Hair (The SOB Revisit) – Gielgud Theatre, London, United Kingdom
***1/2 (out of ****)
Fresh off a
long overnight flight to London, hardly sleeping a wink, I did something risky I had never dared to do before.
Instead of going straight from the airport to my hotel to freshen up (or nap), I opted to zip directly into the West End and purchase a ticket for the Thursday matinee performance of
Hair. All fears of dozing off quickly parted. With most of the original Broadway cast intact,
Hair reinvigorated me like a desperately needed shampoo, leaving me tingling from my head right down to my toes.
Performing in the much more intimate
Gielgud Theatre, the cast shines with more luster than ever. Aside from
Will Swenson’s added riffing on the kinds of Berger he is near the top of the show -- fueled in part by a late comer in the audience -- I noticed very few differences from what I had seen on Broadway just a year ago.
However, seeing the show again has made me appreciate the incredible talents of
Andrew Kober in his various guises throughout. This actor blew me away and left me wondering how I had neglected mentioning him in my review of the Broadway show.
As the Messianic yet conflicted Claude,
Gavin Creel is as strong and astonishing as ever. I’m not sure if it was my jetlag, but his performance sent chills down my spine even more this time around.
After working together for well over a year as part of a true tribe, this cast is firing on all cylinders, making
Hair even more powerful than I remembered it one year ago.
Hair proved to be just the buzz I needed.
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: Andrew Kober, Gavin Creel, Hair, London, Musical, Revival, The SOB Revisit, Transfer, Will Swenson
SOB's Theatrical Firsts Of The Noughties: My Broadway DebutOver the course of the last decade, I’ve been truly fortunate to enjoy a number of enlightening firsts in my personal theatergoing that have only served to increase my deep and abiding love for the art form known as live theatre. What follows is one of my ten favorite experiences of the last ten years.As
I’ve noted here previously, I’ve never had any designs on becoming an actor.
But that didn't stop me from earning my bragging rights earlier this year as I "appeared" being on a Broadway stage during a show in progress, and it was not as part of an onstage audience as shows like
Spring Awakening or
Xanadu employed.
It all began by catching more than a good buzz when my Love Of My Life (LOML) and I took our second row seats for
Diane Paulus' inspired revival of
Hair -- unequivocally Broadway's best musical revival last season.
If you’ve seen this show, you’ll know that the musical threatens to end on a very sobering note. However, at the curtain call, the cast joins together for a reprise of “Let The Sun Shine,” which concludes in an audience empowering moment when everyone in the house is invited onstage to join in the singing and dancing.
My participation in the show had begun even before the curtain call when Tony nominee
Gavin Creel bounded from the stage during the show’s eponymous tune. He perched himself on the armrest of the seat immediately in front of me, took his belt off and looped it around my neck, shimmying it back and forth, much to my amazement.
So when the audience began pouring onto the stage of the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre, how could we refuse the opportunity? My LOML and I leapt onto the stage, sang and danced as best we could. Like so many others, we were so swept up in the moment, we even snuck in a little smooch.
No, you won’t find us listed in any of the show’s credits, but we relished our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make our Broadway debut.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new 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. I paid my own way for all performances above.Labels: Al Hirschfeld Theatre, Broadway, Debut, Diane Paulus, Gavin Creel, Hair, Stage
The Play That Changed My LifeOver the past week, the theatre blogosphere has been buzzing as members of the
Independent Theatre Bloggers Association (to which I belong)
have been sharing fascinating stories from an array of theatre world luminaries on the plays that forever changed their lives.
Today, I'm proud to add to the ongoing discussion in sharing stories from two of this year's Tony-nominated actors,
Gregory Jbara (who went on to win a Tony) and
Gavin Creel. I've had the good fortune to meet both of these extraordinary actors, so it's a thrill for me to provide their anecdotes exclusively on Steve On Broadway (SOB). Additionally, I'll also tell you a little bit about the inspiration behind these stories and an associated contest, along with the play that indeed changed my life.
First, about that inspiration. Proving yet again that it is so much more to the international theatrical community than simply "the Tony Award organization,"
The American Theatre Wing is celebrating the December 1 launch of its new book,
The Play That Changed My Life. In it, 19 of the foremost American playwrights talk about the works that first captured their imaginations and inspired them in their careers and thus transformed their lives.
So what were the impetuses that propelled Jbara and Creel to Broadway's boards? Here are their stories.
Gregory JbaraAs one of Broadway's most beloved contemporary actors, Gregory Jbara has seven Main Stem shows among his stage and screen credits, including Serious Money, Born Yesterday, Damn Yankees, Victor/Victoria, Chicago and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Jbara can still be seen in his first Tony-winning role as Dad in Billy Elliot - The Musical. This Michigan native first came to my attention as Mr. Bernstein in Victor/Victoria, and he's even graciously provided yours truly with a backstage tour of his current show.
When asked to name the play that changed his life, Jbara said: I don’t know that there was any one specific play that I had that experience.
I’d have to say it was being an altar boy in church. It was High Mass, which is, you know, a lot of theatre. In third grade, that was my experience in front of people that I really think gave me the bug for speaking in front of large groups.
Crazy, crazy as it is, I have to attribute the Catholic Church for me being an actor. It was either that or a nun. So I’m glad it was being an actor.
Gavin CreelAs one of today's fastest-rising stars, Gavin Creel not only has three Broadway shows among his credits, including Thoroughly Modern Millie, La Cage aux Folles and the current revival of Hair, but he's already been nominated for two Tony Awards. I've had the pleasure of seeing this Ohio native in all three Rialto productions, as well as in the Chicago incarnation of the Stephen Sondheim musical known as Bounce. I had the pleasure of catching up with Creel at this year's Drama League Awards and was surprised a couple days later at a performance of Hair when this gifted actor tried something new out on me in my second row seat.When asked to name the play that changed his life, Creel said:Mine was The Most Happy Fella.
I saw a musical production of it at the University of Michigan that the university put on there and I thought I was watching a movie on stage. I thought it was the most beautiful thing, the music was stunning, the performances were incredible.
Totally The Most Happy Fella.
Edited by
Ben Hodges, The American Theatre Wing's new book features an introduction from
Paula Vogel.
The Play That Changed My Life features distinguished contributors, who have a combined total of some 40 Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prizes and Obies. They include
Edward Albee,
David Auburn,
Jon Robin Baitz,
Nilo Cruz,
Christopher Durang,
Charles Fuller,
A.R. Gurney,
Beth Henley,
David Henry Hwang,
Tina Howe,
David Ives,
Donald Margulies,
Lynn Nottage,
Suzan-Lori Parks,
Sarah Ruhl,
John Patrick Shanley,
Diana Son,
Regina Taylor and
Doug Wright.
In further celebrating the launch of the original book, The American Theatre Wing has also kicked-off an online essay contest. Here is your official invitation to participate:
[W]hether you work in theatre, hope to make your life in the theatre or just enjoy being in the audience, surely you’ve had that same experience: a single play (or musical) that you saw at some point in your life that had a profound effect on you, be it a childhood production of Cinderella in a school auditorium featuring an older sibling, a parent’s appearance at the local community theatre, a Broadway spectacle like Les Misérables or The Phantom of the Opera, a journey to a small out-of-the-way theatre that told its story with a minimum of technical tools.
Frankly, it could be any production, and that’s what ATW wants to hear about: what show had the greatest impact upon you, when you saw it in the course of your life, and most importantly why it meant so much to you. Entries (limited to 350 words) will be judged based on their creativity, their clarity and perhaps most importantly, for how they convey your passion for the theatre.
So tell ATW about the play that changed your life – those few hours in the theatre, at any age, in any theatre, that had the greatest impact on your life and your perception of theatre — and have the opportunity to share your story with the thousands of visitors to americantheatrewing.org while getting the chance to win an autographed copy of The Play That Changed My Life and other theatrical books from Applause Publishing. Enter by clicking here.
The contest entry period runs through Sunday, November 29. The final expert panel judging the contest includes ATW Board of Directors Chairman and President of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, Ted Chapin; Applause Books’ Editorial Director Carol Flannery; award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang; and former Time Magazine arts editor and Broadway & Me blogger (as well as dear SOB friend) Janice Simpson. Additional prizes will be given based on voting by the general public, which will continue through December 11.
As for the play that changed my life? Regular readers will recall that earlier this year,
I waxed nostalgic regarding the thirty years that have passed since I first took in a Broadway show, albeit on the London stage. That show was the British mounting of
Annie.
In that post, I mused:
[M]y view of the world and all its possibilities was forever and inalterably changed.
Little did I know upon entering London's Victoria Palace Theatre (current home to Billy Elliot - The Musical) how swept away I could become by just one show. From my front row center mezzanine seat, I witnessed nothing short of pure magic.
I was absolutely riveted by the legendary Stratford Johns as Daddy Warbucks and the glorious Sheila Hancock as Miss Hannigan -- she simply blew me away with a sublime performance I can still vividly recall even today.
I marveled at Charnin's ingenious direction, Peter Gennaro's breathtaking choreography and Theoni V. Aldredge's dazzling costume design. But it was David Mitchell's sliding set designs that completely floored me as they transported Annie's array of characters across the stage without them even having to take a step.
To say it transported me as well would be a major understatement. I was wowed. Big time. [T]he exhilaration I felt in seeing Annie was a life-changer of a different order.
With a strange new tingling sensation down my spine, I was replete with goosebumps from head to toe. This live performance would forever change my expectations of entertainment. I now saw just how brilliant stagecraft could be. Entertainment became art. And I was forever hooked on live theatre.
For those of you who may quibble that a musical doesn't count as a play, you may be interested in knowing that later in 1979 when I was a freshman in college -- with memories of
Annie still dancing in my head -- I decided to take in a Broadway tour during its Milwaukee swing at the
Pabst Theatre.
That play was
The Belle of Amherst starring none other than the legendary, 5-time Tony winner
Julie Harris, who also was honored with a Tony for this show.
Seeing Harris was like striking theatrical gold. Directed by
Charles Nelson Reilly, Harris completely mesmerized in this solo performance with her brilliant portrayals of poet Emily Dickinson and her contemporaries, including Charles Wadsworth. I had no idea that an actor could take on so many diverse roles and make each and every one of them seem so believable and immensely credible.
In learning how potent the power of the spoken word could be when delivered so passionately by Harris that one evening 30 years ago, I was spellbound. Thus,
The Belle Of Amherst truly was the play that changed my life.
What play changed yours?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Annie, Billy Elliot The Musical, Broadway, Charles Nelson Reilly, Gavin Creel, Gregory Jbara, Hair, Julie Harris, Milwaukee, Musical, Play, The Belle Of Amherst
Hair (The SOB Review) - Al Hirschfeld Theatre, New York, New York*** (out of ****)Want a good buzz?
Then go see
Diane Paulus' inspired third coming of
Hair -- unequivocally Broadway's best musical revival this season.
Granted, given some of the disappointments among tuners this year, that may not be saying much, especially when compared with last season's choices. After all, for a supposed counterculture American Tribal Love Rock Musical -- originally perceived as brimming with rebellious mojo --
Gerome Ragni and
James Rado's plot remains wafer thin. And 40 years after it originally appeared,
Hair feels more like a latter-day vaudeville meets sixties-style burlesque romp.
Even though I was just over six years old when the tuner
first appeared on Broadway, at the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon, I never saw what the fuss was about when I had previously seen
Hair. Fortunately, Paulus lets the sun shine in with her exceptional cast radiating the alternately playful and poignant score Ragni and Rado co-wrote for
Galt MacDermot's marvelous melodies. If the second act isn't exactly the first's equal, Paulus more than makes up for it with a heartwrenching conclusion that sneaks up you with a powerful wallop. It left me teary-eyed.
Credit Tony nominee
Gavin Creel for that. Having missed the opportunity to play the Christ-like lead in the aborted Main Stem revival of Godspell earlier this season, Creel more than redeems himself by taking on a strikingly similar role in which his charisma and exquisite voice win the day. As the sacrificed Claude, Creel seems to save our souls while shattering our hearts. That kind of redemption rightly deserves Tony recognition.
Similarly,
Will Swenson's brash and brassy Berger beguiles with a starmaking performance that is as bold as it is breathtaking.
Andrew Kober,
Saycon Sengbloh,
Bryce Ryness and
Caissie Levy all add exuberent energy to the tribal beat with noteworthy performances.
Despite my personal enjoyment, which was not simply limited to leaping on stage after the audience was invited to tread the boards during the reprise of "Let The Sun Shine In," I have one cautionary note: this show may appear better the closer you are to the stage. Unlike me, my various friends who saw this revival from the mezzanine -- including two at the very same performance I saw -- left substantially less impressed.
Perhaps it just helps to be entangled in the thick of this head of
Hair.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Gavin Creel, Hair, Musical, The SOB Review, Will Swenson
Broadway Preview: GodspellDay by day, I keep waiting for additional news to surface regarding the planned Broadway revival of
Stephen Schwartz's seminal work
Godspell.
It had originally
been announced that this Great White Way revival, first mounted two years ago at New Jersey's
Paper Mill Playhouse, would begin sometime this month. Now, from checking
Telecharge's ticketing information, the tuner won't begin previews until September 29, with its opening set for October 23 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Still, it's a little unsettling that more information isn't available other than that
Gavin Creel is set to return to Broadway as the musical's Christ-like figure. Fortunately, Creel himself wrote the following on
his own blog just this past Monday:
so the news is out:
Godspell has found it’s [sic] home: the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on 47th street in NYC.
previews begin: sept 29
official opening: oct 23
IT’S EXCITING! I’m really starting to gear up and so is this amazing creative team. the stuff I have heard about the show so far sounds really thrilling. I don’t want to speak to [sic] soon but...I have a feeling some pretty beautiful/powerful/fun energy is coming to Manhattan in the fall. prepare ye...
That’s the first bit of news and more scoop coming. (i.e. who else is gonna be up there playing on that stage) ...but that’s all I can report right now. soon...
Absent from the Great White Way for three years, Creel has returned from his stint as Bert in the London stage version of
Mary Poppins. I caught both of Creel's previous Broadway credits including his Tony-nominated 2002-03 turn as Jimmy Smith in the Tony-winning Best Musical
Thoroughly Modern Millie and his portrayal as the selfish son Jean-Michel in the 2004-05 Tony-winning Best Revival of a Musical
La Cage Aux Folles.
While
Godspell initially enjoyed a long Off-Broadway run from 1971-76 at the Cherry Lane Theatre,
it didn't land on a Rialto stage until 1976. Nevertheless, Schwartz earned a Tony nomination for Best Original Score. Perhaps the best-known performer in that mounting was
Paul Shaffer ("
Late Show With David Letterman") on keyboards. Once there, the show played 527 performances.
The creative team for the revival includes direction from
Daniel Goldstein, choreography by
Christopher Gattelli (
Altar Boyz), scenic design by
David Korins, costume design by
Miranda Hoffman and lighting design from
Ben Stanton.
So what are the prospects for success for this first revival of
Godspell to hit Broadway? Given the continued, immense popularity of Schwartz's current hit
Wicked, I have little doubt that
Godspell will score all for the best.
Group tickets are currently on sale via
Telecharge.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Broadway Preview: All My Sons (July 5, 2008)
Broadway Preview: A Man For All Seasons (July 3, 2008)
Broadway Preview: To Be Or Not To Be (July 2, 2008)
Broadway Preview: The Seagull (July 1, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Equus (June 30, 2008)
Broadway Preview: A Tale Of Two Cities (June 28, 2008)
Broadway Preview: for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf (June 25, 2008)
Broadway Preview: [title of show] (June 24, 2008)
Broadway: What's Next (June 20, 2008)
Labels: Broadway, First Word On New Show, Gavin Creel, Godspell, Musical, Revival, Stephen Schwartz, Transfer
Gavin Creel's World Turned Upside-Down by Mary PoppinsStarting tonight, Ohio native
Gavin Creel takes to the rooftops of London as cockney Bert in the unbelievably excellent Olivier Award-winning production of
Mary Poppins. Creel is making his West End debut, and right about the moment I am writing this, I'm imagining him dancing upside-down, thanks to
Matthew Bourne's breathtaking choreography.
I've truly enjoyed watching the rise of this budding star. Not only did I see Creel's Tony-nominated work in the thoroughly enjoyable
Thoroughly Modern Millie back in 2002, but I was also among the relatively few who had a chance to see him in the world premiere of the short-lived
Stephen Sondheim/
John Weidman musical
Bounce opposite
Richard Kind and
Howard McGillin at Chicago's
Goodman Theatre in August of 2003.
As regular readers may recall,
Mary Poppins ranks as my absolute
favorite show of the 2004-05 Theatrical Season, but
La Cage Aux Folles -- the second regular Broadway show to feature Creel and winner of the 2005 Tony for Best Revival of a Musical --
was on my honorable mention list for the same year. I'm pleased to see Creel take on this exciting role. To learn more about Creel's first-hand experience, you may want to
visit his official blog.
Perhaps once
Gavin Lee -- who originated the role of Bert in London -- concludes his upcoming run in the stateside version of
Mary Poppins, the
American Gavin might make a triumphant and welcome return to the Great White Way as the world's favorite chimney sweep.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Rejoice! Gavin Lee to Cross Atlantic for Mary Poppins on Broadway (May 8, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2004-05 (May 26, 2006)
Disney Moves from Continent to Continent (May 22, 2006)
Labels: Bounce, Film, Gavin Creel, La Cage Aux Folles, London, Mary Poppins, Musical, Stephen Sondheim, Thoroughly Modern Millie
