A POST-TONY PEEK AT NEW YORK'S LIVE THEATRE SCENE

The Tony TV Show always elevates the adrenalin level and increases the desire to take a quick trip to the "Big Apple" and Shubert Alley to check out some of the award-winning shows. I must confess, however, that I had the urge to check out the 2009 Broadway season before the TV show aired this June; besides it's always easier to get tickets to shows before the Tony buzz begins. Once the winners are announced the box office lines get longer and tickets get tougher to obtain. But, alas my desire didn't turn into action until after the telecast.

With that scenario in mind, I recently returned from a whirlwind trip of four plays in three days. The beautiful wife (an actor and director in her own right) along with two other actor/director friends agreed to see four shows. Two comedies, one drama, and one musical. With so many shows currently running on or off Broadway, the problem becomes not one of choice, but one of consensus between four friends with varied theatrical interests.

All of us wanted to see "God of Carnage", the new Yasmina Reza smash hit at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre. Great! However, the three newly-awarded Tony's made the possiblity of not getting seats in our allotted three-day time frame a major reality. Where there is a will, however, there is a way. We saw it at the 2 pm matinee, and followed it up with "Mary Stuart" at The Broadhurst Theatre for their 8 pm curtain.

When Angela Lansbury, the 84-year old acting legend treads the boards, one simply has to see her perform her comedy magic. Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit" is the vehicle, Madame Arcati is the role, and the Sam S. Shubert is the theatre. Co-starring Rupert Everett, Jayne Atkinson, Christine Ebersole, Simon Jones, Deborah Rush, and Susan Louise O'Connor, "Blithe Spirit" is an ensemble audience delight, and won Lansbury her fifth Tony award for this performance.

The last show we saw before flying back to Southern California was a new Tony winning musical "Next to Normal", starring Alice Ripley and J. Robert Spence at The Booth Theatre. It's a powerful story that examines a dysfunctional family headed by a bi-polar mother. Ripley's tour de force turn as Diana, earned a Tony for her highly nuanced performance.

Those are the shows: "God of Carnage", "Mary Stuart", "Blithe Spirit", and "Next to Normal". Four different vehicles. All were Tony nominated for either production, direction, or performing. My Report Card follows :

"God of Carnage" - Three Tony Wins - Play

How can one not enjoy a play that boasts four star actors performing at the top of their game, in a deliciously wicked and scathing comedy of contemporary American life, written by one of the world's leading playwrights, and brilliantly directed by a Tony-winning director? Simply stated, one can't.

Reza, a previous Tony winner for "Art," teams up successfully again with translator Christopher Hampton himself a Tony winning playwright and Oscar winning screenwriter kicking the script possibilities up a notch. When Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini, and Marcia Gay Harden (who won her Tony for this performance) get together on stage, serious comedy magic happens. And let's not forget Matthew Warchus, the Tony-winning director who orchestrates and directs the talented quartet on stage.

The story is set in America, but has, I'm sure, taken place all over the world - it's a universal story for anyone who has ever had kids. Schoolyard bullies are everywhere. In our story, the son of Gandolfini and Harden has a broken tooth after a dust-up with the son of Daniels and Davis.

The parents agree to meet for a discussion and apologies in the apartment of Harden and Gandolfini. At first, Daniels and Davis, offer token apologies, but chance remarks by both couples after a few rounds of drinks, rankle each other and set in motion a series of comedy recriminations and accusations, which escalate to proportions neither couple anticipates, or can control. The on-stage chemistry of the four stars result in a blisteringly funny 90 minute comedy (it's performed without an intermission) of highly sophisticated and salty dialogue that illuminates a great deal about American life in the 21st century.

With such a high powered cast, the chances of keeping these four particular actors together for an extended run might prove difficult. However, my insider contacts say ( caution: rumors abound in the theatre), this cast, after a brief hiatus over the summer, might reassemble in the Fall for another run, and that's got to be great news for theatre audiences in New York.


"Mary Stuart" One Tony Win for Costume Design - Play

18th century playwright Friedrich Schiller took two historical characters, Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, Queen of the Scots - who never met in real life - and brought them together, face to face, and gave them politics, philosophy, and the concept of the Divine Right of Kings to discuss with one another. Should be pretty dramatic and downright interesting to get the two monarch's points of view, right?

Schiller's "Mary Stuart", currently at The Booth Theatre with a new adaptation by Peter Oswald, challenges our credulity and interest level right from the get-go with a dreary script making for an evening of heavy dramatic sledding. The uninspired script plods along crippling the efforts of its two talented stars Janet McTeer as Mary and Harriet Walter as Elizabeth.

In Oswald's hands, the material failed to engage me. Elizabeth, Henry VIII's daughter with Anne Boleyn, didn't rule for 45 years by being uninformed and reticent. And Mary Stuart, Elizabeth's cousin, although locked up in prison for 19 years, still manages to instill fear in Elizabeth's court. Sounds like we have some interesting ground for dramatic confrontation, intrigue, and empathy. Why then does this production fail to generate any interest in what happens on stage? Granted, the stage setting is bleak, and if all we see is a bare stage with a brick wall that extends the full width of the stage, with the exception of a downstage cot, a chair, and a trunk, then it's only natural to expect the actors to bring this play to life. Even a 10 minute, onstage rain effect, endured by Maria Tucci and Janet McTeer (in bare feet), couldn't save this show.

And what also is puzzling, at least to me, is the rationale behind the decision to dress the women in Elizabethan costumes and the men in black, modern day dress. Instead of clarity with the decision, the audience gets the feeling that maybe we're missing something important. I don't think so.

Plays that fail to engage the audience in the on-stage action can usually be traced back to the director. In this case, however, we have a multi-talented stage and movie director in Phyllida Lloyd. Anyone who can generate the pyrotechnics and energy seen in the movie "Mamma Mia" (which Lloyd directed) should be able to infuse at least a modicum of drama and tension into a stage production involving two of history's most well known queens. Alas, it was not one of England's finest hours - at least not in New York City.


"Blithe Spirit" One Tony Win - Play

"Blithe Spirit" is one of Noel Coward's most endearing and entertaining plays that illuminates the era of upper class English society. I've seen many productions of this old chestnut, but not with likes of Angela Lansbury as the dotty medium, Madame Arcati. The story is a light hearted piece of fluff that exposes the foilbles and silliness of English life, lived by few but believed by many, thanks to Hollywood, to be the model of traditional upper class British society.

In the loving hands of Sir Noel, his characters are easy to relate to, fun to watch and enjoy. Charles Condomine, the epitome of a Coward leading man, is played with flair and style by a dashing Rupert Everett. The story revolves around a group of Charles' dinner guests and the harmless local medium, Madame Arcati, played to the hilt by Lansbury in her Tony winning turn. She is a stage-savvy, delightful star to watch as she "plays" not only to the on-stage actors, but to the loving audience who greeted her entrance with thunderous applause. She's a true acting legend and the audience knows it.

The entire cast is solid and performs in true ensemble fashion. Jayne Atkinson as Ruth, Charles' second wife is especially appealing. Christine Ebersole plays Elvira, the first Mrs. Condomine whom Madame Arcati inadvertently "summons up" at the evening seance. She is as beguiling as she is beautiful. Everett as Charles, the only person able to see and hear his dead wife, delivers a hilarious , frustrated, visual comedy performance replete with Coward zingers and witty dialogue.

Additional able support comes in the form of Simon Jones, Deborah Rush, and Susan Louise O'Connor (the latter, an actor in a very small role, delivers a comic gem of a performance). However, a great deal of the credit for this sparkling production goes to Michael Blakemore, a director of great experience and many awards. He adds so many clever directorial touches, making this production a visual delight as well as a gift for the ears - at least to these worn-out old ears - that constantly long for actors who can speak the language with clarity and still articulate the playwright's ideas. Coward was a master of the witty barb coupled with veddy brittle and British dialogue. How I miss the old boy both as an actor and a playwright.

By the way, "Blithe Spirit"may have developed additional longevity or "legs" with Angela Lansbury's Tony Win. If you find yourself in New York City in the near future, be sure to catch a performance. You won't be disappointed.


"Next to Normal" Three Tony Wins - Musical

How does one make a musical, and a rock musical at that, out of a story involving a bi-polar mother in a dysfunctional family ? Not quietly, that's for sure. The newest Tony winning musical "Next to Normal" is written and composed by the team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. Together they have crafted a story that I believe is best told within the musical genre. I don't think the show would have been as compelling if it were performed as a straight dialogue drama. It's a story of today's families and how they cope with life in 21st century America, and it's brilliantly performed by a cast of six very talented singer/actors. Music is the medium of relativity in the world of the young. They listen to it, they understand it, and they embrace it. Hey, all of you over 40s types, get on board!

Alice Ripley richly deserves her Tony for her performance as Diana, the bi-polar mother desperately trying to hold herself and her family together in the face of overwhelming odds. J. Robert Spence is excellent as Dan, Diana's unwitting enabler-husband, in a role that is as difficult as it is sympathetic.

The evening I saw the production the program noted that the role of Natalie was to be played by understudy Meghann Fahy. I'm sure there were disappointed audience members who went expecting to see Tony nominated Jennifer Damiano perform the role. However, at the end of the show, the audience came away singing the praises (no pun intended) of Miss Fahy who treated one and all to a flawless performance as Natalie. It was an understudy's dream moment.
This entire cast has energy to burn and high-octane performances by Adam Chandler-Berat as Henry, Louis Hobson as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine, and Kyle Dean Massey as Gabe, underscore the vision and skill of director Michael Greif. "Next to Normal" is not an easy show to export either. You need six very talented singer/actors to make the show work. The provinces and the community theatre circuit, therfore, won't be doing it for awhile. So you had better come to New York to see it. It's worth the effort, I guarantee it.

That's my post-Tony report as a Southern California critic/reviewer who covered just a small slice of New York theatre fare in June. As Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director, of the Pasadena Playhouse reminded me, "Jack, one can never go theatre-hungry in New York City". He's absolutely right !

Review: The Old Globe Theatre Production of "Since Africa" at the Copley Theatre

What is it about the continent of Africa that produces such passionate feelings and enduring love affairs with its natural beauty and history ? Where does the power to seduce and enthrall visitors come from ? These are but two of many questions explored in "Since Africa", the current Old Globe production in the James S. Copley Arena Stage in Balboa Park.

Africa has been coveted by western culture for centuries, from Julius Caesar to all the European colonial powers, to the USA. Bowed, but never really conquered, Africa has survived because it has a tale to tell, the story of a continent, a land of diverse people and a culture of tradition. The question becomes: How do you best tell that complex story ?

"Since Africa" by Mia McCullough, wisely decides to "take baby steps" in trying to examine and understand the African experience from a western point of view. McCullough's play under the inspired direction of Seema Sueko, takes the many ingredients that make its people so interesting with their different cultures, traditions, music and myths and distills the mixture into a two-hour play; one that an audience can get its head around.

The idea for the play came out of a newspaper article concerning the plight of "the lost orphans of the Sudan", a by-product of the internecine African wars of the last twenty years. So many African nations have been devastated by wars, disease, and genocide it was inevitable that a legacy of thousands of war casualities and thousands of orphaned children would be the result.

"Since Africa" revolves around a recently widowed socialite (Linda Gehringer) and her daughter (Ashley Clements) who volunteer to help a "Lost Boy of the Sudan" relocate to a major American city (Chicago). The African refugee, Ater Dahl (Warren Miller), tries to leave his past behind and forge a new life in America but finds he is mystified by American ideas of art, ritual, and family. To help in his transition, Reggie Hudson (Willie Carpenter), an African/American Catholic Church Deaon, tries to become the bridge and broker between Ater and his two American women sponsors. As the women get to know the young man and his fellow immigrants, their notions about Africa and their own experience of loss are transformed forever.

As a way of setting the tone of the play to follow, director Seema Sueko introduces at the outset, the intriguing character "The Nameless One" (Kristin D. Carpenter). She doesn't speak a word of dialogue, but is intriniscally important in understanding the play. She is the spirit of Africa who is always present whenever the play's characters are on-stage. It's a wonderful movement and dance performance to watch as she interprets the ever-present drums. It's also a brilliant directorial stroke by Sueko that not only enhances the play with the presence of The Nameless One, but is a clever way to have that character serve as a "silent interpreter" for the audience.

The entire cast led by Linda Gehringer as Diane, and Warren Miller as Ater are right on the money. Kristin Carpenter as "the Nameless One" almost steals the show, but not quite. The audience the night I saw the show rose for a well deserved standing ovation for the entire company. If I had any reservations about the play, it would be that a couple of long speeches might be trimmed a bit. As far as technical credits go, Paul Peterson, the sound designer at the Old Globe, brings his usual magic to the proceedings in the Copley. The drums and sound effects are such an integral part of the evening I can't imagine the play succeeding without them.

There is no doubt, whatsoever, that Mia McCullough is a playwright I want to hear more from, and I'll wager she has a lot more to say about a lot of different things, not just Africa. It's a terrific production and one not to be missed. "Since Africa" performs at The Old Globe Theatre complex through March 8th. Tickets are available by calling 619-234-5623, or online at www.theoldglobe.org