Theater

Bidding farewell to the Royal Shakespeare Company

August 10, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

Thanks to the Lincoln Center Festival and the Park Avenue Armory, we got to see five productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company this summer. The mini-season wraps up on Sunday with "The Winter's... Read on

Thanks to the Lincoln Center Festival and the Park Avenue Armory, we got to see five productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company this summer. The mini-season wraps up on Sunday with
	 "The Winter's Tale"(my least favorite show) at 1:30pm and
	 "As You Like It"(my favorite one) at 7:30pm. What's been particularly fascinating to me is the range of reaction from local wags. A recurring quibble is that the productions are overly conservative. True, they aren't experimental by any stretch of the imagination -- for most, modern dress and modern props like iPods and guns is as far as it goes. And none of them matches the all-male Propeller productions -- not totally radical but certainly daring -- we've seen at BAM. Mostly, the RSC shows are elegant and performed with zest. You can't underestimate the power of a Shakespeare that unfurls with utmost clarity. So yes, nothing groundbreaking, but many illuminating insights and flashes of real brilliance. (And it's hard to underestimate the intrinsic power of the setting: a life-size replica of the RSC's Startford-upon-Avon theater within the Armory's Drill Hall.)
	 
Still, it's interesting to note that the RSC seems to have sent some of its most straightforward productions. Nothing like Sulayman Al-Bassam's "Richard III: An Arab Tragedy" (which played BAM a couple of years ago) or Rupert Goold's current "The Merchant of Venice," set in a contemporary Las Vegas where Launcelot Gobbo is an Elvis impersonator and Portia a TV game-show host.
	 
Back to the New York reception. What baffles me is that some of the same nitpickers praised to high heaven mediocre home-grown productions like Michael Grandage's dull "King Lear," Arin Arbus' idea-deprived "Othello" or Fiasco Theater amateurish "Cymbeline." This is befuddling.
	 
Plus, every time a director eschews conservatism and 
	 reallytakes a whack at Shakespeare, too many people batten down the hatches and throw about accusations of heresy. Cue the frosty reception for Jan Lauwers' chaotically violent "King Lear."
	 
So, how much are we willing to take -- or settle for -- when it comes to Shakespeare? The debate is certain to flare again in October when the Public presents "King Lear" with actors as disparate as Sam Waterston as the monarch, Arian Moayed as Edgar and Kelli O'Hara as Regan.

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I'll be your papa, paparazzi

August 10, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

I understand star crushes, I do, I really do. After all, there's a reason most (but certainly not all) are stars: They have the undefinable thing called charisma that many technically adept actors... Read on

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Hit it, don't quit it

August 08, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

As I revisited long-running shows for a story that ran yesterday, one thing became obvious: They're pretty damn good. While not all superior shows have long runs, truly crappy ones don't last, and... Read on

As I revisited long-running shows for a
	 storythat ran yesterday, one thing became obvious: They're pretty damn good. While not all superior shows have long runs, truly crappy ones don't last, and attending those hits was far from torture: Just because they mostly cater to out-of-towners these days doesn't mean they're crap.
	 
Another lesson is that there's no surefire recipe for success, though being a musical is crucial -- there's no chance in hell a straight play will last for a decade or more. Some of the long-distance runners are jukeboxes ("Jersey Boys," "Mamma Mia!"), others have original scores ("Phantom," "Chicago," "Wicked") and then there's the occasional movie adaptation ("The Lion King"). Some have perfunctory books ("The Lion King") while others have clever, well-written ones ("Wicked"); "Chicago" is downright perverse. A show can feature verbal humor but the jokes only get scattered laughs since a good chunk of the audience doesn't speak English.
	 
The two biggest off-Broadway hits, "Blue Man Group" and "Stomp" (the latter not mentioned in the article for space reasons), have cannily capitalized on that latter element by consisting solely of wordless physical feats.Of the latter, I'll say that it's very, very well done, even if by the end I felt as if the drummers had somehow gotten inside my head and were using my brain as an extra percussion -- the rhythmic pounding is simply relentless. As for "BMG," it's a brilliant conceit brilliantly executed, and made all the more interesting by its origin in the East Village's experimental scene of the 1980s. The alien naif is a timeless concept, and here it's multiplied by three, blue and spitting out goo. Anybody can get into that.
	 
For if there's another thing the mega-hits have in common, it's that most of them are family-friendly -- the main exception being "Chicago." "The Lion King" skews pretty young, you can easily bring teens to "Phantom" and "Mamma Mia!" while kids can take in "Blue Man Group" and "Stomp." As for "Wicked," it's done an admirable job capturing the female market that's essential to Broadway's financial health (reminder: women buy about 60% of Broadway tickets).
	 
I'll readily admit I'd never have thought that last musical would take off the way it did when I first saw it, but revisiting it several years later, the qualities eclipse the flaws. Sure, it's no masterpiece, but it's very well executed commercial fare. Too bad entertainment products targeting women are so often and so automatically dismissed as mindless fluff. Plus, what other Broadway show can boast of generating so much
	 nutty fanfiction?

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Casting matters in 'The Winter's Tale'

July 29, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

David Farr's staging of "The Winter's Tale" for the Royal Shakespeare Company has several problems -- what's up with all the books in the set? -- but a key one is the casting of the central couple.... Read on

David Farr's staging of
	 "The Winter's Tale"for the Royal Shakespeare Company has several problems -- what's up with all the books in the set? -- but a key one is the casting of the central couple. Greg Hicks' King Leontes is supposed to be so insanely jealous of his wife, Hermione (Kelly Hunter), that he puts her on trial. He's convinced she's having an affair with his friend, King Polixenes (Darrell D'Silva). The way things unfurl in this production, Hermione is obviously innocent, making Leontes clearly deluded and his punishment all the more cruel. You wonder what bug crawled up Leontes' bum because Polixenes looks more like your average nice uncle than a sneaky seducer of royal wives. As Melissa Rose Lombardo put it in her Entertainment Weekly review, "let's face it, Hicks is by far the hotter monarch." So we end up with a husband who's wholly abusive and a wife who's wholly victimized but can't get a restraining order -- very black and white.
	 
In the Bridge Project production that BAM presented in 2009, Sam Mendes had a much more incisive take on this particular part of the play. Leontes was played by Simon Russell Beale, who's 20 years older than Rebecca Hall's Hermione. The idea of Hermione having an affair with Josh Hamilton's sex-ay Polixenes wasn't far-fetched at all -- especially since the staging emphasized their physical ease with each other -- and this all combined to make Leontes' suspicions very plausible. As a result, Leontes became a lot more complicated and interesting, and Hermione was ambiguous as well. You wondered, So maybe she's having an affair, but does that excuse Leontes' harsh behavior toward her? What does their final reconciliation really mean for them?
	 
Speaking of casting, one of the greatest things about the RSC's summer season here is that we get to see real repertory work, with actors popping up in various plays produced in alternance. (This is common in Europe, where rep companies like the RSC and the Comédie Française still thrive, but basically nonexistent in the US.) Katy Stephens is equally glorious, in very different ways, as Rosalind in "As You Like It" and Regan in "King Lear." I wasn't crazy about Kelly Hunter's Hermione -- though she looks great as a statue -- but her nasty Goneril is spectacular. Mariah Gale puts an interesting spin on Celia in "As You Like It" (playing her as almost in love with Rosalind) and her Juliet is an appropriately vivacious, borderline snarky teenage girl.
	 
As for Greg Hicks, he's playing Lear, Leontes and Julius Caesar. Each part would be a tall order for any actor, but to do all three simultaneously boggles the mind.

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The many faces of Death

July 22, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

In the new musical "Death Takes a Holiday" (click here for my review), the Grim Reaper is a dashing man with excellent manners and a way with the ladies, and his accessory of choice isn't a scythe... Read on

In the new musical "Death Takes a Holiday" (click
	 herefor my review), the Grim Reaper is a dashing man with excellent manners and a way with the ladies, and his accessory of choice isn't a scythe but an umbrella. Julian Ovenden is the latest to take on a role done on Broadway by Philip Merivale, by Fredric March in the
	 1934 film, by Brad Pitt in 1998 (in a movie retitled
	 "Meet Joe Black"-- no, not a coffee reference).
	 
Personally, I'm more keen on Bob Fosse's vision of 
	 Death looking like Jessica Langeand teasing Roy Scheider from behind a white mosquito net-slash-hat in "All That Jazz" -- one of the greatest film musicals of all time.
	 
Still, most iterations stick to the look defined by Ingmar Bergman in 1957's "The Seventh Seal," though every time I see
	 Bengt Ekerot's outfit,I think of Edie Beale and Martha Graham.
	 
"Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey"
	 pretty much revived that scene, replacing chess with Battleships and Clue, and adding a vague black-metal-lite vibe to actor William Sadler's get-up.
	 
Then we have Ian McKellen -- the thespian managing not to laugh while pretending to threaten a small child waving a big gun in
	 "Last Action Hero"-- and Jim Carrey in an old episode of
	 "In Living Color." 
	 
The list goes on ... truly, Death is eternal.

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'Other Desert Cities' comes back with Rachel Griffiths

July 21, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

"Other Desert Cities" was one of last season's highlights , so it's not entirely surprising to learn that the Lincoln Center Theater production is transfering to Broadway this fall.We already knew... Read on

"Other Desert Cities" was
	 one of last season's highlights, so it's not entirely surprising to learn that the Lincoln Center Theater production is transfering to Broadway this fall.
	 
We already knew Linda Lavin wouldn't return because she took a part in Nicky Silver's upcoming  "The Lyons" at the Vineyard. She's been replaced by Judith Light, who was the best thing in
	 "Lombardi."
	 
And then we got a classic bad news/good news double punch.
	 
On the one hand, it's a real bummer that Elizabeth Marvel, busy with film work, won't be back. On the other hand, she's been replaced by Rachel Griffiths, making her Great White Way debut. I hope the usual naysayers won't look down on her as one of those common screen stars trying to get some stage cred, because Griffiths is an idiosyncratic actress we should root for. I can't say I've seen much of "Brothers & Sisters," the drama she's been on for the past five years -- and which was created by "Other Desert Cities" author Jon Robin Baitz. But Griffiths made neurotic Brenda Chenowith one of the most compelling characters on "Six Feet Under," and she was striking in movies as diverse as "Muriel's Wedding" (lovely original Aussie accent in this
	 excerpt!) and
	 "Hilary and Jackie".
	 
Come to think of it, we're lucky Baitz and director Joe Mantello picked Griffiths out of "Brothers & Sisters," and not Calista Flockhart.
	 
While discovering "Other Desert Cities" was a real treat, I'm particularly looking forward to revisiting it. If you've seen the show, you know it has a whopper of a plot twist. Watching the proceedings while knowing what's to come should put an interesting twist on the experience -- foreshadowing is likely to color the most innocuous-sounding lines.

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London's not the only game

July 15, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

An evergreen summer story is the theater report from the UK, especially London. Which is fine and dandy, since many excellent productions transfer from there -- most recently "War Horse" and "Sleep... Read on

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Rediscovering Elizabeth Swados' 'Runaways'

July 11, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

Elizabeth Swados had a bit of a moment in the 1970s and early '80s. She's much less of a name now, and if you've heard of her at all, it may be because of her 1979 musical "Alice in Concert," which... Read on

Elizabeth Swados had a bit of a moment in the 1970s and early '80s. She's much less of a name now, and if you've heard of her at all, it may be because of her 1979 musical "Alice in Concert," which starred Meryl Streep and was adapted for a 1982 television broadcast as "Alice at the Palace."
	 Check out32-year-old Meryl in pink overalls as she faces off with Debbie Allen!
	 
Anyway, there's a bit of Swados news because 
	 Masterworks Broadwayrecently reissued the cast recording of her 1978 musical 
	 "Runaways," to my mind one of the most underrated scores of the 1970s. Because it is, in Swados' words, "a collage about the profound effects of our deteriorating families" with a cast largely made up of kids, the show pops up on school and college stages. Aside from that, I don't think it's gotten a professional NY production in a long while. It certainly has fans, including
	 Seth Rudetsky, but overall "Runaways" is not that well known.
	 
"Runaways" opened at the Public in the spring of 1978 before transferring to Broadway in May; it closed on December 31. Swados wrote the score and book, directed and choreographed -- and scored Tony nominations for them all. She also played guitar in the band, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn she baked cookies for the cast and crew.
	 
The ensemble cast included Josie de Guzman (who played Sarah Brown in the 1992 revival of "Guys and Dolls") and the criminally underrated Trini Alvarado, who went on to star in the criminally underrated 1980 movie "Times Square." (It's not on DVD but seems to be
	 herein its entirety. If you don't have two hours, simply watch this scene which features lovely footage of the old Deuce in all its
	 garish, sleazy glory.)
	 
Last but not least, the biggest name in the original cast was Diane Lane, then 13. She was in the Public production but didn't make the Broadway transfer because she took a lead role in the movie
	 "A Little Romance."

Swados found her actors in various NY locations: playgrounds, high schools, community groups. Then they all collaborated on the book, with several company members getting songwriting credits. In
	 "Free for All,"the Public's oral history, Lane recalls that "we made the play from scratch, together, out of the kids sitting around telling their personal stories" -- though producer Craig Zadan, then working at the Public, also specifies that it was very clear there's was one person in charge, and it was Swados.
	 Listening to the cast album of now, what's striking is the way "Runaways" feels so much of its time and place: It could not have come out from anywhere else but 1970s New York City. There are specific references in the lyrics -- a "child prostitute" lives on Avenue C between 5th and 6th -- but it's the overall vibe that's time-stamped.
	 
Some of the music feels inspired by "Hair," especially in the way Swados features pop-style ensemble singing; ironically, a number is titled "Where Are Those People Who Did 'Hair'?" But she mainly drew from the various contemporary sounds of New York City, from Latin rhythms ("No Lullabies for Luis") to Laura Nyro-style, piano-driven vamps ("The Revenge Song"). Influenced by the still-young hip-hop, "Enterprise" may well have been the first rap number on Broadway. Elsewhere, "To the Dead of Family Wars" lands somewhere between the Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron and the slam/spoken word trend of the '90s: just listen to the way Karen Evans, backed by bass, acoustic guitar and choir, precisely enunciates, biting into consonants with intense pain and burning indignation. It's impossible to hear this and not choke up.

As I said, Lane was only in the Public production but the cast album must have been recorded before Broadway because she's in the credits, as on the haunting "Song of a Child Prostitute," along with de Huzman. (Lane also sang in the awesome 1982 movie
	 "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains"-- which, like "Times Square," happens to be a tale of girl empowerment against a rock background). The number, declaimed in a monotone, remains one of the most chilling things to ever hit the Great White Way: "When I was a kid my parents would check on me before they'd shoot up, and I'd pretend to be asleep..." It makes the Jodie Foster character in "Taxi Driver" -- out the year before "Runaways" got started -- sound like a Hollywood flower child in comparison.
	 
So, dear Public Theater, how about bringing back "Runaways"? It'd be perfect at the Delacorte. Not as fun as "Hair," that's for sure, but it's a show that deserves to be seen and heard again.

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The real Callas 'Master Class'

July 08, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

And here we go again, diving into the 2011-2012 Broadway season! Technically, the first one out of the gate was "Spider-Man," which opened in June, but somehow it feels as if that show is of all... Read on

And here we go again, diving into the 2011-2012 Broadway season! Technically, the first one out of the gate was "Spider-Man," which opened in June, but somehow it feels as if that show is of all seasons and none at all at the same time. Which brings me to the revival of  Terrence McNally's "Master Class," which opened last night at the Samuel J. Friedman.
	 
Critics were divided about Tyne Daly's performance as Maria Callas -- I fall on the
	 unconvinced side. Thing is, in previous productions, the dazzling acting was a smokescreen that hid the play's weaknesses. Now, they are glaring. It feels odd, for instance, that students good enough to study with Callas would show up so woefully unprepared. They are merely a plot device, a set-up.
	 
McNally was inspired by actual sessions Callas conducted at Juilliard in 1971-72, and as it turns out, several are on YouTube. Well, only the audio portion, but still, they are fascinating documents. Check out, for instance,
	 this class, where Callas guides a student through Mozart. And then there's this
	 interviewwith the diva, which seems to be from 1968 -- a couple of years before the play takes place. If you have a ticket for the show, you may want to check out those links. If you don't, they are a good, much cheaper alternative.

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A side effect at 'Side Effects'

June 20, 2011 , ι Elisabeth Vincentelli

I often get vicarious performance anxiety when watching actors or singers tackle something nakedly emotional, personally revealing or technically difficult -- and this is even worse if I know what's... Read on

I often get vicarious performance anxiety when watching actors or singers tackle something nakedly emotional, personally revealing or technically difficult -- and this is even worse if I know what's coming, as when the
	 Queen of the Nightbuilds to an aria in "The Magic Flute" or when Cunegonde launches into
	 "Glitter and Be Gay"in "Candide." But the slight tension I felt watching "Side Effects" last week was different.
	 
The play -- which I
	 didn't care for much-- is a two-hander starring Cotter Smith and Joely Richardson. I happened to be sitting in the row behind Richardson's mother. And she's not just any stage mom but Vanessa Redgrave. I would think it might be a bit harder to perform in front of your mother, but talk about nerve-wracking if she's Vanessa Redgrave. Plus, Joely is getting back to the theater, where her late sister Natasha had made quite a name for herself.
	 
Of course this had little to do with the production itself, but at the same time it would be disingenuous to pretend that we look at a play in a vacuum: Audience members bring their experiences to the theater, and what they get out of the show is what lays at the intersection of this personal history and what's on stage. Same goes for the actors of course: Who's to say what was going through Richardson's head back then?