Curtain Up

Astarry cast is the main attraction of Paul Weitz’s Trust, a world premiere dramedy that attempts to explore the relationship between people and power through the prisms of wealth and S&M domination. It has fitful results. But the cast is so good that the play and Weitz’s confused ramblings don’t matter. Scrubs star Zach Braff is terrific as a recently minted millionaire looking for meaning in his life when he stumbles on a former classmate working as a dungeon dominatrix—played to understated perfection by the amazingly versatile Sutton Foster. continue reading »

Following in the footsteps of previous works like The Twilight of the Golds, If Memory Serves and The Last Sunday in June, out playwright Jonathan Tolins’ latest effort, Secrets of the Trade, is his strongest and most mature work to date. But, like his previous plays, Secrets has a terrific first act that doesn’t know where to go in the second, even if it’s peppered with zingy one-liners and benefits from a terrific cast. Secrets, which plays like an autobiographical work (though it’s not billed that way), tells the story of the young Andrew Lipman, brilliantly portrayed by Noah Robbins, who’s besotted with the theater. (We know what that means about Andrew, don’t we?) He writes a gushing letter to famous writer-director Martin Kerner (John Glover) who becomes Andrew’s advisor and mentor as he grows up, longing to ride Kerner’s coattails to greatness. That Kerner himself is gay albeit closeted (which becomes a plot point in that troubled second act) also plays a part in Andrew’s maturation, much to the chagrin of his stage parents, Joanne and Peter Lipman, terrifically portrayed by Amy Aquino and Mark Nelson. continue reading »

The Laziest Gal in Town
Jane Krakowski
A Broadway baby turned television star, Jane Krakowski recorded her nightclub debut at Feinstein’s last October on The Laziest Gal in Town. Of course, lazy is one thing this saucy, sexy chanteuse is definitely not. Whether channeling Gwen Verdon on “A Little Brains, A Little Talent” or invoking Marilyn’s signature song, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” Krakowski is a bundle of energy wrapped up in mink. (DRG Records) continue reading »

A landmark piece of writing for its depiction of a “normal” gay couple, Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July tells the story of double amputee Vietnam veteran Kenneth Talley Jr. and his boyfriend, a botanist-gardener named Jed Jenkins who takes care of Ken amidst much family dysfunction. First staged Off-Broadway in 1978 by Circle Rep with William Hurt as Ken and Jeff Daniels as Jed, it moved to Broadway in 1980 and ran for more than 500 performances with the late Christopher Reeve (already a huge movie star from the original Superman) taking over as Ken. Following in the footsteps of the excellent 2002 Signature Theater revival that starred Robert Sean Leonard, the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor—in association with the Massachusetts-based Williamstown Theater Festival—just concluded a terrific production starring Anson Mount as Ken and Shane McRae as Jed, with David Wilson Barnes and Jennifer Mudge as John and Gwen Landis, Danny Deferrari as their friend Weston Hurley, Kellie Overbey as Ken’s sister June, Kally Duling as June’s daughter Shirley Talley and Elizabeth Franz as Ken’s aunt, Sally Friedman. Smoothly directed by Terry Kinney, this expert group of actors brought forth the pain and humanity of a group of friends still grappling with the aftermath of war, unrequited love and the fear of facing an unknown future. continue reading »

A collection of vignettes about ordinary people searching for something, The Transport Group’s See Rock City & Other Destinations has much to admire. First is a well-crafted score by Brad Alexander (music) and Adam Mathias (lyrics) filled with lovely melodies and smart ideas. Second is a stellar cast that includes the ultra-sexy Bryce Ryness and Mamie Parris as Jess and Dodi, who  meet cute in a diner before they head to the titular destination; Stanley Bahorek as Evan, a jilted nerd waiting for aliens to appear; Sally Wilfert, Ryan Hilliard and Jonathan Hammond as an intergenerational trio searching for lost love at the Alamo; and the sensational Donna Lynne Champlin as Kate, a woman struggling with whether she should make the ultimate commitment—marriage—in Niagara Falls. Although See Rock City is cunningly directed by Jack Cummings III in a black-box setting (the cast sets up beach chairs for the audience before the show starts), there’s not enough connective tissue tying the individual moments together. Many scenes are terrific—like Jess and Dodi at the diner, three sisters dumping their father’s ashes while on a cruise, and two prep-school boys discovering they may like each other more than they realized—but their impact is diminished because the creators haven’t found a way to tie them together. Still, Alexander & Mathias are a team to watch, and the show’s fresh score and vibrant cast make it worth seeing. continue reading »

 
If it’s August, it must be time for the  MetroStar Talent Challenge at the Metropolitan Room (34 W 22nd St, 212-206-0440). Every year, dozens of singers compete for the eight-week jury-and-audience-voted competition , which began on July 12 and will culminate on August 30, when a grand-prize winner and two runner-ups are chosen. The quarterfinals are August 9 (pitting the top 10); the semi-finals are August 16 (when the five semi-finalists will be asked, among other things, to present original versions of the same song), followed by two rounds of finals, on the August 23 and 30. continue reading »

After an unaccountable rave review for John Gregor’s With Glee in the New York Times, the press descended on this whimsical production and we scratched our collective heads in befuddled amazement. First seen at the 2007 New York Musical Festival (NYMF) and well-directed here by Igor Goldin (late of the Yank! team), With Glee, I’m sorry to report, is a dreary, derivative, cloying, unfocused and underwritten waste of time. The five actors (Zach Bandler, Christopher Davis Carlisle, Jason Edward Cook, Dan Lawler and Max Spitulnik) who play thirteen-year-olds sent away to reform school, are fine—as are the two character actors (Greg Horton and Erin Jerozal) who play all the adult men and women in their lives, though Horton chews the scenery a bit as the 90-minute show progresses. But devoid of plot, dramatic build and any basis in reality, With Glee is a grim 90 minutes of relentless disappointment. continue reading »

I’ll Be Damned, a new musical by recent NYU graduates Rob Broadhurst and Brent Black—who wrote the show in the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program—is the second production by JARADOA (Just a Roomful of Artists Doing Outreach and) Theater that I’ve walked out on at intermission. The first was the mind-numbingly self-indulgent Shafrika, the White Girl, which shares Damned ’s director, April Nickell, and choreographer, Luis Salgado. continue reading »

The wildly popular inaugural season of London’s National Theater broadcasts, NT Live, concluded with Nicholas Hytner’s sold-out production of Dion Boucicault’s 1841 comedy of manners, London Assurance. Filmed and broadcast on June 28, this superbly cast and staged production sparkled throughout thanks to the delicious, over-the-top comedic performances of Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw as Sir Harcourt Courtly and Lady Gay Spanker, two of the greatest comic roles in English theater. Assurance was last seen on Broadway in the Roundabout’s excellent 1997 staging that was nominated for Tonys for Best Revival of a Play, as well as Best Actor and Best Featured Actress for Brian Bedford and Helen Carey, who played Courtly and Spanker, respectively. Since a transfer of Hytner’s pitch-perfect production seems unlikely, this invaluable document of Boucicault’s hilariously funny play was a welcome treat! A second season of NT Live will launch in fall 2010 with Shakespeare’s Hamlet starring Rory Kinnear, Danny Boyle’s production of Frankenstein and the Tony winner Fela!, among others. continue reading »

Original Braodway Cast Recording
Promises, Promises
 
The fabulous new cast recording of Bacharach & David’s 1960s time capsule Promises, Promises finds Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth in terrific voice and having a blast. Even though the orchestrations have been reduced (by Jonathan Tunick) and a couple of songs have been added (unnecessarily), this new cast recording of a scintillating score is a wonderful and necessary addition to your Broadway collection. (Masterworks Broadway) continue reading »