New York City Theater

Well, it seems that JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLORED DREAMCOAT will be coming back to London via another reality TV show produced and starring mega-musical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. In spite of all the critical backlash that Lloyd Webber receives, I must admit that I have a certian fondness for JOSEPH. It was the first Broadway musical that I ever saw. And like other young lads in 1993 who were just discovering musical theater, I immediately committed the entire score to memory by listening to my cassette of the national touring cast with Jason Donovan as Joseph.

Of course, Broadway will soon get its own taste of reality TV/musical theater with "You're the One That I Want," in which Kathleen Marshall (THE PAJAMA GAME) will cast Danny and Sandy in a revival of GREASE! What theater it plays will probably depend on what new musicals of this season bomb, since the revival is supposed to open in July, I believe.

As it happens, I also have a fondness for GREASE! It was the first musical that I was ever in. (I was 12 and played Sonny. That middle performance was not reviewed, but I remember hearing such criticisms as "Thrilling," "Surprising," and "For God's sake, look at the audience and not at your feet.")

The inevitable has finally been announced. DOUBT, John Patrick Shanley's thrilling, gritty, well-made drama about the nun who had suspicions/doubts over whether her higher priest was a child molestor, which made a storm on Broadway two years ago, won the Pulitzer and is now touring the country, will indeed be made into a film.

We all assumed John Patrick Shanley, an Oscar winner for his cript to MOONSTRUCK, would pen the screenplay. Surprising, however, is that he will also direct. Good for him. Hopefully he's a better director than Neil La Bute, as seen in his film of THE SHAPE OF THINGS.

So, can we assume it will star the original cast - including Cherry Jones in the lead female protagonist role? Without question, she was THOROUGHLY INCREDIBLE in the role. But what about commercial concerns? Look at what happened to the film adaptation of PROOF, which opted for Hollywood stars, though that film tanked at the box office due to its unfortunate timing with the simultaneous collapse of Miramax due to the Weinstein brothers exit. DOUBT will also be done by Miramax, a la Scott Rudin.

In which case, if not Cherry, then WHO could do the role? You tell me....

No, it's not the legendary home of Charles Foster Kane. It's the flop 80s screen musical starring Olivia Newton John, directed by Gene Kelly. And God only knows why, it's going to Broadway.

I've been hearing for some time about a stage version of the film with a book by Douglas Carter Beane (THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED), directed by Christopher Ashley (REGRETS ONLY, ALL SHOOK UP), with probably Jane Krakowski in the cast, and that it could land Off-Broadway in the near future. Sure....I thought.

Then it was announced yesterday (in the Times, of course...) that it will indeed land not only in a New York theater this spring, but on Broadway. And not just any Broadway theater, but the Helen Hayes, the smallest one on Broadway that for the past few years has been delegated as a home exclusively to cheap one person shows.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST YOUR COMMENTS OR THOUGHTS ON THIS OR ANY REVIEW OF MINE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU DISAGREE. LET'S GET A DEBATE GOING!

Theater Review of Spring Awakening

By Matt Windman

4 Stars

“When Broadway history is being made, you can feel it.” So said Frank Rich upon reviewing “Dreamgirls.” Now, exactly twenty-five years later, anyone who enters the Eugene O’Neill Theatre will be privileged to behold the wonder and miracle of theater that is “Spring Awakening,” arguably the most breathtaking American musical since “Rent” or even “Sweeney Todd.”

Duncan Sheik and Steven Slater’s youth rock musical, based on an obscure 1891German children’s tragedy, is far more edgy, sexy and contemporary than of the lame jukebox musicals and movie adaptations that Broadway has recently suffered.

Following its Off-Broadway run this summer at Atlantic Theater Company, the threatening violence of Slater’s book and visual marvel of Michael Mayer’s staging have been trimmed to perfection. Its small cast of young actors, aged 16 to 22, alongside two adults, provides performances that are deep, joyful and ultimately cathartic and unforgettable.

The score alone– lush, sensitive and haunting –is sensational, with titles like “The Bitch of Living,” “My Junk” and “Totally F***ed,” an anthem of sarcasm and defiance where the protagonist, played radiantly by Jonathan Groff, accepts the consequence of speaking his mind in a repressive society. And unlike “Hair” and “Rent,” the two other most rock musicals, the storyline of “Spring Awakening” is not a total mess. It’s actually coherent!

In addition to a fantastic new lighting design, the most effective change that was made between its move from Chelsea to Broadway was to cast four ensemble members in contemporary clothing to sit alongside a collection of theatergoers who actually sit onstage. While the cast members, clad in their nineteenth century Europe garments, pick up microphones to croon alternative rock ballads, the modern lads now simultaneously join in, creating a fascinating time flux.

Though it forgoes the marketing virtues of star power and pop culture recycling, it’s possible that “Spring Awakening” will not only survive, but thrive on Broadway. Its invigorating energy runs through you like an electric bolt of lightning, as if you were watching your favorite rock star in concert. Spring Awakening” is a visceral, funny, beautifully brilliant experience that threatens to change the world and maybe save musical theater.

Eugene O’Neill Theatre, 230 West 49th St, 212-239-6200. Mon, Wed-Fri 8pm, Sat 2 & 8pm, Sun 2 & 7pm. Open Run.

Among the memories of my summer, one that easily sticks out is seeing SPRING AWAKENING at the Atlantic Theater Company five times, four of which were after I had reviewed it and I paid to see it. I am going to the first critics performance tomorrow night. And frankly, unless something were to really change adversely - and I hear its actually gotten better - I completely expect that I will give it four stars. Which it unquestionably deserves.

The cast album was released earlier this week. And as Michael Riedel of the Post also noted yesterday, it is one of the most gorgeous scores to hit Broadway in many, many years. But, apparently, it is having a very difficult time at the box office. Not suprising. The show has no stars, it's based on a German play from 1891, and it's by no means a family show, filled with sex scenes, puberty issues and so forth.

But I do believe that SPRING AWAKENING could not only survive on Broadway, but THRIVE. Thing is, it's fate is beyond that of the critics. It needs a fan base, which it already has, but one that will adamantly and fervently fight to get people to see the show and support it. Frankly, if this show premiered 20 years ago, it probably would have just stayed Off-Broadway and done well there, rather like LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.

It will quite definitely be nominated for the Best Musical Tony, even if it closes before May. But if it does not, it will certainly have a strong chance of winning the award. It's competition, really would be CURTAINS or LEGALLY BLONDE, or maybe MARY POPPINS. GREY GARDENS will probably be nominated for Best Musical, but it won't win, though Ebersole will of course take Best Actress.

Well, whereas no less than three Broadway shows premiered last week (COMPANY, THE VERTICAL HOUR, VOYAGE), this week will bring merely one: HIGH FIDELITY, the musical version of the cult book and subsequent film about a pop music-obsessive record store owner with numerous issues with women. Onstage, it kinds of resembles a modern-day version of COMPANY or NINE, with the emphasis on the individual versus his chorus of women.

More is certainly going on with premieres Off-Broadway, including Signature Theatre's TWO TRAINS RUNNING, the second of the theater's August Wilson season with impressive productions at merely $15 a ticket; FLOYD AND CLEA, a modern western musical at Playwrights Horizons; KAOS, a Martha Clarke dance piece at New York Theatre Workshop based somehow on Pirandello; and THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE, a new David Mamet play at Atlantic Theater Company adapted from a novel about early 20th century America life.

What excites me most this week theatrically is that I'll finally get to see SPRING AWAKENING on Broadway, after having seen it a number of times this summer Off-Broadway at the Atlantic. I understand that a number of changes have been made to the staging to generally clean it up, which it really did need though the show was quite outstanding already.

So, how did my reviews of VOYAGE, COMPANY and THE VERTICAL HOUR, each of which permited a positive 3-star notice, compare to the opinions of the other critical folk?

Of the three, VOYAGE easily received the most positive treatment, as most clearly symbolized by Ben Brantley's hyperbolically positive New York Times review. And generally everyone else felt impressed with the folk, though burdened with exposition, and with Lincoln Center's commitment to produce the three-part opus. Word on the street is that a major extension through probably July will be announced later today. I'm actually surprised it wasn't revealed in today's Arts Briefs section of the Times, where publicists usually love to plant that kind of news.

Now, what really suprised me about COMPANY, at least in regards to the Times, was that Brantley reviewed it instead of Charles Isherwood, who raved about the musical when it premiered earlier this year in Cincinnati. Two years ago, when Isherwood reviewed SPELLING BEE Off-Broadway (supposedly because Brantely was busy at the time for personal reasons), Isherwood reviewed it again when it moved to Broadway. However....theoretically, if Brantley did not rave about John Doyle's SWEENEY TODD, last year, then COMPANY would never have come to Broadway too. But in any event, Brantley raved, so COMPANY received not one but two rave New York Times reviews, in addition to many more. Not bad... I couldn't help but notice that Sondheim wasn't in any of the opening night pics found on BroadwayWorld.com. Is he too cool to attend the opening of his own musical revival? Well, I guess he knows how the show ends already...

And it appears that I'm in the minority on THE VERTICAL HOUR, which is receiving mostly mixed-to-negative notices around the boards. If it was not as compelling as David Hare's history play STUFF HAPPENS, I certainly thought it was a well-written character study with Hare's usual touch of smart language and contemporary political criticism.

Next week's reviews: TWO TRAINS RUNNING at Signature Theatre Company and HIGH FIDELITY, the musical, on Broadway.