No Man’s Land/ Waiting for Godot

These two male dominated, existential plays have brought the buzzard back to Broadway. Although the recent revivals of Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot recently closed at the Cort theatre,  I was lucky enough to catch both plays during their final week. One company of four actors perform both plays in repertory. The cast includes two Brits Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart and two Americans Billy Crudup and Shuler Hensley.

I first saw this company of actors tackle No Man’s Land.

No Man’s Land is considered by some Harold Pinter’s most underrated play and in this pairing of plays at the Cort Theatre, it was the more fascinating. In No Man’s Land, we catch a glimpse of the life of a rich, alcoholic, and sheltered poet played by Patrick Stewart living in his apartment in England when he is visited by his friend—a poor, alcoholic, poet played by Ian McKellen. After many drinks the power shifts between the four actors and the audience never knows who is actually in control of the conversation or who is exactly in control of any of the characters’ destinies. This is a strange play and it has an airy and lonely quality to it. The highlight of this play, though, was not watching Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart battle it out through several rounds of drinks, but was watching Billy Crudup and Shuler Hensley take control. Both actors play servants of Patrick Stewart’s character; they attend to him and make sure that he has enough to drink. Billy Crudp’s fantastic monologue about power and class  brought the house down. Every actor had great physicality. One would expect a great Shakespearian legend such as Ian Mckellen, to make no mistakes when it comes to the basics of acting, but for almost the entirety of the show his projection was off. I was in the sixth row and could barely hear him. Nevertheless, he still gave an excellent performance. The one unit set was effective and never got boring. My biggest complaint would have to be that during Ian Mckellen’s final climatic monologue which closes the play, the director chose to play loud music over the monologue and since the actors are not missed I missed almost the entire monologue. No Man’s Land is a great play to begin with and this revival handled it with much care.

Waiting for Godot began with the exact same problem as No Man’s Land. I couldn’t hear Ian Mckellen and this time, I was in the front row. Finally, he slowly started projecting otherwise this would have ruined the play considering that he never leaves the stage. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart had much better chemistry compared to Waiting for Godot over No Man’s Land. Their chemistry is perhaps what kept me the interested and invested in the play. Waiting for Godot tells the tale of two vagabonds who are waiting for a man named Godot. They encounter a rich man who has an old man as a slave. Waiting for Godot has sparked controversy ever since opening in Paris in 1953. No one for sure knows what the play is exactly about. Some believe that the play is about how we interpret and perform religion, while others think the play has no meaning and is just meant to be taken at the surface. I am indifferent. It is a very confusing play and can be quite good with the right actors. Finally, set designer Stephen Brimson Lewis did a fantastic job of turning the Cort Theatre into a bleak, decaying, destroyed theatre for the design of Waiting for Godot, perfectlycapturing the loneliness that the characters face in the play.

Watching Ian Mckellen and Patrick Stewart in these two plays was such as pleasure. Just as in No Man’s Land, the supporting characters stole the show. This time, it was Shuler Hensley who played a southern version of Pozzo, the rich man who is traveling and has an old man for a slave. He was bold from the start and maintained his character. When he was on stage I was more focused on him than anyone else. And of course Billy Crudup stole the show again as Lucky, Pozzo’s slave. His drooling and fidgeting made for an excellent, and realistic performance.. Although he only spoke in one monologue, he was certainly great.

This company tackled these plays and were very successful. I came for Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart but Shuler Hensley and Billy Crudup ended up stealing both plays.

***1/2 (out of four)

Closed March 30, 2014 At the Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street, Manhattan.

Love and Information 

Caryl Churchill’s new play Love and Information premiered off of Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop. It features 57 scenes crammed into less than two hours. And these 57 scenes are what hurts the play the most. The plot is simply too convoluted. There are lesbians, a writer hiding from the press, and a couple arguing in bed, among other things.

Caryl Churchill is best known for her comments on women’s rights in the 1970s, when she premiered her most famous play, Cloud Nine. Although this play is targeted at a younger generation, most young people would lose interest around the fifteen minute mark. The short and interchangeable scenes caused me not to care about the characters. As soon as I became invested in a character, they would be gone because of a scene change. In fact, it almost seemed as if the scenes where just short thrown-out ideas for other plays. Although I am a part of the target audience for this show,it just did not interest me after twenty minutes passed. There was also nothing special about the acting. The intentions behind this play were good but the idea and format crippled it beyond any hope of redemption.

* (out of four)

Closed April 6 at the Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village.

Stage Kiss

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have to kiss your ex on stage? Have you ever pondered whether art imitates life or whether life imitates art? Sarah Ruhl’s new backstage romantic comedy, Stage Kiss, that recently premiered in New York at Playwrights Horizons, answers these questions.

The first act encompasses bad actors performing in a bad play directed by a bad director. We first meet our protagonist at a casting call that goes horribly wrong. Once rehearsals for the bad play start, the two main characters referred to as “She” (Jessica Hecht) and “He” (played by Todd Almond) are reluctant to begin due to a breakup when they were younger. Both have moved on. Thelady is married and has a child and our man has a new girlfriend, who happens to be a teacher. The first act is cute and successfully sets up the fantastic second act. For me the first act was special due to the comedic timing by Michael Cyril Creighton. He plays a gay man who has to be taught how to kiss a girl. The whole scenario is quite hilarious. He an all around great supporting character throughout the play. Another thing I enjoyed was the way that Sarah Ruhl blended Broadway music into the transitions. This really helped the first act move along. Once the bad play has been performed the curtain falls and our leading lady decides to leave her husband and child to be with her ex boyfriend and revisit what it is like to be young again.

In the second act, the plot dives deep below the surface of the first act. After the first act, I was not sure where this play was going but the second act cuts deep. The second act dives into an analysis of modern day relationships. “Marriage is about repetition. Every night the sun goes down and the moon comes up and you have another chance to be good. Romance is about repetition”, the character of Harry proclaims. The second act is much more intimate and personal then the first and is perhaps why the new play works. Of course, the comedy continues when the same two actors in Act One are asked to join another bad play directed by the same hilarious director,played with great wit and accuracy by Patrick Kerr. The role of the director played by Patrick Kerr perhaps the best lines in the show. He is the funniest character by far.

One must simply go and catch a production of Stage Kiss. It is sweet, funny, touching, accessible, and modern. What more could audiences ask for?

*** (out of four)

Closed April 6 at Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Manhattan.

Bullets Over Broadway 

Bullets had what would seem a dynamite team. Broadway heavyweight director Susan Stroman, best known for the smash-hit The Producers, screen legend Woody Allen writing the book, material that many thought was perfect for a Broadway musical, and Scrubs star Zach Braff. Unfortunately, the new movie turned into Broadway musical is nothing special. This play centers around a mobster who fixes a bad play and makes it a hit. Quite ironically, this musical could have used the exact same treatment.

Woody Allen has written some of the best films of all time and for many years has defined what film should look like. Although Bullets over Broadway was not my favorite Woody Allen film, it still seemed a great premise for a Broadway musical. The story follows a struggling playwright (played by Zach Braff) whose play gets produced under one condition. A mobster who is financing the play insists that his showgirl girlfriend has to star. The mobster has one of his gangsters follow his girlfriend around to make sure she is not up to anything with any other men. Unfortunately the gangster is a good playwright and fixes the play as the show progresses. There is backstage romance between the playwright and an aging diva. This material could have been great for a musical. But the musical comes off slapstick like and cheesy.

Bullets is entraining at times due to the fantastic sets by Santo Loquasto and the wonderful costumes by William Ivey Long. There are also a few castmember standouts, Nick Cordero who plays the mobster turned dramaturgist, Cheech and  Lenny Wolpe who plays the producer of the play. These two characters are consistent and never come off cheesy like most of the musical. Brooks Ashmanskas and Betsy Wolfe perform the only memorable song, “Let’s Misbehave”. Did I mention that there is not one original song? All the songs are taken from an “American songbook”, and unfortunately do not mesh with the rest of the musical very well.

Whenever it felt like I was going to get an outstanding musical number, the song fell flat. This teased me. Susan Stroman was able to think up a fun world, visually, but that’s all this show is, just some pretty lights and sets. She did not do a great job of adapting a story that could have been made into an outstanding musical. The humor in the musical is so different from the movie that it almost seems like Woody Allen did not write it.

I have no doubt that Bullets over Broadway will find an audience with the tourist because it is shiny, polished, and pretty. But the new musical is simply far from outstanding.

** (out of four)

Reviewed during Previews

Now playing at the St. James Theatre,  246 W. 44th Street, Manhattan.

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck’s own stage adaptation of his novella, Of Mice and Men has not been performed on Broadway for over forty years. Last time the play was on Broadway it starred Kevin Conway and James Earl Jones. The latest revival stars James Franco and Chis O’Dowd and is directed by Tony Award winning director Anna D. Shapiro (August Osage County). The new revival brings gritty cinematic elements to the classic story that riffs on the American dream.

The story (for those of you who did not read the novella in high school) shows two characters, George (James Franco) and Lennie (Chis O’Dowd), traveling across the American West looking for jobs on a farm after having to flee their  town after Lennie, mentally challenged, ran into trouble  after aggressively touching a young woman. They find more trouble when they are hired as farm hands on a farm in Northern California. George and Lennie have a plan to buy a plot of land and live off it, but others want in on their dream. The rest is history.

Anna D. Shapiro’s direction lets the somewhat predicable story burn slowly and lets the drama unfold naturally. This makes the intense moments in the second act even more gripping. She and her creative team lead by set designer, Todd Rosenthal, lighting designer Japhy Weideman, and costume designer, Suttirat Larlarb, create a fantastic detailed and gritty landscape of Northern Californian farm land. The set design and costume designs salute the original production in 1938. The set design almost seems like a set intended for a musical because it is so impressive. The lighting design compliments the set.

I assumed that Hollywood actor James Franco would be the star attraction in this new revival, but unfortunately, I believe that he may be holding the play back from reaching its full potential. I am actually somewhat amazed that James Franco is the box office draw because this play is good but slow burning. I would be shocked if the teenybopper girl fans of Franco will be interested in this play.

Franco’s problem was that his acting was simply too understated for a stage performance. I will give some leeway to Mr. Franco because I attended a preview performance after the cast only had six public performances. The actors might have still been working out some kinks. Even so, his performance could not be compare to Chris O’Dowd’s extremely impressive portrayal of the mentally challenged Lennie. From the moment  O’Dowd stepped on stage I was invested in his character and immediately felt sympathy for him. Chris O’Dowd drives this play. His performance was simply flawless. I would seriously go back to see the new revival Of Mice and Men to just watch Chris O’Dowd. I felt that he handled the role with great care. He walks away with the show. While this is not a flawless revival, this is a fantastic opportunity to see Of Mice and Men back on Broadway with a fresh taste and look.

*** (out of four)

Reviewed during Previews

Now playing until July 27, 2014 at the Longacre Theatre,  220 W. 48th Street, Manhattan.

Violet

This original musical had its world premiere off Broadway in 1997 at Playwrights Horizons. From there it went on to play regional theaters across America. Last summer, City Center Encores! put on a one night concert of the musical starring Tony Award winner Sutton Foster and directed by Leigh Silverman. That concert took New York by storm and now that incarnation of Violet has made it’s way Broadway presented by Roundabout Theatre Company.

Violet is set against the self image obsessed 1960s (much like today). The story follows a young woman who has a scar on her face who travels across the south to find a televangelist in Oklahoma who she is convinced can heal her. Sounds like a pretty unconventional story for a Broadway musical, right? And it is, but Violet manages to make this story feel right at home on Broadway.

The powerhouse Sutton Foster was last seen on Broadway in the outstanding production of Anything Goes (which she won her second Tony Award for). Although she, is usually thought of as no more then a cute song and dance girl her portrayal of Violet proves that she has got huge acting chops. You have never seen Sutton Foster like this. Her approach to the character is emotionally exhausting as she begs for pretty looks in the rousing song of “Look at Me”. Sutton Foster may be excellent in this role but the real star is Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boys). He plays Flick, who is an African America solider who is also traveling in the south. Mr. Henry brought down the house with  “Let it Sing” where he tells Violet about his childhood. From that point on the show belonged to Joshua Henry. Leigh Silverman’s direction is also a highlight. Her direction moves seamlessly and can also feels like a dream.

Violet’s gospel inspired score is written by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home  and Thoroughly Modern Millie). The score helps tell and move the story forward instead of focusing on one emotion. The score has its high (“On My Way” and “Let it Sing”) and its low points such as the televangelist gospel number “Raise Me Up” that just carries on way too long. Fortunately the high points out weigh the low points. The score is very powerful and moving at parts. I walked away wanting to own the soundtrack.

Violet does have some unnecessary plot points that make it feel like an Off Broadway musical. But the score, direction, and cast carry the show. Thank you to Roundabout Theatre Company for letting Violet finally have its’ Broadway debut.

***1/2 (out of four)

Reviewed during Previews

Now through August 10, 2014 at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd Street, Manhattan.