Revival-ing

I've seen a couple of major revivals in the past week, so I thought I'd report on them. First up - I made a return to Classic Stage Company and their production of Pacific Overtures. You may remember that I saw a preview performance and had a terrible seat neighbor. To their credit, CSC's customer service department gave me a ticket to another performance and I happily took them up on their offer. My second visit to the show was a much better experience.

I've made my unease with this particular director's aesthetic known before - to me, and this is just how I respond to his work, this director doesn't trust his audience and thinks we're too dumb to understand a show, so it needs to be 'stripped down to its essence' for us to get it. Uh, ok. And in Pacific Overtures, I think he went one step further and gave us a new character to whom everyone could 'tell' the story, just in case we still didn't understand. Sigh. So, for me, what we had was a pageant that had songs from Pacific Overtures in it. With the show stripped down so completely, and the music tempi slowed to a near crawl for most songs, even the main story didn't make complete sense because there was no context. But, again, this is just me. I just couldn't get my expectations and preconceived notions out of my head, I admit it. I know for a fact that the creators really loved this version, so who am I to argue with the guys who wrote it?!?!

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Speaking of the guys who wrote it - I was sitting in the audience, getting ready for the show to begin, when I see the authors come into the theater to watch the show. WAIT, WHAT?!  They even sat one row behind and across the aisle from me! What an experience to watch this beautiful musical be performed with the authors right behind me. I could hear them laugh at some dialogue, make 'ooo' sounds at some lyrics and I could feel them enjoying themselves, which made me enjoy myself more, I guess. I also enjoyed the production much more from my seat in the middle of the house, instead of in the floor seating at the end of the aisle. At my first visit, sitting in a chair on the floor, it seemed as if everyone was march march marching right by me (you've heard me complain about the marching before, right?), and there was never a chance to breathe. Sitting further back and in the center of the house gave me more perspective to see the show expand. The marching still bothered me, don't get me wrong (and I swear the director was gaslighting me when he had the actors PRETEND to march during the one song where they legitimately could've been moving), but it wasn't as annoying from further back.

The show was beautifully sung and very well-acted, especially "Someone in a Tree," which I believe I have mentioned is one of my favorite theater songs EVER. Now imagine enjoying one of your favorite theater songs EVER with one of your favorite theater writing teams EVER sitting behind you. It was quite overwhelming, to be honest, and I nearly burst into meta-tears a couple of times. I'm so dramatic. So even if this concept wasn't exactly my cup of chrysanthemum tea, I did have an amazing time and an evening I'll never forget. That doesn't mean I'm not grateful that this particular director is not directing the upcoming version of Assassins at City Center. Therefore, I have my ticket already in hand...

When I was in undergrad, whenever I got the opportunity to choose a monologue for class, I would generally choose something from a Lillian Hellman play. My teachers would 'tsk' and make fun of me, but I wanted to do roles written for women by women. So what if they were completely inappropriate? There was one really terrific monologue in The Searching Wind, though I confess I totally forget now what that play is about. Ahem. I saw the last revival of her play The Little Foxes at Lincoln Center - I'll be honest and say I don't remember much of the evening, though I do remember being just crushed by Frances Conroy as Birdie. Her performance will stay with me forever and it may be one of the top ten performances I've seen ever. So because I still revere that performance, I've been a tad reluctant to check out the current revival at Manhattan Theatre Club. But I finally succumbed and got a rush ticket for Saturday night's performance. I highly recommend the Today Tix rush thing - I was on my phone at precisely ten in the morning and easily picked up a ticket. I'm now inclined to use their app more often; I hope it always works that smoothly. 

photo credit: Joan Marcus

One of the gimmicks of this particular production is that two actresses switch out the roles of Regina and Birdie.  The combination I saw was Cynthia Nixon as Regina and Laura Linney as Birdie. I'm a fan of both actresses, though I will say that Cynthia Nixon's vocal register was sometimes uncomfortable to listen to. Her voice is always pitched quite high, and it's well-supported, but at times it veered toward shrieking, which is never easy. But it only happened in a couple of scenes and the acting is so good across the board in The Little Foxes, I could rather overlook it.

This play is so well-constructed, it should be taught in college playwriting courses. And you know it isn't, because, hello, a woman wrote it. But that's for another blog post. For this one, I'll just focus on the fact that this is a cracking good story, told in an elegant and compact way - there is no fat on this script and it moves beautifully. Each curtain line brought gasps from the audience and made you anxious and excited for the next act to come.  And as Cynthia Nixon herself said in her Tony speech, this play is eerily prescient. The way it deals with the upper middle class cheating the classes below them to make more money, and the way it treats women to keep them down 'in their place,' was prophetic. Lillian Hellman would probably be so ticked off that things haven't gotten much better in the 70+ years since its premiere.

As I said before, the acting is outstanding in The Little Foxes. Nixon captured the icy elegance of Regina, as well as the seething anger at what she's being denied going on underneath. Linney was simply heartbreaking as Birdie - knowing she wouldn't be able to get her way, but sill trying, even as she continued to anesthetize herself with alcohol. And her third act speech about how she ended up where she is was magnificent. Richard Thomas was superb as Regina's husband, Horace, and he built up to his third act tragedy so thoroughly that I was gasping for air myself. Michael McKean was sardonic and mean, yet with a kind of twinkle that engaged me in spite of myself, and Caroline Stefanie Clay was fantastic as Addie, the servant who sees all and knows all.  Really first-rate work from everyone. I also want to mention that the Tony-winning costumes by Jane Greenwood were spectacular and my god I can't believe it took 21 nominations for that woman to win an award! Whew, sorry, had to go there. Anyway. I had a grand time and just kept thinking "why can't we get more Lillian Hellman revivals in New York?!".  Hopefully, everyone who saw, enjoyed, and witnessed how well a play of hers can work in this day and age will clamor for more, too.