Review of Goodspeed Opera House's "Mame"

One day the Goodspeed Opera House will produce a musical starring Kirsten Wyatt instead of just employing her considerable comedic talents as a featured actress.  She was one of the bright spots from last year’s My One and Only and her performance as Agnes Gooch in the season opener, Jerry Herman’s Mame, is one of the show’s highlights.

Mame is one of the legendary characters in the musical theater canon.  Angela Lansbury starred in the 1966 Broadway original and her portrayal of the free-spirited, liberated Mame Dennis set the bar for other actresses to come.  The Goodspeed production, which plays through July 7^th, features Louise Pitre, a Tony Award nominee for Mamma Mia, as the feisty, unorthodox jet-setter.  She looks fabulous in the numerous costumes designed by Gregg Barnes, but her performance lacks the necessary zip and liveliness.  In fact, the whole production is missing a certain bounce and effervescence.

"It's Today!"  Louise Pitre and the cast of Mame.

The book of the show is based on the popular novel, Auntie Mame, and the subsequent play of the same name by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.  Lawrence and Lee adapted their play into the musical Mame which tells the story of young Patrick Dennis and his nanny, Agnes Gooch, who travel to New York City to live with Patrick’s Auntie Mame now that his father has died.  Mame takes an immediate liking to the lad and introduces him to her bohemian ways and eccentric friends, which includes actress and lush, Vera Charles.  Their adventures from pre-Depression wealth through the Stock Market Crash and back to the monied life (thanks to the unfortunate death of Mame’s newly minted rich husband) are riddled with high-flying exploits and silly escapades. 

Patrick grows older and falls in love with a snobbish and pretentious girl, in reaction to both his unusual upbringing and need to have a more normal, regimented life.  Mame, of course, sets him straight in the nick of time and he ends up marrying a more sensible, down-to-earth woman.  As the curtain falls, Mame is conniving to take the young couple’s son on an adventure to India.

My main problem with the show was the aforementioned absence of pacing and vitality of the production.  Director Ray Roderick should have done more to kickstart the musical to overcome the languidness of some scenes and episodic nature of the show.  Choreographer Vince Pesce adds some nice flourishes but, unlike most Goodspeed musicals, the dance numbers seem a tad forced and not as integrated into the entire production.

Kirsten Wyatt's character Agnes Gooch learns to "Live Live LIVE!" from her tutors Vera Charles (Judy Blazer) and Mame Dennis (Louise Pitre).

In addition to Louise Pitre, as Mame, Judy Blazer plays best friend, Vera Charles.  Blazer, a seasoned Broadway veteran, who also looks spectacular in her outfits, seems to relish her role.  But as one who is almost always without a drink in hand when on stage she is a bit too controlled.  Instead of the life of the party, she is just a guest.  Charles Hagerty, as the older Patrick, has boyish good looks and a fine voice.  Eli Baker, as young Patrick, can act, sing, and keep in line with the rest of the more mature cast.  A slightly disconcerting aspect of the show is the cast’s lack of aging.  The timeframe of Mame is between 1928 thru 1946, but most of the central characters, besides the older Patrick, do not seem to get older at all.  It was a curious dynamic.

The strength of Mame is the outstanding Jerry Herman score, probably his best.  There are so many marvelous numbers including “It’s Today,” “Open a New Window,” “We Need a Little Christmas,” “Mame,” and “Bosom Buddies.”  I could quibble with the pacing of “Bosom Buddies,” one of the all-time duets in Broadway history, but that’s more because I play the song often on my radio show and how can you compare any version to the two originals--Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur?

Mame, a respectable staging at the Goodspeed Opera House thru July 7^th.

Review of "Nice Work If You Can Get It"

Gershwin music.  Matthew Broderick.  Kelli O’Hara.  Great supporting cast.  Zany book.  Buoyant choreography.  Mix and stir (with bootlegged booze, of course) and you come up with the comical effervescence, Nice Work If You Can Get It.

The musical, loosely based on the Gershwin’s Oh, Kay!, follows the boozy escapades of rich boy Jimmy Winter, a seemingly perpetually soused Matthew Broderick, from his last night of freedom—he’s getting married in the morning—to his chance meeting with bootlegger Billie Bendix, a rough and tumble Kelli O’Hara.  Of course they fall in love, then quickly part, only to reunite, purely by accident, at Winter’s Long Island estate which Billie and her gang think is unoccupied.  Where better to hide out and stow their bootlegged wares.  Unfortunately, Winter and his entourage show up to ignite a host of mistaken identities, hanky-panky, and subterfuge.  There is, for those worried sorts, a multitude of happy endings.

Nice Work If You Can Get It is the second Gershwin hodgepodge to make it to Broadway.  The first, the charming 1983 musical, My One and Only, also had two charismatic stars in Tommy Tune and Twiggy, plenty of raz-ma-tazz production numbers, and the songs of the Gershwin brothers. 

In Nice Work If You Can Get It we have the resplendent Kelli O’Hara, at her playful best.  Her gorgeous voice is beautifully tailored to such classics as “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “But Not For Me.”  Matthew Broderick, absent from the musical stage since The Producers, has found the perfect vehicle for his talents.  Mischievous and puckish, he also brings a devilish attitude and temperament to his role.  My only issue with his performance was it seemed more one-dimensional.  He reminded me of Dudley Moore’s portrayal in Arthur, a perpetually inebriated playboy.  It didn’t hurt his characterization, but a more lively effort would have enhanced the role.

The supporting cast is equally impressive.  Tony Award nominated Michael McGrath, as Billie Bendix’s partner in crime, Cookie McGee, is a seasoned comic sidekick that has graced Broadway productions for many years.   He, along with fellow Tony Award nominee, Judy Kay, as the Duchess Estonia Dulworth, enliven the production and provide some of the most fun and laughs on stage. 

The Gershwin songs in the show highlight a small sampling of the brother’s incredible output.  In addition to the aforementioned titles the audience is bedazzled with “Sweet and Lowdown,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Lady Be Good,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” and many more. 

Joe DiPietro’s book has the requisite silliness and daftness of all those musicals of the 1920’s through 1940’s where plot was secondary to pretty girls cavorting on stage (which Nice Work has a lot of) and a lively tune or ballad.

Director/Choreographer Kathleen Marshall has the light touch necessary for the airy feel of the show.  Her aim is simple—provide a fun and entertaining diversion.  The choreography, while not the full throttle brashness of her work in last year’s Anything Goes, is still deliciously enjoyable especially the moments that Matthew Broderick bounds across the stage.

Nice Work If You Can Get It—a cool, carefree spring tonic for theater-goers looking for a little fizzle in their theater-going experience.

Review of "Ghost"

I have to admit that I was very pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the new musical, Ghost, with its power pop score and sometimes brilliant stagecraft and effects.  It’s not like I was going in with negative thoughts, but the recent track record of movies transformed into musicals, most recently Sister Act and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, have not been very satisfying.  Still, for all the positives, there were two aspects of the production, which were quite irritating and exasperating.  More on this later.

As most people know, Ghost is based on the 1990 film that starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg, for which she won the Oscar.  [Spoiler Alert:  if you have not seen the movie be forewarned if you read ahead].  The plot of the show closely follows the movie.  Sam, played by Richard Fleeshman, and Molly, portrayed by Caissie Levy, are young and madly in love.  One night, on their way home from a romantic dinner a robbery turns sour and Sam is shot dead.  Grief-stricken, Molly is consoled by the couple’s mutual friend, Carl, played by Bryce Pinkham who, unbeknownst to her, was behind the murder for sinister reasons.  Sam has become a ghost, bound to the world of the living until there is a resolution to his killing.  Enter one Oda Mae Brown, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, a storefront psychic that Sam finds he can communicate through to not only warn Molly, but also thwart the devious plans of his former friend and colleague.

Ghost works because the audience becomes involved in the story by Bruce Joel Rubin, who adapted his Academy Award winning screenplay for the musical.  Choppy and hurried as it may be live, the plot is bewitching, and the sentiment and characters are engrossing.  Caissie Levy, as Molly, provides emotional depth to her character, who is understandably devastated from her lover’s death.  Levy possesses both a powerful singing voice, as demonstrated in “Rain/Hold On,” as well a plaintive sorrowfulness in “Nothing Stops Another Day.”

Richard Fleeshman, well-apportioned and handsome, as Sam, has a fine voice, but lacks a dynamic presence.  True, he is a ghost for most of the show, but too often Director Matthew Warchus has him sitting, observing, fading into the background.  Even those moments where he is the focus, such as the marvelous scene in the subway system, Fleeshman lacks the charisma and power to command the action.  Bryce Pinkham, is a scheming sleaze as his treacherous undertaking begins to unravel.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph is fabulous as Oda Mae Brown, the psychic who discovers her fabricated powers to communicate with the dead are, in fact, real.  She is the spark plug that kick starts the musical every time she appears.

Rockers Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, along with lyrical contributions from Bruce Joel Rubin, provide a highly satisfying score of up tempo anthems and heartrending ballads.

Many of the special effects of the show provided the requisite ghostly atmosphere to the production.  When Sam, now dead, first tries to open a door and his hand passes through unimpeded there was an audible murmur of awe throughout the audience.  Likewise, the initial subway scene when he encounters the subway ghost was quite spectacular.  Sam’s walk to the heavens at the conclusion of the show was also impressive.

So, what’s my beef with Ghost?  First, and foremost, is the continuous and over-reliance on video projections.  Director Matthew Warchus has been quoted as seeking to have music video-like production values.  But when minimalism and intimacy should be the guide, the audience is whacked over the head with pulsating lights and frivolous videos.  Right at the start, when Molly and Sam are in the midst of a passionate embrace, the stage becomes alive with giant size projections of the two caressing and sharing intimate moments.  Why?  Doesn’t the creative team trust the material enough to have the two actors alone on stage without these wispy visions swirling on the semi-invisible projection screen?  Throughout the show the almost non-stop projections distract from the action and pretty much blot out the ensemble.  It wasn’t until the curtain call that I could see their faces (and I was in the eighth row of the orchestra).

The second problem is the character Oda Mae Brown.  Let me restate that.  The problem is not enough Oda Mae Brown.  Ms. Randolph brought the stage alive with her physicality, power, and especially her in-your-face attitude.  Even though she is a supporting character the musical would have been greatly enhanced by squeezing in more of her antics and less music video dance routines.  Throwing in a big, splashy—and pointless—production number for her, “I’m Outta Here,” just before the climax of the show served little purpose other than to showcase her exceptional talents.

Director Matthew Warchus skillfully guides the action through the numerous set pieces.  The pacing of the show is one of its strengths.  His work with the actors, Richard Fleeshman not withstanding, in the more intimate and less busy settings produces a sense of foreboding, intimacy, playfulness.  I just wished he hadn’t insisted on those maddening projections.

Ghost, somewhat imperfect, but still, an entertaining time on Broadway.

Review of "On Man, Two Guvnors'"

I cannot remember the last time I have laughed so hard during a Broadway show as I did during One Man, Two Guvnors’.  I was crying.  My stomach hurt.  I thought I was going to die.  The award winning London import, based on The Servant of two Masters, circa 1746, combines almost every style of comedy and schtick you can think of – from slapstick to deadpan to farce to improv.  Throw in some audience participation and a dash of vaudeville and you get the most uproarious production in New York.

The main reason for such sustained hilarity is actor James Corden who plays the somewhat dimwitted, perpetually starved manservant, Francis Henshall, who suddenly finds himself in the employment of two Guvnors’ or bosses.  He is the ringleader and instigator.  When he is on stage you don’t know what is going to happen, except that nonstop laughter will be in the air.

The comedy even starts off with a curveball as the audience is treated to a number of songs by The Craze, a 1960’s skiffle band resplendent in their purple suits.  Acting almost as a Greek Chorus, they provide background and commentary on what we are about to experience through their rocking, tuneful selections.  They take the stage on and off throughout the show—many times accompanied by cast members on such instruments as the xylophone, ukulele and bicycle horns--providing their feel good music.

Trying to describe the plot of One Man, Two Guvnors’ would be an injustice to future audience members.  Let it suffice that the action takes place in the seedy, beachfront town of Brighton, in the year 1963.  Henshall, in the employment of two petty criminals, needs to keep them from meeting while trying to perform some very simple errands for both.  Throw in mistaken identity and unrequited love and you have the ingredients for ceaseless merriment.

Playwright Richard Bean’s reinterpretation of Carlo Goldoni’s Commedia dell’Arte classic is smartly written as well as devastatingly funny with enough tricks and set-ups to keep the audience gasping for air.  The side-splitting delirium is confined, for the most part, to Act I with the latter half of the show, while still full of laughs, is not as unrelenting in its mad-capped lunacy.  Director Nicholas Hytner shows great fortitude and restraint in keeping the production’s hijinks from spinning out-of-control.  He allows the actors great leeway in their quest to deliver unto us unremitting convulsions.

The actors.  As earlier stated, James Corden is a bundle of unteethered energy.  Whether it’s his interactions with his fellow thespians or exchanges with audience members his tour-de-force performance is deliriously intoxicating and will be remembered for years to come.  His co-stars are no slouches themselves.  Two of the most notable are Oliver Chris as Guvnor number two, Stanley Stubbers.  Chris, almost as boneheaded as his manservant, Henshall, looks and acts as someone right out of a Monty Python sketch.  His nonsensical utterings and absurdist actions are priceless.  Just the entrance of Tom Edden, as the rubbery, elderly waiter Alfie, produces a howl of laughter throughout the Music Box Theater.  His physical comedy and timing are impeccable.

One Man, Two Guvnors’ – indescribably delicious.

Review of "The Best Man"

Presidential candidates have a certain aura about them. In person, they can appear larger than life. The revival of Gore Vidal’s 1960 political drama, The Best Man, provides the necessary star power to capture the confidence, seductiveness and allure of two contenders battling it out for the presidential nomination of their party. The cast is one of the most star-studded to hit the Broadway stage in recent memory. They include James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Candice Bergen, John Larroquette, and Eric McCormack. Without such entertainment luminaries, the production would lack the needed brilliance that radiates around such contests.

The Best Man is old-school political melodrama on par with such early 1960’s classics as Advise and Consent and Seven Days in May. The plot centers around a 1960 Party Convention (we never know Democratic or Republican) being held in Philadelphia. The interior of the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is even decked out like a convention hall with party banners and embellishments. The two main candidates are a former Secretary of State, William Russell, played by John Larroquette; and a United States Senator, Joseph Cantwell, played by Eric McCormack. Adding to the drama is a former President, in his last hurrah, looking to sway the nomination outcome, sparring wives, and a host of party hacks and committee persons seeking to peddle their potential influence.

Russell is characterized as a principled East Coast intellectual who runs a clean campaign based on the issues. Cantwell, portraying himself as a more populist, man of the people, will stop at nothing—dirty tricks, smear tactics—in order to secure the nomination. John Larroquette is perfectly cast as Russell. He has a certain snobbishness mixed with a righteous political air. He is noble, while flawed with a possible history of infidelity and mental health issues that handicaps his presidential ambitions. Eric McCormack, better known for his comedic role in the long-running TV series, Will and Grace, oozes insincerity. He is slickly smooth as the arrogant, self-confident, anything goes, Senator Cantwell. James Earl Jones is feisty, yet strong-willed as former President, Artie Hockstader. Hockstader knows this is his last chance in the limelight and he takes every opportunity to hold onto it. Angela Lansbury, still going strong after so many decades on stage, comes across as somewhat flighty as Mrs. Sue-Ellen Gamadge, the Chairwoman of the Party’s Women’s Division. But make no mistake. There is an undercurrent of steeliness and experience that belies her outward appearance and utterances. Candice Bergen, a bit dowdy as Russell’s beleagured wife, Alice, makes do with a role not as substantial as her fellow actors. The rest of the supporting cast, Michael McKean as Russell’s campaign manager and confidante, Dick Jensen; Kerry Butler, the determined and ambitious wife, Mabel Cantwell; and Jefferson Mays, as the mysterious visitor, Sheldon Marcus, are all superb.

Gore Vidal’s play is full of political maneuverings and melodramatic flair. While entertaining, the show occasionally falls prey to its own affectations and grandiloquence.

What gives strength to The Best Man is its timing, opening in the midst of the Republican Presidential primary season. The bombast, rhetoric, and populist prattle of the Romney and Santorum campaign speeches seem to echo in the background of the production, shadowing it with an eerie relevance. The talk of infidelity and mental stress reminds one of Senator Edmund Muskie’s breakdown on the steps of the Manchester Union-Leader; the revelations of Vice Presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton’s electroshock therapy; and Gary Hart’s photo with Donna Rice on the yacht, Monkey Business.

The interconnecting sets by Derek McLane allow for smooth transitions during the many scene changes of the over 2 ½ hour production. Director Michael Wilson keeps the action flowing, allowing the suspense to slowly build to the somewhat surprising denouement. He rightly gives his outstanding cast enough space and leeway to develop their characters and deliver their sometimes powerful and withering monologues.

In today’s world of 24/7 news cycles and numerous social media outlets reshaping the political landscape, The Best Man is a welcoming throwback to the time of just three television networks, Walter Cronkite, and the importance of daily newspapers.

Review of "Newsies"

Newsies, the new Disney musical that opened on Broadway last week, is irresistibly close to being an out and out triumph. What makes the show such a sensation also contributes to its one significant flaw. Now, don’t get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed Newsies. The production contains all the ingredients of a successful show—a rousing score; crowd-pleasing dance numbers; an impressive, stage encompassing set; an engaging cast; a charismatic lead, and even a cute, adorable little tyke.

Based on a 1992 Disney movie, the show, slightly altered from the film version, tells the story of an 1899 successful strike by the newsies (the orphans and street urchins that sold the daily newspapers on the streets of New York) against the powerful Joseph Pulitzer and his journal, The World.

The first act is almost flawless with a tight narrative punctuated with solid songs and some of the best production numbers you will see on Broadway today. The musical begins with the introductions of two of the main newsies, Jack Kelly, portrayed with a spunky self-confidence by Jeremy Jordan; and his crippled pal, Crutchie, played with determination and grit by Andrew Keenan-Bolger. Soon the other boys, a ragamuffin group, enter the scene and, from there, the storyline quickly develops as the young men decide to strike over an increase in their upfront costs (newsies needed to buy their newspapers that were, then, resold at a slightly higher price). Fortifying the assemblage’s mettle are two fresh recruits to the newsie ranks—Davey, played with an initial immaturity and then a swaggering resolve by Ben Fankhauser; and his younger brother, Les, at this performance played with an impish pluckiness by Lewis Grotto.

In the end, the newsies triumph over their Goliath-sized opponents and there is a very happy, Disney-esque, ending.

The strength of Newsies, which will ensure its long and profitable stay in New York (if Disney accedes to an open-ended run), is the full-throttled production numbers designed by choreography Christopher Gattelli, especially in “Seize the Day” and “King of New York.” There probably has not been such muscular and athletic dance routines on Broadway since West Side Story.

Director Jeff Calhoun, who works seamlessly with Choreographer Gattelli, is able to corral the newsies into a cohesive group of performers, conveying both a sense of pathos, hardship, and comradeship of the street-wise youths. He is less successful in the scenes, few as they are, with the adult performers.

The score, by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, consists mostly of compositions from the movie version (which they also wrote), with a few new songs augmenting their earlier efforts. The score works best during the more up tempo numbers especially when the newsies are involved.

The cast is led by Jeremy Jordan, who reprises his critically acclaimed performance from the Paper Mill Playhouse production earlier this year. Jordan is combative, suave, and vulnerable as the head newsie, Jack Kelly. He is the glue that keeps not only the assemblage of outcasts together, but pretty much the whole show. You also have to feel good for the actor. After leaving Newsies he went in to star in the ill-fated Bonnie & Clyde on Broadway. After that musical’s quick demise he was able to slide back into the role of Jack Kelly and into a show that should be one of the hottest tickest on Broadway. Ben Fankhauser, making his Broadway debut, gives his character, Davey, a bit more shading then the other newsies as he grows from an innocent outsider of the group to a more resolute, strong-willed instigator. The other young men in the production, well, strong acting is not really required for their parts. Delivering a smart aleck remark and palling around is pretty much what is required, besides being able to dance up a storm. The adult actors, while competent and professional, serve more to keep the storyline flowing.

The mostly large-scale, erector set scenic design by Tobin Ost emulates the fire escapes and claustrophobic nature of the late 19th and early 20th century tenements of New York City.

So, what is the significant flaw I mentioned at the onset of my review? The culprit is our expectations and the book by Harvey Fierstein, namely Act Two. The trouble is we have been mesmerized and exhilarated throughout the musical by the electrifying dance routines. The second act then begins with what is the best production number of the show, “King of New York.” Suddenly, as if the creative team realized they needed to finish up the show, the rip roaring choreography, what the audience has come to expect, is scaled back in order to tie up all the loose plot lines. From this point, the storytelling becomes more choppy and less fluid. Director Jeff Calhoun does his best, but too many scenes become stilted. The love interest between Jack and Katherine, a beguiling and charming subplot in Act One, all but fizzles.

But this blemish is not enough of a weakness to derail what is a family-friendly, resoundingly successful piece of musical theater entertainment. Newsies should have a long and healthy run on Broadway.

Review of "Porgy and Bess"

Let me state right upfront that before seeing the current production of Porgy and Bess I had never seen any version of the show/opera nor the 1959 movie. I have read about the controversy swirling around the reconstruction of this 1935 Gershwin classic as well as the infamous Sondheim letter, where the composer chastised the creative team for his interpretation of ill-advised and unnecessary changes.

I have taken all the pre-Broadway reviews and chatter (this Porgy and Bess played Boston in earl September 2011) as well as my lack of knowledge of the musical and pushed it all aside. I wanted to treat this theatrical experience as if I was seeing a world premiere and not a reworking of a beloved, well-known show.

Porgy and Bess explores the life of the African-American inhabitants along Catfish Row, a rundown section of waterfront. We are slowly introduced to the central characters that live and work in this rundown section of Charleston, South Carolina. The sudden murder of one of the residents by the rough hewn denizen, Crown, sets off a chain of events that then propels the dramatic plot line of the musical.

While Crown flees, his strung out and trampy woman, Bess, is given shelter by the kind-hearted, crippled, Porgy. Within weeks, Bess, out of the loathsome clutches of Crown, has become clear-headed and accepted by the folks of Catfish Row. A mutual affection between she and Porgy develops until the reemergence of her brutish companion and other temptations entice Bess to question her purpose and worth.

Audra McDonald delivers another powerful stage performance as the spirited, yet lamentable, Bess. Her character runs the gamut of emotions and feelings. We empathize with her, root for her and, in the end, pity her. Equally effective is Norm Lewis as the proud, heart-rending, Porgy. Both McDonald and Lewis, with strong, muscular voices, provide the focus of the production, but are backed up by a superb supporting cast. They include David Alan Grier as the conniving scoundrel, Sporting Life; Phillip Boykin as the monstrous, fearsome, Crown; and NaTasha Yvette Williams as the forceful, but caring mother hen of the enclave.

The score, with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, contains many well-known classics such as “Summertime,” “I got Plenty of Nothing,” ”It Ain’t Necessarily So,” and “There’s a Boat That’s Leaving Soon.” One of the real strengths of the score is the almost religious like atmosphere it often produces, with deep choral arrangements from the large cast. The audience becomes enveloped in the songs and musical compositions, whether they radiate sorrow, contentment, or exuberance.

The libretto by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, with adapting and editing by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray, portrays the Catfish Row residents’ hard-life, shards of gaiety, and cataclysmic events with honesty and gritty realism.

The scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez is minimal, but for this production that works best as not to distract from the actors and the flow of the show. Christopher Akerlind’s lighting heighten the ominous moments of the musical, especially during the hurricane sequence.

Director Diane Paulus skillfully weaves the action together with the large cast, slowly building to the heartbreaking, yet hopeful, conclusion. She is just as adept in the more poignant scenes as well as those that generate a threatening tension in the air. Choreographer Ronald Brown, adds joyful and vibrant dance numbers that seamlessly weave themselves into the overall production.

Porgy and Bess, solid dramatic entertainment, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.