Tag: Coram Boy

Flash mob: “Hallelujah Chorus”

This video clip crossed my desk earlier this evening and I couldn’t help but smile. Flash mobs are amusing, if becoming a trifle overdone, but this one struck me as I am a big fan of the piece. One of the traditions of the holiday season tend to be concerts of Handel’s Messiah, with its famous “Hallelujah, Chorus.” This was done on November 13 of this year in a mall food court. It’s an extraordinary piece of music and also extraordinary to see people stopping and reveling in the moment.

I’ve heard it live twice. Once in a Christmas concert, where I learned of the tradition of standing for the piece. And the second (and third time, actually) was in the short-lived Broadway production of Coram Boy, which I loved in spite of American critical disinterest (it was an Anglophile’s Dickensian dream). The play had quite a bit of music. So much so that there was a choir on a second level onstage and an orchestra in the pit at the Imperial. Handel was a character and the play climaxed on the premiere of his Messiah. Jan Maxwell and Xanthe Elbrick were Tony-nominated for their brilliant performances. (Melly Still’s production is one of the most breathtaking visual experiences of my theatregoing life).

After the company bow, the familiar strains strck up from the pit and they started singing the famed chorus. The audience had been quite generous with its applause, but it did not lead to a standing ovation. However, I was seated in the front row and was the first person on my feet for the piece, which triggered the rest of the Imperial to do likewise. I shared a moment with a couple of the cast members who smiled at me gratefully. My friend thought it was a cheap way to incite a standing-o. I thought it was just glorious. To each his own. I didn’t need to lead the charge at the closing performance as the audience lept to its feet before the curtain call commenced.

Anyway, as the Christmas season reaches its pinnacle (and since I’m frankly sick to death of Spider-Man reports, though I’m glad to hear Chris Tierney is up and walking around) this video just felt appropriate. Enjoy.

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Random Thoughts on This & That

I’ve had difficulty logging into my blog over the past couple of days. I’m not sure what was up, but it was mighty frustrating not to be able to update.

Wall-E is one of the most extraordinary and ambitious Pixar films ever made. The film is a sort of Chaplin meets 2001 with extraordinary results. For those who love the musicals, it’s been heavily documented that the little robot’s favorite movie is Hello, Dolly! and Jerry Herman’s “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “It Only Takes a Moment” become incredibly important to the character and plot (wow, a song advancing a plot, isn’t that something…). To say the romantic aspect of the film is moving is an understatement. People have been critical of the subtle or not-so-subtle (it seems to depend on your political leaning) criticism of human consumerism and waste. As I was watching, I realized that this could have functioned as a live-action science fiction film. I was in a movie theatre with absolutely no children and was a moving experience. And that little robot is so cute, I want one for a pet. One of the best films of the year so far. Oh – and having Sigourney Weaver as the voice of the ship was a very nice touch.

There was a headline the other commenting on how Katie Holmes couldn’t bring about a million dollar advance sale for the impending revival of All My Sons. Truth be told, I think most people would be more excited to see the other three actors that have been cast: John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, and Patrick Wilson. Perhaps Maggie Gyllenhaal will stand-by for her…?

Jan Maxwell is returning to Broadway as Maria Tura in the MTC production of To Be or Not to Be at the Biltmore this fall. Craig Bierko will be her costar. How exciting to have an actress as gifted and witty as Maxwell back on the boards. Her work as a self-preserving, pragmatic proto-feminist in the highly-inventive, but woefully shortlived Dickensian melodrama Coram Boy was multi-faceted and captivating. (Could I have crammed anything more into that sentence, yikes). The Walter Kerr shall not be dormant for long. Olivier-winner Kristin Scott Thomas and Peter Sarsgaard will headline the import of the London revival of The Seagull, that immortal laugh riot by Russia’s great gag writer Anton Chekhov. (Name that musical!)

I renewed my subscription at Roundabout. Looking forward to Pal Joey with Stockard Channing, A Man for All Seasons with Frank Langella and the revival of Hedda Gabler. I also want to see The Marriage of Bette and Boo with that delectable Victoria Clark and company.

I will be at The Dark Knight not Mamma Mia on July 18 at 12:01AM.

Spike Lee will be turning Passing Strange into one of his joints. He’ll be filming three performances of the show this month for airing on a TBD cable station.

Oscar nominee and stage vet Amy Ryan will be reprise her recurring role as Holly, the new HR representative at Scranton’s Dunder-Mifflin next season on The Office. I can’t wait to see where they take her character and Michael Scott, who had inexorable chemistry in this year’s season finale.

I’m taking in tomorrow’s matinee of A Catered Affair thanks to Chris at Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals. Look forward to reporting on Faith Prince. Not to mention a round two of “The Bloggers Who Brunch” on Sunday.

Happy Fourth of July everyone.

“Someone ought to open up a window…!” 😉

Theatrical Highlights of the Year

1. Follies. February 12, 2007 @ the City Center. A star-studded, riveting performance of a landmark musical; possibly the ultimate in cult status. Donna Murphy and Victoria Clark were at the top of their game. The rest of cast rose to the occasion, save for Christine Baranski‘s psychotic and off-key rendition of “I’m Still Here” which still stopped the show. It was a real treat to hear the score unadulterated and with its complete original orchestration. An event that was not to be missed and woefully went unrecorded. Saddest part? The rumored transfer never came to fruition.

2. Coram Boy. May 17, 2007 @ the Imperial Theatre. A delightfully and unapologetically Dickensian romp through plot machinations and melodrama that made for an inventive evening at the theatre. British actress Xanthe Elbrick successfully played an aristocratic adolescent male in the first act and a cockney orphan of 8 in the second, earning the Theatre World award and nominations from all the awards committees. Jan Maxwell, as a self-preserving feministic accomplice to the villain, delivered a fully layered and realized performance, also worthy of much praise. Ran for 30 performances, becoming one of the most expensive flop plays in history. Deserved better reviews and audience for its theatrical inventions and concept.

3. Deuce. May 22, 2007 @ the Music Box Theatre. Terrence McNally‘s second rate play wouldn’t have made my list save for one exception: it brought Angela Lansbury back to Broadway. For that reason alone it deserves much praise in spite of the inherent weakness of the work itself. Lansbury and co-star Marian Seldes were a marvel of technique (with 110 years of Broadway between them) and a chance to see Lansbury back on Broadway (the last time she was in NY was a flop revival of Mame in 1983 that closed when I was 6 weeks old) was worth the price of admission alone.

4. Journey’s End. June 5, 2007 @ the Belasco Theatre. Admittedly, I was severely disengaged with the first act; even to the point of nodding off (though that may have been the free wine from the Theatre World award reception I attended that afternoon). However, the second act put everything into perspective and the last five or ten minutes of the show were among the most harrowing spent in a theatre. The audience was so numb they forgot to applaud. Remarkable work by the ensemble; most notably Boyd Gaines and Stark Sands. Truly an event that should have been seen by more, especially given the inescapable relevance of an 80 year old anti-war play.

5. Grey Gardens. June 12, 2007 @ the Walter Kerr Theatre. Though I’d seen this musical in 2006, this particular performance was the most memorable I attended. It was the first performance following the Tony awards at which Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson took home the Best Actress and Best Featured Actress in the Musical Tony’s. The house was abuzz with fans and newcomers; creating that certain palpable energy that comes oh so rarely in the theatre. Never have I witnessed a star receive a standing-ovation on a second act entrance. I doubt we may ever have cause for that again.

6. 110 in the Shade. July 23, 2007 @ Studio 54. Christine Ebersole’s greatest competition for the Tony award came from star Audra McDonald‘s nuanced portrayal of the love-lorn, insecure spinster Lizzie Curry in this 1963 musical adaptation of Nash’s The Rainmaker (memorably filmed with Katharine Hepburn in 1956). The score by Jones & Schmidt shone, the cast was outstanding and Audra made your heart feel light from the moment she entered to the moment the inevitable rains came. It’s very rare to see a matinee crowd respond with such vigor to a stage musical revival such as I did on this hot July day; but when McDonald finished “Raunchy”, the house erupted as though we were attending a rock concert. It was also a treat to see John Cullum performing as Lizzie’s father and Bobby Steggert‘s comic impression as Lizzie’s not-so-bright yet tender-hearted little brother.

7. Gypsy. July 25, 2007 @ the City Center. Patti LuPone finally got to tear it up as Rose in NY. In spite of the lack of a complete scenic design and a rather bizarre lamb puppet, the production was everything you would hope for in your presentation of this musical; a stellar Rose, a solid Herbie and a heart-breaking Louise. LuPone maneuvered her way through the role with fiery conviction, earthiness and a determination that could put the fear of God into Patton. Her “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” not only foreshadowed the second act “Turn,” but could very well be the most definitive delivery of that song. Laura Benanti was the greatest Louise I have ever seen. Someone so attractive could play awkward teen so well – and have a transformation into Gypsy Rose Lee that was nuanced and damn sexy. Boyd Gaines went above and beyond the call for what is required of Herbie. Tony Yazbeck was a most convincing Tulsa; and one you would think could elope with June without requiring a true stretch of our willing suspension of disbelief. Excited for the Broadway transfer this spring.

8. August: Osage County. December 4, 2007 @ the Imperial Theatre. Tracy Letts‘ new drama is one of the most riveting and enjoyable pieces of theatre to open on Broadway in a few years. A spectacular return to the old-school three-acter, the play explores the dormant volcano that is the Weston family and their myriad of dysfunction. Ferocious performances from Deanna Dunagan as Violet, the combination Mary Tyrone, Regina Giddens and Martha and Amy Morton as her equally volatile daughter anchor this brilliant work. There have been some people who’ve dismissed the critical plaudits and claim the work is an overrated variation on Mama’s Family. Those people are missing the subtextual boat here, especially when you view the dynamite second act; which has some of the best contemporary writing ever presented on a NY stage. Never mind the naysayers, see this play before it closes.

What I want to see next year: Come Back, Little Sheba, Sunday in the Park With George, The 39 Steps, Les Liaisones Dangereuxes, The Country Girl, November, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, In the Heights, A Catered Affair, South Pacific, Gypsy, Show Boat at Carnegie Hall, Billy Elliot, and also Saved! at Playwrights Horizons.