It’s time to celebrate some of the breakthrough performances and debuts of the 2011-2012 theatre season! The Theatre World Awards will be held on June 5 at a venue to be determined, hosted by Peter Filichia. Congratulations to the winners! Tracie Bennett, End of the Rainbow Phillip Boykin, The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess Crystal A. Dickinson, Clybourne Park Russell Harvard, Tribes Jeremy Jordan, Bonnie & Clyde Joaquina Kalukango, Hurt Village Jennifer Lim, Chinglish Jessie Mueller, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Hettienne Park, Seminar & The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism & Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures Chris Perfetti , Sons of the Prophet Finn Wittrock,…
Read the rest of this post…As it was at the overture and shall be at the exit music, bliss without end. Amen.
Theatre Aficionado at Large
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On the Town: April Edition
First off, some good news. The Drama Desk Awards committee has decided to reinstate the award for Outstanding Orchestrations, nominating Bill Elliott (Nice Work If You Can Get It), Larry Hochman (Death Takes a Holiday), Martin Lowe (Once), John McDaniel (Bonnie & Clyde), Michael Starobin (Queen of the Mist), and Danny Troob (Newsies). There was a considerable uproar from practically the entire Broadway community as well as theatre fans, with a grassroots campaign to try to rectify the situation. Blogs from Mr. Starobin and Jason Robert Brown went viral, Drama Desk president Isa Goldberg’s inbox was flooded with emails, and an online petition garnered over 3000 signatures, including many of Broadway’s…
Read the rest of this post…“Leap of Faith”
In a nutshell, the new musical Leap of Faith is ultimately The Music Man meets 110 in the Shade in a revival tent. The show is not quite the train wreck that word of mouth might have you believe, as there are a many good things on stage (namely the exceptional cast). However, by journey’s end I was left feeling that something was missing. It’s more disappointing to me that with all that talent on stage and off Leap of Faith isn’t a more tremendous experience. I have never seen the 1992 Steve Martin film on which the show is based, but that’s neither here nor there. A shyster evangelist finds himself stranded in…
Read the rest of this post…An Open Letter to the Drama Desk Awards
To Whom It May Concern, Four years ago, a beautiful production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific opened at the Vivian Beaumont to acclaim and plaudits all around. One of Lincoln Center’s boasts was the full size orchestra in the pit. The first of many thrilling moments came about one minute into the show’s overture. During a thrilling swell of the “Bali Ha’i” motif, the Beaumont stage retracted to display 30 musicians. I was fortunate enough to be at the opening night of this production, and witnessed for myself the cheers and tears (my own included) from an appreciative house. As the final notes played, the audience roared their overwhelming approval….
Read the rest of this post…“The Sound of Music” – Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall presented the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic The Sound of Music on Tuesday evening as a gala fundraiser for the venue. In previous years, the Hall has presented similar concerts of Carousel and South Pacific. While this evening’s presentation of the score was not as memorable as those two previous outings (that Carousel wasn’t recorded is simply a crime – it was a dazzling success), it was a pleasure hearing those gorgeous songs performed live with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Inspired by actual events, The Sound of Music was originally a stage vehicle for Mary Martin and later a blockbuster film starring Julie Andrews. It tells the story of a young…
Read the rest of this post…“Nice Work If You Can Get It”
Nice Work If You Can Get It isn’t particularly groundbreaking and it feels like the sort of show you’ve seen time and again (fans of My One and Only and Crazy for You will probably agree), but the new musical (a loose overhaul of the 1926 musical Oh, Kay! with a new plot and characters) for all its old-fashioned sensibilities, is much to my surprise, delightful. One of those fizzy champagne (or in this case, gin), check-your-brain-at-the-door comedies with gorgeous costumes, scenery and (most especially) songs. The book (by Joe DiPietro) is chock full of 20s silliness. The plot is negligible; something about bootleggers hiding their stash at a…
Read the rest of this post…At Large Elsewhere: The “Leap of Faith” Unofficial Street Team Edition
April has been an incredibly busy month for me, but Patty and Emily asked if I would help them out with another video for their website and I dropped everything for the opportunity to work with them again. (I was a tourist on their Newsies walking tour about a month or so ago). This is the latest entry in their new series “Unofficial Street Team,” in which the girls become ebullient if somewhat overzealous champions for their favorite shows. In this latest entry, I play high-strung Jujamcyn executive Jacob Cohen who needs to correct some misinformation the girls are giving out about Leap of Faith.
Read the rest of this post…“Clybourne Park”
The Pulitzer and Olivier winning new play Clybourne Park now finds itself on Broadway for a sixteen week engagement at the Walter Kerr. Taking his cue from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, playwright Bruce Norris explores racial attitudes in America before and after the Younger family inhabit the house on Clybourne Street. The first act is set in 1959, and depicts the residents of the neighborhood trying to convince the departing couple from selling their home to a black family (the Youngers of Raisin in the Sun). The second act moves the action forward 50 years, with a tacky white liberal couple moving into the now predominantly black…
Read the rest of this post…“The Mikado” – Collegiate Chorale
The Collegiate Chorale offered a starry and exceptionally well-sung concert staging of The Mikado at Carnegie Hall on April 10 under the direction and baton of Ted Sperling. This marked my first time seeing the classic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, though I am familiar with some of the more famous songs (and am a fan of Mike Leigh’s essential Topsy-Turvy, which details the fascinating gestation of the original production). The Mikado is set in Japan, but in reality the characters and situations are a direct send up of mid 19th century England. The silliness of the show, its delightfully flippant point of view on death and execution and farce make…
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A place where I can rant and rave about theatre,
theatre history, plus books, film and anything
else that strikes me as entertaining, interesting
or important. Feel free to chime in. If you'd like
me to have a look at your show or have any
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director of the Independent Theater Bloggers Association.
theatre history, plus books, film and anything
else that strikes me as entertaining, interesting
or important. Feel free to chime in. If you'd like
me to have a look at your show or have any
interest in advertising, feel free to contact me. Membership
director of the Independent Theater Bloggers Association.
Photo by Kari Geltemeyer
Member
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