Everything's Coming Up Patti!Tonight,
the biggest event of year in New York theatre begins. If you guessed it was on Broadway, you'd be close, but you'd be wrong.
It's on West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, where
New York City Center's Encores! Summer Stars series is inaugurated this evening with
Arthur Laurents at the helm of
Gypsy. Nearly one year after its star
Patti LuPone took
Ravinia, Manhattan will likely be firmly in her commanding grasp later this evening.
Yesterday's edition of
The New York Times celebrated LuPone's impending hold over the city with an
illuminating story by Jesse Green, which provides an inside look at the much talked about "ban" imposed by Laurents on LuPone and their meeting of the minds. Thank goodness for the swallowing of pride and a certain three hour conversation!
Joining LuPone will be
Boyd Gaines as Herbie and
Laura Benanti as Louise.
Performances run through July 29. Don't miss it! Because as much as LuPone would love 220 more chances on Broadway to portray Mama Rose, it's down to the 22 performances at New York City Center.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: LuPone's Triumph Earns Encores! (March 19, 2007)
Will Encores Mount All-Star Gypsy? (March 2, 2007)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #1: Patti LuPone (December 30, 2006)
Gypsy (The SOB Review) – Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL (August 14, 2006)
Labels: Arthur Laurents, City Center, Encores, Gypsy, Musical, New York City Center, Off-Broadway, Patti LuPone, Ravinia, Revival, Stephen Sondheim
The Most Farfetched Tony BounceLess than one week after his production of
Company won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical,
John Doyle is himself a hot property.
In addition to having already lined up a directing gig for the new Broadway-bound
Harvey Fierstein musical
A Catered Affair, which will world premiere at San Diego's
Old Globe Theatre this September, Doyle is "likely" to stage a
Public Theater mounting of
Stephen Sondheim's
Bounce next spring,
according to New York Post's Michael Riedel.
In his story, Riedel duly notes the troubled past of the tuner, but explains:
Sondheim and (John) Weidman (who wrote the show's book) have been unwilling to let Bounce die. They get together fairly often at Sondheim's Turtle Bay townhouse to work on the show, and last year the Public staged a private reading of their latest draft. Weidman recently told friends that he and Sondheim believe they've finally solved the show's problems, and that Bounce deserves a New York production.
Riedel says a Broadway transfer is eyed if the reviews are favorable.
I may be one of the few who actually saw the last incarnation of
Bounce, taking in its 2003 Chicago
Goodman Theatre mounting with
Hal Prince at the helm. To be honest, while not exactly the best Sondheim work I've ever seen, it certainly wasn't as bad as its notoriety has made it out to be. Its factually-based story on the rise and fall of Addison and Wilson Mizner held plenty of promise.
Two summers ago, while at Chicagoland's
Ravinia Festival for a special concert performance of Sondheim's
bona fide Broadway flop
Anyone Can Whistle (Ravinia's terrific staging included
Patti LuPone,
Audra McDonald and
Michael Cerveris), I was heartened by a pre-performance discussion with the great composer himself in which he indicated that the saga of
Bounce was far from over. He indicated that he was working to bring the troubled tuner back to his original vision.
If today's Riedel column is any indication, perhaps
Bounce is finally ready to be propelled to theatre's main stage on Broadway. Let's hope so.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Catered Affair, Anyone Can Whistle, Bounce, Broadway, Chicago, Company, Goodman Theatre, John Doyle, Off-Broadway, Public Theater, Ravinia, Stephen Sondheim
Will Encores Mount All-Star Gypsy?
For anyone who witnessed last summer's bravura performance by
Patti LuPone in
Gypsy at Ravinia Festival, you know what an event it was. And you also know that you have bragging rights to something truly special. Those nights have long since become fabled.
So much so that many are clinging to the hope that they may have their opportunity to see the woman who was born to play the role of Mama yet again. Will
New York City Center Encores! provide the vehicle for a similar staging near Broadway?
When asked whether she was going to take part in the "rumored" production at Encores! "this summer" alongside LuPone, she said:
I hear they're looking for celebrities, which I'm totally bummed about because I would love to do it. I hope maybe I'll get really lucky and all of those fancy people will say no....Even better, if Scarlett Johansson says yes and the day before she backs out, and they call me, desperate.
Of course, Ravinia's "concert" staging of
Gypsy dovetails nicely with the
Encores! format that's been around since 1994. Stay tuned for more information on what would likely be
the theatrical event of the summer for New York.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Encores, Gypsy, New York State, Patti LuPone, Ravinia
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations of '06 - #1: Patti LuPoneIntroduction: Throughout the course of 2006, I've had many incredible opportunities to see some of the best actors, singers and dancers of our time perform live on the stage. Rather than recap the best shows of the year (which I'll do at the close of the 2006-07 Theatrical Season), I'm devoting the last six days of the calendar year to those live performances that have stayed with me throughout the year.
Even though her bravura performance in
Gypsy would have been more than enough to capture the #1 position on my list of the year's singular sensations, this classy diva had two exceptionally remarkable performances during 2006 that I was able to catch -- that magical one at Chicago's Ravinia Festival in August and the other on Broadway in the acclaimed revival of
Sweeney Todd.
Patti LuPone is simply sensational, and it was a sincere pleasure -- no, an
honor -- to be in her audience twice during the past year.
Here's
what I had to say about LuPone's riveting performance as Mama Rose in
Gypsy:
With theatre legend Patti LuPone in the lead role of Mama Rose, this Gypsy proved to be anything but bare. Instead of an over-the-top Mama that's all too easy to do, LuPone proffered an exquisitely nuanced performance that simultaneously excited and repulsed, making one of Broadway’s most memorable roles hers for keeps.
Near the end, LuPone took her devastated Rose to new heights with an unforgettable, heart-wrenched rendering of “Rose’s Turn,” which proved to be, quite literally, a showstopper of the first order. A most affectionate audience interrupted with a long, sustained standing ovation.
Additionally, here's what I had to say earlier this year about her superb performance in
Sweeney Todd:
I've long been an ardent admirer of Patti LuPone. While I've seen her in three other productions (including the brilliant Broadway revival of Noises Off in 2002), this marked my first opportunity to see her perform in a Broadway musical. Not only does she provide a delectable, vampy take on the downright demented Mrs. Lovett, but she also adds to the orchestrations by playing percussion and tuba!
Here's toasting you, Patti LuPone, on making
this musical lover rejoice twice this past year. Here's wishing you a glorious 2007!
Happy New Year!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Gypsy (The SOB Review) – Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL (August 14, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #10 - Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York, NY) (May 15, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Chicago, Musical, Patti LuPone, Ravinia, SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06
Gypsy (The SOB Review) – Loring Playhouse, Minneapolis, MN
**1/2 (out of ****)Last weekend, the accomplished
Theatre Latté Da company in Minneapolis opened its season with a sometimes stunning reinterpretation of the venerable musical
Gypsy, helmed by
Peter Rothstein. (Incidentally, Rothstein also directed
Floyd Collins, the very
first show reviewed by Steve On Broadway).
In seeing
Gypsy last evening, I couldn’t shake two critical factors from my mind. First, I had just seen the
bravura performance by
Patti LuPone as Mama Rose at Chicagoland’s
Ravinia a scant two months ago. Second, in chatting with Rothstein in July, I learned a curious thing: he had never (at that time) seen a live performance of the landmark musical production he was about to direct.
True to its promise of being “a new twist on an old favorite,” Rothstein has reimagined this classic. Much like
John Doyle's recent Broadway revival of
Sweeney Todd, Rothstein strips down the orchestrations with the cast doing double duty -- even
Jody Briskey’s prickly and often dissonantly-challenged Mama Rose is seen playing the trumpet -- usually to great effect. But that’s not all.
The entire meaning of some key scenes seems to change significantly. In place of the tender “Little Lamb” scene, we get a pageant of kids in animal costumes that quite frankly made me laugh, even though this is intended to be a disquietingly reflective number for the blossoming Louise (beautifully played by
Simone Perrin), contemplating her future.
But Rothstein makes up for that errant choice in his reimagining of “Rose’s Turn,” in which he literally flashes the domineering matriarch’s life, and those she touched, before her eyes as she ponders for whom she "did it all" -- each of those characters passes by her before taking a seat in the orchestra and playing while she delivers the show’s best notes, literally and figuratively.
Another key twist is that the decidedly small cast of 14 requires most players to assume multiple identities -- no one bounces from character to character better than
Eriq Nelson, who expertly portrays Uncle Jocko, Pop, Weber, Kringelein, Mr. Goldstone, Cigar, Pastey, The Announcer, Phil
and Miss Cratchitt.
Yes, Miss Cratchitt -- which leads me to the other major twist: Rothstein retrofits the actors portraying Angie (Randy Schmeling), Tulsa (Erik Pearson) and Yonkers (Reid Harmsen) in drag in lieu of the bevy of chorus girls typically needed to fill out Louise’s Toreadorables. The same trio also takes on the key stripper roles of Tessie Tura, Mazeppa and Electra. During “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” the campy gimmick worked to hilarious effect.
The best surprise was Perrin, who effortlessly moved from an unsure, young Louise to a confident Gypsy, with the appropriate mix of sass and class needed for the role. Rich Hamson’s exceptional costume design was completely evocative of the era, and Jennifer DeGolier’s lighting design upped the wattage for the overall production.
Unfortunately, the toughest part about watching this genuinely engaging production was Briskey’s singing voice. Sure she confidently took on one of the toughest, most demanding roles in musical history, but if nothing else, you must have a certain clarity of voice rather than one that continually floats as if in permanent vibrato (perhaps, the demands were already taking their toll by the time I saw the show?). Sadly, she didn’t so much carry a tune as caterwaul throughout most of the show; it was only on “Rose’s Turn” that we mercifully heard a more natural, pleasant-sounding voice (at least for the most part).
It was on this point that made me appreciate LuPone’s performance in August all the more. Is that fair? Perhaps not, but as an aficionado of countless
Gypsy productions I believe you either got it or you ain’t.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Gypsy (The SOB Review) – Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL (August 14, 2006)
Labels: Gypsy, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, Patti LuPone, Ravinia, Revival, Stephen Sondheim, The SOB Review
Gypsy (The SOB Review) – Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL
***1/2 (out of ****)It seems entirely apropos that a concert version of
Stephen Sondheim’s seminal classic
Gypsy -- co-written, of course, by
Jule Styne and
Arthur Laurents -- would be stripped down to the basic essentials. But with theatre legend
Patti LuPone in the lead role of Mama Rose, this
Gypsy proved to be anything but bare. Instead of an over-the-top Mama that's all too easy to do, LuPone proffered an exquisitely nuanced performance that simultaneously excited and repulsed, making one of Broadway’s most memorable roles hers for keeps.
Backed by the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, this
Gypsy benefitted from absolutely lush and powerful orchestrations. Yet, this
Gypsy still managed to be fairly standard fare with a straight-ahead retelling quite befitting the concert motif. Indeed, director Lonny Price and choreographer Bonnie Walker provided only minor deviations from previous incarnations of the tuner. By not breaking any new ground -- save for a glittery full-frontal from
Jessica Boevers'
very adult
Gypsy Rose Lee (
OK, Boevers
was in a body stocking with sequins adorning key private parts) and a truly schlumpy Herbie (
Jack Willis making this doormat of a character the most believable I've seen yet) -- the concert further enabled LuPone to command the stage without overpowering it.
Fortunately, most of the cast recognized that they were part of a magical event, and they were on their game complementing LuPone. Both "Baby" and adult versions of June were enchanting thanks to Ashton Smalling and Jen Temen. Actresses
Derin Altay, Jane Blass and Debra Watassek as Electra, Mazeppa and Tessie Tura, respectively, provided just the right blend of comical flair necessary to allow Boevers’ Louise to blossom with the grace of a lady Rose implores her to be.
Near the end, LuPone took her devastated Rose to new heights with an unforgettable, heart-wrenched rendering of “Rose’s Turn,” which proved to be, quite literally, a showstopper of the first order. A most affectionate audience interrupted with a long, sustained standing ovation.
LuPone has been making
Ravinia -- and Sondheim, for that matter -- her own over the past ten years. Given how mesmerizing her performance was in
Gypsy, it seems a shame that just three audiences had the pleasure of seeing LuPone’s Mama Rose shine last weekend. Sadly, only two years have passed since
Gypsy's last Broadway revival with
Bernadette Peters. But when (not if) the time comes to bring
Gypsy back to the Great White Way, savvy producers should do everything they can to lure Patti LuPone back to the role she was born to play.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Chicago, Gypsy, Musical, Patti LuPone, Ravinia, Revival, The SOB Review
Gypsy Roams into Ravinia Tonight with Patti LuPoneIn a role that she was born to play,
Patti LuPone takes to the stage this evening as Mama Rose in
Gypsy at
Ravinia Festival just north of Chicago. Backed up by the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, LuPone will be joined by
Jessica Boevers in the title role,
Jack Willis (Herbie), Katie Rancourt (Baby Louise), Ashton Smalling (Baby June), Jen Temen (June), Leo Ash Evens (Tulsa),
Derin Altay (Electra) and Jane Blass (Mazeppa). Performances run through Sunday at this outdoor theatre located in Highland Park, Illinois.
Stephen Sondheim -- who wrote
Gypsy's iconic lyrics -- is scheduled to make a special appearance tonight for a pre-concert discussion with Ravinia President and CEO Welz Kauffman at 6:45 pm (Sondheim made a similar appearance at last year's Ravinia Festival prior to one of the performances of
Anyone Can Whistle, which also included LuPone, along with
Audra McDonald and
Michael Cerveris). Free tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis to those attending tonight's performance.
I have to admit to be wildly excited about this performance -- in fact, I've had my tickets since last December. I'll be sitting in Row Q at Saturday evening's performance and will have a review for you shortly after.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:O-Kaye Given to Temporary LuPone Replacement (May 18, 2006)
Labels: Chicago, Gypsy, Opening Night, Patti LuPone, Ravinia, Stephen Sondheim
