 |
| David Gallo |
David Gallo: Designing Broadway And Beyond (The SOB Interview)
On Friday, I provided the first portion of my interview with Tony Award-winning scenic designer David Gallo, discussing his Snow Globe creation for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Today, I'm pleased to share the rest of my interview with this affable, engaging and immensely talented designer in which we discussed, among other topics, August Wilson, his incredible inspiration for The Drowsy Chaperone and even how one of his works is now in the Smithsonian Institution.
Here's the SOB Interview:
Steve On Broadway - You had a long association with August Wilson’s works.
David Gallo - That’s correct. My daughter’s name is August as well.
SOB - That's amazing. Can you tell me a little about the experience of working with this great playwright?
DG - It was just the highlight of my career. To even be alive during the same time period with such an extraordinary talent and such an important voice for forever, you know, with world literature. So that enough, but to be able to participate on them was just the highlight of a career to be able to bond with August and be able to work with him directly in developing the visuals aspects of his stories, you know, the words that he was putting together. It was amazing.
 |
| August Wilson's Fences |
What was it like? I mean, it was great. It was about fourteen years of my life. It was a new challenge every day. Always interesting, you know, because my initial exposure to August was doing a production of Fences almost 20 years ago, which was the first time I had really any connection to the plays themselves. And then I designed the premiere productions of his later works and getting to the point where I was designing productions of August Wilson plays before the plays were written.
SOB - Wow!
DG - Yeah, it got to that point where we would discuss the ideas before he would even have typed out a word, I would already have pen to the paper.
SOB - Well, I was going to ask you how much influence does a director’s vision have on what ultimately you see?
DG - Well a director, a lot. But in this case the playwright, you know, usually not so much. But this was special. He was very much a part of all that stuff. He was a huge influence. And the settings were always so much more than met the eye.
 |
| Hughie - 1996 Broadway revival |
SOB - With respect to your first design on Broadway, which was for Hughie, you were working at Circle in the Square (a theatre in the round), which in and of itself presents some interesting challenges. I’ve seen many shows that have worked in that space, but so many that just don’t. What were your challenges there.
DG - Well, that space is like really tough. As you know it’s a very difficult theatre to master. And a particular challenge for Hughie is it’s a play that really has just two characters. There’s only two people in it, and one of them is the focus -- the role that Al Pacino played -- and he wanders around a bit. And then the other one played by Paul Benedict is a character that literally never gets out of his chair.
So you’ve got to get a pretty tight ground plan because to get something like that to work in that context is always a little bit tricky. It’s not like a busy play with a lot of characters and a lot of movement and everything is running around that space and you really have to use that space. We pretty much were committed to a very particular play with a very particular presentation style. Yeah, that theatre is not easy.
SOB - I’ve also admired your work in The Drowsy Chaperone. I thought that scenic design was absolute genius. What was your inspiration for that?
 |
| The Drowsy Chaperone - Man in Chair's apartment |
DG - A guy I knew who was that character.
SOB - Really?
DG - Yes. I read that play and I said, “Holy s***! I know this guy.”
I called my friend and I said I’m coming over with my camera, and I photographed every centimeter of his apartment. The set wasn’t a replication of that apartment, but it was seriously inspired by that guy’s apartment.
He lived in the same place since the late 1970s in a Hell’s Kitchen walk-up on the fifth floor. You know, he actually has his bathtub in his kitchen, you know, and it’s completely filled with musical theatre and opera records. He hangs out there and plays these records. Really, that’s his thing. He’s also a designer -- I mean he has a life. I mean he’s not, you know, as weird as our character. He’s the real thing. So the inspiration came from that.
 |
| The Drowsy Chaperone - Play within the play |
And then the play within a play was all sort of based on the work of Joseph Urban, the great designer, at the beginning of the century. What if Joseph Urban had actually designed The Drowsy Chaperone. What would it look like?
SOB - I also loved your elaborate designs for Memphis and thought you were really robbed of a Tony nomination.
DG - I never really considered that too much, but we certainly liked the way it turned out certainly.
SOB - It’s also your first Broadway show with a projection design credit?
 |
| Memphis (Photo by Wolfram Ott) |
DG - Yeah. The first one on Broadway. I’ve done other things.
SOB - Do you think projection designs are here to stay?
DG - Well, yeah, I mean they’ve been around for over a hundred years. So it’s not like it’s new. There’s a lot more that we can do with the ability to make it more effective right now. I think that they’re almost a little too in vogue at the moment. But I think used effectively I think they’d be great. But they’re not going anywhere.
We just opened another one, the Colin Quinn thing – we designed all the projections for that, too.
SOB - You also did the set design for that.
DG - That’s right. It’s sort of my thing.
SOB - It certainly gave me the impression of being right in the middle of a Greek amphitheater.
DG - Oh you saw it?
SOB - Yes.
DG - Good for you.
SOB - Now you have to settle a bet. I was talking with someone about your projection design for Memphis and we were arguing back and forth as to whether it was a live video feed or it was taped.
DG - During the second act when they’re on? It’s all live. It was impossible to do tape.
SOB - And how does it feel to have gotten this far and have something in the Smithsonian?
DG - That actually happened in ’98 or ’99. It was freaky.
SOB - It’s "America’s attic."
DG - I guess so and we’ve cluttered it up with junk. They asked, and they actually had a whole bunch of my stuff and they ended up settling on one thing. But that’s what they wanted to do, and there it is – somewhere in the basement next to the Ark of the Covenant.
I don’t know. It’s never left my bio. I always thought it would. But it’s always still in there. I guess it’s interesting. I don’t know anywhere else with stuff in the Smithsonian.
SOB - I don’t know anybody else with anything there.
DG - So, it’s cool. You know. I mean, when you think about it, you donate it and now it’s not yours anymore, and if I want to go see it I have to have a good reason like it’s my own thing and they’re very clear that you can’t ever have anything back again.
I got some stuff in another museum and that was sort of trippy because I went there to give a lecture and they were like, “Well, while you’re here…” They had a model all laid out and they wanted me to glue it all back together because it had been damaged. And they’re like, “Only you can do it because you’re the original artist.” I know it’s weird. All these art archivists and art restorers are sitting there watching me glue this thing back together again. Weird.
SOB - What’s next for you?
DG - Right now we’re doing Madagascar, the movie -- we’re doing a live version of that. We’re doing a big splashy musical version of Madagascar.
And then we’re just getting started working with a rock band Phish and so we’re designing a New Year’s experience extravaganza for three dates around New Year’s. And then we’re doing scenic design and projections for a very large scale Frank Wildhorn musical -- new musical -- that’s going to happen in South Korea. And then we’re doing another in China. We’re pretty busy. And then I’m going to Stuttgart next week because we have a show opening in Stuttgart, and we just had one open in Rome recently, too.
I ended my conversation with a couple design-oriented recommendations for David Gallo while he's in Stuttgart. I'm sure I'm not alone in looking forward to what this designing genius does next.
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, Circle in the Square Theatre, Colin Quinn, David Gallo, Frank Wildhorn, Hughie, Memphis, Projection Design, Scenic Design, Smithsonian, The Drowsy Chaperone
Catching Up On Reading...Since I'm just back from vacation and catching up on a mountain of work, as well as all the latest theatre news, I thought I'd use today to pause and let you know what I'm reading:
The eternally effervescent Sarah at
Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment offers an illuminating piece on the organization responsible for the
Tony Awards:
The American Theatre Wing.
New England's finest bloggers Chris Caggiano (
Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals) and Esther (
Gratuitous Violins) tell us how
The Drowsy Chaperone is faring on its Boston tour stop. Chris comes at it from the perspective of a long-time fan, while Esther has seen it for the first time.
Broadway Undercover was fortunate to get into the actual catered affair for
A Catered Affair and snapped a few photos in the process. Meanwhile
Modern Fabulousity tells us to ignore Big Ben's take on the musical and just go see it. I will, ModFab, in about a week, and given all those Drama Desk nominations, I'm really looking forward to it.
And finally, a reminder from my new best friends Andrew and Phil of the
West End Whingers that there
really have been worse musicals than
Gone With The Wind (read:
Carrie). Last Thursday,
I spotted a story delineating the 10 worst musicals of all time as endured by London's
Telegraph.
Happy reading!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Catered Affair, Blogs, Carrie, Gone With The Wind, The Drowsy Chaperone, Tony Awards
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The LooSo there I was yesterday, watching the very first
McLaughlin Group of 2008 when the panel began discussing Mike Huckabee's victory in Thursday's Iowa caucuses.
An image came on the screen of the Huckster's victory speech where he was framed, not by his family, but by Mr. and Mrs.
Chuck Norris (Gena O'Kelley). The
Chicago Tribune's
Clarence Page remarked that it demonstrated how pop culture was attracted to Huckabee's presidential candidacy.
Really?
Ironically, back in September 2006 when I last revisited
Wicked on Broadway, Norris and his spouse were seated directly across the aisle from me. I remember thinking to myself how interesting it was to see someone like the politically-conservative Norris -- who's most recently been relegated to sharing fitness tips with
Christie Brinkley on
infomercials -- taking in one of pop culture's true theatrical sensations. Even more interesting was that Norris clearly didn't like what he was seeing (I surmised it was due to the show's sly references to the current White House occupant). In fact, at intermission, Norris and O'Kelley walked out on the performance.
Another Sunday morning pundit,
Chris Matthews, turned up in my audience for
Cyrano de Bergerac. At least he appeared to enjoy himself -- I could hear his ... how shall I say this politely ...
distinguished laugh from a mile away. (Another celebrity sighting at that October performance was
Jennifer Garner's former castmate from "
Alias,"
Ron Rifkin).
Speaking of "distinguished" laughs, when I took in a
Steppenwolf opening performance of
The Unmentionables back in July 2006, I remember hearing this rather obnoxious laugh coming from behind me. Don't get me wrong. The play itself was a hoot. But this cackle was almost too much. When I turned around, who did I see but a "
Friends"-less
David Schwimmer.
Which brings me full circle back to yesterday.
One actor who clearly has a friend is
Bob Saget, whom I saw yesterday afternoon at the performance of
The Homecoming -- the former Man in Chair was in tow with
Danny Burstein, one of his co-stars from
The Drowsy Chaperone. I first spotted Saget as we were among the dozen or so men standing in line for the men's loo, waiting for a female to finish her business inside (seems the women's line was just too long for her). To his credit, the former "
Full House" star was quite affable, making a funny quip and kept his fellow liners entertained.
Call me crazy, but for some reason it made me wonder what Chuck Norris would do.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Bob Saget, Broadway, Chris Matthews, Chuck Norris, Cyrano de Bergerac, Danny Burstein, David Schwimmer, Mike Huckabee, Ron Rifkin, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Homecoming, The Unmentionables
I'm A Little Blue...The Drowsy Chaperone will be put to rest December 30. That is the official word today from
Playbill.
Winner of five Tony Awards, the show had already seen wildly fluctuating box office totals throughout the fall, ranging anywhere from 50 to 70% capacity prior to last month's stagehands strike.
But it never managed to attract more than 50% once Broadway was back in business.
Even attempts at stunt casting proved fruitless with capacity falling to a yawn-inducing 39.3%.
Bob Saget, best known as Danny Tanner on the 80s/90s sitcom "
Full House," came on board October 19, while poor
Cindy Williams -- Shirley Feeney from 70s sitcom "
Laverne & Shirley" -- joined the cast just a week ago Tuesday.
When
The Drowsy Chaperone closes at the
Marquis Theatre, it will have enjoyed 674 regular performances. While the short-lived London mounting closed earlier this year after treading the West End boards less than two months, the
North American tour continues. It just departed Cincinnati on Sunday and will resume January 1 in
Fort Lauderdale.
While this wasn't the greatest show I ever saw, it certainly
entertained. The closing notice has me feeling a little like the lonely Man In Chair -- a little blue.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Will Drowsy Chaperone Be Put To Sleep? (October 24, 2007)
Putting London's Drowsy Chaperone To Bed (July 26, 2007)
Go East, Young Musical, Go East (July 27, 2007)
Did Chaperone Keep London's Aging Critics Awake? (June 19, 2007)
West End Drowsy Chaperone: Another Great Paige Turner (January 19, 2007)
The Drowsy Chaperone (The SOB Review) (October 3, 2006)
Mixed Reviews Tire The Drowsy Chaperone (May 2, 2006)
Labels: Bob Saget, Box Office, Broadway, Cindy Williams, Closing Notices, Musical, Stunt Casting, The Drowsy Chaperone
Will Drowsy Chaperone Be Put To Sleep?Did anyone else catch
Michael Riedel's little slip that
Cry-Baby hopes "to slip into New York's
Marriott Marquis Theatre in March"?
Granted, I wasn't exactly thrilled by
The Drowsy Chaperone's rather lame stunt-casting of
Bob Saget as the new Man In Chair (not to be confused with
Eric at Man In Chair), but the tuner
still played last week to 71.9% of capacity and grossed $605,832.
Does Riedel know about some impending closing notice? More importantly, do
you?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for The Drowsy Chaperone tickets.Related Stories:Putting London's Drowsy Chaperone To Bed (July 26, 2007)
Go East, Young Musical, Go East (July 27, 2007)
Did Chaperone Keep London's Aging Critics Awake? (June 19, 2007)
West End Drowsy Chaperone: Another Great Paige Turner (January 19, 2007)
The Drowsy Chaperone (The SOB Review) (October 3, 2006)
Mixed Reviews Tire The Drowsy Chaperone (May 2, 2006)
Labels: Bob Saget, Box Office, Broadway, Cry-Baby, Michael Riedel, Musical, Rumor, Stunt Casting, The Drowsy Chaperone
Putting London's Drowsy Chaperone To BedAs
noted in my previous post, the West End production of
The Drowsy Chaperone will close next weekend (August 4) -- just shy of two months after opening to lackluster reviews.
The big question is
why? Certainly, reviews weren't
that bad, and plenty of other imports from North America have fared well in spite of the inherent anti-Broadway bias of many London critics.
My own theory is two-fold.
First, take a look at the marketing campaign (above) and you'll see that British theatrical legend
Elaine Paige is proclaimed as the star. Imagine the word of mouth that spread regarding how disingenuous that campaign truly is. While Paige is indeed in the title role, she is a supporting player. Huge difference.
Second, the real star of the show on opening night was the musical's creator
Bob Martin as the Man in Chair. But Martin already departed the show earlier this month to prepare for the first leg of
The Drowsy Chaperone's
North American tour in his hometown of Toronto, where the original Fringe Festival favorite world premiered.
If seething Paige fans could get beyond the fact that their beloved star was in a supporting role to enjoy Martin's utterly enjoyable performance, all positive buzz about him came to a crashing end when he left.
It's a shame that there wasn't more truth in advertising for this curious delight of a show. It deserved better.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for London tickets.Click here for Broadway tickets.Click here for North American tour tickets.Related Stories:Go East, Young Musical, Go East (July 27, 2007)
Did Chaperone Keep London's Aging Critics Awake? (June 19, 2007)
West End Drowsy Chaperone: Another Great Paige Turner (January 19, 2007)
The Drowsy Chaperone (The SOB Review) (October 3, 2006)
Mixed Reviews Tire The Drowsy Chaperone (May 2, 2006)
Labels: Bob Martin, Broadway, Closing Notices, Elaine Paige, London, Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, Touring Production
Go East, Young Musical, Go EastDespite the incredibly shrinking dollar -- and in spite of the premature closing of the big American hit musical
The Drowsy Chaperone, which reached its 500th performance milestone on Broadway, yet is closing in London after a mere two months -- nothing spells theatrical success quite like having your show play to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, as
Variety's Gordon Cox examines.
On the heels of the extraordinary success of the
new film version of the
Broadway stage musical that was based on
John Waters'
original 1988 flick,
Hairspray will finally open in the London this October 11 at the Shaftesbury Theatre with U.K. stage fave
Michael Ball as Edna Turnblad. The Great White Way incarnation that premiered five years ago, won the 2003 Tony for Best Musical.
After that, expect the 2006 Tony-winning Best Musical
Jersey Boys to confound those anticipating a show about young boys and their cows on the pastoral isle of
The Bailiwick of Jersey when it replaces
Mary Poppins at London's Prince Edward Theatre on February 28.
This year's Tony-winning Best Musical
Spring Awakening will most certainly be mounted on the West End, but details have yet to be announced. And although
Grey Gardens may be vacating Rialto's
Walter Kerr Theatre this Sunday,
it's expected to find its new West End digs sometime during the current theatre season.
While the plummeting U.S. dollar may make mounting each of these shows more expensive, at least ticket prices remain somewhat reasonable in London. For example, you can expect to pay £61.50 (or approximately $123 US) for
Jersey Boys' top ticket vs. $351.50 on Broadway. Thankfully, the whole concept of "premium seating" has not caught on, although -- quite inexplicably -- you'll still have to pony up to $8 for their version of a Playbill.
If you're a theatre lover, but have never had the opportunity to see a show on the West End, I would highly recommend it. Just don't go with the expectation that every musical or play ends in a standing ovation -- the British tend to reserve those for truly remarkable and stunning performances. Here! Here!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Hairspray UK tickets.Click here for Jersey Boys UK tickets.Labels: Broadway, Grey Gardens, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, London, Mary Poppins, Spring Awakening, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ticket Prices, Transfer
Did Chaperone Keep London's Aging Critics Awake?I must have been caught napping. Or maybe it was the jetlag. Whatever it was, two weeks ago while I was en route to China, the West End version of
The Drowsy Chaperone opened to wildly divergent reviews.
Stating that it could be "one of the silliest musicals ever written," the
Telegraph 's
Charles Spencer apparently loved the show when he caught it on Broadway, but confesses, "Better yet, I enjoyed it even more the second time around, for beyond its inanity, it is also curiously touching....commentary is so witty, his pleasure so palpable, the show itself so delightfully absurd that laughter constantly triumphs over melancholy. The show in fact becomes both a demonstration, and a celebration of theatre's power to transport us out of our own humdrum lives and concerns."
Proclaiming the musical "clever and appealing" in her four-star review,
The Times'
Sam Marlowe is mostly positive: "Those with a taste for melodic, feelgood nostalgia will find plenty to feast upon in this musical’s breezy, interval-free 100 minutes. But it offers more than that. It’s deceptive: it may look and sound deliciously daft, but beneath the razzmatazz and romance, the slapstick and the sentiment, it’s extremely smart....[T]his musical is an airy confection without much substance."
Calling it an "enjoyably fresh show," along with three out of five stars, is
Nicholas de Jongh of the
Evening Standard: "It's a rare evening when a musical makes me laugh out loud and often but it happened last night.
The Drowsy Chaperone, whose alluring title signals its distinctive character, surprises and delights, thanks to its central conceit....This narration, though rather fuelled by an unpleasant, snide attitude to gay men, becomes the show's prime source of amusement."
Dismissing the production in his two-out-of-five star review,
The Guardian's
Michael Billington demonstrates why they call them "critics": "The real problem, however, is that the show never knows exactly where to pitch its camp. It also lacks the pinpoint accuracy of true satire: many of its gags, especially the notion of hoodlums translated into song-and-dance men, belong more to the 1930s than the previous decade....At the end of the day, however, one is left asking who the show is for; and the answer, I would guess, are the kind of closeted cognoscenti it seems to be sending up."
Dubbing the show a "very minor work,"
Quentin Letts of the
Daily Mail pans: "The spoofs will soon overtake the genre they are teasing. Therein lies oblivion....I suppose much of it is harmless fun. It is hard to become too cross about it, for on one level it's wholesome and adequately showy....These talents are wasted, though."
Perhaps Brits contemplating a visit to the Novello Theatre to see
The Drowsy Chaperone would do well to consider the parting shot of the
Telegraph's Spencer -- not at the show, mind you, but at fellow critics: "Only the self-importantly serious and the chronically depressed will fail to enjoy this preposterously entertaining evening."
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:West End Drowsy Chaperone: Another Great Paige Turner (January 19, 2007)
The Drowsy Chaperone (The SOB Review) (October 3, 2006)
Mixed Reviews Tire The Drowsy Chaperone (May 2, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, London, Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone
Chaperone: No More Foster Care
After nearly a year on Broadway in her Tony nominated turn as twenties starlet Janet Van DeGraaff in
The Drowsy Chaperone (and longer than that if you count the Los Angeles tryout), actress
Sutton Foster is set to depart the production on April 15.
Co-star
Georgia Engel (pictured above right, dancing the "Toledo Surprise" with Foster) will exit the show on April 1. Seems like a perfect day for the lovably ditzy Engel.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for The Drowsy Chaperone tickets. Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, Casting Changes, Georgia Engel, Musical, Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein
Final FourJust as America’s annual national obsession with college basketball is about to conclude, so will four performances on Broadway this evening.
The Great White Way will bid adieu to two plays, one musical and one singular, breathtaking performance in a musical. They include:
The critically-acclaimed
Manhattan Theatre Club revival of
Brian Friel’s
Translations, which after 53 regular performances sadly leaves on a bitter note with the abrupt firing of actor
Michael Fitzgerald for rough handling of a castmate.
Jeremy Bobb replaced him for the final performances.
David Hare’s
The Vertical Hour, with
Bill Nighy and
Julianne Moore. Critics were mixed on this play, although all sang Nighy’s praises. Moore’s starpower wasn’t enough to keep the production from closing two weeks earlier than planned. Still, with 117 regular performances, the production achieved that rarest of feats for Broadway plays: it leaves having already turned a profit.
The Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of
The Apple Tree with
Kristin Chenoweth,
Brian d’Arcy James and until recently,
Marc Kudisch, who jumped ship for
The Pirates Of Penzance. Although the cast received decent to rapturous notices, few critics (including yours truly) were excited about this dated concept musical. The limited run enjoyed 99 regular performances.
Bob Martin (pictured), a/k/a Man In Chair, in the ongoing, Tony-winning Broadway production of
The Drowsy Chaperone. Martin, of course, is one of the genii behind this vastly entertaining musical from before its inception as a 1999 Toronto Fringe Festival favorite. But fortunately for West End audiences, Martin will be returning to the comfort of an English version of his favorite settee later this year. Still, it will be hard to imagine anyone else on the Great White Way as this one-of-a-kind character, who inserts himself into the action of a 1920s-style tuner.
Each of these departures is deserving of a fond farewell, and expect to see some well-deserved Tony nominations announced for performances in the outgoing productions. And perhaps there’s a future Olivier in the cards for Martin, who rightly received a Tony nod last year.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for The Drowsy Chaperone tickets.Labels: Bob Martin, Broadway, Closings, Kristin Chenoweth, Musical, Play, Revival, The Apple Tree, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Vertical Hour, Translations
The Drowsy Chaperone (The SOB Review) - Marquis Theatre, New York, NY*** (out of ****)It's official -- I've
finally seen each of the Tony-nominated shows for Best Musical this past year, now that I've taken in
The Drowsy Chaperone at Broadway's
Marquis Theatre. I can honestly say that in my own humble estimation,
this is the show that should have taken the top Tony honor (it lost out to
Jersey Boys) last June.
By no means is this a perfect musical. While I appreciate the show-within-a-show premise that includes the retelling of a supposedly fabled, light-hearted 20s musical by virtue of our protagonist's cheriched cast recording and earnest narration, the plotline of the inner show was at times insipid and dialogue often groan-inducing. Bad puns abounded (OK, I know that many of my story headlines may be equally bad, but no one is paying me to write them!).
Thankfully, more often than not, our narrator "Man In Chair" -- deliciously played as the ultimate theatre queen by
Bob Martin (pictured above), who also co-wrote the libretto with
Don McKellar -- offers up disarming and downright hysterical comments suggesting many of the show's elements are labored or nonsensical. You can't help but think you've been played all along and that the joke is actually on you.
Beyond Martin's clever banter and delightful introduction to each character, his superb body language and expressions throughout
The Drowsy Chaperone are intrinsic to the ultimate audience buy-in of the inner show. Additionally, much like "The Wizard Of Oz" evolving from its early black and white scenes to full color once the house hits Munchkinland, Man In Chair's dreary living room magically comes alive with the color and panache of a cheerful bygone musical comedy thanks to
David Gallo's vibrant set design and
Gregg Barnes' exceptional costume design.
There are some absolutely terrific numbers -- written by
Greg Morrison and
Lisa Lambert -- including "Cold Feet" in which the inner show's groom-to-be Robert Martin (played with snarky charm by
Troy Britton Johnson) and his best man George (
Eddie Korbich) practically catch fire
literally through their hot tap dancing steps. Robert's fiancé Janet Van De Graaff (a breakthrough performance by the adorable
Andrea Chamberlain in the role normally played by
Sutton Foster) melts our hearts with her irrestible "Show Off." And then there's
Beth Leavel's exquisite, boozy chaperone, who triumphantly sings, "As We Stumble Along." But my personal favorite is when the entire cast goes full throttle in the rollicking "Toledo Surprise," climaxing with everyone getting stuck in a skip of Man In Chair's record -- until Man In Chair kicks the turntable to set the music back in motion.
When the tuner threatens to end on a bit of a down note with Man In Chair pouring out his heart to the audience, you can't help but empathize with him. But alas, so do the characters who he's excelled at bringing to life, thus ending the show on a truly soaring note.
But best of all, Martin's "Man In Chair" epitomizes every theatre lover who relishes the prospect of being entertained by a live Broadway show. And
The Drowsy Chaperone does that exceedingly well.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:The Curse Of The Understudy (October 2, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Mixed Reviews Tire The Drowsy Chaperone (May 2, 2006)
Will The Drowsy Chaperone Wake Critics? (May 1, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, The SOB Review
The Curse Of The UnderstudyHave you ever purchased a ticket for a show, long in advance of the performance, only to be disappointed with the words, “In the role regularly played by [insert name here], tonight’s performance of [insert character’s name here] will be played by [insert name of understudy/standby/swing here]”? Has that frustration only been compounded knowing it was the star or one of the stars whom you specifically paid to see in the first place?
If your answers to either or both those questions were yes, I invite you to share with me the name of the show and the performers who skipped the performance. I also invite you to share what your reaction was to that news and whether you thought the understudy/standby/swing adequately measured up to your expectations of the show….that is, aside from your initial disappointment.
Why do I ask? Well, my reasons are twofold.
One is that it used to be the mark of a consummate professional if the thought of missing a performance was anathema to the actor's fundamental make-up. There is plenty of lore about very ill stars who heeded the call that “The show must go on.”
Ethel Merman certainly comes to mind as one trouper who'd never miss a performance -- in fact, the great
Elaine Stritch worked a vignette into her eponymous one woman show (
Elaine Stritch: At Liberty) about her role as Merman’s standby during the run of
Call Me Madam back in 1950. So confident was she that Merman would never let anything keep her away from performing that Stritch confidently took on a concurrent role in another show at the same time all the way up in Connecticut.
My second reason is that I finally took in a performance of
The Drowsy Chaperone this past weekend only to learn that
Sutton Foster was temporarily out. I inquired why she was out and learned that she had just married actor
Christian Borle (
Monty Python's Spamalot) a week or so earlier. While I’m certainly thrilled for Foster, I wasn’t thrilled by the fact that
this was not the only time I had paid to see this Tony-winning actress perform only to be disappointed when I arrived at the theatre.
Shortly after she won her 2002 Tony for
Thoroughly Modern Millie, I made tracks to the very same
Marquis Theatre to see her perform. I even bought a ticket for a sure-to-be-there Friday night performance. But when I arrived, she was out and her understudy was in. While I enjoyed the show, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have enjoyed it more with Foster.
Fast forward to March 2005 when I went to see
Little Women. My desire to see the show was completely founded on the hope I’d be able to see Sutton Foster finally perform (OK, I also wanted to see the incomparable
Maureen McGovern). But when I arrived, I learned once again that Foster was a no-show (in her defense, I later learned that she was ill). Regardless of the reason for her absence, I was underwhelmed by the show. However, when Foster was subsequently nominated for her second Tony, I couldn’t help but feel cheated in missing this rising star once more.
So it was with a bit of trepidation that I entered the Marquis Theatre on Sunday afternoon. I knew that Sutton Foster was portraying Jane Roberts/ Janet Van De Graaff and had earned a
third Tony nomination for the role. So when I saw those dreaded words on the board, “In this performance, the role of Janet Van De Graaff will be portrayed by…” my heart sank. I had even joked in advance about the possibility of her being out. At the Marquis, I was told that she and Borle tied the knot and were now vacationing for two weeks in Hawaii.
The additional irony is that Foster's character in
The Drowsy Chaperone is contemplating leaving the stage to marry her beau, Robert Martin. I couldn't help but wonder if that irony wasn't lost on Foster.
Now, I don’t necessarily hold Foster responsible -- I mean she did get married, after all. Yet when you’re paying good money to see a thrice Tony-nominated star only to find her away from each of the shows for which she was nominated and for which you’ve paid
specifically to see her, I think you can be forgiven for starting to wonder what the deal is with her or the show or the ticketing companies.
Personally, I track sites like
Playbill and
Broadway.com on a daily basis, not only for the latest theatrical news, but also to ensure I’m not disappointed when I step foot into the theatre and learn that a star is out. It would have informed my decision when I purchased my ticket on June 15 if her absence had been announced or if Ticketmaster had listed key dates when Foster would be absent from the production (of course, that’s assuming that the impending Foster/Borle nuptials were already set). I certainly would have planned appropriately.
Fortunately, I have found myself disappointed only a few other times:
John Lloyd Young was out of
Jersey Boys one Friday night in advance of the Tony Awards. I thought his understudy
Michael Longoria was excellent. But
not seeing the much ballyhooed star of the show certainly dampened my appreciation for what was ultimately named Best Musical.
Another huge disappointment was when
Nathan Lane began his serial absences from
The Producers in early 2002, reportedly due to strained vocal chords. Of course, I had purchased my tickets for that show way back in May 2001 and anxiously awaited my turn in seeing the dynamic duo of Lane and
Matthew Broderick. They were
the reasons why I wanted to see the acclaimed show (as good as
Brad Oscar was, it wasn't the same). Fortunately, in early 2004, I finally got to see the real deal Lane/Broderick team as they celebrated their triumphant return to the show.
Did Sutton Foster’s absence make me enjoy
The Drowsy Chaperone any less? Well, yes, strictly from the point of view that I’ve yet to be able to see her perform. I keep hearing how great she is, but I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone with my own first-hand knowledge. Thankfully, she has an exceptional understudy in
Andrea Chamberlain, who is very ably filling her shoes (my personal review will be posted soon). But will it give me pause the next time Foster’s in a show when I decided whether or not to see it? You bet.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets, and hopefully you’ll have better luck in seeing Foster! Related Stories:Jersey Boys' Valli Understudy Gets Spotlight (June 15, 2006)
Is It Just Me, Or... (June 14, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Curse of the Understudy, Elaine Stritch, Ethel Merman, Jersey Boys, John Lloyd Young, Nathan Lane, Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Producers, Understudy
Is It Just Me, Or......Are there more theatre afficionados out there now than ever before? Broadway topped the 12 million attendance mark for the first time in its long, storied history. Grosses for the year grew 12% to $861.6 million. CBS estimates that its Tony Awards television audience attracted 7.79 million viewers, up 1.29 million from last year and it's the second consecutive year with an increase. Each of the major winning productions received sizable bumps in box office success as of Monday morning. What's more, even touring productions have enjoyed a successful year overall.
...Were Bruce Vilanch and Allee Willis (pictured above) separated at birth? I've met and love them both. But after seeing Willis -- nominated for a Tony as part of the songwriting team for
The Color Purple -- on the Tony Awards, I was struck by just how much she resembles a beardless Vilanch. Just curious!
...Would you send a note to a performer prior to buying tickets to see if he/she is actually planning to be in his/her role the night you're planning to attend? I'd really like to see
The Drowsy Chaperone but am nervous that Sutton Foster will stiff me for the third time (she was a no-show just a couple weeks after she won her Tony in
Thoroughly Modern Millie and then again last year when I saw
Little Women).
...Isn't Barbra Streisand being just a tad bit greedy asking $350 and $750 for tickets to her tour?
...Don't Tony Awards count for anything? Months after it was announced that John Travolta got Harvey Fierstein's Edna Turnblad role in the new movie version of "Hairspray," I'm still scratching my head, especially since Travolta hasn't had a decent film since his
last comeback in "Pulp Fiction." It's a shame that Hollywood couldn't stick with Fierstein, who made us all but forget Divine from the original movie version and earned a Tony to boot.
...Didn't Sunday's Tony clip of Jennifer Holliday and the commercial for the movie version of "Dreamgirls" get you excited to see this show on the silver screen later this year?
...Isn't it a little insulting to American audiences when London productions get rewritten for the Broadway stage? I saw
Taboo and
Bombay Dreams on the West End and thought they were great, but then saw them desecrated here. Why must producers mess with success? I shudder to think what they'll do to poor
Billy Elliot - The Musical!
Tell me what you think!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Allee Willis, Bruce Vilanch, Dreamgirls, Jennifer Holliday, Sutton Foster, Television, The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone, Tony Awards, Understudy
And The Tony Goes To... Technical CategoriesHere are the winners in the technical categories of the American Theatre Wing's 60th Annual Tony Awards, highlighted in
red (* denotes my predictions):
Best OrchestrationsLarry Blank,
The Drowsy ChaperoneDick Lieb and Danny Troob,
The Pajama GameSteve Orich,
Jersey BoysSarah Travis, Sweeney Todd*
Best Scenic Design of a PlayJohn Lee Beatty, Rabbit Hole*Bob Crowley, The History BoysSanto Loquasto,
Three Days of RainMichael Yeargan,
Awake and Sing!Best Scenic Design of a MusicalJohn Lee Beatty,
The Color PurpleDavid Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone*
Derek McLane,
The Pajama GameKlara Zieglerova,
Jersey Boys
Best Costume Design of a PlayMichael Krass,
The Constant WifeSanto Loquasto,
A Touch of the PoetCatherine Zuber, Awake and Sing!Catherine Zuber, Seascape*Best Costume Design of a MusicalGregg Barnes, The Drowsy Chaperone*Susan Hilferty,
LestatMartin Pakledinaz,
The Pajama GamePaul Tazewell,
The Color PurpleBest Lighting Design of a PlayChristopher Akerlind,
Awake and Sing!Paul Gallo, Three Days of Rain*Mark Henderson,
Faith HealerMark Henderson, The History Boys
Best Lighting Design of a MusicalKen Billington and Brian Monahan,
The Drowsy ChaperoneHowell Binkley, Jersey Boys*Natasha Katz,
TarzanBrian MacDevitt,
The Color PurpleI was right in my predictions for each of the musical categories but failed in nearly all of play categories. I still think it's looking like a big night for
The Drowsy Chaperone,
Sweeney Todd and
The History Boys. Now for the
big awards of the evening, which will come shortly.
The 60th Tony Awards will be telecast at 8 pm EDT, Sunday, June 11 on CBS.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:The SOB Picks for 2006 Tony Awards (June 10, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Revival of a Play (June 5, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Revival of a Musical (June 4, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Play (June 3, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Tony Award Nominations Announced (May 16, 2006)
Labels: Awake And Sing, Jersey Boys, Sweeney Todd, The Drowsy Chaperone, The History Boys, Tony Awards
The SOB Picks for 2006 Tony AwardsIt's the eve of the American Theatre Wing's 60th Tony Award celebration, during which a dizzying array of Broadway's finest talent will be on hand to share in bestowing the coveted medellion, if not to receive an award.
Many prognosticators and critics have already shared whom they believe will win tomorrow night. I've studiously avoided reading any of those stories so can provide my own unvarnished picks. These aren't necessarily who I think
should win, but whom I believe
will take home the awards.
My choices in each category are below in
red:
Best PlayRabbit HoleShining CityThe History BoysThe Lieutenant of InishmoreBest MusicalJersey BoysThe Color Purple The Drowsy ChaperoneThe Wedding SingerBest Revival of a PlayAwake and Sing!Edward Albee's SeascapeFaith HealerThe Constant WifeBest Revival of a MusicalSweeney ToddThe Pajama GameThe Threepenny OperaBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayRalph Fiennes,
Faith HealerRichard Griffiths, The History BoysZeljko Ivanek,
The Caine Mutiny Court-MartialOliver Platt,
Shining CityDavid Wilmot,
The Lieutenant of InishmoreBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a PlayKate Burton,
The Constant WifeJudy Kaye,
SouvenirLisa Kron,
WellCynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole
Lynn Redgrave,
The Constant WifeBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a MusicalMichael Cerveris,
Sweeney ToddHarry Connick, Jr., The Pajama GameStephen Lynch,
The Wedding SingerBob Martin,
The Drowsy ChaperoneJohn Lloyd Young,
Jersey Boys
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a MusicalSutton Foster,
The Drowsy ChaperoneLa Chanze,
The Color PurplePatti LuPone, Sweeney ToddKelli O'Hara,
The Pajama GameChita Rivera,
Chita Rivera: The Dancer's LifeBest Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlaySamuel Barnett,
The History BoysDomhnall Gleeson,
The Lieutenant of InishmoreIan McDiarmid, Faith HealerMark Ruffalo,
Awake and Sing!Pablo Schreiber,
Awake and Sing!
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a PlayTyne Daly, Rabbit HoleFrances de la Tour,
The History BoysJayne Houdyshell,
WellAlison Pill,
The Lieutenant of InishmoreZoë Wanamaker,
Awake and Sing!
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalDanny Burstein,
The Drowsy ChaperoneJim Dale, The Threepenny Opera
Brandon Victor Dixon,
The Color PurpleManoel Felciano,
Sweeney ToddChristian Hoff,
Jersey Boys
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a MusicalCarolee Carmello,
LestatFelicia P. Fields, The Color PurpleMegan Lawrence,
The Pajama GameBeth Leavel,
The Drowsy ChaperoneElisabeth Withers-Mendes,
The Color PurpleBest Direction of a PlayNicholas Hytner, The History BoysWilson Milam,
The Lieutenant of InishmoreBartlett Sher,
Awake and Sing!Daniel Sullivan,
Rabbit HoleBest Direction of a MusicalJohn Doyle, Sweeney ToddKathleen Marshall,
The Pajama GameDes McAnuff,
Jersey BoysCasey Nicholaw,
The Drowsy Chaperone Best ChoreographyRob Ashford,
The Wedding SingerDonald Byrd,
The Color PurpleKathleen Marshall,
The Pajama GameCasey Nicholaw, The Drowsy ChaperoneBest OrchestrationsLarry Blank,
The Drowsy ChaperoneDick Lieb and Danny Troob,
The Pajama GameSteve Orich,
Jersey BoysSarah Travis, Sweeney Todd
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the TheatreThe Color Purple, Music & Lyrics: Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen BrayThe Drowsy Chaperone, Music & Lyrics: Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
The Wedding Singer, Music: Matthew Sklar; Lyrics: Chad Beguelin
The Woman in White, Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics: David Zippel
Best Book of a MusicalChad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy,
The Wedding SingerMarshall Brickman and Rick Elice,
Jersey BoysBob Martin and Don McKellar, The Drowsy ChaperoneMarsha Norman,
The Color PurpleBest Scenic Design of a PlayJohn Lee Beatty, Rabbit HoleBob Crowley,
The History BoysSanto Loquasto,
Three Days of RainMichael Yeargan,
Awake and Sing!Best Scenic Design of a MusicalJohn Lee Beatty,
The Color PurpleDavid Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone
Derek McLane,
The Pajama GameKlara Zieglerova,
Jersey Boys
Best Costume Design of a PlayMichael Krass,
The Constant WifeSanto Loquasto,
A Touch of the PoetCatherine Zuber,
Awake and Sing!Catherine Zuber, SeascapeBest Costume Design of a MusicalGregg Barnes, The Drowsy ChaperoneSusan Hilferty,
LestatMartin Pakledinaz,
The Pajama GamePaul Tazewell,
The Color PurpleBest Lighting Design of a PlayChristopher Akerlind,
Awake and Sing!Paul Gallo, Three Days of RainMark Henderson,
Faith HealerMark Henderson,
The History BoysBest Lighting Design of a MusicalKen Billington and Brian Monahan,
The Drowsy ChaperoneHowell Binkley, Jersey BoysNatasha Katz,
TarzanBrian MacDevitt,
The Color PurpleAll totaled, I believe
The Drowsy Chaperone will be the night's biggest winner in the musical categories, while
The History Boys and
Rabbit Hole will tie for the most awards in the play categories. But
Sweeney Todd will also make headlines. I expect the award tallies to come down to this:
The Drowsy Chaperone -- Five awards, including Best Musical, Best Choreography, Best Book, Best Scenic Design of a Musical and Best Costume Design of a Musical.
Sweeney Todd -- Four awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Orchestrations.
The History Boys -- Three awards, including Best Play, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and Best Direction of a Play.
Rabbit Hole -- Three awards, including Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and Best Scenic Design of a Play.
Faith Healer -- Two awards, including Best Revival of a Play and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.
The Color Purple -- Two awards, including Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical and Best Original Score (I expect this to be
the upset of the evening).
The Pajama Game -- One award for the first Broadway turn by Harry Connick, Jr. in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical category. This is the award Tony will use to illuminate its star power to the broader CBS audience.
The Threepenny Opera -- One award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.
Jersey Boys -- One award. Expect a nearly complete shutout of this overrated hit with a token award in the Best Lighting of a Musical category.
Three Days of Rain -- One award for Best Lighting of a Play.
Edward Albee's Seascape -- One award for Best Costume Design of a Play.
The 60th Tony Awards will be telecast at 8 pm EDT, Sunday, June 11 on CBS.
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Revival of a Play (June 5, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Revival of a Musical (June 4, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Play (June 3, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Tony Award Nominations Announced (May 16, 2006)
Labels: Cynthia Nixon, Faith Healer, Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd, The Drowsy Chaperone, The History Boys, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical
If you managed to trudge through my picks for the best of the past year's theatre season, you may have been surprised to see only one Broadway musical make my top ten list:
Sweeney Todd. It's not that I didn't see any of the Tony-nominated works for "Best Musical" -- in fact, I saw three of the four (
Jersey Boys,
The Color Purple and
The Wedding Singer) -- and it wouldn't be fair to say that I didn't enjoy them because I did, albeit in varying degrees.
But I have to confess that if I were voting on this year's Tony nominees, I would begin by using the process of elimination.
First to go would be
Jersey Boys. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved the Four Seasons. But it's an easy choice given that this is a jukebox musical with no original score written for the stage. My view is that your show shouldn't be eligible for the big prize if it can't even be nominated for "Best Original Score." More importantly, I found this story to be less than satisfying. And it wasn't just because the much-ballyhooed John Lloyd Young was a dreaded no-show the Friday night I attended -- his understudy, Michael Longoria, was terrific and by far the best thing about the performance I saw. I'm no prude, but for a production set in the 50s and likely to mistakenly appeal to a wider family audience, the show was rather crass and unexpectedly vulgar. The best moments of the production were those devoted to the actual musical performances of Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito.
Second to go would be
The Color Purple. Sorry Oprah, I truly love the story. Yes, there was impeccably strong acting, singing and dancing -- in fact, LaChanze and her nominated castmates are completely deserving of their Tony nods. The details of the set, costume and lighting design were all wondrous. Yet, when it gets right down to it, cramming all of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel into a three-hour musical not only sacrificed essential story-telling, it also severely diminished the emotional wallop of the brilliant score created by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. It was frustrating that nearly all of their songs were reduced to the musical equivalent of a sound bite. By trying to pack it all in, director Gary Griffin and book writer Marsha Norman left me longing for more than just a cliff notes retelling.
Since I haven't had the opportunity to see
The Drowsy Chaperone yet, it would be difficult for me to make an informed vote between it and
The Wedding Singer.
But on the latter, I can say that it was the best of the three Tony-nominated musicals I had the opportunity to see. While it's yet another derivative of a film, this production has a wonderfully original musical score (thanks to Tony-nominated Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar), a perfectly delightful cast (including Tony-nominated Stephen Lynch), elaborate set and lighting design (by Scott Pask and Brian MacDevitt, respectively) and stunning choreography completely evocative of the 80s (compliments of Tony-nominated Rob Ashford).
My guess is that
The Drowsy Chaperone will ultimately win, fueled primarily by the fact that it's a completely original work based on absolutely nothing but the imagination of Bob Martin. I'll be curious to know whether you and Tony voters agree.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Jersey Boys tickets.Click here for The Color Purple tickets.Click here for The Drowsy Chaperone tickets.Click here for The Wedding Singer tickets.Click here for Tony Awards tickets.Related Stories:The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Revival of a Play (June 5, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Revival of a Musical (June 4, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Play (June 3, 2006)
Tony Award Nominations Announced (May 16, 2006)
The Wedding Singer (The SOB Review) - Al Hirschfeld Theatre, New York, NY (May 8, 2006)
Mixed Reviews Tire The Drowsy Chaperone (May 2, 2006)
Will The Drowsy Chaperone Wake Critics? (May 1, 2006)
Critics Not Completely Engaged by The Wedding Singer (April 28, 2006)
The Wedding Singer's Secret Weapon: Kevin Cahoon? (April 27, 2006)
The Wedding Singer Opens on Broadway Tonight (April 27, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations
Mixed Reviews Tire The Drowsy ChaperoneIn the stunner of the season,
The Drowsy Chaperone isn't quite the darling that advance buzz would have suggested. Perhaps it's that Broadway's latest musical had its start on the Left Coast in Los Angeles (horrors!) or that there's an air of conceit over its own cleverness. Whatever it is, some, but not all, critics were taken by the show that begins with a voice that intones displeasure at other musical fare being offered up on the Great White Way.
Ranging from pure gushing ("Add a dazzling production and an ideal cast to the mix and you have a musical that's as sparkling, fizzy and refreshing as a glass of topflight champagne,"
William Stephenson, Broadway.com) to gutteral pans (1 star and "...this little, horrifyingly pastiche musical started life in someone's living room in Canada. It should have stayed there,"
Clive Barnes,
New York Post), reviews are completely across the board.
USA Today's
Elysa Gardner once again delivers a **1/2 star review, but shows her disdain, "Call me a boor, but I've always been wary of entertainment that wears its cleverness on its sleeve."
New York Daily News'
Howard Kissel's review underscores the anti-LA attitude, even with his buoyant review: "It's full of wit and high spirits, so entertaining you can overlook the fact it came from Los Angeles." But it's perhaps
Ben Brantley's critique from
The New York Times that summarizes what all the musically weary, if not wary, critics and audiences are thinking at the end of this season: "Though this revved-up spoof of a 1920's song-and-dance frolic, as imagined by an obsessive 21st-century show queen, seems poised to become the sleeper of the Broadway season, it is not any kind of a masterpiece."
Unless
Tarzan can rally the critical troops the way it's attracting audiences, this year's musical season will have gone bust, save for the reworked
Sweeney Todd and
Pajama Game or the one jukebox musical hit
Jersey Boys.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for The Drowsy Chaperone tickets.Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone
Will The Drowsy Chaperone Wake Critics?Tonight's opening of the latest Sutton Foster Broadway musical
The Drowsy Chaperone at the Marquis Theatre leads me to wonder if this is
the one the critics have been waiting for. Given the initial buzz received in Los Angeles -- as well as the raves Foster typically engenders -- I'm betting on this one to be a bona fide hit. A truly original musical, based upon absolutely nothing -- no hitmaker's songbook, no previous hit movie, and not even a book or play --
The Drowsy Chaperone could very well be the eleventh hour show to make Tony and some very tired critics happy.
My only concern is whether star Sutton Foster will actually be there in the long-term to perform. Just after she won her Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award for
Thoroughly Modern Millie, I went to the same Marquis Theatre only to find her understudy performing in her role. I was severely disappointed.
Then last year, I went to see her in her Tony-nominated role as Jo in
Little Women, only to once again find she was a no-show. So it's with caution that I urge all theatre lovers to buy their tickets to see
The Drowsy Chaperone, lest she disappoint them by being a no-show as she's obviously prone to do.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Labels: Broadway, Musical, Opening Night, The Drowsy Chaperone
Broadway Season Nears FinaleAs May begins, thus ends the 2005-06 season on Broadway. But before it fades into history, a few more shows are set to open, including the only truly original Broadway musical of the season,
The Drowsy Chaperone -- which has so much advance buzz that it is likely the frontrunner for Best Musical at this year's Tonys; the Ralph Fiennes/Cherry Jones vehicle
Faith Healer; Martin McDonough's latest
The Lieutenant of Inishmore, -- which could give
The History Boys a run for the Best Play Tony;
Shining City with Brían F. O’Byrne, Oliver Platt and Martha Plimpton; and Disney's latest spectacle that's already SRO,
Tarzan.
It's probably a safe bet that many of this year's Tony Award winners will come from these last offerings of the season. Personally, I'm most looking forward to catching Cherry Jones and Ralph Fiennes. We'll see if the Tony Awards agree.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Cherry Jones, Faith Healer, Musical, Play, The Drowsy Chaperone, The History Boys
