Nice Work If You Can Get It: A Review Sunday, Mar 24 2013

Since PJ was in New York City over spring break to work at the Public Library, I went along for fun. While he worked, I went to the matinée of Nice Work If You Can Get It, a musical starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara featuring the songs of George and Ira Gershwin.

I had heard a positive review of the show from a colleague, and I love Gershwin tunes, so I decided to see it. Besides, my seat was perfect, and I could only get a front row seat at either of the other two musicals I wanted to see.

Broderick plays Jimmy, a dim-witted wealthy playboy during the Prohibition era. O’Hara plays Billie, a bootlegger who stashes gin in the basement of Jimmy’s summer home thinking that he won’t be in residence. When Jimmy shows up with his new bride (wife #3), Billie has to think fast about what to do. She has to think even faster as she and Jimmy begin to fall in love.

Judy Kaye won a Tony for her featured role as a zealous temperance leader determined to stomp out all alcohol. Suspicious that something isn’t right in Jimmy’s household, she embarks on a quest to ferret out the local gang og bootleggers and have them arrested. She definitely deserved her Tony — she’s hilarious in this role!

Broderick and O’Hara are also great. Nothing terribly surprising happens in the show — everything one might predict would happen does happen, but it’s fun entertainment nevertheless. It also has one of my new favorite songs: “Treat Me Rough.” I immediately purchased the soundtrack just so I could have this song along with O’Hara’s beautiful rendition of “But Not for Me.”

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Once: A Review Saturday, Mar 23 2013

PJ and I were in New York City for a few days over spring break. I saw five plays over the four days we were there. The first show we saw was Once, the musical adaptation of the great 2006 independent film. I loved the movie, so I was both eager to see the musical and a little anxious about it. I had tried to see it before but could only get seats with a partially obstructed view. This time we could get tickets without obstruction, but our seats were on opposite sides of the orchestra, which seemed fine to us.

The challenge this musical faced was that the movie’s plot is rather thin: guy meets girl; she inspires him to make music; they fall in love, raising the question of whether they’ll get together or not. Other than sing together, there’s not really much more to the plot than that.

To fill it out into a two-act structure, the musical adds a few supporting roles and a couple of musical interludes. Steve Kazee won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as guy, but we got his understudy, Ben Hope instead. We had really wanted to see Kazee, but Hope was excellent in the role.(He also has great deltoids!

Indeed, the whole cast is great. I was especially glad to see David Patrick Kelly, who starred in the Broadway production of Twelfth Night that I love to show students when I teach the play. He plays Guy’s father. Cristin Milioti plays Girl; she’s wonderful too.

Overall, it’s a great show, and I see why it won Best Musical: it’s not your usual Broadway show. The spareness of the plot forces the production to think outside the box and be a little more creative. I definitely recommend it!

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Harvey: A Review Sunday, Jul 8 2012

While in NYC last month, PJ and I saw Harvey, starring Jim Parsons and Jessica Hecht. In fact, one of the reasons we went to New York was to see this play. I remember seeing it as a kid — my parents love old black and white movies, and I was interested in seeing it on the stage. Plus, I love The Big Bang Theory, and, now that Jim Parsons is officially out, I really wanted to see him live too.

Harvey is about an eccentric man, Elwood P. Dowd, played by Parsons, who is friends with a six-foot tall invisible rabbit named Harvey. Elwood explains to various people he meets that Harvey is a pooka, a mischievous sprite who plays tricks on people.

Elwood’s sister and niece, who live with him in the family’s ancestral home, have had enough of Elwood’s behavior. Embarrassed one too many times by his introduction of his invisible friend to their acquaintances, Veta, played by Hecht, and Myrtle Mae, played by Tracee Chimo, decide to commit Elwood to the local insane asylum. When Veta takes Elwood to the asylum, however, a comedy of errors ensues as the junior, too self-assured young doctor mistakes Veta for the patient. The rest of the play involves sorting out who does and who does not belong in the hospital, with the play’s climax revolving around a new drug that can make sure Elwood never sees Harvey again.

Parsons is good in this role, but it’s not really much of a stretch for him. Elwood is a slightly differently eccentric take on Sheldon, his character on The Big Bang Theory. The part doesn’t call for anything else, so it’s clear why Parsons would be cast in the role, but it will be interesting to see if he’s able to break out of the Sheldon mold for his future forays onto Broadway and film. His supporting role in the movie version of The Normal Heart might be a good indication of his career after TBBT.

The play also features Carol Kane in a small, but hilarious role as the senior physician’s dotty wife. But the real star of this production is the set design, which is superb. Both the Dowd house and the hospital are realistically portrayed and realized. It’s clear to see why the Emmy winning designer, David Rockwell, has garnered Tony and Drama Desk nominations in recent years.

All in all, this is a good, solid production of a classic mid-twentieth century play. It’s good, family entertainment, and audience members of all ages seemed to enjoy it. I’ve decided to teach Mary Chase’s play in my class in the fall. It will be interesting to see what my students make of it!

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Gore Vidal’s The Best Man: A Review Sunday, Jul 8 2012

Last month, PJ and I spent three-and-a-half days in New York City for his birthday. While there we saw three shows, the first of which was Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. I almost went to see this play when I was in the city in April, but decided to see End of the Rainbow instead. I’m glad I waited, since I think PJ enjoyed this one more than he would have enjoyed Rainbow.

The appeal of the play, at least in part, was its all-star cast, which included James Earl Jones, Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack, John Larroquette, and Angela Lansbury. We couldn’t pass up a chance to see all of these actors together.

The Best Man is a political drama. Set at a major party’s presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia in 1960, the play follows the two major candidates for the nomination: William Russell, played by Larroquette, and Joseph Cantwell, played by McCormack, and their wives and political consultants. Russell is the former Secretary of State and the more progressive of the two candidates. Cantwell is a conservative senator who is an up-and-comer in the party. When Cantwell threatens to reveal damaging information about Russell to the convention goers, Russell must decide how to respond: release even more damaging information about Cantwell or try to take the high road, even if it means losing the nomination.

What stands out about this play is how timely it remains. Many of the issues it raises about politics are still true today. It asks whether winning is more important than remaining ethical and what are the consequences of playing dirty. It’s an interesting and insightful look into the political sphere.

Larroquette and McCormack are both excellent in their respective roles. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Jones who received a Tony nomination for Best Actor for his role as the former president. His isn’t really a leading role, and Jones doesn’t do anything spectacular with it — he’s just solidly good. Candice Bergen is excellent as Russell’s wife, from whom he is estranged but who is playing the part of a good wife for appearances sake. Slowly, she becomes the moral center of the play, and PJ and I both thought Bergin stood out in a quiet, but emotionally moving sort of way. And finally, Lansbury plays a small, but key role as one of the leaders of the women’s caucus of the party convention. Fancying herself as a king-maker, she plays both sides of the contest, ready to assume an influential role with whoever wins the nomination.

Overall, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man is an interesting look at politics that remains pertinent to today’s political gamesmanship. The final resolution is a bit predictable, and I thought the consequences for the Russells’ marriage was not really credible, but I liked it nevertheless. It’s been extended a couple of times, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a smart play about politics and its moral/ethical decline.

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My New Barbara Cook Obsession Sunday, Mar 11 2012

When Barbara Cook was honored during the Kennedy Center Honors earlier this year, I didn’t know who she is — I was just watching to see the Meryl Streep tribute! I was a little bummed last night, and I thought to myself that I should reconnect with something that made me happy when I was younger. The first thing that came to mind was my youthful devotion to Broadway soundtrack albums (of course!). I started browsing on iTunes, and when I came across some Barbara Cook albums, it initiated my newest obsession.

Miss Cook is, without a doubt, a musical genius. I can’t believe I’ve gone nearly 42 years without knowing about and worshiping her! One of my favorite Broadway love songs as a kid was from The Music Man: “Til There Was You.” Imagine my joy when I learned that Cook originated the role of Marion the Librarian! Here’s her version of the song:

She won a Tony award for her performance in this show.

My newest favorite Broadway song is “Losing My Mind” from Follies. Cook has a great version of this too!

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Other Desert Cities: A Review Wednesday, Dec 21 2011

The hottest ticket on Broadway right now is Other Desert Cities, a family/political drama by playwright Jon Robin Baitz, who my be best known for creating the television drama Brothers & Sisters. Like that show’s early days, Other Desert Cities explores big political issues by filtering them through a family’s internal rifts, recriminations, and love for one another.

In this case, the play focuses primarily on the Wyeth family’s Christmas gathering in Palm Springs, California, where the elder Wyeths, Polly and Lyman, played by Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach, live. Polly and Lyman are Old Guard Republicans who remain active in a certain kind of Republican circle. Lyman was a former actor, much like Reagan, and was appointed an ambassador during his administration. Polly is friends with Nancy.

Polly and Lyman have taken in Polly’s sister, Silda, played by Judith Light, who has had a drug problem. Now out of rehab with no place to go, she resents living with her sister in part due to their former success as a screenwriting partnership, which broke up with Polly’s turn to Republican conservatism. As Silda constantly reminds her, Polly is a Jew who plays the part of a transplanted-Texas WASP.

Rounding out the family gathering are the Wyeth “children,” both of whom are adults. Rachel Griffiths plays Brooke, an emotionally delicate writer who suffered from a six-year emotional breakdown after the publication of her first novel but who now insists that she knows how to manage her depression. Trip Wyeth, played by Matthew Risch, who will soon be replaced by Justin Kirk, is a producer on a cheesy Judge Judy type of television show in which celebrities serve on a jury and decide cases.

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Seminar: A Review Tuesday, Dec 20 2011

The third–and best–show that PJ and I saw in New York with our friends last week was Seminar, which stars Alan Rickman as Leonard, a problematic creative writing instructor teaching a private seminar for four up and coming writers. Paying $5,000 for the opportunity to study with him, these four students get more than they bargained for as Leonard upends all of their notions of what it means to be a successful writer.

Seminar is hilariously witty and a crowd-pleaser (even if you’re not an English professor!). Rickman is excellent as Leonard, a boozing, lecherous, washed-up writer who makes end meet by writing magazine stories and teaching these private seminars. He imbues Leonard with life, pathos, and egotism, making him a fully rounded character when he could easily be a one-dimensional stereotype instead.

Here are a few clips from the production:

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Private Lives: A Review Monday, Dec 19 2011

The second show PJ and I saw last week in New York was the revival of Noel Coward’s Private Lives starring Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross, who play Amanda and Elyot, respectively, a divorced couple who meet again during their honeymoons with their new spouses.

Both quickly realize that they’re still in love, and comic mayhem ensues as they flee their new spouses and run off together to Amanda’s Paris apartment. The reason their previous marriage fell apart five years ago, however, was that Elyot and Amanda fight as passionately as they make love. We see both sides of their relationship in Acts 2 and 3.

Here’s a brief glance at the Canadian production, which is nearly the same as the one in New York:

This next sentence is probably one of the gayest things I’ve ever written: one of my favorite plays as a kid was Private Lives.

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Follies: A Review Sunday, Dec 18 2011

As is our annual tradition, PJ and I spent a week in New York this past week. The first show we saw this year was the revival of Sondheim’s Follies, which is great! We saw Bernadette Peters in A Little Night Music last year, and so we couldn’t wait to see her in this show too.

Follies takes place on the night before an old theater is being torn down to make room for a parking lot. To say goodbye to the old place, Mr. Weismann, the former producer of “Weismann’s Follies,” hosts a party in the theater for a group of his former performers.

Here’s a quick look at these ladies:

While the former “Weismann girls” remember days gone by, two couples become the focus of the show’s plot: Buddy and Sally Durant Plummer and Benjamin and Phyllis Rogers Stone. Sally and Phyllis were showgirls, and Buddy and Ben are the guys who courted and then married them. The “ghosts” of the past take the stage throughout the show, showing us this courtship and the couples’ interactions. It soon becomes clear that Sally, played by Peters, and Ben had an affair before their respective marriages and that Sally is still in love with Ben.

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Time Stands Still: A Review Tuesday, Dec 21 2010

The last play PJ and I saw in New York was Donald Margulies’s Time Stands Still. Laura Linney plays Sarah Goodwin, a photojournalist that specialized in photographing war zones. Brian D’Arcy James plays James Dodd, a journalist and Sarah’s partner. At the beginning of the play, the two return to New York after Sarah has been gravely injured by a road-side bomb in Afghanistan. The play examines what happens to this couple in the subsequent months, especially as they see their old friend, Richard, played by Eric Bogosian, fall in love with and marry a much younger woman, Mandy, played by Christina Ricci.

Here’s a brief scene from the play, in which James suddenly proposes to Sarah:

I really liked this play. All of the actors are excellent. Linney is great as Sarah, a career woman who knows what she wants but is also too smart for her own good — she’s fully aware of the consequences of getting what she wants. I really like that Sarah isn’t played for sympathy. Linney presents her forthrightly, warts and all. I could imagine that she and the playwright might be tempted to make Sarah more sympathetic, but they don’t. Instead, we see her choices and, at the end of the play, are left to judge for ourselves whether those choices are the “right” ones.

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