Steve On Broadway (SOB)

TONYS: SPRING HAS SPRUNG WHILE COAST REALIZES UTOPIA

Labels: Broadway, Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens, Musical, Play, Revival, Spring Awakening, The Coast Of Utopia, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, June 11, 2007 8 comments

C'est Sheik!

C'est Sheik!

In what is undoubtedly a harbinger of things to come for Spring Awakening, composer and one-time pop star Duncan Sheik (pictured) has won this year's Tony Award for Best Orchestrations. Spring Awakening has been nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical -- an award that most presume the show will win.

Keeping Spring Awakening on a roll, Kevin Adams has taken home the Tony for Best Lighting in a Musical.

The other expected juggernaut of the evening, The Coast Of Utopia, has already won three awards: Best Lighting, Best Costume and Best Scenic Designs of a Play. Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner and Natasha Katz's collaboration has won for their efforts on lighting. Catherine Zuber won for the marathon play's costume design. Bob Crowley and Scott Pask have won for their scenic design.

Crowley is a dual winner, having just won the Tony for his scenic design for Mary Poppins.

But all is not lost for Grey Gardens: William Ivey Long has earned the Tony for Best Costume Design of a Musical.

In just ten minutes, the "big" awards portion of the ceremony commences. I'll provide a complete wrap-up of the awards later (since I'll soon be boarding a four hour flight from Beijing to Tokyo).

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB)..

Labels: Broadway, Musical, Play, Spring Awakening, The Coast Of Utopia, Tony Awards

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Sunday, June 10, 2007 2 comments

The Tonys: If I Could Vote

The Tonys: If I Could Vote

In what is arguably the most anticipated Tony Award category each year, I had the pleasure of seeing all four Best Musical nominees: Curtains, Grey Gardens, Mary Poppins and Spring Awakening.

While Curtains and Mary Poppins failed to register the same caliber of critical response offered to Grey Gardens and Spring Awakening, I actually enjoyed all four productions and believe that they underscore what a great year this has been for the resurgent art form known as musical theatre.

While I realize that the heavy favorite to win remains Spring Awakening, regular readers will know that my personal favorite of the past year bar none is Grey Gardens, which was just one Tony nod short of Spring Awakening’s headline-grabbing 11 nominations. Yes, I appreciate the bold, new artistic direction Spring Awakening has taken the Great White Way, but in my estimation, the truly revolutionary musical breakthrough came via Grey Gardens.

Just as Christine Ebersole took Little Edie’s revolutionary apparel for a breathtaking ride -- and will win a Tony for doing so -- Michael Greif’s brilliant direction took this audience member on one of the best journeys ever enjoyed in musical theatre. Even more astounding for me was that I was rather repulsed by the original documentary of “Grey Gardens” that first appeared in the mid-70s and was initially shocked that anyone would dare make a musical out of the piece. Instead, Greif and his excellent cast completely mesmerized me in a way that no other Broadway musical this past year could match.

What should win: Grey Gardens. What will win: Spring Awakening. According to your votes in my recent SOB Poll, a bare majority of you (51.9%) believe Spring Awakening will win; Grey Gardens came in second with a respectable 34.6%.

In the Best Play category, I have only seen three of the four nominated productions: Frost/Nixon, Radio Golf and The Little Dog Laughed. I completely missed Tom Stoppard’s monumental The Coast Of Utopia, which will undoubtedly prove victorious on Sunday night.

For all the richly deserved acclaim that was heaped on Julie White’s breakthrough performance in The Little Dog Laughed, I just don’t consider it worthy of the Tony, although she could very well earn one for herself. And while Frost/Nixon had most critics’ tongues wagging, I thought its best parts were the recreated interviews between the two title characters (I believe Frank Langella will -- and should -- win a Tony for his stunning performance as the disgraced president). Of the shows I’ve seen, I think Radio Golf was by far the most moving, even if most agree that it pales when compared to August Wilson’s other works.

Being a fan of Stoppard’s intoxicating writing, I truly regret not having seen The Coast Of Utopia. Yet, I want to be honest here. A major factor in my not having seen it was that I didn’t want to see each of the three long installments separately. However, quite paradoxically, the thought of sitting through nine straight hours of a show scared me away – I admit that I get itchy sitting in just about any theatre seat at the three-hour mark. This long slog was so daunting that I stayed away. Shame on me. From all that I understand, I missed the best production of the year.

What should win: The Coast Of Utopia. What will win: The Coast Of Utopia. According to your votes in my recent SOB Poll, an overwhelming majority (64.3%) of you agree that The Coast Of Utopia will win; a distant second with 23.8% is Frost/Nixon. Only 2.4% of you think Radio Golf -- my favorite among the shows I have seen -- will win.

As for Best Revivals of a Musical, I only caught two of the four nominated productions: Company and The Apple Tree. The sentimental side of me kept me away from A Chorus Line. Since all accounts note how the current revival completely apes the original, I chose to skip the new incarnation and remember the original as it was -- the same thinking was behind my decision to pass over revisiting Les Misérables. The other production I missed -- and I’m sad that I did given how much I adore Audra McDonald -- was 110 In The Shade.

Because A Chorus Line is so faithful to the original staging, I don’t believe Tony voters will reward it with their Best Revival honor. Of the two shows I did see, The Apple Tree was a great vehicle to highlight the talents of Kristin Chenoweth and Brian d’Arcy James, but the production itself was uneven. I much preferred John Doyle’s unique retelling of Company. Where else could you see a superb, spellbinding and star-making performance by Raúl Esparza, whom I believe will win the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, as well he should.

That would leave my choices between Company and 110 In The Shade. Since I didn’t see the latter and believe that its mixed critical response will likely preclude it from winning, my vote would go to Company.

What should win: Company. What will win: Company. According to your votes in my recent SOB Poll, exactly half of you (50%) believe Company will win the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical, while 23.9% of you think 110 In The Shade will take home the Tony.

Finally, in the all-important category of Best Revival of a Play, I have absolutely no qualifications on which to base my vote. This is the first year in many when I haven’t seen a single one of the nominated works, which include Inherit The Wind, Journey’s End, Talk Radio and Translations.

Given that I found the snubbed A Moon For The Misbegotten to be among the best works of the past year, I can only surmise that the other four were so incredible that they would have landed on my top ten list if only I had seen them. Alas, any vote on my part here would be based solely on what I’ve heard about the nominated shows, and while there are probably some actual Tony voters who fail to see some of the nominees, I’ll abstain (yes, I realize some of you may think I should abstain in the two other categories in which I didn't see every production, but this is my blog, so there!).

What should win: Abstain. What will win: Journey’s End. According to your votes in my recent SOB Poll, Journey’s End narrowly wins with a plurality of 45.7% to Inherit The Wind’s 40%.

Over this next year, as difficult as it may be, I must resolve to see even more Broadway. Here’s wishing all the nominees nothing but the best on Sunday.

This Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: Broadway, Company, Grey Gardens, Journey's End, Musical, Play, Revival, The Coast Of Utopia, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, June 06, 2007 3 comments

When It Comes To Broadway, Stoppard's On A Roll

When It Comes To Broadway, Stoppard's On A Roll

Not enabling any moss to grow under his feet, playwright Tom Stoppard -- whose critically-acclaimed marathon theatrical production The Coast Of Utopia is the early favorite to win the Best Play Tony -- will enjoy another highly anticipated Broadway opening later this year.

Having already enjoyed a celebrated, sold-out run in London, Stoppard's Rock 'N' Roll is now confirmed for a Broadway transfer this November at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Rock 'N' Roll is described by London's Royal Court Theatre -- where it premiered last summer -- as "[T]he years from 1968 to 1990 from the double perspective of Prague, where a rock 'n' roll band comes to symbolise resistance to the Communist regime, and of Cambridge where the verities of love and death are shaping the lives of three generations in the family of a Marxist philosopher."

Trevor Nunn, who helmed the London production, will have the honors of directing the play in New York. Additionally, most of its heralded cast will make the transfer as well, including Olivier Award-winning Rufus Sewell (last seen on Broadway in the original mounting of Translations in 1995), Brian Cox and Sinéad Cusack.

After the resounding success of The Coast Of Utopia, expect Broadway to be positively buzzing about this work, roundly considered one of Stoppard's best ever. While I regretfully missed The Coast Of Utopia, I won't miss Rock 'N' Roll.

As for The Coast Of Utopia, you can still vote for it along with all your picks for the shows that will earn Tonys in the categories of Best Musical, Best Play, Best Revival of a Musical and Best Revival of a Play in the SOB Polls on the right-hand column of this site.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: Broadway, First Word On New Show, London, Play, Rock 'n' Roll, Rufus Sewell, The Coast Of Utopia, Tom Stoppard, Transfer

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, May 16, 2007 5 comments

Tony Award Nominations Announced

Labels: Billy Elliot The Musical, Grey Gardens, Play, Revival, SOB Poll, Spring Awakening, The Coast Of Utopia, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, May 15, 2007 2 comments

Was Utopia's Last Chapter Nirvana For Critics?

Was Utopia's Last Chapter Nirvana For Critics?

Rounding out a trilogy that began last fall with Voyage, the final chapter of Tom Stoppard's epic The Coast Of Utopia has finally landed with Salvage opening at Lincoln Center. Both Voyage and Shipwreck garnered glowing reviews. Most critics seemed to find the final act somewhat anticlimactic, but still praised the overall landmark effort.

Proclaiming it a "dazzling and wonderfully satisfying trilogy" in his four-star review is Clive Barnes of New York Post: "Looking back at Stoppard's wordy yet exhilarating dramatic tapestry, I'm amazed at how thrillingly this Lincoln Center company -- helped by Jack O'Brien's alertly balanced staging -- has brought it off. (Brían F.) O'Byrne, whose sensitive development of Herzen's character covers the entire span of Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage, fascinatingly provides the fulcrum of the trilogy. But it's unfair to single him out, since (Ethan) Hawke has never been better than here as Bakunin, a cadging, shining-eyed monster of opportunistic anarchy."

Less enthusiastic about the concluding chapter is Variety's David Rooney: "Traveling with the drama's cast of exiles and emigres through to the conclusion is exhilarating, edifying and at times a little enervating. But even if the final chapter, Salvage, is the weakest of the three plays, the overall achievement remains undiminished....Unlike the first two plays, the elegance and erudition of Stoppard's writing are undermined at times by the challenge of cramming so much information into a dramaturgical package, with characters often recapitulating events purely for the audience's benefit. All that aside, there's still more dazzling stagecraft in any one of these three Lincoln Center Theater productions than most companies can muster in several seasons."

Newsday's Linda Winer appears to concur: "Salvage...isn't remarkable for the one or two boggling visual moments that were the talk of its predecessors. The production...is as masterly as ever, again beginning with the sight of the aging Alexander Herzen in a turning chair that hovers high above the silken ravages of the sea. But this one's moodier, at times hallucinatory, as Stoppard hones in on Herzen, finally the main character among the many....Ethan Hawke, perhaps the biggest surprise of the trilogy, can show the lifelong arch of Bakunin, the overbearing, eager young aristocrat who becomes the equally overbearing anarchist. Jennifer Ehle, so radiantly complex as Herzen's wife in Shipwrecked, now plays the equally complicated but unyielding German governess."

Deeming the production "an ungodly mess" and "heavenly spectacle," Ben Brantley of The New York Times starts his review by focusing more on the trilogy itself: "Despite its status as the season’s ultimate snob ticket, a concert of clever historical name-dropping orchestrated to give middle-brow audiences the illusion of a brow lift, The Coast of Utopia is as hot-blooded and teary-eyed as your average afternoon soap opera. I wouldn’t call it a major work of art. In literary terms I wouldn’t even rank it with Mr. Stoppard’s best....But as directed by Jack O’Brien and acted and designed by a stellar team of artisans, Utopia is a major work of theatrical craftsmanship."

The Associated Press' Michael Kuchwara also weighs in: "Rueful resignation isn't as dramatically exciting, so the Lincoln Center Theater production of Salvage doesn't have the innate theatricality that propelled Voyage and Shipwreck, the first two-thirds of Stoppard's mammoth work. Yet that doesn't stop director Jack O'Brien and his amazing company of actors from breathing urgency into the demanding, sometimes dense conversations of these squabbling European firebrands in exile in Victorian England.... [T]he thoughtful and commanding Brian F. O'Byrne...is the rock who anchors much of the trilogy through its most meandering moments."

Is it a wonder that the marathon performances of the entire trilogy that begin this Saturday are one of New York City's hottest tickets?

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Cleaning Up: Salvage Operation Begins Tonight On Broadway (February 18, 2007)
Did Critics See Ship Wreck Or Hit? (December 22, 2006)
Unstoppable: Stoddard's Shipwreck Coasts Into Opening Night (December 21, 2006)
Did Critics Enjoy Voyage's Ride? (November 28, 2006)
Coast Of Utopia Begins Broadway Voyage This Evening (November 27, 2006)

Labels: Critics' Capsule, Play, Salvage, Shipwreck, The Coast Of Utopia, Tom Stoppard, Voyage

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, February 19, 2007 2 comments

Cleaning Up: Salvage Operation Begins Tonight On Broadway

Labels: Broadway, Opening Night, Play, Salvage, Shipwreck, The Coast Of Utopia, Tom Stoppard, Voyage

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Sunday, February 18, 2007 0 comments

Did Critics See Ship Wreck Or Hit?

Did Critics See Ship Wreck Or Hit?

Last evening, Shipwreck -- the second installment of Tom Stoppard's epic trilogy The Coast Of Utopia -- opened at Lincoln Center. After the first "act" opened to mostly enthusiastic reviews, how did this one fare?

Ever effusive in his praise, The New York Times' Ben Brantley positively beams: "The sumptuous Lincoln Center production of Shipwreck, the second part of Mr. Stoppard’s absorbing Coast of Utopia trilogy about Russian idealists errant in the 19th century, is filled with coups de théâtre....[T]he most stunning moment of all arrives when Mr. Stoppard simply pulls the plug on the dense talk that has been buzzing from the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater...and asks us to experience a world hitherto defined, above all, by words through the perspective of a deaf child."

Also providing laurels is David Rooney of Variety: "[T]he most unexpected and enriching surprise of Shipwreck...is that its intellectual vigor is equaled, perhaps even surpassed by its enormous emotional vitality. Jack O'Brien's mesmerizing production of part one, Voyage, was a dazzling theatrical achievement. In this Euro-trotting second chapter, the political and personal passions of the play's dreamy-eyed 19th-century Russian revolutionaries ripen with age and experience, making it arguably even better."

Newsday's Linda Winer apparenly concurs: "Jack O'Brien's astonishing, visually stupendous production has further tightened its grip with ever more engrossing tales of the privileged young Russian thinkers who began the sweep of massive social change....We are relieved to find both continuity and new splendors in the masterly creative team -- in sets by Bob Crowley and Scott Pask, costumes by Catherine Zuber and lights by Kenneth Posner."

Calling themoments in Shipwreck "quite extraordinary," the Associated Press' Michael Kuchwara agrees in his glowing review: "[M]ore often than not, it has heart and a deep emotional underpinning. Near the end of Shipwreck, there is a speech by Herzen of such aching beauty that if you are not moved to tears, you must be made of stone."

Offering up a three-and-a-half star review, USA Today's Elysa Gardner notes: "Stoppard's piquant, probing dialogue allows Herzen to expound wittily, and movingly, on intellectual matters and matters of the heart, which are by no means mutually exclusive here. (Jennifer) Ehle makes a convincing soul mate and sparring partner, relaying Natalie's fierce emotions and convictions with a stringent intensity. Other members of Coast's luminous cast get less stage time but shine whenever they're on....Jack O'Brien's robust direction and Bob Crowley and Scott Pask's stunning set design serve everyone well. True, Stoppard's script would sound glorious if recited by students in a dingy classroom, but to see such style and substance merge with spectacle is a rare treat, on Broadway or anywhere."

The Coast Of Utopia has already found it necessary to extend its marathon season beyond its initial sold-out status. These reviews will no doubt make the remaining allotment of tickets extremely difficult to come by. Could another extension be in its future?

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Did Critics Enjoy Voyage's Ride? (November 28, 2006)
Coast Of Utopia Begins Broadway Voyage This Evening (November 27, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Play, Shipwreck, The Coast Of Utopia, Tom Stoppard

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, December 22, 2006 0 comments

Unstoppable: Stoppard's Shipwreck Coasts Into Opening Night

Unstoppable: Stoppard's Shipwreck Coasts Into Opening Night

Tonight marks the opening of Shipwreck -- the second of three chapters from Tom Stoppard's The Coast Of Utopia -- at Broadway's Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont. Directed by Jack O'Brien, the full trilogy will be realized in early 2007 through Salvage.

While the entire eight-hour marathons have just extended to May 13 after initially selling out, Shipwreck is scheduled to clock-in at a mere three hours.

Lincoln Center describes Shipwreck as centering:

...on the visionary Russian leader Alexander Herzen and his fellow revolutionaries who find inspiration as well as frustration in exile in Paris and London. As the revolution of 1848 unfolds outside Herzen’s door and the tides of political and social upheaval swell, Herzen's circle, and his family, are profoundly affected.


The first installment was roundly met with a chorus of critical approval. Will that momentum continue? Find out shortly as I capsulize the reviews.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Did Critics Enjoy Voyage's Ride? (November 28, 2006)
Coast Of Utopia Begins Broadway Voyage This Evening (November 27, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Opening Night, Play, The Coast Of Utopia, Tom Stoppard

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Thursday, December 21, 2006 0 comments

Did Critics Enjoy Voyage's Ride?

Did Critics Enjoy Voyage's Ride?

Last evening, Voyage -- the first leg of Tom Stoppard's epic trilogy The Coast Of Utopia -- opened at Lincoln Center. The first "act" opened to mostly enthusiastic reviews.

Calling the first installment "exhilarating," Ben Brantley of The New York Times says that: "Voyage pulses with the dizzying, spring-green arrogance and anxiety of a new generation moving as fast as it can as it tries to forge a future that erases the past....Voyage is paced and defined by the quicksilver changes of mood and conviction that come from being young in a time of flux -- by the feeling that everything and nothing is possible."

Going four for four stars in proclaiming Voyage "thrilling," New York Post's Clive Barnes praises: "[F]orget what you may have heard about the plays: There is no required reading list, only a willingness to accept art as wondrously disordered as life. Stoppard has hit upon an enthralling, little-known story and deftly welded it into a soap opera for the thinking classes....[E]normous praise is due to (Billy) Crudup's mousy-looking but valiant sketch of the great Russian critic Belinsky; (Brían F.) O'Byrne's centered revolutionary, Herzen; and the shining-faced (Jennifer) Ehle as the doomed, Chekovian-like Bakunin sister, Liubov."

David Rooney of Variety notes that despite the running time, the play is anything but arduous: "Jack O'Brien has swept away all sense of trepidation, providing thrilling assurance that this brawny, brainy dissertation could not be in more capable hands. There's more talk than drama spread across Stoppard's extended canvas, which certainly requires concentration. But regardless of one's interest in 19th century Russian history, the novelistic play is a spry, witty and thoroughly intriguing account of men and ideas."

Proclaiming the production both "tantalizing" and "passionate," the Associated Press' Michael Kuchwara also provides a positive review: "You'll need to put on your thinking cap for this Lincoln Center Theater production. But don't be intimidated by the parade of big yet mostly unfamiliar (unless you're an expert on 19th-century Russian intellectuals) names and the even bigger ideas that Stoppard presents. In a work so large, it takes a while to get your bearings -- particularly when a dozen or so major characters are introduced in a swirl of activity. The evening's hero is apparent from the outset. It is director Jack O'Brien who marshals a cast of more than 30 actors with the skill of a general commanding the troops."

While conceding that the work is "brainy and complex," New York Daily News' Joe Dziemianowicz is less enthusiastic: "Voyage is certainly packed -- with characters, big ideas, stunning visuals and, alas, vast stretches that can be tedious and emotionally frigid....Not all of it is scintillating. Nor do we come to care about the characters, even as they die or are exiled. That's a problem. Voyage ultimately feels less like a cohesive story than a series of snapshots. But the snapshots are impressive."

If these reviews are a harbinger of critiques to come, The Coast Of Utopia may very well need to extend its marathon season beyond its current sold-out status.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Coast Of Utopia Begins Broadway Voyage This Evening (November 27, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Play, The Coast Of Utopia, Tom Stoppard, Voyage

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, November 28, 2006 3 comments

Coast Of Utopia Begins Broadway Voyage This Evening

Coast Of Utopia Begins Broadway Voyage This Evening

Tonight, Voyage -- the first part of Tom Stoppard's mammoth The Coast Of Utopia -- begins its journey on the Great White Way at the Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont.

Directed by Jack O'Brien, the trilogy will continue to unfold over the next couple of months in Shipwreck and Salvage. While the entire, sold-out marathons will extend to a full eight hours when fully presented in February, Voyage consists of a mere three hours.

Lincoln Center describes Voyage as:

Stoppard’s nod to (Anton) Chekhov set at the grand Russian countryside estate of the Bakunin family. Four eligible sisters are under the sway of their charismatic brother, Michael, who interferes in their lives, while fervently seeking a greater purpose in his own. As his political and philosophical journey unfolds, Bakunin’s compatriots will include Vissarion Belinsky, George Herwegh, Karl Marx, Nicholas Ogarev, Nicholas Stankevich, Ivan Turgenev and, of particular note, the visionary leader Alexander Herzen.

New York critics have traditionally heaped laurel after laurel upon Stoppard's previous works, so it will be quite interesting to see how well they receive the first leg of this odyssey with Voyage.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

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Labels: Broadway, Opening Night, Play, The Coast Of Utopia, Voyage

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, November 27, 2006 0 comments