that girl allison

I knew it was a political play and one that was filled with names, that’s it. But that was enough to convince me to see it and what an appropriate play it is for this season. The Best Man is about a Republican primary in the year 1960 and how dirty and ruthless candidates can become.

Performances were stellar overall. James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury owned the stage whenever they graced it, naturally. This was in fact my first time seeing Ms. Lansbury live onstage and she was lovely. Some say you become you become a real theatre fan after seeing her live (just kidding).

John Larroquette was convincing as the thoughtful and moral of the two candidates, Secretary William Russell, and Eric McCormack was stomach turning as the other candidate Senator Joseph Cantwell. (I should also mention what an uncanny appearance Eric McCormack has to former presidential candidate Rick Santorum.  I don’t think that was an accident either.) Other notable performances were Kerry Butler as Mabel Cantwell, wife of Joseph, and Candice Bergen as Alice Russell, the estranged wife of William. These two women are as different as they can be - and you feel their different streaks of pain as they campaign with their husbands.

The Best Man could not have been revived at a more appropriate time as it is a reminder of how dirty these elections can get. It’s also reminiscent of the Republican primary we’ve just seen unfolding in front of our eyes - some, if not all, of these events probably occurred at one point or another this year. TBM is an entertaining and enlightening two-and-a-half hours.

I hope in November the best man wins. 

I went to an early preview of the new off-Broadway musical Fat Camp a couple of weeks ago. And I think I laughed off a few pounds.

With book by Randy Blaire and Tim Drucker, music by Matthew roi Berger, and lyrics by Randy Blair, Fat Camp is about a summer at fat camp in which one overweight rebel tries to turn the camp upside-down by refusing to lose weight. There’s a love story in there too, with betrayal and an eventual make-up and happy ending.

The set is so much fun. The theatre is decked out in cheesy posters, the kind you would have made yourself had you been forced to go to fat camp as a kid. The cast is wonderful, with the standout being Carly Jibson as Daphne the overweight camp whore who gets sent to camp over and over again for the boys. Molly Hager, as the protagonist Taylor who is hell-bent on shedding her extra pounds, is beautiful, can move easily, and has a crystal clear voice. Daniel Everidge, as the defiant heavyweight Robert, is hysterical but charming as well. 

Fat Camp is a musical with a ton of heart and even more humor. To find out more, click here. 

One of the only benefits to being underemployed is that it leaves your Wednesday afternoons free. I still get up obscenely early every day and the week before last I woke up before 8 on Wednesday and decided to try my luck at the rush line for Death of a Salesman. There were already 20 or so people ahead of me when I got there, but on the other side of the sidewalk was the four person line for people waiting for rush tickets for the matinee. I was given a bracelet as a guarantee that I’d get tickets and I sat next to former Rockette and waited for an hour and a half. I ended up in Row B in the orchestra to the side. There was a full cast and I was ecstatic to finally see a staged version of this classic.

This is a play that is almost shoved down the throats of high school-aged kids, so you probably know what it’s about. It’s a three-hour long tragedy that when acted pristinely is a beautiful tragedy to watch.

The set, a middle class family’s house designed by Jo Mielziner, is beautiful to look at. The lighting, designed by Brian MacDevitt, is also exquisite.  The best part of this production is, obviously, the cast. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the title role of Willy Loman, with Linda Edmond supporting him as Linda Loman. The sons, Biff and Happy, are played respectively by Andrew Garfield and Finn Wittrock.

Hoffman and Edmond are fantastic, as expected, but Garfield was a different story. We know he can act in movies, but the timeless question of theatre snobs is, “But can they actually act onstage without 15 takes?” Well, I was thrilled to conclude that Garfield can indeed act onstage. His transitions between being 17 and 31 were easeful and believable. He broke down crying no fewer than 4 times in the second act, all believably. Finn Wittrock, a more seasoned stage actor, was also heartbreaking as Happy. A last stand-out in the cast was Fran Kranz as the nerdy-turned-successful schoolmate of the Loman brother’s, Bernard. 

This revival of Death of a Salesman is tragically beautiful in every sense of the phrase. It was definitely worth those 90 minutes on the street.

Lots of people laugh at the top of the first act of The Lyons. Half of those people are laughing at the ridiculousness of what Linda Lavin says, while the other half are laughing because they had, or have, a Jewish grandmother exactly like Rita Lyons. I knew nothing really had changed about the script, but I was excited to see The Lyons again after it was announced that it was transferring from it’s small stage at the Vineyard in Union Square. 

The Lyons is about absolutely nothing other than a dysfunctional upper-middle class family in which all of the members are dysfunctional in their own unique ways. Is it entertaining? Oh, yes, you will keel over laughing. Linda Lavin and Dick Latessa, as Rita and Ben Lyons, bicker and you can’t help but laugh at the absurdity. Have you ever wanted to hear Dick Latessa yell “motherfucker”? Well, then this is your show. Rita is redesigning their living room while Ben is in a hospital bed dying from cancer when their two equally as dysfunctional grown children show up. 

Brother and sister Lisa Lyons and Curtis Lyons, played respectively by Kate Jennings Grant and Michael Esper, each have their own problems, including alcoholism and compulsive and delusional lying. 

Their lives have all crumbled by the end of the second act, except for Rita’s, and we’re left with Rita proclaiming, “You can wish me bon voyage, or you can go fuck yourselves.” Motherly love at it’s best, indeed. 

Performances are fantastic throughout. Esper is pitiful, humorous, and creepy (though not all at the same time), Grant is a frantic mess, and the two supporting characters the nurse and Brian, the real estate agent, played by Brenda Pressley and Gregory Wooddell are comical and sad respectively. 

It goes without saying that Linda Lavin and Dick Latessa are masters of their crafts and therefore own the stage with ease. The Lyons is hysterical and appalling at the same time, on any sized stage. 

I’d watched Newsies, the movie, once a few months ago. It was OK. To be honest, I didn’t truly understand the hype, but I still wanted to see the stage version which everyone was going insane over at Papermill last year and now again on Broadway. Newsies is about a group of newsies, the paperboys, form a union after the newspaper publishers unexpectedly and unfairly raise their prices. 

The story is engaging but probably not as much if the cast wasn’t as top-notch. Jeremy Jordan is sexy and charming as the head of the newsies union Jack Kelly, and his love interest and biggest cheerleader Katherine, played by Kara Lindsay, is absolutely lovely and has a beautiful voice. Jon Dossett is evil and conniving as the head of the newspaper with questionable practices, Pulitzer. Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Ben Frankhauser are continuously entertaining as Crutchie and Davey, newsie confidants of Jack Kelly.

It’s very unique for an audience to have such high energy before a show begins. I experienced this only when working at Mamma Mia back in 2008 where every single person, practically, was so excited to be seeing that show. Well, Newsies is also a show like that. The amount of screaming after each song was loud, and at some points almost deafening. It was annoying at first, but in the end, it energized the cast even more and so we, the audience, were given a better performance. 

The set is incredibly simple, but intricate to look at and I’m rendered speechless when trying to find a way to describe it. Newsies is hands-down going to win the TONY Award for Best Choreography. The other nominees can just go home (yes, even though they’ve yet to be announced). The ensemble work their asses off and give 100% in every number. 

I’m not converted to a Newsies groupie by any means, but the show is a lot of fun. And who could say they don’t like looking at Jeremy Jordan for two and a half hours? You’d have to be crazy to not enjoy that. 

I’ve been very excited for this revival of Evita since it was announced many months ago. Evita is a fantastic score that I’ve been familiar with since the movie adaptation in the mid-90’s starring Madonna, although I’d never seen a stage production before. On a side note, I revisited the movie recently and discerned that Madonna was, in fact, awful in the role (a large part of the score was lowered for her). My friend Kristen and I ended up in side orchestra seats and we were both excited. Christina DeCicco, the Evita alternate, was on, but everyone else was present and accounted for, including Ricky Martin and Michael Cerveris.

The production is beautiful; the sets, costumes, and lighting are all perfect. The cast is talented through and through. The problem is the theatre. The Marquis Theatre is a hard theatre to fill, to get energy across. That was the only problem, the energy, or the lack thereof.  I’d hoped for a deafening “Requiem,” but it was rather tame. The sound barely reached the 6th row where we were sitting. The audience seemed unenthused and as a consequence, the company onstage seemed the same.

Rachel Potter, who portrayed Peron’s mistress, was a beautiful break to DeCicco’s powerhouse belt with her number “Another Suitcase in Another Hall.” She was demure and had an absolute beauty of a voice.  Cerveris portrayed a fine Peron, vocally and acting-wise. I wish they wouldn’t have put him in a wig though; it looked odd. Martin has a beautiful voice but he would probably benefit from a few acting classes.

I’d like to assume that it was an off night, both onstage and off, at the Marquis. This revival of Evita is beautiful sounding and looking. And definitely  worth a night in the theatre.

Last night Manhattan Theatre Club’s most recent production The Columnist opened and last week I took in a performance at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre starring the impeccable John Lithgow.  The Columnist was about a closeted conservative Washington DC columnist during the 1960’s who was doing everything in his power to lead the conservative party ahead with his writing.

It’s very much a period piece; an interesting one at that though it may have gone on fifteen or twenty minutes too long. John Lithgow gave a superb performance as per usual as the columnist Joseph Alsop  I was also very impressed with Gracie Gummer as his daughter Abigail. She matured believably through the years with ease. Mentions must also be made for the wonderful Boyd Gaines as Lithgow’s brother, Stewart Alsop, and Margaret Colin as Susan Mary Alsop, Lithgow’s wife (and beard, so to speak). 

After a scandal surround him surfaces, Joseph ends up a lonely old man with only his daughter around him when he passes, a depressing ending to be sure. I enjoyed The  Columnist because it was educational romp through the 1960’s, an era I’m always fascinated with. 

A history lesson as well as a lesson in hypocrisy in two acts, The Columnist is another fine work produced by Manhattan Theatre Club.

A few weeks ago I’d bought a ticket from TDF for an early preview of Leap of Faith.  I had no idea what to expect, having never seen the movie, but I wanted to see Kendra Kassebaum and Raul Esparza onstage again so how bad could it be?

Leap of Faith is about a traveling con artist who parades around as a reverend with his “angels” and sister “saving” small towns of people by robbing them for all their worth until they hit a town called Sweet Water and he’s changed forever.

By all means, Leap of Faith is a well-written musical. I found that the book was written well, and the music was upbeat at the highs and depressing at the lows. For all it’s worth, there’s nothing actually wrong with Leap of Faith. I just found it to be dull, like Memphis. I know not every new musical has to be groundbreaking, but is it so bad that I’d like them to be? I know there are only so many “new” things that a writer can propose to be done onstage before they’re called crazy. Anyways, there are a few songs here and there that I really enjoyed and there’s an effect at the end that you can’t help but smile at too.

The cast is all around fantastic. They’re strong actors, singers, and dancers. Leslie Odom Jr. steals the show more than once.  Kendra Kassebaum is funny, charming, and as always, has a voice to die for. Raul Esparza didn’t amaze me until the second to last song, his “soliloquy.”  That song was really unbelievable, but he never amazed me during the rest of the show. 

If you’re looking to see this movie brought to life onstage, or just a fun night at the theatre, Leap of Faith is for you.

I’m late the game, extremely. Considering that Porgy and Bess opened in December at the Richard Rodgers Theatre and it’s now April (well, March when I saw it). I bought a ticket from TDF and finally sat down last week, ready to take it in. I had no idea what Porgy was about, I only knew that it was an operetta and that it was long. Honestly, I had mixed feelings about seeing it. I wanted to see Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis onstage together, but I wasn’t sure this was the show for me. 

Porgy is about a small town in South Carolina in the 1930’s, and two people who meet (Porgy and Bess). Bess is a harlot of sorts and has been with the same abusive boyfriend for a while, so we’re lead to believe. While Porgy is a crippled man who’s a recluse most of the time, though he has a friend here and there. They meet, fall for each other, and the rest is the story.

The score is absolutely gorgeous, especially when sung by McDonald and Lewis, but the script itself left a lot to be desired. It felt slow (although I have to say the show in it’s entirety didn’t actually feel that long - it went by pretty quickly) and I think the topic matter was just a tad boring, maybe dated is the word.

And the ending? Well, that was a let down. It was depressing (but operas are usually depressing, right?).  I’m glad I saw Porgy and Bess, and I think that if you’re a theatre person, you should definitely see it too.

Magic/Bird, the great love story in basketball about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, started previews recently and I saw it last Sunday and last Saturday (yes, there were straight male friends who needed to be taken). I really enjoyed it on Sunday night, so it was no burden to go back on Saturday.

Playing the title characters respectively are Kevin Daniels and Tug Coker. I will never know where they found such tall actors who could shoot baskets easily, but somehow, they did, and these guys were great.

The play started began in 1991, flashed back to 1979 (when both of them were in college), and worked it’s way back to the present. The ending was a lot smoother when I saw it on Saturday. On Sunday, it ended with a wrap-up of “where are they now” for the characters, which was mildly boring, while on Saturday, the play ended with their goodbyes at the airport after winning for America in the Olympics. It felt a lot more clean cut than the ending the prior weekend.

I can safely say that all of my straight guy friends with whom I watched this show thoroughly enjoyed it (“I didn’t know what to expect, but I really enjoyed it!” is what they said), so Magic/Bird just might be the play to take your best guy friend/boyfriend/husband to see this season.