Thoughts on Two Boys and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

 

Even though I'm coughing up a lung everywhere I go (and maybe someday I should do a post on how my GP won't prescribe antibiotics - does that make me healthier in the long run?  discuss...), I went out last week to see two pieces I had heard a great deal about.  I know next to nothing about opera, but because Craig Lucas wrote the libretto, I was very curious about Two Boys at the Met; and after hearing grand things about the pre-Broadway runs of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, I was really looking forward to seeing it, too!  I'll only offer a few thoughts, since I still know next to nothing about opera and because A Gentleman's Guide is only in the first week of previews... Oh, and another thing these two excursions had in common?  I had tremendously attractive dates for each.  :)

Photo by Ken Howard

Two Boys premiered in London a couple of years ago and was composed by hot young American composer, Nico Muhly.  Coincidentally, Muhly provided the music to the revival I saw last week of The Glass Menagerie.  I remember liking that atmospheric music very much.  I also liked much of Two Boys.  It's almost like an episode of Law and Order, with a dedicated police officer trying to dig deeper to find the truth about a horrible crime.  One boy has been accused of stabbing another boy, so the music is appropriately shadowy and rather lurid.  As the plot unfurls, we see that the boys spent a lot of time online, so much of the opera actually takes place on the internet, in chat rooms. The musical language Muhly has put together for the internet scenes is spectacular.  He has truly created a different sound that actually symbolizes something concrete.  I can't really describe it correctly.  Seeing the large chorus onstage, holding laptops and illuminated only by the lights on the screens, with scenery behind them of projections of online chatter, was fascinating and very exciting.  Unfortunately, I didn't quite find the other sections of music to be as exciting.  It seemed to me (but remember, I know next to nothing about opera) that there was too much recitative.  Even the arias were brief and staccato.  Only the internet sections, and the glorious final scene, really came together as a beautiful musical whole.  For me.  Because Craig Lucas is a masterful storyteller, I was always intrigued in the story and wondered how the plot would play out (I was totally surprised by the ending, and disturbed by it as well), but the music didn't elevate the story all the time.  Again, for me.  But I would definitely recommend seeing this, because I did find some of it amazing, and the physical production is stunning as well.  But take everything I say about opera with a grain of salt.  You've been warned...

 

Last Sunday, I went with another extremely attractive pal to see A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder - I think it was their third or fourth preview.  We had a very nice, yet cramped, discounted seat in the mezzanine.  But the mezzanine wasn't full, so we moved down at intermission to a closer seat with a little more leg room.  Thumbs up for a little more leg room.  I've followed the story of A Gentleman's Guide for awhile; it's been around, under a different title, and it took a long time to actually get it on its feet.  I'm awfully glad it finally has, though, because it's just a sunny confection that makes you smile pretty much the whole time you're watching it.

Jefferson Mays, who can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned (his performance in I Am My Own Wife is one of the greatest I've ever seen), plays eight different characters in a goofy romp through Edwardian London.  The musical's poverty-stricken hero, Monty Navarro, has found out after his mother's death that he is actually descended from a very well-to-do family.  How he decides to pay the family back for their treatment of his mother, and how he decides to take his place at the head of the family, is all part of the fun.  Navarro is played by Bryce Pinkham, who I very much enjoyed in The Orphans' Home Cycle a few years ago.  He's attractive, sweet, charming, a fine singer and has a rather naughty glint in his eye.  Jefferson Mays plays every member of the family on whom Navarro has sworn revenge and he plays each of them spectacularly.  Each family member is a singular creation and he plays them all with zeal and a light touch.  He is spectacular.   

 

The whole cast is very good, the physical production is lovely, and the songs are mostly rather fun.  If I thought the lyrics were better than the music, oh well.  I'm sure they're still cutting and trimming (at least I hope they are - the show seems a little long at almost two and a half hours, and it did take a while to get going) since they aren't opening for almost three weeks, so I won't say much more.  I'll just say I had a lot of fun at the show, it's an adorable trifle with some monstrously talented actors having a great time.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  Oh, and seat neighbor-wise, you'll see in the photo on the left, there's a cute little guide to how to behave in the theater.  You'll see in the photo on the right, seat neighbors don't always obey the guides in their Playbills.  Darn. 

Review - The Glass Menagerie

I believe I've mentioned before that The Glass Menagerie is one of my absolute favorite plays of all time.  I've seen several productions of it - we did a fantastic production when I was in grad school, and we did it in rep at a summer theater I worked at long ago.  I saw all fifteen performances, it was that good.  The less said about the Jessica Lange/Christian Slater Broadway revival, however, the better...  I tried to get my pennies together to head to Boston to see this particular mounting when it was ART, since Cherry Jones is one of my absolute favorite actresses of all time, but the scheduling never worked out.  Imagine my rapture when it was announced they would be coming to Broadway.  I asked my very kind boss if I could PLEASE be his Tony-ticket-date for this one and he generously agreed.  Last night, finally, was the happy night...

 

Let me just say right off the bat:  I was not disappointed in the least.  For once, my high expectations were completely met.  I was transfixed the entire evening and had my heart deliciously broken over and over again.  I even cried most of the way home in the subway (to my seat neighbor's consternation), reliving the beauty and sadness of the evening.  I'm always taken aback, every time I see The Glass Menagerie, how utterly devastating this play is.  For as lyrical and poetic it is, it's also brutal and heartless.  There's love and pain and sorrow, and the way it's expertly put together is magical for me every single time. 

 

I will say that from our seats in the third row, we couldn't really see the critically-lauded set and its effect on the staging, so that was a little disappointing.  And some of the lighting effects weren't really clear to those of us on house right.  But those are quibbles.  Well, I have another quibble which I'll mention later.  From what we could see, the physical production was spectacular.  [any production photos below are gathered from the internet and were taken by Michael J Lutch.  I'll take them down if anyone asks]

 

This cast is truly firing on all cylinders - they are working as a unit and this production of Glass Menagerie seems more an ensemble piece than usual.  All four actors take their characters into and out of the central limelight throughout and no one person dominates, which I found rather wonderful.  Cherry Jones at first seems a rather robust faded Southern belle, but she is so touching in her desperate worries for her children.  You see flickers across her expressive face throughout the evening - she knows she's going over the top, but her desperation is just increasing.  And since the production really centers on Tom's memory of this last devastating event in their lives before he left home, it heightens everyone's desperation.  Although I know the play so so well, I still held my breath at points, hoping that things would turn out differently this time.  When Amanda came out in her old dress from Blue Mountain to meet the Gentleman Caller, my heart stopped.  The way the years fell away from Amanda as she told the story of the jonquils, then came thudding back with a vengeance, was acting at its absolute finest.

 

Celia Keenan-Bolger is fantastic as Laura, quiet and realistic, where her mother and brother are dreamers.  So when she allows herself to dream, during the scene with the Gentleman Caller, it's even more tragic.  That scene was revelatory to me - Brian J Smith, as the Gentleman Caller, has found a fascinating tragic arc to his work in the scene, too.  He's equal parts sure and unsure of himself and a bit of a dreamer, but you can see him lose something after he kisses Laura.  And the way he parrots the words about 'love' with respect to his fiancee, you can see his life has irrevocably changed just as much as Laura's has.  I was really blown away by this scene, which I already considered one of the finest in American theater.   

 

Zachary Quinto was terrific, too, though at times he seemed a bit too contemporary to me.  Though, I guess that could make sense, since the play is taking place in his memory, and he could be talking to us right now instead of then.  He has a way with the language that spins a web that pulls us right in.  And the way his memories come to life at the beginning are directorial genius.  The surrealistic movements are also interesting throughout.  I enjoyed Tom's rappport with his mother - they were almost flirtatious with each other, during their peaceful moments, which powerfully shaded their push/pull relationship.  But when he says to Jim, "I'm starting to boil inside," you have seen evidence of it through his body language throughout.  I enjoyed him very much.  Though, and this of course isn't his fault, my previously-mentioned other quibble is this: if we're seeing the play entirely through Tom's memories, how did we get such detailed scenes that only featured either his mother and sister, or his sister and the Gentleman Caller?  Since he didn't witness them, how could he remember them in such detail?  That's a directorial quibble and I guess I could rationalize it away, but it did stick in my brain, especially at intermission.  But the second act, especially the Gentleman Caller scene, was so sublime that I really forgave everything.

 

It's been a long time coming, but I did leap to my feet at the end for my first standing ovation of the season.  I was profoundly moved and thrilled to have seen such a wonderful production of an amazingly beautiful play.  Clearly, I think everyone should see this.  I may try to go back and see it from the mezzanine.  I would love to catch staging and scenic details that I missed last night, but, of course, being so close got me right up against all that wonderful acting.  So I can't complain too much... 

 

Weekend in Woodstock

I have been dying to get out of town for weeks.  Maybe even months.  Somewhere quiet and pretty, where I could just be by myself and hear myself think.  I feel like I've been neglecting myself lately and putting my job first.  Yes, job is important, but life is more important still.  So I took the bull by the horns and bought myself a weekend in Woodstock.  I did a little internet research and found a B&B near the Trailways bus stop, sent them an e-mail asking if there was any availability in October and last weekend popped up.  Sold!  Brief back story:  I worked summer stock at a theater in Woodstock in the early 90s.  It was a magical summer (it's where I met Spalding Gray - maybe I need to do a Spalding blog post someday), but I haven't been back since.

 

Of course, being me, I only took a half day off from work for my vacation.  Someday, I need to figure out that vacation means TAKING TIME OFF FROM WORK.  But I digress.  I was surprised to see so many people standing in line at Port Authority for the 11:45am bus to Woodstock!  Thankfully, not everyone in line was actually going to Woodstock, there were quite a few stops on the route.  I wish I had eavesdropped a little better and found out where the European tourist, wearing all white linen and carrying twelve shopping bags, was going.  And how he even got all those shopping bags off the bus...

 

After a (relatively) quiet bus ride, I arrived in Woodstock in the late afternoon.  I got off the bus and took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp air and gorgeous sky of the Village Green.  I could see my B&B just across the square and made my way over there.  My key was taped onto the door, so I let myself in, found my room (there are only two rooms in the place), dropped off my stuff and set out to explore.

I just did a little wandering around and discovered I was hungry.  I stopped at Oriole 9, which is a really cute place near my B&B.  I got there about 30 minutes before closing time, but they were fine with my sitting and taking my time.  I got their special mimosa, which had apple cider, ginger and proseco in it.  It was delicious!  I felt vaguely wicked, ordering a cocktail with lunch, but hey, that's what vacations are about!  I also ordered the grilled chicken sandwich (sorry, vegetarian police, I was naughty all weekend) that had avocado and a garlic cream spread.  Yum yummy.  There was also a harissa sauce on the plate, but it was a tad spicy for me.  I dipped sparingly.

After lunch, I did more wandering, making mental notes about places I wanted to visit the next day.  I browsed in an adorable tea shop and bought myself a tin of tea; I also noticed that there would be a flea market the next day.  Woo hoo!  I do love a flea market.  I went looking for the grocery store I used to shop at when I lived in Woodstock, but then realized that was over 20 years ago.  I'm pretty sure there's a CVS in that location now.  I almost went searching for the house I dreamed of buying way back then, but I didn't.  I instead went walking up towards the mountains, mainly to get some pictures of the foliage.  I think I got some really pretty shots.  I'll put a lot of them at the bottom.  When I passed the very lovely cemetery, I passed a gent with forearm crutches, wandering through the cemetery.  I found him very poignant and an excellent reminder to keep self-pity at bay.   

 

After strolling for awhile, I went back to the B&B for a little liedown before dinner.  Village Green B&B is very nice, with a lot of Victorian touches, yet a flavor of Woodstock about it, too.  Buddha and Ganesh are everywhere, alongside angels and overstuffed furniture.  I liked the room quite a lot.  There's also a nice common room, with a dining room table and a stocked refrigerator.  We were welcome to have anything we liked, which was very convenient.  There were also several newspapers, a library with lots of interesting books and a tv.  I mainly stayed in my room, though, and enjoyed the tv in there.  A little Golden Girls with a liedown is always a wonderful thing.

I was feeling a little peckish before bed, though, so I went to Yum Yum Noodle Bar, which is just across the green.  It was packed, but I did find a seat at the bar in front.  I ordered the udon noodles in chicken broth with chicken.  Yes, lots of chicken was consumed.  Wow, that noodle bowl was amazing!  Salty deliciousness!  But not too salty, just right.  Umami at its finest.  I would've stayed longer, and perhaps tried one of their special apple cider sake drinks, but ugh, the gals sitting next to me were so unpleasant.  I think they were on a first day, trying to cram in every detail and trying to convince the other how hard their life was.  I don't doubt their lives were hard, but the one-upping each other wasn't very fun to listen to.  So I skedaddled, went back to my room and listened to some classical music on my iPhone before bed.  A very pleasant day indeed.

 

The weather was amazing on Saturday.  First, I went to a place called Bread Alone for a breakfast sandwich.  It's a very nice place, busy but not hectic, lots of light, and the coffee was delicious.  I was nervous when the server brought me my sandwich, because it looked like it was on 7-grain bread (I'm allergic to oats).  She actually went to call the bakery to make sure there were no oats (there weren't)!  I'd say that goes above and beyond the call of duty!  Another plus about Bread Alone is that it was right by the flea market!  The area was small and the wares weren't amazing, but I had a good time wandering around and picking up a few holiday gifts!  The vendors were all pleasant and chatty and there weren't a lot of customers that early in the morning.  A very wonderful start to the day.

 

After the flea market, I just set out on Tinker Street to look in every store and every gallery.  Plus, I wanted to get some pictures of the lovely scenery and just relax and enjoy myself.  Which indeed I did.  I had a lovely conversation in the stained glass shop with the designer/owner, the gal in the coffee shop selling pumpkin pie lattes was very nice, the dog in the holiday store was adorable, and the gent who was so grateful that I stopped in his photography gallery was charming.  I found a waterfall and a Food Network-endorsed cupcake shop.  The cupcake shop is now endorsed by me, as well.  Pumpkin cupcake with cinnamon frosting - OH YEAH.

I found another craft fair, so I wandered through there for a bit, then one of the vendors started saying it was raining in Kingston, so they were going to close up since clearly the rain was imminent.  I thought, oooo, I'd better get out of the rain, so I went back to my room for another liedown (I HAD been out all day, so a rest was a good idea anyway).  Since I was afraid it was going to rain, I got some takeout from Yum Yum Noodle Bar.  I was going to try the pumpkin and pork dumplings, but they were out.  So I got some vegetable dumplings and miso soup and took it back to my room.  I did a little reading, a little music listening, and then watched Wait Until Dark before heading to bed.  Note to self:  don't watch Wait Until Dark before going to bed.  Too scary.  All of the noises of the B&B kept me awake much of the night.  I hate that.

 

I got up early Sunday, to make sure I had enough time for a last wander around town before catching the 11:45am bus to NY.  The weather was again glorious and I was really sad to be leaving.  I walked around town one more time, taking more pictures of flowers, shops and the waterfall.  I reveled in the blue sky and the church bells.  Regretfully, I wandered back up to my room and packed up to leave.  Good thing I packed an extra tote bag in which to carry all the holiday gifts I purchased!  As I was leaving, I finally ran into the owner of the B&B, who offered to let me stay longer.  I was tempted, but no.  I had to get back home.  I turned in my key, went to Bread Alone for one last iced coffee for the road and waited for the bus to NY.  Again, I was surprised at the line to catch the bus.  The bus was actually packed, so, unfortunately, I had to sit with someone.  First, it was a guy who clearly had an onion sandwich before getting on the bus.  Yuck.  Finally, since he was invading my personal space and continually texting (that tap tap tap can drive you crazy), I switched seats with his friend and sat with an older lady.  After my first cough, she dove into her bag for a face mask.  Sigh.  Whatever.  The wi-fi wasn't working, which was unfortunate, so I just listened to classical music the whole way back.  It was, thankfully, a crowded but uneventful trip back.  I was going to take a nap once I made it back to my apartment, but, hello, Wuthering Heights was on.  There can be no napping during a Bronte sister movie...

 

I had an amazingly great time in Woodstock and I think I may need to make it a yearly tradition.  And maybe even take a day off work to extend the great time even longer.  I've been enjoying looking at my pictures since I got back - I hope you enjoy looking at them, too! 

 

Thoughts on The Winslow Boy

I'm so tired, I sometimes I feel like I'm dying.  It seems like the work never ends - I thought after we got back from Chicago that the work would slow down.  Not so much.  I feel as if I'm on a hamster wheel of meetings and seminars and concerts and event planning.  Stop the world, I want to get off!  :)   Not really, but a break would be nice.  Of course, this week, I had two work events, back to back, and if I were a smart person, I wouldn't have purchased a TDF ticket to a preview of Roundabout's revival of The Winslow Boy.  But, I think we've established over the last few years, when it comes to scheduling my time and buying tickets, I'm rarely smart.

 

When I got to the American Airlines Theatre last night, I was drop dead beat.  But I was also really looking forward to the show - it features two of my uber-favorite stage actors, Roger Rees and Michael Cumpsty, and other actors who I've enjoyed in the past, like Alessandro Nivola and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.  I also generally greatly enjoy a Terrence Rattigan play and knew that Roundabout would give this a quality revival.  Happily, I was not wrong.  [Any production photos that follow are from the Roundabout's Facebook page and were taken by Joan Marcus.  My standard disclaimer applies.]

I picked up my ticket and found out I was in the front row.  Yikes!  Not only the front row, but front row center.  Then I saw the sign in the lobby telling me the show was over two and a half hours long.  I suddenly panicked that I would fall asleep during the show and Roger Rees would get mad at me.  I needn't have worried.  The Winslow Boy is beautifully put together, so moving and just a cracking good story.  It doesn't open until next week, so I won't go on for too long, since they're probably still working and refining.  But I thought the production was first-rate.  In fact, it was so good, I was a little too hopped up on happy theater vibes and couldn't fall asleep when I got home! 

 

Based on true events, The Winslow Boy starts with the story of Ronnie Winslow, a boy who's been expelled from his military school for stealing, but it's really about how his family rallies (or not) around him.  All of the actors have created a strong, believeable family unit and you really felt their devotion to Ronnie and each other.  I was so moved throughout at the sacrifices each was willing to make for the other.

 

The entire cast is wonderful, but Roger Rees is simply spectacular.  This is one of the most complete, layered, heartbreaking performances I've seen.  I felt all of his pride, stubborness, love, regret, pain.  So much was going on and he made me cry more than once.  It's just an amazing performance and it's one I'll remember for a long time.  His final scene?  Magic. Exquisite.  I feel so privileged to have been there, and, was actually glad to be in the front row to see all the stunning layers up close.

 

As always with a Roundabout revival of a classic, the attention to detail was terrific.  The physical production was gorgeous and much attention was placed on period.  I enjoyed all of the little touches and am ever so glad I saw this show.  I laughed, I cried, I swooned and I helped the woman next to me fix her Kindle.  A pretty complete evening, if you ask me.  Head over to The Winslow Boy.  You'll be glad you did.

 

Review - First Date

A friend from out of town, who also happens to be a Tony voter, generously took me to see First Date, the new Broadway musical, last weekend.  I went in with really low expectations and...I'm sorry to say they were met. 

I really didn't enjoy myself at First Date.  I went in ready to laugh and have some stupid fun (hey, I had a good time at Rock of Ages!), but I found it so cliched, with some borderline offensive stereotypes.  The music was rather generic and they tried to cram so many 'witty' lyrics into each song, they seemed to last much too long.  It seems pretty obvious to me the show was written by straight guys (and if I'm wrong, I apologize) - the gay stereotypes were REALLY close to being homophobic (I read one review calling them the 'gay equivalent of blackface'), and, gee, isn't it fun that it's the women that really need fixed, the guys just need someone to love?  And has anyone ever written a show about a strait-laced woman dating a bohemian guy?

The performers were all very good, doing what they could with the material.  It seemed odd that the two leads didn't have all that many songs, mostly they sat and reacted to the ensemble, who played all the people in their lives and sang most of the songs.  The ensemble was working REALLY hard (maybe a little too hard at some points), but it can't have been easy playing six or seven different roles during a 90-minute musical.

Perhaps I just don't have a sense of humor.  Maybe I was taking the show too seriously.  I will admit that the rest of the audience was having a GREAT time.  I thought the guy next to me would bust a gut with laughter.  Everyone else seemed to laugh uproariously at the jokes and they jumped to their feet for a standing ovation at the end.  So, what do I know?  But when there was a fat joke and a pedophile joke in the opening number, that set the tone for me for the rest of the night.  And I think we can all remember that I hold a grudge...

Review - Romeo and Juliet

A friend of a friend gave me a ticket to last night's Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet.  I thought, why not?  I think Condola Rashad is quite talented and I certainly love me some Shakespeare.  I don't think I've seen a theatrical production of R&J for years, but I've seen the ballet at ABT repeatedly over the years.  Plus, the show started at 7pm!  As a lazy old person, that was also a selling point.  :)

Well, I didn't really consider last night's performance to be a success.  There were certainly some pretty aspects and there was some nice acting here and there, which intermittently engaged me, but golly, this was a rather inert and passionless rendering of Romeo and Juliet.  I definitely got more passion in last summer's production at ABT.  All the production shots below are from the internet - they were all taken by Carol Rosegg and my standard disclaimer applies.

I think there's a good stage actor somewhere in Orlando Bloom, but perhaps this wasn't quite the right choice for him.  I did think he did well with the opening scenes, where he was a glib guy's guy, talking about love for talking's sake, and he had a nice rapport with Brent Carver as Friar Laurence.  But he had no chemistry, none, with Condola Rashad's Juliet.  And, once he started to try to be more 'intense,' it didn't come off well.  At one point, he was practically throwing a tantrum and started yelling at the audience members in the front row.  Which made the audience laugh.  I don't think that was the desired response for the 'banished' scene. 



Condola Rashad is lovely and also had some very nice moments, but perhaps overplayed the wide-eyed naivte.  There didn't seem to be a maturation to this Juliet as the play progressed, which was a shame.  And, vocally, to sound younger, she's pitched her voice a bit too high, and that also led to the rather static quality of the production as a whole.

Maybe a lot of the blame can be placed at director David Leveaux's feet.  It didn't seem as if he had much of an idea for the production, beyond 'hey, let's cast black actors as Capulets and white actors as Montagues.'  Nothing was really done with the multi-racial casting; the show was set in some sort of indeterminate place and vaguely modern time; and most everyone was allowed to pose and indicate rather than think and explore.  in fact, a lot of the time, when one character was speaking, the other actor would rather shut down, as if it wasn't their turn to act at the moment.  I think this added to the inert and rather bloodless telling of this story.  There were some very good performances, however, from Jayne Howdyshell as the Nurse and Chuck Cooper as Juliet's father.  The scene when everyone is discovering Juliet's 'death' was quite moving, I wish there had been more of that throughout the evening.  I generally enjoy Christian Camargo, and his Mercutio was beautifully spoken, but, well, he was wearing leather.  Really?  I believe I've mentioned my distate for the continued use of leather as metaphor in Shakespeare...
 

There were also a lot of gimmicky props and set pieces that didn't seem to really have anything to do with anything.  The bell?  Still no idea what it was for, and the fact that the actors were so tempted to lean on the bell cord should've been an indication that no one else knew what it was for, either.  The sand on the stage was confusing and the random bits of fire were just odd.  There was a stack of chairs to the side, which I guess was handy when someone wanted to pull one off the top to sit on it.  I don't know, the whole thing was a confusing mishmash.

Of course, no one was helped by the text, the script was cut to pieces - really, Mercutio's death scene is truncated and he's carried off stage while still speaking?!  Paris isn't in the final scene in the crypt?! - and there seemed to be a little rewriting, which really rather ticked me off.  There were a couple of lines that struck my ear and I thought, wow, I've never noticed that before.  Then I checked my copy of the play when I got home.  Well, no wonder I never noticed it before.  It was made up.  Not good.  The second act was so edited, there was really no way the end of the play could register, it came upon us too fast.

My seat neighbors mainly consisted of women who wanted to swoon at Orlando Bloom.  So, when the obligatory shirtless scene happened, there was much noice in the house.  Sigh.  I think that if the production had captured our attention and imagination earlier, there would've been much less of that.  The audience also laughed at inappropriate spots, like during entrances and exits from the house.  There was no policing of photos, so the camera phones were out throughout.  So, perhaps I was expecting too much.  Maybe this was just supposed to be some sort of event and not a serious retelling of a wonderful love story.  If so, drats.  I was in the mood for some wonderful Shakespeare.  I will temper my expectations in the future...