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
Tonight, Grease Is The WordThirty-five years ago,
Grease -- a slightly raunchy little musical about high school lovin' -- opened at Broadway's now defunct
Eden Theatre. Now, a second revival is about to open on the Great White Way at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
This is no longer the same
Grease as the one that opened nearly two generations ago. While the major difference getting the most attention is the method used to cast the 2007 incarnation via a reality television show ("
You're The One That I Want"), the larger departure from the original is its incorporation of music written especially for the
1978 film version.
Among the musical additions are three major hit songs from the summer of '78: "Grease," "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and "You're The One That I Want."
The latter two tunes were written by
John Farrar, who's suddenly enjoying quite a summer on Broadway. While he never had a Rialto credit to his name prior to this year, earlier this young theatrical season, he literally scored success with his contributions to
Xanadu.
But as noted, expect most of the critical response to focus on
Grease's unconventionally cast Danny (
Max Crumm) and Sandy (
Laura Osnes), as well as whether director/choreographer
Kathleen Marshall suffered a major misstep or engineered a stroke of genius. It was just over a year ago when it was first announced that the
Grease revival would be cast via a reality show.
Stay tuned as I provide a critics' capsule tomorrow.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Grease tickets.Related Stories:Starring Roles Whether Or Not They're The Ones You Want (August 16, 2007)
Hairspray's Stunt Casting Sticks (August 14, 2007)
Broadway Grosses: Greasing The Skids (August 7, 2007)
Which Upcoming Broadway Musicals Will You See? (June 15, 2007)
Max And Laura Go Together (March 26, 2007)
Behind The Grease Paint (March 24, 2007)
Grease: The Ones That I Want (March 22, 2007)
Apparently Grease Is The Word At Ticketmaster (January 9, 2007)
Sandy And Danny: Who Are The Ones You Want? (January 6, 2007)
The Sound Of Praise (November 16, 2006)
It's A Reality: The Sound Of Music Revival Comes Alive In London Tonight (November 15, 2006)
I've Got Chills, They're Multiplying: NBC Reality Show to Cast Grease (August 8, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Grease, John Farrar, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Musical, Opening Night, Reality Television, Revival, Televsion, You're The One That I Want
