Leaving A Hole In My HeartRegular readers will know that few plays in recent years have moved me quite the way
Tracy Letts'
Superior Donuts managed to grab and take hold of me. In fact, I've been a fan ever since
first catching its
initial mounting at Chicago's
Steppenwolf a year ago last summer.
So it was with a heavy heart that
I first reported via Twitter on Wednesday that the show would be closing on January 3.
Earlier, tickets had been selling through March 28, but in recent weeks, this particular show wasn't exactly selling like hot cakes. Over the last two reported weeks,
Superior Donuts had been playing to less than 50% capacity. Like
Brighton Beach Memoirs, this is one excellent show deserving of a much larger audience than it was able to attract.
While
critics liked the show, many Broadway watchers say it suffered from not being the "must-see" even that playwright Letts'
August: Osage County had been just two years ago. "They" also say that in a season where star turns seem to make the difference (including the
arguably inferior one just across the street),
Superior Donuts had simply been overlooked.
I maintain that with outstanding and memorable performances from a superb ensemble (
Michael McKean,
Jon Michael Hill,
Kate Buddeke,
James Vincent Meredith,
Yasen Peyankov,
Jane Alderman,
Robert Maffia,
Cliff Chamberlain and
Michael Garvey), this remains the best play on Broadway. I love the show so much that I've already seen it twice on the Great White Way and had even planned to see it again in late January. So I was very saddened to learn that it would be closing.
If you haven't already had an opportunity to see it, do everything you can to get to the Music Box Theatre before
Superior Donuts closes. You will thank me.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, James Vincent Meredith, Jane Alderman, Jon Michael Hill, Kate Buddeke, Michael McKean, Play, Robert Maffia, Superior Donuts, Tracy Letts, Yasen Peyankov
Donuts Fills Fall Hole On Broadway?Great news for theatre fans eagerly awaiting
Tracy Letts' follow-up to
August: Osage County, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Best Play from 2008.
According to
Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones, Letts'
Superior Donuts -- which
I loved when taking in its world premiere last summer at Windy City's
Steppenwolf Theatre -- will likely be coming to Broadway this fall with most of its original cast intact.
Tina Landau apparently is set to return to the helm of a somewhat evolved incarnation of the show.
Superior Donuts originally starred an astonishing and nearly unrecognizable
Michael McKean opposite a wonderfully cocksure
Jon Michael Hill, along with
Kate Buddeke,
James Vincent Meredith and
Yasen Peyankov.
I for one can't wait to see this heartwarming play yet again. Should this become a reality, Broadway audiences are in for a very pleasant surprise.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: First Word On New Show, James Vincent Meredith, Jon Michael Hill, Kate Buddeke, Michael McKean, Play, Steppenwolf, Superior Donuts, Tina Landau, Tracy Letts, Transfer, Yasen Peyankov
Carter's Way (The SOB Review) - Downstairs Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago, IL** (out of ****)"Sometimes, the flaws are the most interesting part of the performance."
- Oriole Carter,
Carter's WayYet sometimes they aren't.
Despite many a flawless performance in sight, ranging from some genuinely intelligent, heartfelt portrayals to some fancy finger work on display through its coterie of jazz musicians,
Carter's Way nevertheless has its share of flaws that can be downright frustrating.
Rather than serving as the most interesting parts of the performance, they relegate this play with music to one that looks and feels like a work that's still very much in progress, one in search of the appropriate beat. By having his lead character Oriole Carter tossing off a key line like the one in my opening, its efficacy is as if playwright and director
Eric Simonson is laying down a gauntlet, daring his audience to dismiss any portion of the work, regardless of its warts.
Never mind that
Carter's Way hits so many of the right notes. Its examination of artistic freedom and eccentricities -- in this case, the evolution of jazz in Depression-era Kansas City -- colliding with the same period's flawed, overt racial discrimination and flawed laws forbidding interracial relationships certainly strikes a valiant chord, comprising the most interesting and promising aspects of this performance.
But the real flaws revolve around missing plot points and its lacking in fully realized character development. Chief among them is the arrogant Oriole, played by the amazing James Vincent Meredith who tries desperately to wring out every last ounce of what he's given to work with as a revolutionary master saxaphone player with a chip on his shoulder the size of the Show Me State. Yet Simonson only allows glimpses into his heart, pigeonholing him to one-note wonder status.
His arrogance has already placed him out of tune with his former love Marilyn Stokes (portrayed with gutsy gusto by the superb
Ora Jones). It's also contributed to his dubious future as a headliner with the Planet Mars, a jazz joint within Kansas City's limits officially run by Pewee Abernathy (the sensational
K. Todd Freeman), yet actually controlled by the mob's jazz-hating boss Jack Thorpe (
Robert Breuler) and his foot soldier-cum-recording entrepreneur Johnny Russo (
Keith Kupferer).
Why then is it that when Johnny brings around his moll Eunice Fey (
Anne Adams) to Planet Mars, Oriole's artistry alone serves as an unbelievable force of nature, pulling her irresistibly into an orbit of love? Never mind his snubs bordering on the abusive. Sure, there's a glimmer of heart worn on Oriole's sleeve when in his continued efforts to rebuff Eunice's entreaties, he reveals that earlier, he had been forced to serve time simply for the appearance of being with a white woman. But it's not enough to make us believe they'd be drawn together.
That they are is less a case of against all odds than against better judgment. Save for his music, and try as Meredith might, there's just too little heart imbued in Oriole to make him a convincing star-crossed lover; similarly, there's just not quite enough soul in Adams' Eunice, a wannabe jazz singer, to lend plausibility toward Oriole risking everything to be with her. Any man found messing with a mobster's doll, irrespective of the color of his skin, would likely meet the same fate. Someone with Oriole's street smarts would surely know better.
Still, there is much to enjoy, especially
Darrell Leonard's rousing jazz pieces complemented by Jones' surprising singing voice. Nearly flawless, Jones' performance proves to be the most interesting part of
Carter's Way.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Labels: Carter's Way, Chicago, James Vincent Meredith, K. Todd Freeman, Ora Jones, Play, Play with Music, Steppenwolf, The SOB Review
