secret

You're about to learn one of my deepest, darkest secrets. I've never shared it in this space before because I know what I'm about to say is considered heresy by most of my peers who enjoy theatre. But here goes...

Labels: Broadway, Cymbeline, First Word On New Show, John Collum, Lincoln Center, Martha Plimpton, Michael Cerveris, Phylicia Rashad, Revival, William Shakespeare

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, August 15, 2007 8 comments