Fences (The SOB Review) - Cort Theatre, New York, New York
***1/2 (out of ****)
It may be
Denzel Washington's name above the title in
Kenny Leon's exceptional, if exhausting, revival of
August Wilson's monumental
Fences. Yet it's
Viola Davis' name you'll be praising long after exiting Broadway's
Cort Theatre.
Make no mistake, Washington excels in delivering a solid line drive as Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball player with a wandering eye.
But as Troy's wife Rose, Viola Davis hits this one out of the park with the most extraordinary, heartwrenching performance of the year. It's a grand slam, even in a play that feels like it's never going to end.
It's a credit to Leon and Davis that we almost don't want it to.
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: August Wilson, Broadway, Denzel Washington, Fences, Kenny Leon, Play, Revival, Viola Davis
Raisin Made For Nearly Perfect Television TreatFor all homebound theatrelovers, the past week was the second in a row to offer an outstanding opportunity to kick back and relax in their favorite chairs while watching performances that generated excitement on Broadway over the last several years.
While
I've already written about PBS' "
Great Performances"' presentation of
Company -- which I had the pleasure of seeing live on stage last year -- I regret never having had the chance to see the Tony Award-winning revival of
Lorraine Hansberry's
A Raisin In The Sun, particularly after seeing the bravura performances on the
small screen version of the play earlier this week by
Phylicia Rashad,
Audra McDonald and
Sanaa Lathan.
Each of these three outstanding actresses reprised their Tony nominated stage roles. In the case of Rashad and McDonald, they actually won Tonys. If the heartwrenchingly real acting I witnessed in the televised version is any indication, those awards were certainly well-deserved. In fact, I'd be downright angry if each did not receive an Emmy nomination.
Never before had I seen the play, nor had I ever seen either of the two previous film incarnations. Those included the
1961 silver screen film that included a trio of young up and coming stars reprising their roles from the
1959 Tony-nominated play:
Sidney Poitier as Walter, the man with a plan,
Ruby Dee as his long-suffering wife Ruth and
Louis Gossett, Jr. as George. The other was the
1989 Emmy-nominated televised film starring
Danny Glover as Walter.
So tuning into
ABC last Monday evening, I really had no idea what to expect other than the premise that Walter schemes to use the life insurance money left to his mother upon his father's death. What a surprise to discover that the richly layered plot valiantly deals with topics that surely had to have been largely taboo topics for the late fifties, including overt white racism and abortion. It also delves into the black Americans' search for identity, at once both in assimilating into a then majority white society and in seeking a deeper appreciation of one's African roots.
Aside from the sometimes shaky camera work that made me a little sick to my stomach, the otherwise fine direction by
Kenny Leon -- who's most often associated with
August Wilson, arguably the greatest African American playwright ever -- expertly draws out the powerful, poignant performances of his mostly stellar cast.
While I wish I could say I was moved by executive producer
Sean Combs' rather one-note portrayal of Walter, I applaud him for being so courageous in his vision of bringing the superb, moving play to a larger audience of tens of millions via television. I'll most certainly look forward to purchasing the
DVD when it becomes available in May.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Raisin In The Sun, Audra McDonald, Broadway, Company, Film, Kenny Leon, Phylicia Rashad, Ruby Dee, Sanaa Lathan, Sean Combs, Sidney Poitier, Televsion
Guess What's Coming To Broadway? A Relic.It was with a huge yawn that I greeted word earlier this week that
Kenny Leon --
August Wilson's de facto director -- would be helming a new "Broadway-aimed" production of
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.
Based on the
1967 Academy Award-winning film, Wilson dramaturg
Todd Kreidler is retooling the movie script for the stage.
If you're unfamiliar with the silver screen incarnation that starred
Spencer Tracy,
Katharine Hepburn and
Sidney Poitier, it's about young white woman who brings her African-American boyfriend home to meet her supposedly liberal-minded parents. While cutting-edge back in the heavily conflicted sixties, I'd like to know what the big deal is today.
Consider my own personal family tree, which stretches coast to coast with practically all points in between, including north
and south. It may be primarily white, but it's grown richer by encompassing all shades and hues with ancestral origins that circle the globe from Asia to Africa to Latin America. While I'm sure
my nearly 96 year old Gramps (who's originally from Indiana, but now based in Arkansas) never envisioned he'd have Asian-American in-laws, or Mexican-American great-grandchildren, or African-American great-great grandchildren, he sets the tone for all of us by loving each of us equally.
The tapestry of our family is quite a wonder to behold, yet I doubt that this is unique in 21st Century America.
So again, I ask, what's the big deal? Where's the relevance in bringing this old chestnut to Broadway?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Wilson, Broadway, Film, First Word On New Show, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, Kenny Leon, Play
Did Critics Find Radio Golf Up To Par?Earlier this evening,
August Wilson's
Radio Golf opened at Broadway's
Cort Theatre. Directed by
Kenny Leon, the production stars
Harry Lennix and
Tonya Pinkins along with
Anthony Chisholm,
John Earl Jelks and
James A. Williams.
Proclaiming "it's a beauty,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer lavishes the play with praise: "
Radio Golf may not be the deepest volume on Wilson's shelf....But
Radio Golf, the 1990s chapter in Wilson's chronicle of Pittsburgh's Hill District, is not only his most contemporary work. It is also his most accessible, most structurally focused and most unambiguously political. The playwright rips the historical cover off his warning to blacks who forget to listen for ancestral footsteps. As we look back on the Wilson century, we see this is precisely where he always intended to go."
Offering three stars,
Elysa Gardner of
USA Today is mostly positive: "The language in
Radio Golf, set in 1997, lacks some of the musical majesty of Wilson's earlier plays, but the distinction is purposeful and inevitable, like the difference between gospel and contemporary R&B, music that's more the realm of this play's baby-boomer characters. The dialogue's rhythms still crackle, and we're reminded of the blend of folksy poetry and fierce conscience that made Wilson one of this country's most essential artists....The cast, directed with rigor and wit by Kenny Leon, does justice to that legacy. All five actors are excellent, but James A. Williams deserves special credit for his nuanced portrait of Hicks."
Noting the play's "emotional, hopeful conclusion," the Associated Press'
Michael Kuchwara is favorable: "[I]t is more plot heavy, although Kenny Leon's fast-paced direction doesn't make it seem laborious....[T]he play and the production feel complete. At the end of
Radio Golf, Wilson has Harmond ready to go on -- but without forgetting the past. The 21st century awaits."
Calling the show "fascinating" in his three-star review,
New York Post's
Clive Barnes asks, "Is he being totally fair to the contemporary American black? Perhaps not. As a white man, I choose to believe not. But Wilson didn't have to be fair. He was a major, perhaps, who yet knows, even a great American playwright, and this was the story he wanted told. And it makes for great theater."
Also making inevitable comparisons to Wilson's preceding works, in this case that "it's less emotionally fulfilling than earlier installments,"
David Rooney of
Variety tries to walk a fine line: "Despite the sensitive molding of director Kenny Leon, something is missing here. Most significantly, something is missing from the passive central character, Harmond Wilks (Harry Lennix), his shifting moral compass seemingly ruled not by inner workings but by narrative necessity....Unsurprisingly, Chisholm and Jelks give the production's most involving performances, unleashing some of Wilson's characteristically vibrant arias."
Labeling this the "thinnest work in (Wilson's) magificent 10-play cycle,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley offers a rather melancholy review: "The symphonically rich and idiosyncratic talk that once rang through the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the African-American neighborhood where most of Mr. Wilson’s work is set, can be heard only faintly now. Pittsburgh, it would seem, has been stripped of its poetry....The momentum of
Radio Golf is all in its twisting plot....On that level,
Radio Golf has an engaging snap.....It is Mr. Wilson’s point, of course, that when people cut themselves off from their heritage, they cut themselves off from the source of their song."
Overall, these mostly favorable reviews may help make this play a cinch for a Best Play Tony nomination, especially considering that New York's Drama Critics Circle have already named this the Best American Play of the past year. Hopefully, the box office will respond accordingly.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Radio Golf (The SOB Review) - Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL (February 7, 2007)
Did Critics Find Radio Golf On Par With Wilson's Other Works? (January 25, 2007)
Radio Golf Tunes Into Chicago Opening Tonight (January 23, 2007)
Reports: August Wilson's Radio Golf To Swing Into Cort (January 15, 2007)
Labels: August Wilson, Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Kenny Leon, Play, Radio Golf
