New York City Theater

For the most part, this past summer offered some really good theater (Gypsy, Summer Broadway Festival, Grease, R+J, Grease, ect). For a complete list, scroll down to a few weeks ago. But the past two weeks have been extraordinarily quiet. Such that when I see WALMARTOPIA tonight, it'll be the first show I've seen in a week. That's almost a record. So, let's take a look at what this September will offer.

1. New York Musical Theatre Festival - it's not so trustworthy as seeing a musical produced by a major Off-Broadway theater, but more trustworthy than Fringe and all the rest of the other summer Off-Off-Bway festivals put together. Of last year's lot, I believe only PARTY COME HERE has moved on, gaining another limited run at Williamstown (I personally didn't like the show, but whatever.) A fair number of stage celebs have been announced for the varied productions, giving them more credibility. So we'll see what's to be offered.

2. No Broadway openings. But have no fear. A lot is on the docket for later in the fall.

3. 100 Saints at Playwrights Horizons - good cast! Louis Smith.

4. Sarcity at Atlantic Theater Company - another good cast. Kristin Johnson.

5. Walmartopia - seeing that tonight. I viewed it at Fringe one year ago and am interested in seeing what they've done now with a bigger Off-Bway commercial budget.

6. Hair - well, as of now there are two productions of HAIR. There is the Real Theater Company's production at Theater Row, for two weekends beginning tonight; as well as the Public Theater's three-night concert version in the Park. But I'm starting to fear the Public's isn't going to happen. No casting has been announced, it's supposed to be in three weeks from now, and that's never a good sign. And it sounds like something they could easily announce they're going to postpone.

7. The Misanthrope at NYTW - five years ago, the first theater review I ever wrote was of a production of The Misanthrope at Arena Stage in DC.

8. King Lear/Seagull with Ian McKellan - this is going to be awesome.

9. The New Forbidden Broadway - again, this is going to be awesome.

Did I miss anything?

I had been wanting to return to FROST/NIXON this entire summer, but never seemed to find the proper occasion. Finally, I went to the box office one day in early July to inquire about student ticket availability (it's nice to have a law school ID every now and then). Learning that student tix could be bought in advance, I asked for one on the last performance, Sunday the 19th, matinee. Got it in the front row.

Personally, I love sitting in the front row of a show. Unfortunately, there was some young male who insisted on constantly complaining to his friend before the show over his disappointment at being in the front row. Refusing to stop being annoying, he made a point of stretching his neck every five minutes throughout the performance. Oh well, I'll try to concentrate on Frank Langella...

There was no post-curtain speech, and I didn't spot any celebs in the audience. After all, a play hardly ever takes on the same fan-base as a cult musical. I am truly glad that Langella and Sheen will reprise their extraordinary performances in Ron Howard's upcoming film version.

Later on Sunday I hiked up to the Delacorte for Shakespeare in the Park's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. I had attended the production a week ago, but this was not a press performance, merely to prep for interviewing cast member Keith David. Unfortunately, this Sunday night, it was rained out. The performance begin at 9:15, once the rain began to die down, and the performance lasted about 35 minutes until the stage manager suddenly got on the loudspeaker to tell Mr. David to exit the stage. Can't say I blame them. The stage was amassed in puddles, far too dangerous for the actors to work with. So, I'll be reattending MIDSUMMER, now for the third time in about ten days, on Wednesday.

Directed by Robert Longbottom
Gavin Lee - Albert (replacing Tom Cavanaugh)
Stepanie Block - Rosie
Benjamin Walker - Conrad
Bill Irwin - Mr Macafee
Kaitlin Hopkins - Mrs Macafee
Meredith Hagner - Kim
Sarah Hyland - Ursula
Matt Doyle - Hugo
Harrison Chad - Harvey Johnson
Skyler Austin and Remy Zaken of Spring Awakening were in the ensemble

When I was in my pre-teens, just beginning to discover the magic and glory of musical theater, before I was introduced by the master works of Sondheim or even those of Rodgers & Hammerstein, I was transfixed primarily by two works - JOSEPH and GREASE.

It's a shame that I was never in a production of JOSEPH when I was ten. But when I entered Marlboro Middle School in the seventh grade, fall 1996, I learned that GREASE would be performed that year as the musical. I had to be in it! I auditioned about a week following my Bar Mitzvah, singing "Grease Lightning" along with my CD of the film soundtrack. So enthusiastic was I that I did the film choreography too during the audition. To my suprise, not only was I cast, I got the supporting featured role of Sonny. Had I not gotten that role, would I be the musical theater fanatic that I am today? Who knows. But that production truly stands out as one of the premier moments of growing up.

When we began rehearsals, I remember how surprised I was to learn how different the original GREASE, which we performed in its entirety (though sexually sanitized for middle school, of course), was from the film version. Frankly, I think both the show and the film are each pretty good, within their own territories. Of course, the 90s Broadway revival was a trainwreck.

Tonight I attended the press night for the GREASE Broadway revival. To my great suprise, I loved it. Why a surprise? Well, thinking back on the reality TV show from which much of the revival spawned, the show's prospects seemed less than encouraging. How will the other critics treat it? I guess we'll see...

My apologies for not posting earlier this week - am currently in the midst of a mire of law firm interviews for what will hopefully be a summer associate position next summer. So, let's go over the significant theater stuff...

-Hunter Foster in the Off-Broadway FRANKENSTEIN? This actually brings some credibility to the enterprise, which I understand is a Frank Wildhorn style project being produced Off-Broadway in an attempt to cash in on the popularity of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

-A MTC revival of COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA - what is this being done in place of? Are they still set on doing CLOUD 9, which probably be a far more interesting production?

-Fringe goes on..... I've attended two shows as far, BUKOWSICAL and THE WINTER'S TALE PROJECT. Neither was great, but each showed some promise, a tad of commercial potential, and a hard-working non-equity cast. I'm not sure if I have the stomach to endure many more, but since it's going on for another nine days or so, I'm sure I'll catch a few more productions here and there.

-As I write this, I've watched about 15 minutes of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2. Now while I might not love HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL as much as my sister, or millions of other young teens, it's a very likeable property that keeps alive the young teen spirit of musical theater also found in GREASE, BYE BYE BIRDIE, ANNIE and so on. Nothing wrong with that. No complaints.

I went back to RENT last night. I've seen the show probably ten times over the past nine years, but had never seen Adam and Anthony as Mark and Roger. Surrounding me in the sold-out theater were tons of teens who had obviously not seen them either. But just like them, I grew up listening to their voices on the original cast recording. And I remembered how though I had seen the show before, even when I had, I could still hear the voices of Adam and Anthony cause I had listened to the CD so often. So, to finally see/hear them live was plain surreal. And not only did they still look young in the roles, their voices sound better now than before.

Jason Robert Brown's PARADE, which will receive its London premiere this fall in a production directed by Rob Ashford, is due for a New York revival in some capacity, whether it be an Off-Broadway blackbox or a one-night benefit concert.

This weekend I returned to Frenchwoods Festival of the Arts, the theater camp where I essentially grew up, for their second production of PARADE, the first having been performed in 2003. Jason Robert Brown is one of Frenchwoods' more prominent alumni. As such, doing PARADE well would be of big importance for the camp. In fact, Brown came up to the camp to talk to the camp a week earlier, just as he did four years earlier.

How was the production? Not as good as the first time I saw it, as that production had a much better director and a far better cast. The orchestra this time around was outstandingly large, but far too loud, to the point of drowning out much of the dialogue.

The show's director, who is also the camp owner, always makes pre-show speeches where he tries to put the show into historical context. He claimed the show began in 1860 (WRONG! It begins in 1861) during the prologue and then goes to 1910 (WRONG! It then goes to 1913). And in his weirdest moment, he claimed that the dance which the chorus breaks into at the end of Act One, after Leo Frank has been found guilty of the murder of Mary Fagin, is exactly the same dance they did in real life. Is that true?? At least one former PARADE cast member has informed me that this was not the case.

So, what is there for me to see this week in terms of theater? Almost nothing. I guess I'll check out some Fringe shows. But till GREASE on Saturday night, it'll be a slow week. Maybe that's a good thing, as law school starts up again in merely a few days.

Some unfortunate news was revealed at this week's Chatterbox: there will be no Actors' Fund concert of a famed musical this fall. Since Anthony Rapp had to leave early for his Thursday night performance of RENT, Seth spontaneously broke into some of his stories, and also fielded some questions from his audience. I had already suspected for some time that there would be no such concert, since in the past they've been announced by now. I was also wondering what was left for Seth to conduct. I was thinking PROMISES PROMISES or EDWIN DROOD. Seth claimed that there are no musicals he's in love with left to do, noting how PIPPIN and a few others have already received concert treatments recently in other concert series.

I totally understand what Rudetsky is saying. If he feels the series is finished, that's understandable. His concerts included DREAMGIRLS, FUNNY GIRL, CHESS, HAIR, ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, and BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS. I've heard rumors that he himself did not pick TWENTIETH CENTURY or WHOREHOUSE. If there are no other musicals out there he wants to do, then it's probably not worth his time and effort. And besides, his career is truly taking off right now. He's about to make his Broadway debut in THE RITZ, for instance.

Rudetsky did note, however, that he will revive his SETH'S BROADWAY 101 in November. He didn't say whether it will take place at a Broadway or Off-Broadway theater this time. Last time it was at New World Stages in a very sold out performance.

Anyhow, Seth's conversation with Anthony focused on his childhood (including recounting a scary driving incident detailed in Anthony's recent book), starting out as a child actor, RENT, CHARLIE BROWN and the RENT movie.

One piece of news from Anthony: he is developing a cabaret based on the stories of his book. He also mentioned that he recently directed a production of RENT himself in South Africa. And in his creepiest anecdote, he mentioned how though he received countless fan mail in his first run of RENT, he only received openly sexual letters during CHARLIE BROWN.....

I returned to XANADU tonight in preparation for interviewing Cheyenne Jackson tomorrow by phone. Upon first seeing the show like a month ago, I was wondering how the other critics would react. I had loved the show, totally enjoying it, but wondered whether it was partly because I am also a fan of the film, in spite of how plainly bad it is. Again, I had a fabulously fun time.

And I thought: it was a very good thing that Kerry Butler replaced Jane Krakowski. Why? Because Krakowski is too classy for XANADU. Butler looks younger and is more freely and happily campy than Krakowski probably would have been. XANADU is essentially a big, gay batch of silliness for 90 minutes. And even if the film version was bad, the songs are fun and cathy.

Of course, I do wonder how the show will progress financially. Will there still be an audience for it in a few months? And if it can stay open through next year, how will it fare in terms of Tony nominations? Guess we'll see...

Tonight I sat through a show that was probably the least interesting I've seen this entire summer. To be frank, there was nothing else playing tonight. And I suddenly realized - yep, the summer is over. Fringe starts in a few days, and I start my second year of law school late next week.

But compared with the past four summers I've been reviewing theater in the city, this summer has offered some pretty great theater, surprisingly. Let's take a look:

1. Spring Awakening - well, this had already opened in December, but I ended up re-attending Spring Awakening about five or six times since early May.

2. Gyspy at City Center - saw it four times. what a shame it won't transfer anywhere.

3. Intimate Exchanges - what a wonderful octet of Ayckbourne comedies

4. Ring Cycle - no, this was a pretty bad production, but still the first time I've sat through all four pieces. As such, it stands out.

5. Xanadu - musical fun with roller skates and leg warmers

6. Romeo and Juliet - I really grew to like this park production

7. Pirates! - one of the best Papermill shows I've seen in a while. I wish them luck with their upcoming season, lots of financial luck

8. Fantastia in The Color Purple - I need to see her again in the role...

9. Grey Gardens - I saw it three more times over the summer prior to its closing. What an underappreciated gem...

10. Opus - the best new play I saw all summer. Still need to write the review for later this week.

11. Company - went back two more times. has Bobby ever been so clear, "Being Alive" so rewarding a musical experience?

12. Summer Broadway Festival - thank you, Scott Siegel, for providing programming to fill my Monday nights.

13. Musicals in Mufti - the first time I've attended all four productions in a row, all of which were excellently produced. I look forward to attending the fall season, dedicated to the work of Joseph Stein. In particular, THE DAY BEFORE SPRING was a revelation. Based on how moving the York production was, this deserves a shot at Encores or in regional revivals, or as a full-scale York production.

Honorable Mention:
1. Gaslight at the Irish Rep
2. People v. Mona at Abington Theater
3. Passing Strange the Public Theater
4. Absinthe at the Spiegeltent
5. Beyond Glory at Roundabout
6. Offstage: The East Village Fragments
7: The Notebooks of Spalding Grey at Minetta Lane
8. Seussical at the Lucille Lortel

Friday night I attended OPUS at 59E59, where Pimary Stages is in residence. It is the only Off-Broadway theater I can think of located on the Upper East Side. As opposed to other Off-Broadway non-profit companies like the Public or Rattlstick that are downtown, and more like Manhattan Theater Club at City Center, the Primary Stages audience tends to be pretty much middle-aged, clean-cut and upper middle class. Friday night's audience was filled only with the company's subscribers and a handful of critics, as this was a press night.

Primary Stages does not yet rank alongside the more powerful Off-Broadway companies, but it's trying to get there and I'll bet that it's prestige and influence will increase substantially over the coming years. After all, they're situated in one of the best new Off-Broadway theaters. I've always been impressed by how, like James Morgan at the York, the company's managing director or artistic director always introduces the show himself and asks the audience to turn off cellphones.

For the most part, Primary Stages' shows reflect what their upper middle class audience wants to see: they see upper middle class people in familiar situations, usually written by familiar playwrights like AR Gurney or Terrence McNally. Some of their plays are mediocre (ADRIFIT IN MACAO, every one McNally has done there) and one was spectacular (IN THE CONTINUUM, a total break from its usual formula).

OPUS, which starts off the company's new season, is a pretty great play. It's hard for me to go into greater detail till I write my review, but it fits entirely within the company's artistic mainstay, though its by an unknown playwright.

NOW, HERE'S NOW FRIDAY'S NIGHT'S PERFORMANCE WAS DESTROYED. The play is about an hour and 40 minutes long. During the last five minutes, the action - all of which has already been pretty interesting - gets totally gripping. But then - CELL PHONE!!!! - and it keeps ringing. It was from a woman sitting a row behind me. She had to jiggle through her pocketbook to find it. And then two minutes later - CELLPHONE AGAIN!!!!

Let me remind you how small this theater is. And due to the emotionality of the moment, this taking place during the play's climax, you can feel the entire audience's anger and hostility toward this one mere woman.

And I kept thinking: how could this happen? This didn't happen in a crowded Broadway theater filled with midwest tourists who had probably never seen a show before, but subscribers who had probably been a part of this theater company for years before.

So, I thought of a way to prevent people from refusing to turn off their cell phones in the future. Let's begin the play with a video of this exact moment, where the rest of the audience stares at this person in anger and resentment.

Am I surprised by today's news that the Actors' Playhouse on Seventh Avenue is set to shut? Not really.

Just four years ago, when I start doing theater criticism in New York, there were so many other commercial Off-Broadway houses that have since shuttered that it's scary: Jean Cocteau Rep, the John Houseman, the Douglas Fairbanks, Playhouse 91, the Jane Street Theater, the Perry Street Theater, the Variety Arts, the Jose Quintero, the Century Center for the Performing Arts. And let's not forget the Sullivan Street Playhouse, where the original Fantasticks played till its owner shut the place down.

And what do we have in exchange? New World Stages, home to truly trashy shows like MY FIRST TIME, ELVIS PEOPLE, and countless others that have quickly faded away. Only ALTAR BOYZ exists to give the place any respectability. Maybe it's the curse of BARE, the first show that was supposed to open there, then torn away due to the fallacies and stupidity of Dodger Theatricals at the time.

So...tonight I went back to DROWSY CHAPERONE, marking my third time there. I had gone back to see it in February or March during Bob Martin's last week, at which time the entire original cast was still intact except for Edward Hibbert.

As has already been mentioned on All That Chat, tonight's performance began in a pretty dreadful manner due to its audience. Kids from the mezzanine were screaming, clamoring on. One even called The Man in Chair a "fag." John Glover had to shush them... Terrible! Ushers, please kick those patrons out.

So, how does John Glover compare with Bob Martin? I believe that no one could ever be as effective - and for that matter, as funny - as Bob Martin in the role. After all, for the most part, he was playing himself, or at least an exaggerated version, and he wrote his own dialogue. Glover, however, does provide a pretty different take on the character. He is less manic than Martin, far more melanchony. Here is a gentler, sadder Man in Chair. I also believed that Glover's Man in Chair was indeed gay, whereas I never bought that from Martin's performance. In any case, Glover gave a truly dedicated performance worth checking out.

But the biggest thrill of the evening was Mara Davi, who just joined the cast on Tuesday as Janet. If you remember, she originated Maggie in the CHORUS LINE revival, where she totally stole my attention with her insanely hot belting in "At the Ballet." I'm tempted to say that Davi is younger, hotter and vocally better than Sutton in the role, but I won't, cause Sutton gave a great performance too. But wow, Davi was simply stunning in the role.

Beth Leavel continues to do a bang-up job, but Danny Burstein has continued to camp up his performance, making him truly the funniest character of the show.

JoAnne Worley, who I am tentatively set to interview sometime next week, provides a gleefully manic take on Mrs. Tottendale.

Weirdly, I found myself thinking about GREY GARDENS during the show, having caught the last performance of that show on Sunday afternoon. In GREY GARDENS, as the musical ends, Little Edie and Big Edie remain in a state of hopelessness and despair, with only themselves to support each other, to make it through another winter in a summer town. In DROWSY CHAPERONE, the Man in Chair has similarly plunged himself, whether by force or choice, into a sad state of lonely isolation, with only his musicals to escape into.

I keep hearing rumors that DROWSY will close in August or December. I hope it doesn't. It's such a wonderful show... And so much better than the bulk of stuff that typically rides (and quickly rides out) of the Marquis Theatre. If you haven't seen it yet, please do check it out.