Bye Bye Birdie (The SOB Review) - Henry Miller's Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, New York
* (out of ****)
Pity the incredibly talented young Allie Trimm, who portrays teenybopper Kim MacAfee in director Robert Longbottom's ill-conceived, bird-brained revival of that favorite high school musical Bye Bye Birdie.
Try as this gifted young actress might to build on the solid foundation she established through her assured turn in13, she's suffocating under the collapse of one gigantic egg that's been laid. Sure that egg may be as heavy and look as ornate as a precious Fabergé, but it's pretty hollow inside.
Although Trimm certainly helped carry 13, she's now being forced to undertake the unenviable task of singlehandedly lifting this ridiculous revival. And that hand has been tied behind her back.
So never mind the kids, who along with Nolan Gerard Funk as the swaggering heartthrob Conrad Birdie, are for the most part all right. A much larger question looms. What's the matter with adults today?! Beginning with Longbottom right down to the casting directors, did they really think their Birdie would soar, let alone fly?
Not even the normally unimpeachable Bill Irwin or Jayne Houdyshell can save this half-hatched show from itself. Irwin as Harry MacAfee is more than a bit off, particularly on the tune "Kids." There's no disputing his comic genius; yet when he first takes to the stage, it's as if he's in a completely different production. No wonder his accent is all over the map. Too bad he can't zero in on Ohio, where most of Bye Bye Birdie's action transpires. And as much as I'm an avowed Houdyshell fan, she leaves the role of the annoying Mae Peterson purely one dimensional.
Then there are the quote-unquote headliners, who aren't all they're cracked up to be.
As much as I enjoyed Gina Gershon in the recent revival of Boeing-Boeing, she's been completely miscast here as Rose Alvarez, the Latina spitfire who here can't even manage a spark with John Stamos' Albert Peterson. To be blunt, Ms. Gershon can't sing. And try as she might to dance, it's clear from the excision of "Shriner's Ballet" from the show that she's really not up to that, either.
To say Stamos is a little better than Gershon is like saying that the recent Guys And Dollsdud of a revival was a little better than this one. What this Bye Bye Birdie does for Stamos' Albert is basically what that Guys And Dolls did for Oliver Platt's Nathan Detroit. It takes a memorable leading role and somehow twists it into a forgettable tertiary character. No amount of mugging in Stamos' big number could make me muster a happy face. Perhaps seeing the handwriting on the wall, it's no wonder that when it accidentally broke apart during its final Wednesday night preview, Stamos quipped (maybe metaphorically), "It’s a career-ending moment."
Having said all that, the kids are indeed the best part of the show. That the little Jake Evan Schwenke as Randolph MacAfee easily steals every scene only serves to further diminish the dubious capabilities of the assembled adults both on stage and behind the curtain.
Bye Bye Birdie is at once very dated and very silly. Whether it's Mae's egregious wisecracks about Rose's Hispanic heritage or Albert's kowtowing to his insufferable mother, Michael Stewart's book becomes a throwback to another era that should best stay in the past. Although I'd love to say that it's a pleasure hearing Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' score once again, most of the voices within this revival just aren't made to sing them.
As for Roundabout, I have little doubt that once their subscriber base finishes seeing it, they'll indeed be saying Bye Bye Birdie. Too bad there'll be a good riddance attached to it as well.
The original Birdie was directed and choreographed by the great Gower Champion. That incarnation earned eight Tony nominations including for Best Musical, as well as for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Dick Van Dyke (as Albert Peterson), who was catapulted to superstar status. Chita Rivera (as Rose Alvarez) received her first of nine Tony nominations for her work. Van Dyke and Rivera reunited during the run of her Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life to relive a bit of Birdie when they sang "Put On A Happy Face."
Other major actors involved in the original cast included Paul Lynde (as Harry MacAfee), Kay Medford (as Albert's mother Mae) and Charles Nelson Reilly (as Mr. Henkel). Then, of course, there was Dick Gautier, who portrayed pop idol Conrad Birdie. The role may have been fashioned after Elvis Presley, but the name was a direct play on Conway Twitty's, who had initially been slated to play Conrad Birdie but dropped out of the production before it was ever seen by the public.
As I've previously noted, while a revival never made it to Broadway before Roundabout Theatre Company's new effort, there was an attempt to bring back Birdie via the ill-fated 1981 sequel Bring Back Birdie, which closed on Broadway after only four regular performances. Not even the combined star power of Chita Rivera and Donald O'Connor (as Albert -- Van Dyke's role redux) could keep that open, but the legendary actress did manage a Tony nod yet again.
Earlier, it was reported that the tune "Shriner's Ballet" was dropped like a hot fez from the show. Gershon told New York Daily News theatre critic Joe Dziemianowicz that the dance number previously thought to be benign enough for countless high school productions suddenly "seemed a little too gang rape-y" for the Broadway revival. Many wags summarily suggested that perhaps the bigger problem might be that Gershon wasn't up to the challenge of filling Chita Rivera's distinguished dance slippers.
Whatever the case may be, Bye Bye Birdie is already saying hello to packed houses in previews, filling up Henry Miller's Theatre close to 95% capacity. While last week's earnings of $533,736 may seem on the low side, as a non-profit theatre, Roundabout has a huge subscriber base so the number is a bit deceptive. And although the show is only slated to run through January 10, 2010, don't be surprised to see an extension if reviews are favorable after its October 15 opening. Look for my SOB Review shortly after as well.
The Receptionist (The SOB Review) - Manhattan Theatre Club NY City Center Stage I, New York, NY
** (out of ****)
If you've ever thought you had a bad day at the office, you don't have anything on The ReceptionistBeverly Wilkins, played with a pugnacious and persnickety piquancy by the superb Jayne Houdyshell.
Ironically running Off-Broadway at a time when the Great White Way is offering a chilly reception to its guests, Adam Bock's appropriately named playstands ready and willing to welcome you to the Northeast Office. The question is whether you'll ever leave.
Exuding all the warmth of an even creepier version of "The Office" mixed in with a healthy dash of "The Minority Report" for good measure, The Receptionist is a mildly amusing, quirky trifle on the goings-on around the titular desk.
Under Joe Mantello's direction, the 90-minute intermissionless comedy, opens on the professional-looking Mr. Raymond (an understated and underused Robert Foxworth) extolling the virtues of fishing. His brief monologue nears its conclusion as he divulges the most merciful means of killing a fish when it's been caught the wrong way. He ends by adding that he eats said fish.
In what appears to be an incongruous juxtapostion, the scene quickly fades to the next with Wilkins at her desk, chirping with what you're superficially to surmise are random phone callers, both business and personal. She advises some of them that her boss Mr. Raymond has yet to arrive, while offering others stern advice. Through it all, neatnik Beverly is fastidious to a T.
Never mind that she's intermittently interrupted by the eternally late Lorraine Taylor (Kendra Kassebaum, a one-time Glinda casting a spell as a deceptively ditzy flirt) -- for whom she offers a mix of disapproving judgement and counsel -- or the menacing charmer Mr. Dart from the Central Office (an alternately silly and threatening Josh Charles). Beverly soldiers on as the self-appointed, omniscient lieutenant to the absent Mr. Raymond.
Without giving away too much, let me just say little does she know that her happy cubicle-sized kingdom is about to take a dramatic left turn into "The Twilight Zone," lifting the sitcom-style banter into the unexpected, but not quite far enough. Unfortunately, while Bock lulls you early on into thinking this is some pedestrian comedy, the left hook he packs never quite lands with all the force it should to be completely compelling or chilling.
Yet heaven knows I could watch Jayne Houdyshell read the phonebook, which as The Receptionist she practically does. Unlike the play, she never leaves you hanging on hold.
The Pain And The Itch Slated for New York Run Nothing is quite what it seems in the fictional world of playwright Bruce Norris. Fond of unexpected twists and turns, Norris’ excellent works have become staples of Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf Theatre, which will host the world premiere of his latest play The Unmentionables this July.
My first-ever visit to Steppenwolf came at the urging of an Australian friend visiting from Sydney who wanted to see Norris’ amazing Purple Heart with Laurie Metcalf and Christopher Evan Welch back in the summer of 2002. Purple Heart is a comedic drama about a Vietnam War widow (Metcalf) who’s visited by a vet (Welch) claiming to have known her husband. That production still haunts me to this day.
Three years later, I was back at Steppenwolf as a newly-minted member of its Auxiliary Council Board of Governors taking in Norris’ controversial The Pain And The Itch, directed with fine precision by Anna D. Shapiro. Again, the experience was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, in this case, pivoting on the welfare of a young girl for whose safety we feared. I was introduced to the riveting Jayne Houdyshell (currently Tony nominated for her role in Lisa Kron’s Well), who played a wonderfully distressed grandmother in this “satire of the politics of class and race.”
I’m delighted to report that New York audiences will now be able to take in this outstanding play -- once again helmed by Shapiro -- at Playwrights Horizons, September 1-October 8. While casting has yet to be announced, I’m hoping that Houdyshell will reprise her role. Be sure to put The Pain And The Itch on your “must-see” list!
An outpouring of critical raves was not enough to keep Lisa Kron's Well alive on Broadway, now scheduled to close on May 14 -- two days before the Tony nominations are announced.
This is perhaps the one play of the year I truly regret not having had an opportunity to see, not only for its innovative approach to story-telling, but also for the pure delight of seeing Jayne Houdyshell perform. Less than a year ago, I took in Steppenwolf's production of The Pain And The Itch in Chicago and found Houdyshell to be the most compelling cast member in an amazing ensemble. Let's just hope that despite Well's closing, the Tony committee will see fit to provide this show the respect it's earned. Or in the very least, nominate Houdyshell.
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!
Bye Bye Birdie (The SOB Review) - Henry Miller's Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, New York
