Month: February 2012

On the Town: February Edition

The end of February is upon us, which means that my trip to London is only a few weeks away. The month of February was a busy one for everyone it seems, but I spent some of my time prepping for my flight and making arrangements to see friends old and new, as well as arrange to see some shows on the West End, including Matilda. It should be an exciting time, to say the least.

The Oscars are out of the way this year, and overall I’d say it was a rather weak year. The Artist failed to charm me as it has so many others (though I think it was crying out to be a 30s Astaire-Rogers type musical than a parody of 20s silents). I liked The Descendants very much (I have yet to be disappointed by Alexander Payne). I admired The Help, but mostly because of Viola Davis’ staggering performance. The Iron Lady was dreadful: the messy script, shoddy direction and lack of point made it a dull, superficial slog. Though Meryl won the Academy Award in a surprise upset, you’d be much better off watching The Hours or The Deer Hunter; or anything else she’s ever done. War Horse made me want to invest in glue, while I was greatly charmed by Midnight in Paris. 

That said, I am bored with “awards season” in Hollywood. It’s about as tacky and contrived as the relentless string of Republican debates. They keep stretching it out, and adding more “prominence” to guild awards that are nice but not nearly worth the time spent fretting over them. Time will tell, as it always does, what is really long-lasting. Also, the telecast was just bland. The only bits I enjoyed were the Christopher Guest team’s The Wizard of Oz focus group sketch, as well as Emma Stone’s presentation. Ms. Stone was one of the only people who seemed like a human being on that stage Sunday night. Classiest speech of the night goes to Best Supporting Actor winner Christopher Plummer, whose performance in Beginners is warm, winning and quite deserving of our attention. Special kudos to his leading man, Ewan McGregor, who is constantly overlooked by awards bodies in spite of consistent excellence. Oh, and finally, Drive was excellent.

Carrie is back for another night at the prom. However, I made a full day of it. I visited with my good friend Chris Lavin, who works in the wardrobe department of Mary Poppins for a pre-show dinner/catch-up, then found myself making my to the Lucille Lortel for the first time. I don’t often go south of 42nd Street, so it took Tyler Martins and I a little bit of effort to find where we were supposed to go. There were several Twitter friends at the show this particular night, and we decided to head up to Midtown for a post-show drink.

Getting off the subway at 42nd Street, we deliberated in the cold night air as to where we should go. The usual names were bandied about until Joe Allen came into play. Emily Sigal and I both thought the place to be a perfect place to go given what the majority had just seen. Lo and behold, Tyler got a picture of my playbill with the original window card on the Joe Allen flop wall. So we started heading North on 7th Avenue, but soon Tyler and I realized that the gang wasn’t with us. Turning around we saw them talking to a young man in a business suit. We went back to see what was going on.

As it turned out the young gentleman, who was extraordinarily ebullient and even had braces on his teeth, was lost. He was trying to get to Pulse, but couldn’t seem to find where he needed to go. Well, as a group we decided we’d help him out. None of us seemed to know where he needed to go, but out came the smart phones and in an unexpectedly cheery sense of adventure, we set out to find where he needed to go. After some time we got him to where he wanted to go. He offered to bring us in and by us a round, but there was one among us who was not yet of age, so we regretfully declined. But, our man Flint, three or four sheets to the wind, I might add, insisted on hugging us all. We made our way to Joe Allen where we laughed about this occurrence until the place closed down. Only in New York…

The other night I went to see the revival of Death of a Salesman currently in previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, which was an intense cathartic experience that I think I need to see again before I can justify writing about it. However, two things about this revival that fascinated me: the production uses the original set design of Jo Mielziner and the original music score by Alex North. The former is truly extraordinary, and it’s not as if director Mike Nichols is trying to replicate the original: all other elements of scenography are new. It was as if a new family had moved into the house. As for the North score, it is played live in the theatre by a small band off stage right, with a mournful, bluesy quality that subtly punctuates various scenes throughout. Get tickets and go. And go again.

And finally, it was announced that Stephen Sondheim was collaborating with David Ives on a new musical. That’s a Leap Day Miracle, however, I do take exception to something His Majesty said to a London paper regarding a dearth of plays in NY. He’s either just being cranky or not paying attention, but there have been plays popping up on and off-Broadway quite a bit this year. Just this Broadway season alone we’ve had Chinglish, Stickfly, Venus in Fur, Other Desert Cities, Seminar and can anticipate Clybourne Park, The Lyons, One Man Two Guvnors, Peter and the Starcatcher, and more in the coming weeks. And that’s not even counting the plethora of play revivals.

“Merrily We Roll Along” @ Encores!

In 1981, Merrily We Roll Along opened and closed quickly, a devastating failure that became one for the record books. The day after it shuttered, the cast and crew assembled in the recording studio laying down a cracker jack original cast album that has created a generation of ardent fans of the show and score. In 1985, Stephen Sondheim revisited the show with his new collaborator James Lapine, who subsequently revised George Furth’s book, creating a new version of the show that was to fix the problems with the original. As a result some songs have been dropped, some reshuffled and the narrative brought into better focus, musically.

This resulting revision was what the City Center Encores! performed for its first show in the 2012 season (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Pipe Dream and Jule Styne and Leo Robin’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are still to come), giving New Yorkers a rare glimpse into this greatly loved, greatly flawed gem that has, unlike the messy but fun Anyone Can Whistle, proven to be a somewhat workable musical. For one thing, Sondheim’s score, which features  “Old Friends,” “Good Thing Going,” and “Opening Doors,” is just spectacular, and is one of the best ever composed for a failed show.

It’s the book, loosely based on a Kaufman and Hart play of the same title, which moves backwards in time that lends itself to the most criticism. The musical starts in 1976 and works its way back to 1957 (originally 1955, more on that later), with vignettes filling in the narrative gaps established in the tense opening scene. One of the reasons the show is so fascinating is that the plot hinges almost entirely on dramatic irony for context, taking us from the cynical, jaded and embittered former friends to the young, idealists who met on a NYC rooftop the night of Sputnik. The narrative doesn’t quite satisfy, as it feels like a morality play without a clear moral. But what Sondheim and Furth (and Lapine by extension) created feels like a fascinating experiment in form and structure, and while it doesn’t quite all gel as I’d like it, I’m so glad they created it. (If the narrative unfolded traditionally, it would be insufferable).

The cast is absolutely superb. Colin Donnell brings leading man charisma, good looks and voice to Franklin Shepherd, the ambitious composer turned film producer. Lin-Manuel Miranda is captivating as his best friend, collaborator and conscience Charley Kringas, who delivers one of the score’s most fascinating numbers, “Franklin Shepherd, Inc.” which was an electrifying showstopper in Miranda’s hands. Rounding out the trip of friends is Celia Keenan-Bolger, whose incisive interpretation of Mary Flynn, the alcoholic writer with a torch for Frank, is a knock-out. Ms. Keenan-Bolger is at all times devastating and hilarious, dropping one liners with great humor and unyielding depth.

As Frank’s wives, Betsy Wolfe and Elizabeth Stanley are also quite impressive. Stanley, in particular, is an sensation as Gussie Carnegie, the secretary turned Broadway chorus girl turned star turned has-been (in reverse order). Wolfe has a less flashy role, but sings beautifully and makes an incredible impression with the score’s most famous number, “Not a Day Goes By.” Adam Grupper makes a great impression as the producer.

Lapine directed the production, creating a clear and polished staging that works quite well and smoothens some of the rougher edges of the book, though I could have lived without the projections. I doubt we’ll see a better Merrily for quite some time. I do wish that Lapine and Sondheim would go back and take another look at that final scene. The show ends with the stirring “Our Time,” but the lead-in dialogue is unsatisfying and the stakes not yet at a level to warrant the stirring anthem which closes the show. Originally the trio had known each other in high school, but now they meet in this rooftop scene. Now after some perfunctory dialogue, the writers have thrust these characters into an intimacy that is premature, ultimately stunting the emotional potential of the scene.

Another reason to rejoice: Jonathan Tunick was brought in to work on the orchestrations, combining his originals with the score’s revisions for the first time, created what is probably the definitive reading of the score. I only hope someone considers a cast album of this production, as we’re not likely to have it better any time soon.

Walking Among My Yesterdays: Sweeney Todd (2005)

Another revival of Sweeney Todd looms on the horizon, this time poised to start performances in the West End next month. I’ll be in London, and have plans to take in a preview of the production which stars Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball (and has sights set on Broadway). In the meanwhile, I thought it would be a fun opportunity to look back on my thoughts from the 2005 Broadway revival, itself a transfer of the previous London revival, directed by John Doyle.

A Day at the Asylum: The Revival of Sweeney Todd

One of my top three musicals, Sweeney Todd, is currently in revival at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. The show has been re-conceived and economized for 10 actor-musician-singers in what may be the riskiest undertaking of a musical I’ve ever seen. The company never leaves the stage, except for the 15 minute intermission. They are a part of the staging at every given moment, always in character whether playing their instruments, singing/acting in their scenes or just being part of the general atmosphere. Starring Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris, the show is an overwhelming theatrical event.

The show is told from Tobias’ perspective, with the events of his incarceration being retold by him and other members of the asylum. The show continues in a very abstract, eerie style playing up the intimacy of the story in a way that is entirely unsettling. The Victorian oppressiveness of the Industrial Revolution is not to be seen in the unit set or costumes, especially Mrs. Lovett’s riotous barmaid/slut getup. (God love her, but Patti could’ve been mistaken for Alan Cumming in Cabaret).

I definitely missed the full sweep of the Jonathan Tunick orchestrations, but admired the musicianship and the way the score has been adapted, though I don’t love that buttons have been dropped from the end of some songs (the first break for applause comes 40 minutes into the show). Patti LuPone, who played the role in the 2000 NY Philharmonic concert has gone back to the drawing boards and done a complete overhaul of the character from her broader, more lovable characterization (which can be seen on the DVD of the 2001 San Francisco Phil concert). This Lovett is dryer and not nearly as likable, with an almost catatonic line delivery in most of her scenes. Her costuming adds a great deal to the evening, with her leather miniskirt and torn fishnets. It didn’t happen nearly as much as I would have liked it, but everytime she started on the tuba, the audience went nuts. She also held back on a lot of music, not always brandishing that famous belt voice of hers, but singing in a low-key style that occasionally reached her stratospheric heights. Her acting in the final scene is absolutely breathtaking.

While I loved Patti’s Lovett immensely, I confess that Michael’s Sweeney had to grow on me, but I was singing his praises by the curtain call.  Though both actors clearly are carrying the evening, this particular production is played as an ensemble piece. Everyone is working toward the same goal, and two star turns are really just pronounced ensemble turns. The entire company is worthy of note, but in particular Manoel Felciano’s Tobias was just staggering, taking the character in a direction I never thought possible.

Another thing about the actors playing their own instruments, they had several musical gags during the dialogue. The musicianship was stellar, no one missed a beat or a note. (Props for memorizing that entire score). There is no conductor for the show, but the one actress playing accordion would occasionally guide the musicians along from time to time.

The actual throat slitting scenes created some of the most indelible images of the evening, with the stage lighting suddenly hitting a red glare as that famous factory whistle, a staple of this musical, blew. Each time a murder would take place, an actor (usually Mrs. Lovett) would pour a bucket of blood into another white bucket slowly, and the audience could hear the liquid building inside the buckets. Grotesque symbolic imagery, and it added so much to the experience.

Overall, I have to say I admired the production more than I loved it. I almost felt that the concept itself distracted me just a bit from the character development and exposition, particularly during act one. I found myself early on remarking during scenes and songs “Wow look at how that actor has memorized the lines, lyrics & the instrumental music.” as opposed to keeping focused on the story. However, by the second act I was completely mesmerized. I can easily see how someone unfamiliar with the show might have difficulty following the show (one of the complaints I have seen on the message boards lately).

It’s amazing to see this show work so well with only ten people and no orchestra or conductor (astounding for a work that is performed at opera houses around the world). It’s a tough ticket right now; it was an enthusiastic and sold out house tonight. They’ve recorded a cast album of this particular production, which makes me wonder if it will hold up well on disc as it does in the Eugene O’Neill. This is one not to be missed.