Thoughts on Tony nominations

The Tony nominations will be announced on Tuesday - excitement is building around town.  I haven't seen so many of the contenders, it seems silly to speculate about things, but speculate I will.  Good thing I'm never afraid to be silly.

These thoughts are the names of people I'd like to hear next Tuesday, or what I think should be nominated, based on what I've seen, which isn't much.  I know most of them are longshots, but, hey, I liked them:

BEST PLAY

Constellations
The Country House
Disgraced
(I'm dying to see the shows that are supposed to be the true contenders, like Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Hand to God, The Audience, Airline Highway and Wolf Hall.  I guess I'll just have to pray for generous Tony voter friends)

BEST MUSICAL

Fun Home
Honeymoon in Vegas
The Visit

REVIVAL OF A PLAY

The Heidi Chronicles
Love Letters
You Can't Take it With You
(it breaks my heart not to type A Delicate Balance here, but I just didn't like the production)

REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

On the Twentieth Century
On the Town
Side Show
(DYING to see The King and I, which I'm sure will sweep)

ACTOR IN A PLAY

Jake Gyllenhaal, Constellations
Hugh Jackman, The River
Douglas Sills, Living on Love
(I just haven't seen enough, this is bad)

ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Blythe Danner, The Country House
Mia Farrow, Love Letters
Renee Fleming, Living on Love
Elisabeth Moss, The Heidi Chronicles
Ruth Wilson, Constellations


FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY

Bob Balaban, A Delicate Balance
Bryce Pinkham, The Heidi Chronicles
Reg Rogers, You Can't Take it With You

FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Annaleigh Ashford, You Can't Take it With You
Claire Higgins, A Delicate Balance
Sarah Steele, The Country House

ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
Peter Gallagher, On the Twentieth Century
Rob McClure, Honeymoon in Vegas
Roger Rees, The Visit
Tony Yazbeck, On the Town

ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Laura Michelle Kelly, Finding Neverland
Chita Rivera, The Visit

FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Fred Applegate, The Last Ship
Jason Danieley, The Visit
Tony Danza, Honeymoon in Vegas
Kelsey Grammer, Finding Neverland
Aaron Lazar, The Last Ship

FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Carolee Carmello, Finding Neverland
Judy Kuhn, Fun Home
Sydney Lucas, Fun Home
Nancy Opel, Honeymoon in Vegas
Mary Louise Wilson, On the Twentieth Century

SCORE

Jason Robert Brown, Honeymoon in Vegas
John Kander and Fred Ebb, The Visit
Sting, The Last Ship
Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, Fun Home

Review - The Visit

Back in 2011, I opened up my wallet to get a ticket to the Actors Fund concert version of McNally, Kander & Ebb's The Visit, figuring it could be my only chance to see the show and to see the legendary Chita Rivera in it.  How happy was I that not only was the show revived last summer in Williamstown, but then the producers decided to bring it to NYC?  Very!  I'm so glad to have had the chance to revisit (hah!) The Visit - it's actually quite different now.  And although I'm trying to not buy any tickets at the moment since I'm going to Dublin in about ten days (more posting on that later!), I couldn't resist getting a discounted TDF ticket to this musical before it opened.  It opens tonight, so please theater gods.  Make the reviews be good.  Make the run of The Visit last a long time so I can go see this show again!!!

When I went back to look at my report from the 2011 concert, I had a few quibbles, but adored Chita and some of the songs.  Thinking back, I probably have a lot of those same quibbles, but while I was watching the show last night?  I was completely blown away and so incredibly moved throughout.  I think I freaked out my seat neighbor by how overcome I was throughout the evening.  I had to get out of the theater immediately so I could go home and cry in peace.  A good theatrical cry, of course.

The Visit is a musical version of the Durrenmatt play about a wealthy widow named Claire Zachanassian, who grew up in Brachen, where the musical takes place.  She is returning after a long absence and the townspeople hope that she will restore their dying, bankrupt town.  *If you don't know the play, spoilers will abound after this.*  Claire indeed says she will save the town, give them billions of dollars and provide each townsperson with a fortune, but for a price.  She wants her former lover, Anton Schell, killed.  The townspeople are appalled at first, but then of course, they're seduced by the promises of riches.

Dark, scary stuff.  This production has been streamlined to one act, about 95 minutes, and it's an expressionistic runaway train ride throughout.  Once the musical starts, it throttles towards the inevitable conclusion.  But the depth of hate and love and rage and despair and revenge is remarkable.  Most of the depths come from the remarkable woman at the center of this production, Chita Rivera.  She is monumental, truly spectacular, as this monster of a woman who wants revenge, but whose revenge is still tinged in love and regret.  Watching her see her younger self on stage and sharing moments of wonder with her soon-to-be-dead lover were incredibly heartbreaking.  At least for me.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

And Roger Rees, as Anton, stands up to her (theatrically speaking, of course).  He is a shabby, rundown person at the beginning of the show, but as he works through his consternation, his fear and finally his acceptance, Anton grows in stature and becomes the man he used to be, the man Claire loved, and he can again take his place at her side.  As a corpse, of course, but this is what constitutes a happy ending in this musical.

The songs have been orchestrated in such a way that they crescendo in all the right places, with a vaguely sinister sound underneath.  Though there are still recognizable beats of the Kander & Ebb sound throughout.  The song "You, You, You" is now done as a quartet, with the older and younger selves of Claire and Anton singing about their past, present and future - it was glorious.  And "Love and Love Alone," now staged as a solo for Claire and then it segues into a dance duet between Claire and her younger self, is a true theatrical treasure.  I also adored "The Only One," sung by the superlative Jason Danieley as the schoolteacher and one near-holdout who wants to save Anton but isn't strong enough to see it through. 

photo credit: Thom Kaine

The first and last confrontation scenes between Claire and Anton are shattering.  At least they were to me.  I guess, as a woman of a certain age who was rather 'wronged' at an early age, I could really feel the years of accumulated rage and pain that brought Claire to her current position.  But the scenes were so amazingly acted, I think even someone who had no clue about those kinds of feelings couldn't help but be moved.

The set, lights and costumes were terrific, but the makeup was a tad distracting - I'm not sure if they were going for some sort of expressionistic 'grime' or if I was just too close and the makeup looked too heavy.  And I will admit that when I heard John Doyle was directing this new incarnation, I was apprehensive.  I'm not completely on board with his approach and I really had a hard time with the last show of his that I saw.  I'm happy to report that I didn't have a huge problem with his work on The Visit, though every now and again I would think, oh my god, they're marching again!  I don't know what it is about the marching that intrigues him so...

photo credit: Gregg Delman

Oddly, there were sections of the audience who treated this production as if it were a Chita Rivera farewell tour cabaret.  They laughed heartily, whooped it up and didn't seem to be involved in the chilling action of the play.  I found that a tad disconcerting on occasion, but I was mainly so verklempt throughout, I could get past it. 

I also wanted to share a little seat neighbor and pre-show report.  On my way to the theater, my way was blocked by a group of kids doing the chicken dance in front of the Swatch store so no one could get by.  THE CHICKEN DANCE.  Seriously.  Dear tourists: don't do that.  No one likes it.  I finally got to the theater and found my seat, which was extremely house left, similar to my seat for the 2011 concert.  I was a little disappointed to be so far over again, but oh well.  I did have an enjoyable time listening to my seat neighbors discuss their likes and dislikes.  Like?  Between Riverside and the Happy Place (their title, not mine).  And then they were thrilled they got to see Between Riverside and the Happy Place because American Psycho didn't come in.  Which they pronounced American Pseeko.  The 'p' wasn't silent.  I kid you not.  It was a group of three ladies, two next to me and one in front.  There was an empty seat next to the lady in front.  After the first two numbers, ushers seated latecomers.  There was a latecomer for that empty seat and the lady in front was incensed.  INCENSED.  She actually got up to argue with the usher about having to take her coat off the seat.  These ladies were crazy.  Oh, and there was another gal who yelled at the usher who told her to go to her 'other right,' because when he said 'go to your right' and she went left, everyone was confused.  But 'other right' set her off even more.  I just kept thinking, people, we're going to see Chita.  Let's all just calm the f*ck down...  Oh, and the cell phones that kept ringing and ringing?  Someday I'm going to have to break a phone.  Turn them off, people.

Back to the show: I hope all of you are opening a new tab on your computers and buying tickets to The Visit right now.  I wish I could be a better reviewer and make you understand just what a wonderfully sad and beautiful experience this musical is.  And what amazing performances are being given by Chita Rivera and Roger Rees.  But even if you don't have time to see it right now, please just whisper a little prayer that the show doesn't get creamed in the papers tomorrow.  We need shows like this to offset the big, brassy musicals (which I also enjoy).  We need them all.

Review - Finding Neverland

What a whirlwind time of year it is - I think there are dozens of shows opening throughout April, trying to get in before the Tony nomination deadline.  I'd love to see all of them (well, almost all of them), but budgetary constraints constantly rear their ugly heads.  Fortunately, I have generous friends who offer tickets to me when they can't use them.  Last Saturday, a generous friend couldn't use his ticket to Finding Neverland, so I was the happy recipient of his ticket.

I was a fan of the 2004 film of Finding Neverland - I'm a real sucker for backstage stories and especially for Peter Pan.  I cry like a baby when the Darling kids fly.  And I cried like a baby at the end of the Finding Neverland film.  I will admit I also got teary-eyed at the musical last Saturday, but only because of my personal reaction to the story, not because the show itself moved me.  I was actually rather flummoxed by the show...

(If you haven't seen the film or the musical, spoilers will abound.)  I hope I don't get yelled at or shot or blackballed by the very-famous-producer of Finding Neverland.  I feel badly that I didn't like it as much as he apparently wants me to.  But I don't think this show gives me a reason why it's a musical.  The music didn't elevate the material in any way, nor did it provide any new insights into the story.  Although there were some lovely effects, mostly the show just sort of laid there.

To sort of 'Pavlov's dog' the audience into applauding and getting into the spirit, Finding Neverland opens with light flashing around the plush stage curtain - it's Tinker Bell, getting us ready for the show to begin.  I thought this was cute, but it went on for way too long, as did the Peter Pan prologue.  Then J.M. Barrie (played by Matthew Morrison) came out and set up the show as a flashback.  We flash back to the unsuccessful opening night of Barrie's play before Peter Pan, and the empty life that fuels his writer's block.  The rest of the musical sticks relatively closely to the plot of the movie, except for one rather major plot point.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

All of the performers were persuasive and in good voice (I wasn't a fan of the overly amplified sound design, though, it sounded like they were performing on the moon and we were listening to the live feed).  The children were quite good, but I had a bit of a problem with the overly-big performances given by the ensemble.  They each had some very distracting and very silly stage business that was just mugging, not theatrical.  The choreography didn't appeal to me, but it was at least well-done throughout.  The sets were opulent and the costumes were mainly very lovely.  The big problem - the HUGE problem - with the show is the score.  And if you don't have a score, why have a musical?  The songs all had an interchangeable sameness to them, with generic, trite lyrics (side note: yesterday, I went with a lovely gal pal to see The Sound of Music on the big screen.  I cried during the movie, not just because I love it, but because the lyrics were so wonderful, and they weren't even Hammerstein's best.  But after hearing the Finding Neverland lyrics, the quality of R&H stood out even more).  You could probably have moved the order of the songs and it wouldn't have made much difference.  Some of the lyrics were so nonsensical that I truly couldn't understand what the song was supposed to be about.  Or, at times, even what the actual words were.  These were good performers, good actors and good singers, who couldn't put over these songs.  I really feel the fault lay in the songs.  The ballads all sounded like 80s boy band songs and the group numbers sounded like watered-down music hall numbers.  There was nothing distinctive or interesting in most of the music.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

The plot point that deviated from the film is that J.M. Barrie and the widow he meets in the park (Sylvia) now have a romance.  A doomed romance, of course, because her fate hasn't changed.  But it was disconcerting for Barrie to go from a proper Edwardian writer to a shirt-ripping hunk in the last number of the first act and then turn into the romantic hero in the second act.  I thought the story was supposed to be about how Peter Pan happened, not a Harlequin romance.  The love story should be between Barrie and the whole family who inspired him, not just the woman.  I didn't care for the romantic overtones added, though it seemed as if the rest of the audience did.  There was lots of squealing in the audience when Morrison ripped open his shirt. 

There was actually a lot of squealing and applauding and shouting throughout the show.  I wonder at this phenomenon - I'm glad people are determined to enjoy themselves, but all of the squealing and screaming before the show even starts seems so false.  I don't know.  Maybe it gets other people in the mood.

I'm sorry I didn't enjoy the production more - I had a wonderful seat and I was all ready to be transported - but it mainly just made me want to go home and watch the movie.  I enjoy the story and would've been perfectly happy to see this cast perform the show without songs - the moments that were moving to me, like the flying efffects or Tinker Bell or the spectacular death scene for Sylvia, none of them had anything to do with the music, just with the magic of theater.  And the music is what should make the show soar.  At least, that's what I think should happen in a musical.  I guess there are those who disagree.  The show is doing great business, though, so what do I know?

More Friday Flashing!

I KNOW I have mentioned in the past how much I love Craig Lucas' work.  I'm hoping to catch An American in Paris, for which Craig has provided the libretto.  In the hope that I get to enjoy some of his writing soon, I present a Friday flashback to six years ago today.  I went down to the Public to catch Craig's play The Singing Forest.  It was flawed to be sure, but I went back twice more to just revel in the scale of it, and I rather like this review.  I hope to see the show again someday.  But in case you missed it, here you go...

4/17/2009:  After having a DELICIOUS cocktail with my GNO+1 pals (it was called something like A Delirious Summer Night and had limoncello, proseco and pomegranate liqueur.  YUMMMMM), I went to the Public to catch a preview of Craig Lucas’ The Singing Forest.  As with a lot of Craig’s work, this is chock-full of stuff to ponder, so I need to go back and see the show again.  I feel like there was a lot I missed.

The story begins with Olympia Dukakis as a Holocaust survivor at an AA meeting, wanting to talk about the whole idea of ‘making amends.’  Can Hitler make amends?  Do amends even exist?  I thought these were some very interesting ideas and the monologue was a good way to get to know this incredibly complex character.  The play has quite a few characters and how they all relate to and interact with Olympia Dukakis’ character is a big part of the construct. 

The play takes place in New York in 2000, Vienna in 1933-38 and London, 1940.  There is a lot of time-shifting, as we see events in the past that explain some of the behavior of the ‘present.’  Themes of forgiveness, the sins of the parents, inaccuracy of memory, the effects of psychoanalysis and the downward trend of intellect pervade (comparisons between the intellectually stimulating coffee houses of Vienna in the ‘30s and the not-so-intellectually stimulating Starbucks of today are quite striking). 

For me, this piece is messy, a tad schizo, funny, sad, completely true and incredibly ambitious.  But I did notice quite a few walkouts at the intermissions (there are two intermissions) and plenty of sleeping people around me.  I heard some people in the lobby afterwards complaining bitterly that they had no idea what the show was about.  So perhaps my love of Craig and his work are holding me up.  But I wasn’t bored for an instant and do feel as if I should go back after it opens to see if some of the mess has been cleaned up.  But, truthfully, most of the mess is pretty interesting.  I liked the first two acts better than the third, though I was really moved by the last scene.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

The actors are pretty terrific, save one or two.  Olympia Dukakis is really grand as this monster who reveals her pain to you little by little.  She’s caustic, she’s funny—the things she does for non-intimate relationships are hysterical.  Mark Blum (a longtime favorite of mine) is wonderful as one of the various analysts we meet throughout the piece.  I also really liked Jonathan Groff (from Spring Awakening) as the boy who is always playing a part and never really finds out who he actually is.  There’s a little nudity, for those of you who like that sort of thing.  

So, as you probably could’ve guessed without even reading the review, I suggest you see this.  Plays that are so ambitious and tackle ideas this large are few and far between these days.  The fact that it isn’t entirely successful doesn’t negate the attempt.  Does it?

Oh, and seat neighbor report:  the kids sitting next to me were pretty young.  At the first intermission, the girl asked me if the play was over.  I said, no, just intermission.  After the second intermission, the boy wanted to leave, but the girl wanted to know how it all turned out!  Very cute.  Behind me was a foursome of a certain age.  At the first intermission, one of the gentlemen proceeded to explain the first act to his seatmates.  His wife exclaimed “How would you know?!  You were asleep!”  He says, “SO?!”  They left at the second intermission.  Apparently, they didn’t want to know how it all turned out.  Then there was the British couple to my left who argued, quite loudly, that they thought the two psychoanalysts were in fact the same person.  The id and the superego.  Ummm…ok.  I love listening to conversations at intermission - I really believe in the 'five block rule,' but hearing what people are getting out of a show is fascinating to me.  Maybe I should do a blog just on audience reaction - something to ponder... :)

Thoughts on Living On Love

Who is one of the luckiest girls in the world?  ME!  I'm so grateful that I have generous friends who share the bounty of free tickets with me - yesterday, I got to take a handsome friend to see one of the final previews of the new Broadway play, Living on Love, thanks to a pal who offered us comps.  The play features the opera megastar Renee Fleming and one of my uber-favorites, the divine Douglas Sills.  I'll admit I went in with a little apprehension, having read not-great comments on the internet about the show.  I decided to just go with the flow and see what would happen...

Happily, I had a really good time!  Living on Love is pretty silly, but it made me laugh a lot, and, god love him, Doug Sills even moved me at one point.  How he found a real moment in all that silliness is really a testament to his skill.  Of course, I AM predisposed to love him, so there's that.  The show is still in previews, though I would doubt they're making changes by now, so I'll only offer a few thoughts.

Living on Love is based on a 30s play by Garson Kanin called Peccadillo, which I don't know at all.  This incarnation is the story of an opera maestro and his opera diva wife, who've grown apart over the years - at the opening of the play, the diva is on tour and the maestro is home alone, supposedly working on his memoirs with a nebbishy young writer, played by Jerry O'Connell.  Their working relationship isn't going all that well, so during the wacky hijinks that ensue over the course of the play, O'Connell ends up working with the opera diva (Renee Fleming, of course) on her memoirs and young assistant assistant editor Anna Chlumsky works with the maestro.  They're all larger-than-life personalities, even the shy writer and editor, and it's fun to see how the high emotion of opera and its artists affect the younger characters.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

These four wackadoos are joined by a pair of butlers, who are really a treat and their plot 'reveal' at the end was quite unexpected.  At least to me.  The audience just ate them up.  I won't say anything else about them because I think the less you know, the more fun you'll have.  I'll just finish by saying they were terrific.  As were Fleming and Sills.  Fleming is still working on her comic timing and line delivery, but she's really quite witty and charming on stage.  Of course, she IS an opera diva PLAYING an opera diva, but she's very deft in how she lives up to and sends up the stereotype.  It's also a treat to hear her sing snippets of some of the famous opera arias I'm sure she's sung a million times in other contexts, plus she delivers a sublime "Always" late in the show.  Of course, every time she sang, I started to wish she would sing the whole aria, but I guess that would've made the show five hours long.

photo credit: Andrew Eccles

Douglas Sills is quite simply a riot as the hot-blooded, big-talking Italian maestro.  He has some adorably goofy dialogue (I was especially fond of 'spooky author' instead of 'ghost writer') and some fun physical comedy.  He also has a lovely tender moment at the end that brought tears to my eyes.  The play is silly silly, but Sills is still finding the pathos and the fear of getting older and left behind in this vainglorious conductor.  

I believe there was some sort of kerfuffle with some props last night, it seemed as if they were adlibbing awkwardly at one point, but maybe I somehow missed how it got started.  I wasn't quite getting the enjoyment out of the moment the rest of the audience seemed to be, but I guess that was me.  The audience really seemed to enjoy themselves throughout - there was a lot of laughter and good will throughout the performance.  I'll be interested to see how the play is received in the press; it's pretty old-fashioned and doesn't really aim to do anything but make you laugh, but hey, there is nothing wrong with that.  Anything that makes me laugh (and cry) is ok by me.  And anytime Doug Sills gets to strut his stuff onstage is also ok by me.  So...it seems that last night was ok by me!  :)

Recent Travels

I was recently in La Jolla, CA for work and then home to celebrate my nephew's fifteenth birthday.  I had a grand time in both locales, with tasty food, laughs and fun.  Not to mention glorious weather (at least in La Jolla; we only had one non-rainy day in Ohio, but at least it was on my nephew's birthday).  Enjoy some of my favorite photos from a fun week...

5am, waiting for a car to take me to the airport

you had to walk ten miles just to get to the plane!

worth it!  sunny in San Diego

and...right to the pool

shrimp and crab nachos at the hotel's restaurant

view from my room

view from the parking lot

view from The Shores restaurant

a delicious margarita that had cinnamon apple cider in it

rock shrimp fritters with a curry sauce

I love getting love notes from my microgreens

delicious roasted chicken with sweet potato gnocchi

glad I saw this AFTER dinner

light breakfast

yummy turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich for lunch

this guy found some lunch, too

banquet food tasting at the hotel.  it was all DELICIOUS

from the back seat of the rental car

gorgeous Del Mar

yes, I had bacon maple tiramisu for dinner.  so?

my goofy nephew

the day we met

the lines at LaGuardia were INSANE

had to get some lunch as soon as I arrived.  Rockne's turkey club

Easter lilies in the grocery store

the family home, built by my dad

Easter bunny popcorn

my sister gave me this gorgeous scarf for my birthday

I don't know why I love clouds so much...

but at least I got a candid of my nephew!

this was last July

he's so tall!!!

marking his height on the door

he seemed to like his gift

sneaky shot of an ornery boy

but he got me the sweetest gift

I insanely decided to try a little tennis

 

horrible form

marginally better

he is much better

it was nice to walk and chat

 

arty shot in the park

surprise cake for me!

 

my sister got this shot

 

cake for my sweetheart - he didn't want writing on it

he's a goofball

but I love him!  :)