BROADWAY GIRL NYC: Theater Reviews, Sightings, Gossip & News

EXCLUSIVE: Dee Snider joining Rock of Ages

2010-09-28T13:34:00.001-07:00

“I WANNA ROCK!!”
It’s a signature song from Rock of Ages, originally made huge by Twisted Sister.

And now, I have it on good authority that Dee Snider, lead rocker of Twisted Sister, will be joining the Rock of Ages cast.

It isn’t permanent, but this is no one night stand. Dee is in the final stages of talks to be a Broadway Rocker for 10 weeks!

My sources also tell me that Tuesday nights will be extra special – Dee Snider will be doing something special for fans after the show along the lines of Q&As and talk-backs.

Stay tuned to official Rock of Ages sources for an announcement soon... but remember that BroadwayGirlNYC told you first. :-)

UPDATE:
Dee Snider's twitter apparently corroborates the story; on 9/28 he tweets, "Long day of rehearsals! Remembering lines, stage blocking and choreography is kicking my ass! I can do it!"

Exclusive! The BUS from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert!

2010-09-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovelies... I hope you have been enjoying my musings over at www.BroadwayWorld.com/BroadwayGirlNYC. And that you are following me on twitter, of course!

Check out this crazy, incredible footage I stumbled upon on youtube. It's almost 15 minutes of unseen footage of the PRISCILLA BUS!!

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert starts its pre-Broadway try-out in Toronto on October 12; the show comes to Broadway's Palace Theatre on February 28, with an opening night set for March 20.

I don't know about you, but I want to go for a ride on THIS bus!!!

EXCLUSIVE: Mitch Jarvis as Stacee Jaxx?!

2010-07-28T09:43:00.001-07:00

Rumor has it -– and by rumor I mean my sources are solid –- that Mitch Jarvis wants to switch things up.

Mitch, who has received rave reviews as narrator Lonny in Rock of Ages, has apparently tired of the role, and successfully lobbied the ROA producers to let him take the less prominent, albeit sexier, role of Stacee Jaxx.

Maybe Mitch got tired of locking lips with Adam Dannheisser, and wanted some on-stage lady-loving instead?

No word on when the change will take place, but sounds like Jay Klaitz from the short-lived High Fidelity musical is the favorite to take over as Lonny.

You heard it here first, rockers!!

Xxxooo

UPDATE: The contract for James Carpinello, the current Stacee Jaxx, is expected to end in September. Look for Mitch to make the change around then.

Photo: Mitch Jarvis and James Carpinello feel each other up, while Amy Spanger and Constatine Maroulis stand by.

The Real Housewives of... Broadway?!

2010-07-08T15:18:00.001-07:00

AM New York is reporting that Countess Luann de Lesseps, of The Real Housewives of New York City, may step onto the Broadway stage in Chicago.

This report comes after she was spotted dining at Bond 45 with Duncan Stewart, who casts the show.

Yes, she has released a single; but it sucks!!!

This would be stuntcasting to the Nth degree, possibly the worst example in theatrical history.

If this happens, I will officially abandon the theory that Chicago on Broadway has any credibility at all.

Update: Angel Reed had ANOTHER Broadway Star's baby?!

2010-06-30T09:09:00.001-07:00

Back in July 2009, Angel Reed apparently craved impregnation by ANOTHER Broadway Star -- Hugh Jackman!!

Watch this documentary shot backstage at by Rock of Ages Productions:

har, har. Hope you enjoy. And serious congrats to the ACTUAL babymama and babydaddy, Angel and her beau Constantine Maroulis.

Constantine Maroulis and Angel Reed expecting a Child

2010-06-30T08:46:00.001-07:00

They’ve never officially come out as a couple, but it’s been widely known in the Broadway community that Rock of Ages star (and former American Idol contestant) Constantine Maroulis has been dating, or at least sleeping with, ROA ensemble member Angel Reed.

Well, there’s no hiding it now; Angel has bowed out of Rock of Ages because, dun dun dun… she is pregnant with Constantine’s child!!

Best of luck to them… at the very least, this is a child who’s going to know how to ROCK!!!!

Broadway in Bryant Park 2010

2010-06-28T13:29:00.001-07:00

Every year, Broadway (and select off-Broadway) musicals put on performances in Bryant Park!

Pack your lunch and head out to the park at 42nd St and 6th Avenue every Thursday at 12:30pm Eastern.

Here's the full schedule of performances for Broadway in Bryant Park:

July 8th
In the Heights
Nunsense
Promises, Promises
Stomp

July 15th
Billy Elliot
Memphis
The Phantom of the Opera
Radio City Christmas Spectacular
South Pacific

July 22nd
A Little Night Music
Chicago
Falling For Eve
The Lion King
Rock of Ages

July 29th
The Addams Family
Mary Poppins
Next to Normal
Wicked

August 5th
Avenue Q
Fela!
Hair
Million Dollar Quartet

August 12th
American Idiot
La Cage Aux Folles
Mamma Mia!
West Side Story

Enjoy!

EXCLUSIVE: First look at villain from Spiderman - Turn off the Dark

2010-06-21T12:16:00.001-07:00

BIG NEWS from inside the set of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. Production on the epic show is in full-force, including the development of some incredible costumes and elaborate projections. Julie Taymor doesn't cut corners -- nor should she with a price tag of over $50 million for the production!

Here, from a spy on the rehearsal set of the musical, is an exclusive photograph of one of Julie Taymor's villains.

UPDATE: I have confirmed that this photo is indeed the Green Goblin.

I'm going legit! (A "twitterversary" announcement)

2010-03-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Today is the one year anniversary of my blog and my Twitter account (my "twitterversary," if you will). And in honor of the occasion, I have some special news to announce: a partnership with the internet's largest theatre website, BroadwayWorld.com.

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet is proud to welcome aboard its newest contributor, @BroadwayGirlNYC, the most popular independent Tweeter about theatre on the popular social networking service, Twitter. Writing a new weekly column for the web site which launches weekly on Thursday, March 18th, "At the Stage Door," she will bring her special blend of humor, wit and a love for all things theatrical to the web site. (For the full press release, click here)

I posted a preview blog introducing myself to the BroadwayWorld audience, acknowledging my love for those of you who have been with me from the beginning:

The conversations I've had on Twitter have taught me as much as I've put out there, for certain. That's why I eschew the word "followers" for those who keep in touch with me online, and instead call them "my lovelies" - because the people with whom I connect are full of charm, wit, candor and kindness. I couldn't be more thrilled, or more fulfilled, with the exchange of passion that occurs every day.

My new column will be posted on BroadwayWorld every Thursday, at BroadwayWorld.com/BroadwayGirlNYC. I'll continue to blog here as well, and OBVIOUSLY to tweet 24/7!

As always, my opinions are my own and I remain an independent thinker, writer, blogger and tweeter -- but I am THRILLED to be partnered with BWW to expand the conversation to theatre fans all over the world.

xoxox!!

One Last Love-In with the Original Cast of HAIR

2010-03-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

There are sad goodbyes and there are thrilling, love-filled send-offs. Going into the Al Hirschfeld theatre on Friday night, to see HAIR for the fifth time on Broadway, I wasn’t sure which to expect; after all, now that this beloved cast is heading over to London, I knew that it was the last time I’d see them together in this magical way.

Every season, I seem to find one show that surpasses all the others as my go-to, the one with which I emotionally resonate the most. In 2007 it was Spring Awakening; in 2008 it was Passing Strange, and then [title of show]. Each of these has managed to tap into some part of me deep inside that needs to be expressed – yet I don’t even realize it until I hear and see familiar truths being manifested on a stage.

It didn’t take long, in 2009, to identify with The Public Theatre’s production of HAIR. No, I didn’t see it in Central Park – a fact which digs at me constantly, thank you very much (though I did sit in line for 8 hours in the rain one day only to be turned away). Even after the show opened at the Hirschfeld, actually, I waited several months to see it so I could go for the first time with my parents – Dad is a big fan of musicals and my mom had identified bigtime with the Original Cast Recording in 1968. But once that curtain went up on my first visit… let’s just say there was no going back. This show, resurrected from a bygone era, speaks straight to the part of me that wants to sing itself. I see myself, my friends, my struggles and frustrations and longings, up there on that stage. And with the literal and emotional lack of a fourth wall (this cast connects with the audience, y’all!), it is easy to lose myself in the Tribe’s message of peace, freedom, and love.

Last night’s performance was no less energetic, fervent, or full of life than the show the first time I saw it (or on any of my subsequent visits, for that matter). These actors, a year into their Tony-winning run, are still delivering with vigor and enthusiasm that matches their early performances. And – perhaps in part because of their off-stage dedication to the passions and causes embodied in the musical – it’s easy (as an audience member) to feel like some important exchange is taking place, that this production is more than just their job.

Even without a coveted aisle-seat, I had interaction with the cast in the form of a daisy passed down the row and a “be-in” flier I caught when it was tossed from the stage. (Both are already encased in plastic with my playbill, beloved souvenirs.) I cheered for Margaret Meade and ached for Chrissy; I giggled girlishly at Berger and cried for Claude Bukowski. And my heart swelled, from the time I took my seat to the moment I bounded out of it to join the cast onstage, singing for freedom and love with my own voice.

I can’t mourn; I can only celebrate. Those tears that were pouring out of my face as I stood on stage and sang were tears of gratitude.

I am changed as a result of this show. I am delighted that the cast, as a family, will continue to affect lives together. And now that I have rejoiced with this original Tribe one last time, I am excited to welcome in a brand new family of hippies with whom to gloriously dance.

Exclusive: FELA to get a cast album!

2010-03-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

Breaking (exclusive) news! FELA will get an Original Cast Recording. Sahr Ngaugua, Lillias White and the rest of the cast will record the album this coming Monday, March 8 – for release in June 2010.

A Behanding in Spokane: The BroadwayGirlNYC Review

2010-02-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

Thursday night I saw A Behanding in Spokane. What a weird fucking play, you guys! But believe it or not, I mean that as a compliment. It is strange and disturbing – but also funny and thought-provoking. Anyway, what else do you expect from Martin McDonagh?

The premise is odd: A one-handed man named Carmichael (Christopher Walken) is on an obsessive quest to reunite with his missing body part. The journey takes him to a hotel where he meets up with two kids (Zoe Kazan as Marilyn, Anthony Mackie as Toby) who attempt to sell him a disembodied limb they claim once belonged to him. When he finds out that it isn’t HIS hand… let’s just say he freaks. His freak-out, and the resulting frenzy, make up the body of the play.

The actors are all first-rate. Walken is Walken, of course; while at first his start-and-stop signature line-delivery is distracting (the audience laughs at lines that aren’t funny, in delight over seeing this oft-caricatured man in the flesh), the novelty wears off and we settle in to getting to know Carmichael. The character’s plight may be crazy, but Walken delivers believably enough so that even if we don’t quite relate to him, we can accept that he’s for real. Zoe Kazan and Anthony Mackie are adorable – her Marilyn is dumb but still savvy enough to know when to use her feminine wiles; his Toby is a street-smart (and book-smart) kid who, it seems, has fallen prey to the lure of cash that dealing drugs – and in this case, hands – provides. And Sam Rockwell… where do I start. He’s gorgeous, of course, but that takes a backseat to his acting in this role. He is my favorite part about Behanding: his Mervyn, the former speed-freak now working at the hotel’s front desk, is twisted and adorable, with a Prince Charming complex and a chip on his shoulder. He’s also the one who finally gets into Carmichael’s head, allowing the behanded man himself to become more relatable to all of us. Bravo to Sam Rockwell for rising to the challenge of this quirky, multifaceted, hilarious part.

Depending on your disposition, you’ll be either pleased or disappointed to learn that there isn’t a lot of on-stage brutality in this particular McDonagh work. But not to worry, it’s both sinister and entertaining… just what you’d hope for (or cringe at, or both) from the master of theatrical black-comedy.

Not everyone likes this kind of show. If Mamma Mia is your thing, for example, you probably want to skip Behanding. But I dig weird shit on Broadway. I like plays that are fucked up and darkly hilarious. You might go see it and react like the lady sitting next to me, who turned to her husband during the curtain call to say “I want to get as far away from this play as I can.” But then again you could also respond the way I did – with supreme appreciation for the fact that risky theatre still gets produced, and we get to see it on as grand a scale as Broadway.

P.S. Notes for stage-door autograph seekers: Zoe was lovely, signing for everyone and chatting with those who asked questions. Anthony was friendly, and signed for many but was in a clear hurry. Sam Rockwell wanted nothing to do with the stage-door crowd (marking a small line on a few playbills closest to the door, but nothing resembling a signature) before sprinting off into the night. And Walken did dutifully sign – knowing he was the main attraction – but made no eye contact and spoke to no one, not even a “thank you” to those effusing about his performance.

Rant: Have some Pride, Media

2010-02-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

A brief rant, by BroadwayGirlNYC:

Why does every interview I read with Hugh Dancy have to ask whether he had any hesitation in playing a gay role, or about whether people around him were concerned about him playing homosexual onstage? Not once have I EVER seen an interview with a gay actor where they asked the same questions about playing straight, and they do it ALL THE TIME. Dancy is a professional ACTOR -- it's his life's work to pretend to be something he's not in real life. Why the obsession over kissing another dude, as if it's the most deplorable thing in the world? Grow up, media. Ask Hugh Dancy about some issues people actually care about: like whether Claire Danes ever calls him "Jordan Catalano" in bed.

BroadwayGirlNYC Exclusive: American Idols confirmed for HAIR

2010-02-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Attention hippies…

And attention, American Idol fans.

TWO familiar faces will be joining the HAIR Tribe, my sources exclusively confirm.

Get ready for Ace Young (AI’s season 5’s seventh-place finalist) as Berger, and Diana DeGarmo (season 3 runner-up) in a role to be announced.

DeGarmo returns to Broadway after previously appearing as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray. Most recently, she played Sarah in The Toxic Avenger at New World Stages off-Broadway.

Young played Kenickie in the 2007 revival of Grease.

Tell me… will YOU be running to this Idol-infused Be-In at the Hirschfeld?

(P.S. I almost titled this post "Am-HAIR-ican Idol". I decided to spare you. You're welcome!)

Laura Bell Bundy performs LIVE at Splash

2010-02-07T08:55:00.001-08:00

“New York is the greatest city in the world.” This is my thought as my plane lands at JFK, after a whirlwind trip to Houston to see Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland: The Musical. Yes, there is theatre in other cities, but there is nowhere else in the world where a fan can have a Broadway experience at any hour of the day or night.

Case in point: in checking my Twitter feed in the cab home from the airport, what do I see? Laura Bell Bundy, with the following message to her fans: “New Yorkers! I'm performing at Splash in 45 mins. Come on down. 50 west 17th street!”

Was it past my bedtime? Yes. Was I exhausted from the trip? Yes. But you KNOW I did what a dedicated BroadwayGirl has gotta do.

“Driver? We have a new destination!!”

So instead of a heading directly to bed at a reasonable hour, I redirect the cab to Splash, a Flatiron gay bar known for its pole-dancing go-go boys and tiny, expensive drinks. I’d never been there before, but I can hang at a gay bar, ladies. I’m so excited that I overtip the cab driver, pay the (admittedly steep) $25 Splash cover, and make my way inside.

The crowd is bumpin’, grindin’, fondlin’ and dancin’ up a storm. But all attention turns to Ms. Bundy when the spotlight swings her way.

She looks AMAZING, y’all! (Isn’t it funny how one night of country-pop has me abbreviatin’ and using words like “y’all”?) And her set is really fun. Too short, to be sure (she only performs 3 songs), but can you really ask for more at 2am, when you’re standing 3 feet away from one of Broadway’s hottest stars?

I wish you all could have been there with me. However, since you couldn’t, I’m bringing you the next best thing: VIDEO!!!!!

Check out my exclusive videos (uploaded on my brand new YouTube page!) of Laura Bell Bundy, performing her hit single “Giddy On Up,” as well as the debut of a NEW tune, “I’m No Good For You, Baby”.

YEE-HAW!!!

BroadwayGirl's Adventure in Wonderland

2010-02-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

I've just returned from Wonderland!!

I spent last night falling in love with a White Knight, dancing with a smooth and smiling Gato, taking advice from a Caterpillar, facing down an angry Jabberwock, and finally finding my way home.

Ahhhh you guys. I’ve wanted to see Wonderland: The Musical since I first heard that it was being created. The story of Alice was one of the first literary works that really fascinated me as a child, and being as obsessed as I am with musical theatre, I had to see what it would become on the stage.

Of course I was nervous; a butchering of my favorite tale had the potential to ruin it for me forever. But I just couldn’t know it was out there, and not give it a chance.

I should say that I was very much relieved to find out that Wonderland: The Musical is in fact a NEW story about a NEW Alice – this one a red-headed adult, not a small blonde child. Rather than simply adding songs to a story we all know, book writers Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd (who also directs) have created an entirely new adventure for a complex, adult woman. She encounters characters we know from the children’s story, but unlike Shrek or Beauty & The Beast, this show allows us to meet their new incarnations for the first time. True to Lewis Carroll’s vision, everything might be familiar, but then again everything is strange and new.

In this version of Wonderland, Alice – played by In the Heights’Janet Dacal – is an accomplished but over-extended working mom, teetering on the brink of alienation by her husband (Darren Ritchie) and their daughter Chloe (Julie Brooks). When Chloe runs away from home, Alice follows her down the big-city version of “the rabbit hole” – an immeasurably deep elevator shaft originating in their high-rise apartment building. Upon landing, Alice embarks on a quest to find Chloe – who is, unbeknownst to her mother, a regular visitor to Wonderland.

After maneuvering her way through a sea of Chloe look-alikes, Alice is granted an audience with the Caterpillar (Tommar Wilson of HAIR). He presents her with a riddle, which, when solved, permits her entrance into the next door along her journey.

There are eight doors in total. Behind each door resides a resident of Wonderland (who, in a nod to “The Wizard of Oz,” resembles a character from Alice’s above-ground life), each providing a riddle to help Alice in the mission to find her daughter. El Gato (the Cheshire Cat), the White Knight, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts – they’re all here. And, each in his or her own melodious style, they present their riddles and clues through song.

Wonderland: The Musical overflows with singable tracks. Frank Wildhorn pulls out all the stops – using Latin, Pop, R&B, Rock and Big Band music to create a versatile yet seamless score.

My favorite tunes are “Worst Day of My Life” (Janet Dacal’s opening number); “One Knight” (sung boy-band style, complete with choreography borrowed from the Backstreet Boys); “The Mad Hatter,” Nikki Snelson’s introduction as the scheming, power-hungry Queen-of-Hearts sidekick; and “Misunderstood,” the woeful tale of Tad Wilson’s carnivorous, isolated Jabberwock. (These songs, and twelve others, can be heard on the Wonderland Concept Recording, available at www.wonderlandthemusical.org.)

The design of the production is top-notch. From bright, imaginative set-pieces to a complex use of projected images – not to mention exciting, colorful costumes (my favorites are the Queen of Hearts’ over-the-top gown and the multi-legged zoot-suit worn by the Caterpillar) – the visuals alone are enough to keep me in the world of the play. But it’s the music and the cast that make me want to go back and see this show again.

Wonderland is the perfect antidote to the Disney musical. Young audience members will love the bold colors and the sight gags (watch as Alice rewinds time and the actors move and speak backwards!) but it won’t feel like “kids theatre” to their parents. On the contrary, Jack Murphy’s lyrical wordplay is sophisticated, and there are enough “adult themes” (i.e. divorce) to ground this fantasy story in a reality we can recognize.

Listen, I’m not saying that Wonderland is the most perfect show I’ve ever seen. The storyline is wobbly in parts (is the appearance of author Lewis Carroll really necessary?), and I hear that the creatives are still experimenting with the order of the songs. It’s not particularly edgy or dangerous. But I do believe that the show has the chops to make it in New York. The songs are catchy, the cast is strong and the visuals are impressive. Broadway needs a show like this.

Wonderland: The Musical runs at the Alley Theatre in Houston through February 14.

After that… its future remains unknown.

#SingleOnBway: The Results!

2010-01-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been incredible.

Hundreds of tweets were tagged #SingleOnBway. I heard from gay men, straight women, lesbians, a trans guy, and yes, even a couple of elusive straight male theatre fans -- all looking for love right here on Broadway.

Everyone responded with passion, humor, and the excitement that embodies the Broadway experience. I am truly proud to have had a part in engaging so many theatre-lovers in one, big, unified conversation.

I've gotta give it up to MCC Theater, for providing the tickets to The Pride. Their rep contacted me last month, offering a pair of tickets to give away in any way I chose. #SingleOnBway came together purely on a whim, in less than an hour, as I was dishing with my lovelies about how hard it is (for all of us!) to get a date. And it became something of a miniature twitter phenomenon.

As stated in the rules, "The choice of winners will be subjective and mine alone." It's time to announce that choice.

Drumroll, please...

The winners of a blind date at MCC Theater, with free premium tickets to see The Pride are...

@caterrachel and @jennywantstosay!

Congratulations, ladies. Enjoy the show. And TWEET ME AFTER!!!

The BroadwayGirlNYC Dating Service: Let Love Shine on Broadway!

2010-01-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight on twitter, I was lamenting the lack of eligible, single, straight male Broadway fans. Then my lovelies (my name for "followers," a term I just don't dig) started chiming in -- I heard from gay, lesbian AND straight folks who are ALL having trouble finding love!

I joked that I should start a service for Broadway-loving singles. And then it hit me: with over 2,300 people reading my twitter feed, why SHOULDN'T I help them find each other?!

So, tonight I'm launching my first BroadwayGirl Dating Service ticket giveaway. I'm going to send two of my lovelies out on a date -- to a theatre production, of course!

The two winners will attend a performance of MCC Theater's The Pride , directed by Joe Mantello and starring Hugh Dancy. (The date of the performance will be determined after the winners are chosen and at the discretion of MCC.)

Want to go on a blind date, and see a show for free in the process?

Here are your instructions, lovelorn twitterers:

To enter the contest, introduce yourself on twitter with the hashtag #SingleOnBway.

Search #SingleOnBway to meet other Broadway-loving twitterers who want to go on a date.

When you spot someone you like, strike up a twitter conversation, using the hashtag #SingleOnBway. Conversations must be public (not over DM)!

Once you have made a match -- found a (previous) stranger with whom you'd like to attend the show -- BOTH twitters must send a tweet labeled @BroadwayGirlNYC and #SingleOnBway letting me know you've decided you want to blind-date each other.

At noon on Saturday, January 9, I'll choose a pair of tweeters who will win!

Then, post-date, you have to PROMISE to tweet at me and let me know how it went.

Here are a few little rules:

The two winners must never have met (and agree not to meet in person) before their date.

Both winners must be over 18 and able to get to New York City at their own expense at a date to be determined.

By entering, you acknowledge that meeting any stranger is a risk, and hold me (BroadwayGirlNYC), MCC, and all other parties outside yourselves, unaccountable.

The choice of winners will be subjective and mine alone.

The contest starts NOW! So get tweeting, cutie-pies.

And maybe we'll all be witness to true love found on Broadway!

EXCLUSIVE: Janet Dacal returns to In The Heights in a New Role: NINA!

2010-01-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

I teased you last week with my tweeted scoop that “spies at In the Heights tell me an old favorite returns to a new role in February”.

Well, here’s the news – which you’ll read on BroadwayGirlNYC exclusively.

Starting in February, Janet Dacal will replace Mandy Gonzalez as Nina.

Janet will return to Heights shortly after concluding her starring run as Alice in Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland: The Musical (at the Alley Theatre in Houston through February 14th). Previously, she originated the Heights role of Carla, the ditzy Salon assistant.

True Beauty: A Little Night Music

2009-12-20T15:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon, the first big blizzard of the winter hits New York. I am out in it when the snow begins, making my way westward toward my apartment after some last-minute Christmas shopping on the Lower East Side. I’m not a fan of cold weather, but I always appreciate the soft beauty of a snowfall; even as the cruel wind whips across my exposed cheeks, I stop in Washington Square to watch the flakes swirl and spin, landing gently amongst their brethren after the fierce journey down from the sky.

Standing amidst the mounting drifts, as they begin to glow orange under the late-afternoon streetlights, I hear a distant ringing from deep within my many-layered sweaters. I dig; I extract; I answer the phone. And much to my delight, it is the call I’ve been waiting for all day – my heroic friend Sydney has successfully braved the weather and scored us two standing room tickets for A Little Night Music at 8pm.

By the time I reach the theater, the blizzard is in full-force. My winter boots slide across the sidewalk as I make my way into the Walter Kerr. I wedge myself into a myriad of bundled bodies and funnel into the building, grasping my ticket and holding onto Sydney’s mittened hand.

Inside the Kerr, the air and the atmosphere are warm. Coats, hats, and gloves are shed as people bustle to their seats; murmurs of relief that we’ve made it inside are exchanged. There is a festive sentiment amongst the crowd; before the show even begins, we have already shared something: the act of coming in together from the cold.

When the curtain goes up and the lights go down, and the music of Stephen Sondheim surges into my ears, I breathe it in. I am magically transported from freezing New York City to a sunny summer in Sweden. And for the next three hours, I remain there: lost in the story of Desiree Armfeldt and her dueling lovers; their two jilted wives; two longing children; and the watchful eye of the glorious Madame Armfeldt, who oversees the madness with active unconcern (the privilege, she explains to her granddaughter, of “the very old, who know too much”).

This is, it’s clear from the start, a marvelous production. Of significance is the return to Broadway of the incomparable Angela Lansbury, who hits every note (musical and comedic) with precision. At 84 years old, she is in a class of her own, and I feel deeply grateful to have seen her on stage not once but twice this year. Even as I’m immersed in the story of the play, I’m aware that I’ll be retelling my memory of her genius long into the future, to those who don’t share my fortune in seeing her perform live on stage.

The cast, as a whole, is splendid. Alexander Hanson, reprising the role he played in the London staging of this production, is an ideal Frederick – mature and handsome, and somehow empathetic even as he cheats on his (much younger, and still virginal) wife Anne – the pretty and sweet Ramona Mallory. Aaron Lazar’s Carl-Magnus is pleasingly over-the-top, and Erin Davie plays his wife Charlotte with the perfect combination of hysteria and quiet conspiracy. Leigh Ann Larkin, as the maid Petra, captivates with swinging hips and big, wet eyes. And a surprisingly strong voice comes from the slight body of Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, who, playing Frederick’s lovelorn son Henrik, is in his Broadway debut – and holds up quite nicely with the veteran cast.

Also, of course, making her Broadway debut, is the Hollywood movie star Catherine Zeta-Jones. She is beautiful and I know she can sing – she was awarded the Oscar for playing Velma Kelly in the 2002 film adaptation of Chicago, and deservedly so. However, I am simply unprepared for how entirely captivating, awe-inspiring, and truly breathtaking she will be onstage.

From the first moment she sweeps into view, it is as if light is emanating from within her. Her steps, her voice, the way she commands attention even when silent – I haven’t seen many performances like this in my theatre-going career, and as you may have gathered, I go to the theatre a lot. Is she technically the best actress I’ve ever seen? Will she win the Tony this year? I can’t even answer those questions, because I’m so overwhelmed with her loveliness that I’m no longer an objective judge of her skill.

I cry during “Send in the Clowns” – not as a reaction to the story but because of the way the spotlight reflects on her white neck, the sadness that radiates through her smile, the angle of her shoulders, and the perfect way her tiny hands lay in her lap as she sings. I am watching Audrey Hepburn, Liz Taylor, Rita Hayworth. These are the only women to whom, I can imagine, she might compare.

Three hours is long for any production, but I don’t notice the time slipping by during Night Music. On the contrary, I could stay in the theatre and watch the show immediately again. Unfortunately, when the house lights come up, the doors to the theatre are opened – and that snowy reality of winter in New York is upon me once again.

I layer on my hat, gloves, scarf, and coat, to shield me from the elements that exist in this real world. And as push out into the cold, and brace myself against the wind and sleet, I’m warmed with what I bring away from this glorious production: a reminder of human beauty; the gift of a brilliant, elegant cast; and the ability to get lost in the world of the Broadway stage.

American Idiot: Rock Music Video, Theatricalized

2009-11-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

As I write this, I’m blasting Green Day’s 2004 “American Idiot” CD only because the cast album of their theatrical adaptation hasn’t yet been recorded.

In both incarnations, the music is at once hummable and subversive, driving and spellbinding.

I’m thrilled from the very start of Michael Mayer’s collaboration with Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, Friday night at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The opening notes of the show’s eponymous song – accompanied by aggressive headbanging from leading man John Gallagher Jr. as Johnny, aka “Jesus of Suburbia” – rip through the 600-seat Roda Theatre, and everyone sits up a little straighter.

Much, but not all, of this audience – nine weeks into the run, as the show enters the final days of its final extension in Berkeley – have come because they’re either fans of the band or have heard the buzz about how great this show is (the San Jose Mercury News calls it “the hottest show of a searing fall theater season”). There are teenagers in fingerless gloves sitting next to early-60’s couples who are there as part of their subscriber packages, but the latter are the minority; this is a young crowd. So when those first notes blast out across the theatre, we know what we’re in for.

The music is loud. Berkeley Rep offers earplugs in the lobby – a concession, I suppose, to subscribers who might be used to a more traditional brand of theatre – but I eschew them. There is no question that this music – on stage or through headphones – is meant to be heard at maximum decibels.

Because I know the “American Idiot” album so well (in addition to Green Day’s newer “21st Century Breakdown,” from which an additional four songs are culled for the show), I expect it to take some getting used to to hear voices other than Billie Joe’s on these particular melodies and lyrics. But Gallagher has a similar grittiness to his voice, and his delivery is so perfectly rebellious, that it proves easy to put Billie Joe’s image on the back burner, and buy into these as our protagonist’s original and mutinous thoughts.

American Idiot is a sung-through musical – very little dialogue is used outside the songs. At first, I don’t love the effect; it makes the few spoken lines seem somewhat awkward, as if they have been added only to fill in gaps in the exposition of the music. In addition, I worry that patrons who are not already familiar with Green Day might miss a lot of the context; the lyrics come fast and furious, and without previous knowledge of the words, I can imagine that a lot could go over an audience member’s head.

But then I have a little revelation about this show.

American Idiot is not like other musicals. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it doesn’t really strike me as “musical theatre” at all.

I’m going to venture to say that American Idiot is a brand new form of theatre: the long-form, live-staged Rock Music Video.

Not a jukebox musical; not even an adaptation (any more than Lady Gaga’s new video is an adaptation of her hit single "Bad Romance”). This is the artists’ own fleshing out of their vision – but instead of being done on-screen, it’s brought to us live in-person: loud and unapologetic, completely impossible to tune out or otherwise ignore (even if you don't catch every word.)

I’m watching Gallagher and his castmates, but I am also taking in a remarkable set, soaring up stories into the theatre’s fly system. A huge, flat back wall is papered with newspaper headlines, advertisements and propaganda all in black and white; nearly 30 televisions are scattered at random on all levels, showing animation, commercials, old TV-show clips, Bush-era news items, and violent explosions. The band (not Green Day themselves, kids) is onstage amongst the actors, with musicians on several levels of a fire-escape-ish scaffolding reminiscent of Collins’ Christmas tree in Rent. Half a car, one actor, and later a shopping cart, hang from the rafters. There is so much to look at that I’m at once overwhelmed and mesmerized, which I suspect is exactly the intention of the designers.

From the breathtaking set and lighting design, to an exhaustingly full-body commitment from Gallagher, to a strong supporting cast (it's a pleasure to see Spring Awakening alums Gerard Canonico and a hardly recognizable Brian Charles Johnson in the ensemble, plus the bewitching Rebecca Naomi Jones from Passing Strange as the leading lady “Whatshername”), there is little I’d have changed. I was rapt from start to finish, wishing from the first number that I’d be in Berkeley long enough to see the show again.

In addition to Gallagher and Jones, I must single out Tony Vincent as St. Jimmy, a striking and unusual actor who brings Jimmy to life as one part Vampire, three parts Hypnotist, and altogether scary/beautiful. Jimmy is Johnny’s bad influence, the devil on his shoulder, who introduces him to heroin; it’s not entirely clear if he actually exists or if he’s a kind of “Brad-Pitt-in-Fight-Club” manifestation of Johnny’s battle with his own dark side. In any case, I find it impossible to tear my eyes away from Vincent, with his half-shaved head and alienesque ultra-long arms; not to mention a voice that peels through the Roda Theatre with a clarity that would enthrall even the most skeptical gray-haired matinee lady.

There is some tweaking to be done before the show comes to Broadway. I’m thinking specifically of a high-wire hospital dance in which Johnny’s buddy Tunny (Matt Caplan), injured at war, hallucinates an “Extraordinary Girl” in Middle Eastern dress (the flying struck me as just a little too “Princess Jasmine on a Magic Carpet”).

But overall, American Idiot is a force – exhilerating, thought-provoking, and powerful. As Passing Strange (also a Berkeley Rep original) brought us Broadway’s first Live Concert/ Storytelling hybrid, American Idiot breaks ground as the first live-action, album-length Music Video to hit the Great White Way.

There’s no date announced yet for the Broadway incarnation of the show, and its New York home has not yet been revealed (although I’m hearing buzz that Jujamcyn Theaters is interested, which means it will likely end up at the St. James, the Walter Kerr, or the Eugene O'Neill). But the show is coming to Broadway, which means you’ll have no excuse to miss it.

Trust me, you'll want to see American Idiot. And just think – someday, you can tell your kids you were there when Green Day broke theatrical ground.

"American Idiot" at Berkeley Rep: Mini-Review in One Photo

2009-11-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

I saw American Idiot this weekend at Berkeley Rep, and I'm working on a detailed blog with all of the details for you! But since so many people are asking, I thought I'd tide you over with this mini-review in the form of a photo (as written on the wall at the theatre immediately post-show).

(I'll also let you in on the fact that Tom Hulce and Michael Mayer were both in the house; I snapped some covert photos of them mingling with fans after the performance, which I may post here too if you ask very, very nicely.)

Enjoy this mini-review as I get the complete blog together for your reading enjoyment!

The 39 Steps

2009-10-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

On Friday I played a fun game with my twitter followers: I let them choose the Broadway show I’d attend. There were four I was considering: Superior Donuts, Memphis, Finian’s Rainbow, and The 39 Steps. Two plays, two musicals; two open, two in previews; two originals, two adaptation/revivals. There isn’t a whole lot that ties all four of these shows together – except, of course, that I hadn’t seen any of them on Broadway.

For me, the goal is always to open up a Playbill to the back – where you can find a list of all of the currently running Broadway shows under the heading “How Many Have You Seen?” – and be able to put a little mental check mark next to the title of each show. “Seen it, seen it, seen it, seen it, seen it.” There was a time last year when I had seen 26 of roughly 30 shows running at that point.

Based on the time-crunch due to limited runs, as well as discount-ticket availability (when you go to the theatre as much as I do, it’s impossible to see everything at a $125 price), I never managed to go above that mark. I continue to try to see everything, but as some shows close and new ones open, it proves pretty darn difficult to cross every single show off my list!

I see almost every show at a severe discount – student rush whenever I can (though I’m past the point of waiting in long, overnight rush lines – I’d rather pony up the cash for a mid-price ticket), TKTS, lottery, or the myriad of online discount codes that can be found with a simple google search. Unfortunately, that means that certain shows will never be within my reach: I knew fairly early that I wouldn’t get to see Will Farrell’s You’re Welcome America (even though there were student tickets available, the lines were too long), and currently I’m afraid that my chances of seeing A Steady Rain are slim-to-none. (Sometimes I avoid star-vehicles like these just to make a statement – fame does not always equal quality! – which is why I never made it to Katie Holmes’ All My Sons.)

Anyway, I generally feel like I’m doing my job (my totally uncompensated, financially-draining, all-for-the-love-of-it job, I should say) if I can hover right around the 20-show mark. When I check the list and I’ve seen more than 20 currently-running productions, I feel like a successful Broadway Girl. When that number starts to slip, I know I have to take action – you guys are counting on me, right? (Wink.)

Yesterday morning, my count was 18. Un Ac Ceptable, am I right? I had to get to the theatre. But I was torn. What to see?

The dilemma started when my email delivered a message titled ominously, “LAST CHANCE TO SEE THE 39 STEPS!” which, even though the show doesn’t close till January, got my obsessive little heart pounding (“I gotta go so I can cross it off my list before it falls off into the ‘Never Got to See’ category – the horror!”)

But I’d also been meaning to get to Superior Donuts; and two big new musicals were out there calling my name, too: Memphis and Finian’s Rainbow. When a tweet came through from @TDFNYC telling me that all four were available at TKTS, a decision had to be made, and it wasn’t one I was prepared to make on my own.

Twitter to the rescue! Just after noon Eastern time, I posted the following tweet:
I'll let YOU decide what #TKTS show I see tonight! @MemphisBroadway, @FiniansRainbow, Superior Donuts or @39stepsbroadway ? Most votes wins! And just like that, the decision was out of my hands.

Having mentioned The 39 Steps a few tweets before – asking, “Is it worth it, even if I haven't seen the film?” – I acknowledge that its early lead may have been a bit unfair. But then Memphis made a huge surge – thanks largely, I presume, to the show’s official twitter chiming in, encouraging loyal fans to vote for them! (Great strategy, by the way, @MemphisBroadway. I sort of wish you had won just for getting involved in the process!)

Memphis ruled most of the day; at one point Finian’s caught up to tie them, but never passed into the lead. Superior Donuts was left in the dust early (even with @SteveOnBroadway ’s attempts to rally the troops). And 39 Steps, despite its early advantage, couldn’t quite catch up either. It looked like Memphis was gonna be it – but then the second wave of 39 Steps votes came in, and by the time I headed over to TKTS, we had a dead tie.

So, I did what any obsessive theatre fan would do: I chose the show that could offer me the better seat. And as it turned out, that show was The 39 Steps.

Shortly before 8pm, I gathered my heavy winter coat and scarf (what’s the DEAL with the cold weather right now by the way?! We fully got cheated out of June this year; the least the Universe could have done would be to make up for it with a nice, crisp, warmish fall!) and headed to the Helen Hayes.

It was my first time back at the theatre since Xanadu closed, which I saw three times. I’m a child of the 80s, so all that DayGlo and glitter really appealed to me. I did feel a little pang for the spandex and roller-skates! But I made my peace with that, and took my seat. And The 39 Steps began.

I’m guessing that, since the show has been open for almost two years, many (if not most) of you have seen it. So, you know that this is not a “serious” night at the theatre! It’s a slapstick spoof on the original film (which I hadn’t seen), an event of comedic timing and character acting that’s more like a showcase than a play.

I felt like I was watching clowning – an art I enjoy and find entertaining for sure. The physical abilities of all four actors is remarkable in this show, and the direction (choreography, actually, is probably a more appropriate word) is innovative. That said, I wasn't fully engaged. Nothing was "missing," per se, but it wasn't the style of theatre I like best.

Watching The 39 Steps, I kept laughing; I wasn’t bored for a second; I always had something to look at and I especially enjoyed the quick-switches between the multiple characters taken on by actors Arnie Burton and Jeffrey Kuhn . I agree with the twitterers who insisted that I had to see this show before it closes – I would have been sorry to have missed it. It was great – but it wasn’t something I feel I should have seen when it first opened; I’m not mourning the fact that I won’t get to see it three or four more times.

This show taught me something about my personal theatrical taste, and that is that I like to be transported by a show, swept up in its grandeur or clever plot lines or innovative word-play. The 39 Steps is a spoof of itself, as well as a spoof on the traditional staging of theatrical works. It is hilarious to watch the actors switch on and off their various characters; the use of minimal scenes and props works brilliantly; and the audience is kept entertained. I have nothing bad to say about it, and yet here I sit, shrugging my shoulders, as if my “it was amazing” review necessitates a “BUT” followed by a “dot dot dot”.

I guess my hesitation in giving The 39 Step an unfettered rave review comes from the fact that I was aware, the entire time, that I was in a theatre. The show, by design, constantly reminds the audience that what we’re watching isn’t, and couldn’t be, real. “What about a musical?” you may ask. “Are we supposed to believe that anyone would just burst into song & dance in the middle of a conversation?” Of course not – but that’s what makes it so remarkable when we ARE transported, when we DO believe for a couple of hours that we’re in the world of the play.

When I’m not seeing a Broadway show, I’m known to check out a circus, or a carnival, or a comedy act. That’s what The 39 Steps felt like to me. A showcase for some brilliant performers, with a loose story line in which to demonstrate their comic timing and massive comedic range. Huge bravas to the actors and the director, for giving me a night of laughter. But next time, I’m choosing something with a story or a score that’s as captivating as the performers themselves.

TWITTERVIEW: The Story Pirates present FOUND: The Musical

2009-10-05T04:45:00.000-07:00

The following is a transcript of an interview conducted via Twitter on Sunday, October 4, 2009.

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: OK lovelies, it's 5pm! I'm not JUST about Broadway, you know. Today I'm twitterviewing the co-creators of a new musical called FOUND.

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: You may have heard me rave about the The Striking Viking Story Pirates, my favorite NY theatre company.

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: Usually, the @StoryPirates work with kids, adapting the kids' original stories into hilarious musical and sketch comedy numbers.

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: Now, the @StoryPirates are doing something different: collaborating with Found Magazine, @FoundMag.

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: So, I'll be interviewing @StoryPirates and @FoundMagazine about this new piece of musical theater, to be performed this Friday at @arsnova.

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: So @storypirates and @foundmag, are you guys with me & ready to start? (Everyone follow them so you can read the whole convo!)

FOUNDMAG: I think so... Is this thing on?

STORYPIRATES: ready for the twitterview!

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: What up, @StoryPirates? First off, tell us a little about the Story Pirates in general. And @Foundmag, tell us about Found Magazine!

STORYPIRATES: we've spent 6 years adapting kids stories into sketch comedy and musical theater - we're in 50 schools in NYC

FOUNDMAG: FOUND Magazine is a community art project started in 2002 by Davy Rothbart. We collect lost notes, pictures, etc.

FOUNDMAG: We published the magazine once a year and just released our 3rd best-selling book

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: How did the Story Pirates and Found Magazine first become aware of each other? (@storypirates @foundmag)

FOUNDMAG: We came in contact thru Plus Ent, when we started developing a theatrical version of our already popular live reading show

STORYPIRATES: found magazine was looking for a way to put their mag on stage- a producer, Victoria Lang was brill enough to hook us up

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: So you knew you wanted to make @FoundMag a stage show. What format did you decide on? Did you always know it would be a musical?

STORYPIRATES: we knew there would be a huge musical component to the Found show. The heart of our work =our amazing composer @kittybrains

FOUNDMAG: Many, many conf calls later we developed the idea of a multi-media musical w/ sketches based on some of our favorite notes

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: I should mention: I saw a performance of the @FoundMag musical during its sold out run at The Actors Playhouse in June. It was brilliant!

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: When I saw it, each number was based on a single (real) found item; there was no specific plotline that ran thru the show. Is that still so?

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: (Definite big ups to @kittybrains. The tunes in the @FoundMag musical -- as well as the @StoryPirates regular shows -- are fantastic!)

FOUNDMAG: It is... We liked keeping is as random as the FOUND scraps of paper we used for its conception

STORYPIRATES: Correct- each piece in the Found show is based on a different found item- including items that the audience brings in the night of the show!

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: Audience members bring their own found items -- letters, cards, shopping lists, notes -- to the show and you incorporate them. How?!

STORYPIRATES: We incorporate audience "finds" through the brilliance of @kittybrains, improv and even special guests like @reggiewatts

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: When I saw the show, the improved scenes were so seamless that I wondered if the finds were planted! Those actors are so impressive.

FOUNDMAG: For sure!... It's been one of the most gratifying collaborative projects I've ever been involved with

STORYPIRATES: The biggest problem with improvising in the Found show is that people don't believe it's possible to do what we're doing! But it is! It is.

FOUNDMAG: I think they're the best improv group around. They continue to amaze me every time I see them

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: I was particularly impressed with the range of emotion in the show; I laughed my ass off, but some sketches were moving and even sad!

FOUNDMAG: Exactly! I loved the humanity in which they brought the notes to life. It's so easy to just make fun of these notes

FOUNDMAG: Here at FOUND, we never want readers or audience members to think we're exploiting these people. The Story Pirates got that

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: To both of you (@storypirates & @foundmag), do you have particular fave find/scenes that you look forward to seeing on Friday at @arsnova?

STORYPIRATES: everyone is always looking forward to The Booty Dont Stop, our adaptation of a homemade booty mix tape found in Michigan

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: THE BOOTY DON'T STOP! Love that number. It's the hilarious finale. The choreography and the jam are off the hook! @storypirates

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: How about you, @foundmag? What's your favorite number from this weekend's show at @arsnova?

FOUNDMAG: My favorite sketch the is one based on the FOUND fraternity pledge's journal... "None of Us Are Gay."

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: My favorite find/scene is an adaptation of a letter written by a lonely girl putting on a brave face. I am choked up just thinking about it.

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: So now that everyone in twitterville knows a little bit more about Found, The Story Pirates, and the new musical theater collaboration...

BROADWAYGIRLNYC:...where can people get even MORE information? And more importantly, where are tickets available?

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: Go to www.foundmagazine.com for FOUND, www.storypirates.org for STORY PIRATES, and click here for tix for Fri's show.

BROADWAYGIRLNYC: Thanks for tuning in for my first twitterview! And thanks to @StoryPirates and @FoundMag. I'll have the whole thing on my blog shortly. xo!

#FakeBwaySequels - a Twitter game

2009-09-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I got an email from a friend in which she referred to the closing of the musical “9 to 6”. It was a typo on her part, but my immediate response was, “That must be the sequel!”

As a result, I (along with several hilarious twitterpals) spent the good part of Sunday coming up with other imaginary Broadway sequels. They came so fast and furiously that I didn’t have time to keep up with them all, and they so exhausted me that I needed two days off from twittering !

But in rereading the list – both those tweeted directly to me and those posted with hashtag #FakeBwaySequels – I’m giggling once again.

Here are some of my favorites:

“[title of sequel]” (mine)

“120 In the Shade (Oops! We're All Dead!)" – via @leeserh

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Track & Field Tournament” (mine)

“5 to 9: Off the Clock” – via @ErinEStevens

“Another School Shooting, Annie? If Only She'd Never Gotten That Gun” – via @jilltwiss

“Cats 2: Spayed” – via @misslizrichards

“Donkey's Big Adventure: Who needs Shrek with an Ass like This” – via @adventureginger

“East Side Story: Anita's Big Move” – via @kiarri_librasng

“Grope Me Kate: Finally Getting to Second Base” (mine)

“Hair Extensions” – via @leeserh

“In the Heights 2: Gentrification!!!" (mine)

“Not Even in the Same Ballpark as Normal, but Thanks for Trying” (mine)

“Tiny Dancer: The Tale of Elliot's Offspring” – via @adventureginger

“Thoroughly Post-Modern Millie” (mine)

“South Pacific Overtures: A Rodgers & Hammerstein/ Sondheim Mashup Musical” (mine)

“Sublet” (mine)

“Xanadeux” – via @snapitsmaria

“You're a Crack Whore, Sally Brown: Living Life with Charlie” – via @alliex3baby

Did I miss your favorite? Or do you have new suggestions? Add them in the comments below.

VOTE: A New Musical (Fringe NYC)

2009-08-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

I recently saw VOTE: A New Musical at the NYC Fringe Festival. Here's my review, as originally posted on twitter:

Bailey Hanks is darling, and sings the role of Muffin perfectly. I kept thinking, “She sure is pretty!” and her voice sounded great, too.

(Note to Bailey: Muffin is cute, but so similar to Elle Woods. I'd love to see you in a role where "great hair" isn't central to the part!)

Sidekick Nina Sturtz @yaynina (Trish) is terrific (highlight: “The Villains Girl”). Can’t wait to see what she does next. (@thebatterysdown)

But Trish's styling distracted me: Amongst HS archetypes, her combat boots made me think she’d fall in love with Muffin, not Mike. @yaynina

Was thrilled to see Deidre Goodwin again (Chorus Line, Nine). She can sing the roof off, and this show proves her fantastic comic timing!

No question about it: Morgan Karr @morgankarr (Mark) is the true star of VOTE. He made the show for me. I could have watched him for hours!

I liked Sasha Sloan as Nikki, but her character development came so late in the show! Wish we had met her earlier. @sashasloan

Big "Brava!" to Tracy Weiler (Angelica). Her few lines proved that despite the Barbie body, she’s actually a character actor. @tracyonstage

One word to describe VOTE: The Musical? “Cute”. It ain’t Broadway-bound, but I had a good time. Two performances left! I recommend it.

(VOTErs on Twitter: @votethemusical @fringenyc @ryannewyork @morgankarr @yaynina @tracyonstage @sashasloan @decasting)

Exclusive: Lin Manuel Miranda Confirms "In the Heights" film role at Freestyle Love Supreme

2009-08-04T04:45:00.000-07:00

This morning Twitter is all abuzz with the fact that Lin Manuel Miranda has confirmed that he’ll be starring in the film version of In the Heights. I’m happy to say that I broke this story, after seeing Lin Manuel perform with his hip-hop improv comedy troupe, Freestyle Love Supreme, last night at Comix in New York City.

Freestyle Love Supreme , for the uninitiated, dates back to LMM’s days at Wesleyan University, where he began freestyling, theatrical-style, with his buddies Two-Touch, King Sherman, and UTK. They brought in crazy-smart beatboxer Shockwave, Arthur of Arthur & the Geniuses (who lives up to his name), Christopher Jackson (also of In the Heights) and several other talents to round out the sound when they got to NYC.

Like a traditional improv troupe, they take words that are called out by the audience, and use them to create stories and sketches. Only these MFers do it all with rhyme and rhythm, more closely resembling the final scene of Eminem’s 8 Mile than anything I ever saw at drama camp.

We all know of Lin Manuel’s lyrical skill – in two languages – from In the Heights and his recent translations in West Side Story (let’s face it, when Stephen Sondheim trusts you to take on his prosody, you’ve made it). What you might not expect is how easily the rhymes flow out of him, as if they take no effort at all. And he’s not alone in that: the whole FLS crew is right there with him, a true powerhouse of superhuman wordplay.

Before the show, the capacity crowd at Comix is abuzz, and the cheering starts as soon as the lights go down – this is clearly a pack that knows the treat they’re in for. When the beats begin with the traditional opening number “Mic Check” (visit www.freestylelovesupreme for a taste), everyone is going crazy. The next hour might be the best entertainment any of us will have for a month (that is, until Freestyle Love makes their next appearance at Comix).

From the first moments, the audience is involved in everything that happens onstage. Using a bucket of random words culled from the audience as they entered the showroom, Lin Manuel spits a series of rhymes so quickly that I wonder if he must have taken a glance at the papers in advance of this supposedly improvised scene. But as he grabs, reads, rhymes, crumples and repeats – over and over, about topics ranging from People Magazine to Lobster to my favorite, Corn on the Cob (which lyrically takes him to “Porn on the Job” – I mean come on, genius!) – it’s clear that this is LMM’s gift: the ability to take any word and use it to create a hiphopoetic story that’s both obvious and totally unexpected. His gift is so raw and so rare that there’s an air of watching a sideshow: He is freakish, he is exceptional, and no one can avert their eyes.

More than just traditional freestyle rap done improv-style (as if you see that all the time), FLS creates brilliant little spur-of-the-moment plays, complete with detailed characters based on members of the audience. Last night’s included Eric, “who was more than a little bit generic” and was given the chance to relive a regrettable moment from his past; and Chiara, who had her entire day reimagined FLS style, complete with a dirty tryst with a hottie real estate agent (played masterfully by Utkarsh “UTK” Ambudkar).

Another portion of the show was titled “A Person, a Place, and a Thingity Thing” in which each of three guys rapped lyrical about the nouns thrown at them by the audience; in this case David Hasslehoff (the person), Dubai (the place), and the band Blackstreet (the thingity-thing). (Shout out to UTK here, for apparently being a human wikipedia of Blackstreet information. He knew that band’s history so inside out that I could have written a term-paper about them after the show!)

The entire hour is performed as one continuous, beat-driven, pulsing song – underscored by the incomparable Shockwave on beats & SFX, and the absolutely brilliant Arthur of Arthur & the Geniuses on keys. Their contributions go beyond accompaniment, and serve to remind us that what we’re watching is basically full-body jazz – fully interactive, improvised hip-hop genius.

“Tell me something you can’t live without!” invites Two-Touch, aka Anthony Veneziale, our host and the guy who conceived Freestyle Love Supreme. As the crowd calls out their favorite things – pasta, air conditioning, orgasms – one group of drunken women can’t stop screaming their choice: Horses. “They can not be denied, ladies & gentlemen, the word is HORSES… and everything you’re about to hear is TRUE”.

Thus launches a trio of true horse-inspired stories: UTK used a fear of horses to arouse female sympathy (which led to sex) throughout his college career. Two-Touch mucked out stalls for a summer for $2.50 an hour. And Lin Manuel Miranda… well, he took a different approach to the topic, and recounted his year of Broadway stardom during which he was forced to live as “healthy as a horse”.

I don’t have the lyrical skill (nor did I smuggle in an illegal audio recording device) to be able to recreate LMM”s rhymes about In the Heights on this blog. But the basic gist is this:

During the year that her was starring on Broadway, our hero didn’t drink or indulge in fattening foods; he was working out all the time and bulked up and saw muscles he didn’t know he had. He ate a lot of sashimi (shouting out J Piven during the story, who apparently couldn’t handle the lifestyle), and became a physical specimen to behold.

Now that he has “retired” from his stage career (his word), he’s back to KFC and pizza and beer, and has the gut to prove it (although as much as he insisted, I didn’t see any evidence that his figure has changed at all from when I saw him on Broadway).

THEN, in the middle of his rhyme, came the scoop – tucked away, spit so fast you could almost miss it – but I didn’t:

He’s gonna have to get off his ass and start working out again, because when they start filming the movie, he has to have his “tickets to the gun show” back. Usnavi’s gotta be hot in the film version, as well, and “healthy as a horse”.

Yes, it was announced in November 0f 2008 that Universal had acquired the film rights to In the Heights; rumors of involvement by Jennifer Lopez have circulated the internet; But this is the first time, to my knowledge, that Lin Manuel has actually confirmed the movie deal – particularly the detail that he’ll be playing the beloved star and narrator of the story.

Not that it’s a surprise – how many of us can imagine an In the Heights film without LMM in the lead? – but it sure is thrilling to hear it from the master’s mouth himself.

As the crowd stood up in ovation, I may have whooped the loudest. Backed by his crew and doing what he does (and loves) best, Lin Manuel Miranda brought the house down last night. The promise of a film version of his already classic Broadway musical, starring him in his signature role, was the icing on the cake of an already incredible evening. My only question is this: will there be a spot in the movie for Freestyle Love Supreme ?

Not your average Our Town

2009-07-19T18:01:00.001-07:00

Last week, I had lunch with an old college friend who was visiting New York from Seattle for four days. This guy is as a big a theater fan as I’ve ever known; he managed to see nine on- and off- Broadway shows in the four days he was in the city. Of course, I asked him what he’d seen and what he thought of everything, looking to compare notes and get recommendations. I was surprised when the first thing out of his mouth was a rave review of The Hypocrites’ production of Our Town at the Barrow Street Theater.

“Our Town?” I shrugged. “I feel like I’ve seen that show a hundred times.”

I’ll admit that I was dismissive. After attending productions put on by my high school, college, and multiple community theatres – not to mention memorizing lines from several scenes for the various acting classes of my youth – I could practically recite the whole play. It seemed unlikely that I’d be particularly amused by the letter addressed to “the Earth, the Solar System, the Universe, the Mind of God;” or moved by the “goodbye to clocks ticking and my butternut tree” at the end.

Still, my old buddy knows his stuff. If he said Our Town was a must-see, I was going to take his word for it and check the production out. So, this past Saturday, I traipsed down to the Barrow Street Theater, and scored a day-of ticket.

From the moment that David Cromer enters as The Stage Manager, it is clear that this is not your average Our Town. His delivery is so smooth, so conversational and natural, that the couple sitting behind me really thought he was the actual stage manager for several minutes! He has absolutely no air of “performing” – he’s simply talking to the audience, and we listened. I forgot that I knew the script, and that’s a feat; Cromer narrates the play like it’s the story of his own life and the people he cares about. I think he made eye contact with every single person in the 199-seat theater that day.

Cromer, who also directs (and therefore personally merits the raves coming at the production from all sides), as the Stage Manager, is the heart of this show – even more than George and Emily (played by James McMenamin and Jennifer Grace). He sets the tone for all of the rest of the actors, who rise to his level and put on stellar performances, all.

In a ubiquitous play like Our Town, the decisions of the creative team make all the difference (as my dad likes to say, “no one goes to Romeo & Juliet to find out the ending”). The team behind this production hit it out of the park; there is no question in my mind that they will win any and every award for which they might be nominated.

At the start, the black-box theater is set up totally barebones. In the center of the space sit two tables, along with two chairs each (“some scenery, for those who think they have to have scenery,” the Stage Manager explains at the top of the show). The furniture is arranged to represent settings that vary from the kitchens of the Gibbs & Webb families, to the Grover’s Corners soda shop, to the local church and graveyard. The costume & prop designs are similarly minimalist, and it works.

I struggle with how much detail to discuss in this review, because like all great theatre pieces, it is the surprises that invoke the brilliance. I want to air on the side of caution on this one, but I’ll tell you that the minimalism is not all there is to behold about the design.

Without betraying any details, I shall tell you this: the creative choices made by the set-, prop-, and costume-designers, as well as the perfect direction by David Cromer, moved me to tears at a play I had previously considered to be insipid and tired. This is the ultimate accomplishment for any theatre maker, and I cannot overstate my ovation.

Please take my word for it that my friend from Seattle was correct. No matter how many times you may seen Our Town before, you have never seen it like this.

Funniest Photo Ever of James Gandolfini

2009-07-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

I took this photo at the "God of Carnage" Stage Door. Photo credit: me.

HAIR

2009-06-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

The best thing about the 2009 revival of HAIR on Broadway is its stars: Gavin Creel as smooth, adorable boy-next-door Claude and Will Swenson as wacky, carefree clown Berger. Both deserved those Tony nods.

No, the best thing about HAIR is the supporting cast, especially the ladies. Caissie Levy is lovely; Allison Case exudes a sweet pixie vibe; and Kacie Sheik rises from her brother’s shadow into a Broadway spotlight of her own.

No, wait – the best thing is the ensemble – not a weak member amongst this Tribe! I was particularly drawn to watching Kaitlin Kiyan (recent high-school graduate who made her professional debut in the park last summer), Jackie Burns (does she remind anyone else of Lea Michele?), and Allison Guinn (an understudy who totally stole the show filling in as Buddahdalirama!).

Ok, no. It isn’t the cast itself that shines brightest, but the energy of the production. The show takes place all over the Al Hirschfeld Theater, expanding way out from the stage. There are moments in the boxes, in the aisles, and even on the chairs amongst the audience! The night I went, Lawrence Fishburne was pulled out of his seat and did a nice little softshoe number with members of the cast.

But then – maybe it’s the music that’s the best part of HAIR. From the opening number “Aquarius” (sung by the powerhouse Sasha Allen ), to “I Believe In Love,” to the title track (“Hair”) to “Where Do I Go” and “Good Morning Starshine”… it’s difficult to imagine a landscape of American music without these classics. Hearing them belted out in a Broadway theater is a treat. The show is as much a rock concert as a play.

The story? Yeah, you know, that’s a pretty important part too, now that you mention it. I remember growing up dancing to the LP in the kitchen with my mom, but I’d forgotten the story that ties the music together. Not just a hootenanny of catchy tunes, HAIR has a message that isn’t quite as upbeat as its music. HAIR is about war – draft-dodging, in particular – and there are some heavy themes amongst the toe-tapping score.

Everyone at the show knows that the closing number is “Let the Sunshine In.” How many are prepared for a cast that stands together with tears streaming down their cheeks as they sing it? I expected a song of celebration… but it is performed as a song of mourning. I was emoting, too – tears and tears and tears. Perhaps this is the most important/ “best” part of the show: the way it moves the heart.

The closing scene may be somber, but then the sun does shine in and the curtain call is joyful again – reprisals of “Hair” and a happier “Let the Sunshine In”. The audience is invited up onstage to dance amongst the Tribe, and even those of us who stayed in our seats were up on our feet, moving to the music. It’s like a good old-fashioned be-in, and it feels for a moment like the 60s. (I think! I wasn’t born yet in the 60’s!)

I went to see HAIR with my parents. Mom fell in love with the show during its original run on Broadway; she couldn’t wait to see the new production. I, being the Broadway nut that I am, was thrilled to see it with her – a chance to geek out together! I observed her out of the corner of my eye as she watched the show; it was a real treat to see her getting so into the experience.

On my other side, Dad was tapping his toes as well; he’s a big lover of musical theater, although going in I didn’t think he had a particular affinity for this specific show. That’s why, once the celebration waned after the curtain call and the masses began exiting out onto 45th street, I was caught off guard to see tears shining in my father’s eyes.

We stopped, allowing the rest of the audience to stream out around us. “Dad? You okay?” I asked. And when he opened his mouth, his voice broke and the tears brimmed over.

“I was 18 years old in 1967,” Dad told us. “I knew a lot of guys who went to war and didn’t come back. I didn’t have to go – but I would have gone. You have no idea how hard a time that was for us back then.”

He’s right. I had and have no idea what it was like to face a draft. I know how to protest a war I don’t believe in; but I don’t know a soul who was forced to go into our current battle against his or her will. And the idea of going away and never coming back… well, that is too big and too sad a concept for me to wrap my head around.

So guess what, Broadway-lovers. HAIR is both a fun-loving musical romp, and also has something to say so deep that it made my 60-year-old father shed real tears. And THAT duality, I’m here to declare, is the best thing about this show.

Rooms: A Rock Romance

2009-04-13T14:21:00.001-07:00

I’ve been trying to write a review of Rooms: A Rock Romance for five days. And I hit a wall – what to say about this show?

To get my creative juices a-flowing, I initiated conversation with my friends who have seen the show. “What did you think of Rooms?” I asked them all. And every single one of them started off with the same critique: “It was okay.”

And I thought, Yes! It was okay. It was just okay. Bottom line: Rooms: A Rock Romance is, by all accounts, OKAY.

Leslie Kritzer (who I totally loved in Legally Blonde and A Catered Affair) is a true talent, that’s for sure. But her downfall here is a cringe-worthy take on the Scottish dialect. (Every time she rolled her “rrr,” I had to resist burying my face in the arm of the man sitting beside me.)

Doug Kreeger, who I hadn’t seen before, did a better job convincing me he had some Scottish blood. And he nailed the brooding musician angle… the only issue is that I’m not really attracted to that, and thus had a hard time imagining why Kritzer’s character would be.

Once their emotional connection was established, I suspended disbelief enough to enjoy the majority of the show. Musical highlights include "Scottish Jewish Princess" (an ode to a young woman at her Bat Mizvah), and the punk rock number "All I Want is Everything" (though it was more like "All I want is Everrrrrything" in Kritzer's botched brogue).

The show was neither a comedy or a drama -- clearly trying, but more-or-less failing, to be both. Some funny moments worked (as in the aforementioned Bat Mitzvah scene); some dark moments were surprising and a bit off-putting, even as they evoked mild emotional reactions in me.

I have exactly no superlatives to declare about this show. It was sort-of funny, sort-of sad, sort-of enjoyable, sort-of annoying, sort-of a waste of my time, sort-of an enjoyable evening out.

It also struck me as "sort-of" unneccesary to have these American actors (Kritzer, I'm looking at you) playing Scottish roles, when there are surely singing-and-dancing Scots around town. I'm not going to suggest re-writing the script so it's set in the USA, because the playwright is Scottish and that's clearly part of his story; but i'm just saying, it would have made just as much sense if the characters had grown up in Dayton, OH.

So, you want to see a show tonight? Go see Billy Elliot or Next to Normal or Jersey Boys.

You've already seen all those? Or someone offered you a free ticket?

Then go see Rooms.

Okay.

Exclusive: Hal Sparks turned down Spamalot -- and wants to write Rock Opera!

2009-04-06T11:49:00.001-07:00

Yes, it’s true –
Back before Spamalot closed on Broadway, Hal Sparks went through a lengthy audition process, and was offered the Lancelot track – he was to play the role in Las Vegas for three weeks, then move into the role on New York City for a year. Hal – an accomplished actor (Queer as Folk), singer (Zero 1), and comedian – ultimately turned down the role for financial reasons. However, Broadway isn’t entirely out of his sights – Hal tells me that he is seriously interested in writing a rock opera based on the music of Queensrÿche.

Notes on Reasons To Be Pretty

2009-04-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

OK, Neil LaBute -- you like the word “fuck”! (The opening scene of Reasons To Be Pretty features it about 35 times.)

First impressions (other than the jolt of the recurring F word): I dug the set (a few simple moving parts that portray at various times a bedroom, a mall, a ballpark, and most often the kitchen/ “lounge” of the warehouse where three of the four characters work). There is little-to-no amplification of the actor’s voices, which I also like (it makes the show feel more organic). And the sound design – short bursts of rock music used to transition between scenes – is well executed.

Compliments on the design now out of the way…
I had a bit of trouble losing myself in the story, especially in the first act. I couldn’t emotionally identify. I wanted to connect with Marin Ireland’s character, Steph (the single, 20-something, romantically-idealed blonde girl); yet from the start, I simply couldn’t get in.

Ireland plays the first scene as singularly angry. She’s reacting to the news that her boyfriend, Greg, has said something not-so-kind behind her back – and her reaction is entirely violent. I wanted to put myself in her place, feel what she was feeling – after all, I’ve had that happen to me before. But I didn’t see any trace of the emotions that I’d expect the character to feel underneath all of the anger. Where was the heartbreak? Where was the betrayal? Where was the self-doubt that his comment no doubt tapped into? ALL I could see from her was rage. And that on its own is pretty boring to watch.

The good news is that Thomas Sadoski, as Greg, is as multi-layered as Ireland is flat. He felt familiar to me, to the point that I found myself wondering if I’d met Sadoski at a party before. But no, it wasn’t the actor I’d encountered in the past – it was the character of Greg. I’ve known so many guys like that: well-intentioned, underappreciated, just trying to do the right thing by everyone. I applaud Sadoski’s presentation of a truly authentic character. I wanted to reach out and shake him and tell him that he deserved so much better than this bitchy Steph who couldn’t let one thing go.

I’d like to say unequivocally that I praise playwright Neil LaBute’s use of language. It’s like Mamet – supremely conversational, full of stops and starts and interruptions and incomplete thoughts. I can imagine that it would be hard to read on a page, might seem confusing as prose; but as dialogue, it works exceedingly well. A kind of poetry in the form of human discourse.

LaBute’s skill with dialogue is particularly highlighted in the scenes featuring Steven Pasquale as Kent. Another sort of one-note character, Kent is just an asshole – but for some reason I could buy that (he’s basically a testosterone-fueled alpha-male who only cares about winning the local league softball trophy and seeing who he can fuck). As the devil-on-Greg’s-shoulder, Kent is an archetypal douchebag. Pasquale nails the role, right down to the sneer on his face as brags about his adulterous ways (against wife Carly, played unremarkably by Piper Perabo.)

I’m pleased to report that at the end of act two, there is one redeeming scene in which Marin Ireland turns it around and shows some depth of character – where she reveals an interior monologue that differs from what she is saying out loud. That is the moment that should have encapsulated the whole play: a carefully calculated interaction between two believable characters, in which they say all of the important things between their actual words. Unfortunately, it comes too late and is too isolated for me to actually care all that much; I could really feel for Greg, but I honestly couldn’t give a damn about this woman Steph.

The bottom line is that I more-or-less enjoyed Reasons To Be Pretty, but I wouldn’t go see it again. I don’t think that it’s Tony-worthy (though I’d be supportive, if also surprised, to see Sadoski get a nod). The writing is excellent (particularly in the second act), so any shortcomings are not the fault of Neil LaBute. I would dare to say that a huge improvement could be made by either redirecting Ireland into some wider emotional breadth – or simply by recasting the role of Steph entirely. In fact, if her understudy is going on any time soon… I might reconsider a repeat performance.

Next to Normal

2009-03-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Another Friday night, another opportunity to see what the TKTS gods would bring my way. I was surprised to see Next to Normal on the board; I had assumed that the first preview would be sold-out. This was show I had wanted to see off-Broadway, but missed my chance. I was pleased when I heard it was moving on up, and had landed at the Booth.

So, it was a no-brainer to choose that show as my half-price adventure for Friday – especially when I landed a ticket on the center aisle in Row D! I was so pumped that I went home and ran five miles before showing up at the theater ten minutes before curtain.

The thing about attending a first preview is that very few people stumble in the way I did. There are two types of audience members – those that know (and adore) the show, and those that know (and are related to) the cast. As I entered the theater, I was surrounded by ecstatic teenagers who had been waiting for this day since the off-Broadway version closed (I was careful not to listen too closely to their chatter, in fear of learning too much about the story). Then when I got to my seat, I was the only person in my section that didn’t have some connection to a member of the cast.

Some of my juiciest Broadway gossip comes from listening to industry people when they forget they’re in public company. Tonight, I was seated next to a pair of actors (I heard them share that they’d toured together in Rent and All Shook Up). They are newly expecting a baby (anyone care to do the googling to find out the identity of this lucky couple?), and they were greeted by other members of the audience in a steady stream of hearty congratulations, as if this was their shower. I knew they were kind of a big deal when Michael Greif extracted himself from his own throngs of fans to come over to say hello. I was hoping this was where the hot gossip would come in – I was willing Michael to divulge some fancy detail that I could exclusively reveal to the BroadwayGirlNYC readership! – but it was then that the lights dimmed and the orchestra began to play.

Next to Normal starts off as a light and lovely family story. Yeah, the mom’s a little wacky; yeah, there are some off-color sex references early on. I was digging it, but not in a particularly “WOW” kind of way. I thought, “I like this – but you know, it doesn’t take a genius to rhyme ‘loner’ with ‘stoner’. It’s… cute.”

But not too far in, there’s a moment when the show turns dark. I didn’t expect it, because I hadn’t see it off-Broadway – yet again, I benefited from going to a show I knew nothing about. I was caught off-guard by the revelation (which I won’t disclose, so you can be caught off-guard too). And suddenly, I saw that Next to Normal isn’t just a cute, dysfunctional-family musical. This is a show that has something to say, and isn’t afraid to cut straight to the heart in order to say it.

The music seemed more layered, then. The lyrics revealed double-meanings. I could see the symbolism even in the staging (which before had seemed merely functional and pretty). And I also became immediately invested in the characters. I could tell why this was a story that needed to be told.

Because every family has its dysfunction. No matter how perfect the academic daughter seems, no matter how beautiful the beloved son. There are demons that run deep. And love that no one understands. And relationships that teeter on the edges of reason (or cross into the realm of madness) that are still the most important of our lives.

As a young adult, I’m not sure if I relate more to the teenage daughter character or her struggling mother. Interestingly, the mother character reminds me of the person I was as a teen. Watching the show, I ached as I witnessed her battle for herself.

Alice Ripley’s portrayal of the fragile, struggling Diana is gorgeous. She reveals such comprehensible confusion and panic in her eyes, such heartbreak, such resolution. I became involved with her journey. I felt like I knew her, in an emotional way. Her story is so well-told that I sort of forgot she was singing.

Playing her husband, Dan, is J. Robert Spencer (the original Nick Massi from Jersey Boys). Dan counters Diana’s emotion with calmness, which keeps the interaction seeming real; instead of escalating into a dramatic, over-the-top confrontation, they successfully display the subtle complexities of spousal rapport.

Also excellently cast are the couple’s two teenage children, played by Jennifer Damiano and Aaron Tveit. Tveit is a beautiful specimen of a 23-year-old (he’s that Zac Efron kind of pretty that causes me to so embarrassingly crush). At first his good looks distracted me, but it soon became clear that this was part of the casting. The actor has to really embody “the perfect son” – and Tveit does.

Jen Damiano as daughter Natalie is terrific. I was familiar with her from her role as an ensemble member in Spring Awakening (which I saw 14 times), and it was fabulous to see her step into a spotlight of her own. She has the voice of an actress much more seasoned, but the body and demeanor only a true 16-year-old can possess. Just like her character, she is awkwardly and beautifully straddling the child/woman line.

Like Spring Awakening, Next to Normal speaks to an audience that understands angst. Whether it’s the teenagers like those who have been waiting anxiously for this Broadway presence (so their own struggles are acknowledged through public art); or the parents going through their own challenges, as the character of Diana does; or people like me, who fall somewhere in between – this musical delivers a striking, raw and beautiful note in tribute to the battles we fight and witness, and those demons we have succeeded in defeating.

Irena's Vow

2009-03-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

I happened into something remarkable on Broadway last night.

After spending the last two days at Jury Duty (and narrowly avoiding assignment on a 2-week-minimum sex-offender trial), I felt I deserved to celebrate. So, I did the expected and headed to TKTS. I felt the need to rock out a little bit, and earlier in the week I’d seen half-price tickets to Hair on the board. When I arrived, alas, no Hair; of course, it was 6:30pm on a Friday night in spring, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that a known title was all sold out.

Rather than get in line for something else, on a whim I walked over to the the Walter Kerr, where a new play is in previews, Irena’s Vow. I didn’t know anything about it, but I thought I'd check it out.

Skimming the show description and learning that the play is about a “heroine of World War II… during the German occupation of Poland,” I thought it sounded a little dark for my current mood. (I was considering seeing Rock of Ages since Hair was already out.) But I made myself a deal, as I waited my turn at the window: if I could score a student” ticket, I’d check out Irena’s Vow.

Sure enough, even an hour before showtime, there were still a few student tickets available. “What the hell?” I thought. “It’s only a 90 minute show.” (Hair and Rock of Ages aren’t going anywhere, after all.) I plunked down my 25 bucks.

Not knowing anything about the play other than what I had learned in the pamphlet, I had no expectations. This is actually my favorite way to see a new work – not knowing the story, the ending, or even whether the general public or reviewers tend to like it. I love the clean slate of knowing I’ll be 100% responsible for my own opinion. This was a unique case too, because despite star Tovah Feldshuh’s lengthy resume and past accolades (four Tony nominations!), I didn’t remember ever hearing of her before.

Feldshuh plays Irena, a Polish woman in WWII who, while serving as the housekeeper for a high-ranking German officer, manages to hide and care for twelve Jews inside his home.

The show opens with Irena as an old woman, speaking to an assembly of school children in 1988. She proceeds to narrate her own story, impressively embodying both selves – the agile, unfaltering 18-year-old in wartime and the shuffling, resolute senior who has dedicated her life to sharing the difficult, inspirational tale.

The show is well-crafted with simple sets, few props, and the unobtrusive use of a black-and-white screen to enhance location. The biggest strength, though, is in small cast of beautifully humanized characters. I found it impossible not to become emotionally involved.

My emotional involvement was not a surprise; I’m similar to most theatre-goers, in that the whole point is to get wrapped up in the story and experience the emotions that the characters do. I’m no stranger to shedding tears during the closing moments of a play. HOWEVER, the end of this performance of this play provided a whole new level of involvement, when Feldshuh cut the applause at curtain call to make a special announcement in honor of the REAL Irena Gut Opdyke.

Because of my pre-show lack of information, somehow I had missed that Irena was a real woman and that this was her real story. Suddenly, the gravity of her history – which I had assumed was historical fiction – had a new weight, was much more significant. I was mind-boggled to hear that this was not simply an envisioning of what might have happened during World War II – this had been Irena Gut Opdyke’s life.

I was grasping for a tissue to get my tears under control, when Feldshuh made an introduction. “Sadly, Irena Gut Opdyke passed on a few years ago. But we have a treat for you tonight – here to spend a few minutes with us is her daughter, Jeannie Opdyke Smith.” And out walked a tall, beautiful woman who brought a whole new level of realness to this unbelievably true story of her mother’s heroism.

As if Irena’s story (in the form of the play) wasn’t gift enough, the audience was given the chance to hear from her daughter directly. Jeannie was articulate and lovely, answering questions about the extended history of the characters that we had all grown to know over the past hour and a half. And as it turns out, the inspiration didn’t stop with Irena.

Not only did the twelve Jews that Irena hid all survive to start their own families; but one, while working as a guard in a camp in Poland, discovered Irena living there and smuggled her out to freedom. Even more incredible was Jeannie’s revelation that the German officer in whose home the twelve were hidden, after being disowned by his own family post-war and left to live on the street, was eventually taken in by the very Jews who had to hide from him. In Jeannie’s words, it was a remarkable circle of forgiveness.

Tovah Feldshuh will be nominated for a Tony in this role, I have no doubt. Irena’s Vow may win for Best Play. A movie is supposedly in the works, with talks of Scarlett Johansson playing Irena (I think she’d be fantastic). I am looking forward to all of that. The accolades will spread the story, which will spread the inspiration. And even the most valiant of us could serve to learn a little from Irena Gut Opdkye.

Blithe Spirit review

2009-03-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Earlier tonight I tweeted the bottom line on how I feel about Blithe Spirit. So, this review will be in bullet-point form, to cover the deets:

• Rupert Everett is stunning. He’s simply a dashing man, and I don’t think I’ve ever used the word “dashing” before in my life. You know how most actors are shorter than they look on-screen? Not Rupert. He’s got a presence, man. A presence that I want to jump on!
• Confession: before I saw this play, I didn’t know the definition of the word “blithe” (joyous, merry, or gay in disposition; or: carefree, heedless). I had it confused with “lithe” (limber, supple, flexible). Well, BOTH words describe Christine Ebersole as Elvira (not to be confused with Elvira). She flowed across that stage, looking more gorgeous than I have ever seen her – and those in the know KNOW that she always looks amazing. (I saw her once waiting for a ride at JFK, and even just off a plane, she looked like a million bucks!)
• Susan Louise O'Connor as Edith steals the show. For woman in her early 30’s, making her Broadway debut in a role that consists mostly of the lines “yes mum,” “no mum,” and “very well, mum,” she knocked it out of the park! At one point, her physical humor alone stopped the show. I felt like a proud mama, even though I hadn’t even heard of her before. I can only imagine how much a thrill this experience is for her. Yay ☺
• And of course there is Angela Lansbury. It’s hard to know where to start with her, because she is so culturally ubiquitous that seeing her in 3-D is a surprise in and of itself! But from the curtain’s rise, she is so endearingly daffy that I actually forgot she wasn’t Madame Arcati; some of the old-ladyisms were so right-on that I couldn’t tell whether they were the product of the character or the actor! At the core, it didn’t matter, because she was perfectly cast (this was not stunt casting, people! No one could have played the role more perfectly!). Highlight: her pre-trance dance-numbers. I won’t go into detail – you’ll want to see these for yourself.
• Noel Coward is a freaking genius. Every line in his show is simultaneously surprising and obvious (in a “why didn’t I think of that?” kind of way). I can’t believe I had never read Blithe Spirit (although the fact that I hadn’t made the show all the better), and I’m suddenly tempted to park myself at the 42nd Street library and read his entire life’s work. Then again, I so love to see a play who’s ending I don’t already know… so maybe I’ll just head up to the Shaw Festival this year instead.
• The costumes were remarkable, most notably Ebersole’s ghostly gown. Shout out, too, re: Jayne Atkinson’s purple dress with the orange sash. I’d wear that shiz, and I’m a good coupla decades younger than she is! And Rupert, man. Can he wear a tux, or what? I’ve decided that he must wear one all the time, even while going to the gym. What’s that? You’re reminding me that I saw him come out of the stage door wearing a blue hoody sweatshirt? I’m afraid I can’t hear you. I must be going through a tunnel. Goodbye!
• Speaking of the stage door, I MET ANGELA LANSBURY, y’all! She was just as lovely as I hoped she would be, pausing to sign my playbill and waving away the crowd’s chorus of compliments with a self-deprecating “I’m still learning my lines”. She stopped to pose for some pics with a couple of little kids (who hadn’t even seen the show! They’d gone with their mom to The Little Mermaid! Cheaters). I suppressed a belly laugh when Angela, just after posing in that chin-up, pursed smile, classy old-country-Lady way of hers, told the parents “get these little ones to bed, it’s way too late for them to be out here!”. The parents, oblivious to her criticism, took their leave while comparing digital photos, as the five-year-old markedly observed, “she looks older than in Bedknobs and Broomsticks.”
• Older she may be, but this lady is still the mold for what every actor wants to achieve on Broadway. She’s earned her legendary status. And I’m ecstatic that I got to see her on stage. You will be too. Go see Blithe Spirit.

Connor Paolo likes Mexican Food

2009-03-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

Craving a burrito and having just (belatedly) discovered that Burritoville has gone bankrupt, I popped into the Blockheads at Worldwide Plaza at about 5pm today. I put in my to-go order and had crammed myself into the small space between the front door and the bathroom door, when a slight, beautiful boy with a shock of (dyed?) dark hair approached. It was Connor Paolo, aka Eric Van der Woodsen from Gossip Girl (he was also on Broadway in The Full Monty, so yayz, I get to talk about it on ma blog)! He smiled a pretty smile and said, "Are you waiting?" (as in for the bathroom). I told him "nope," and then when he tried the door, "but there's someone in there." I took off my ipod headphones in case he wanted to have more of a conversation than that. He didn't. We both stood there for 2 minutes or so while I debated whether to ask him if he had ever heard of The Ultimate Gossip Girl Summit, but then the door opened, the previous occupant departed, and Connor aka Eric VdW went in. He spent an unremarkable 90 seconds or so in the john. Shortly thereafter, I got my Super Chicken Burrito with Brown Rice in a Whole Wheat Tortilla, and went along my way.

xoxo,
BroadwayGirlNYC

Introducing BroadwayGirlNYC

2009-03-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

As you've probably guessed from the name of my blog (to which I may hereafter refer as my blizzog, blizz, bliznatch or bleezy, depending on how gangster I'm feeling at the time), I go to a lot of Broadway shows. I was thinking tonight before the curtain went up that my pace has been rather slow lately, but then I realized this was my third show in three weeks... so yeah, I go to a lot of Broadway shows. I see as many as I can and I geek out about a few of them, by which I mean I'm a repeat attender and might be known to stalk a cast member or two (not really! ok maybe a little bit). However, I'm NOT super theatre-geek drama-camp kid. I don't know the complete Jerry Herman catalogue, I can't recite the names of every actress to ever play Fantine, and I only have one framed autographed Broadway poster up in my bedroom ([title of show]).

What I'm trying to say is that I am not a woman of encyclopedic theatre knowledge. I'm not a scholar or an academic, and I don't claim any actual expertise. I'm simply a chick who has lucked into a life near Broadway, and I'm taking advantage of it as much as I possibly can.

My blog -- er, mah bleezy -- will tell you what I've seen, what I thought of it, who was amazing, who sucked ass, general random observations, gleeful tirades, trains of thought, cast-member sightings (they hang in my hood), and whatever else is on my mind relating to Broadway.

Turn off the cell phones, unwrap your candies, grab a drink from the lobby bar and smuggle it back to your seat under your coat.

Welcome to my Bliznatch!

BroadwayGirlNYC