theatre review CHAPLIN, Broadway, Sept. 6

At the center of the new Broadway musical Chaplin is a performance so impressive that it manages to bring the term "star making" to mind.  In front of our eyes we see Rob McClure become not only Chaplin but the famous character "The Tramp" that Chaplin portrayed in numerous films and was known the world over for.  While Chaplin isn't the best musical I've ever seen, McClure's performance as well as a first rate cast, a sweeping story and some impressive songs combine to make Chaplin into a musical that I found both enjoyable and touching.  Sure some of the critics weren't as impressed as I was, but then I don't always agree with the critics.

Telling the story of Chaplin from the age of a young boy to his honorary Oscar in 1972 at the age of 83, Chaplin is your typical musicalized rags to riches story of a man who was in the right place at the right time but one with such talent that he became the leading image of the Silent film era.

Rob McClure

The musical's telling of the story might seem simplistic, with the appropriate flashback scenes to highlight key moments in the otherwise forward trajectory, but the story of Chaplin is a rich one, so the simple telling of it means there is no elaborate theatricality to get in its way.  It is a "by the numbers" musical that works. 

Chaplin's life was full of highs and lows, from his young life on the streets of London and the times he and his mother worked in the music halls there, to his star making years in Hollywood that ended up with him not only being the highest paid film star but also allowed him to own his own studio and produce, write and direct his own films.  The musical also shows his later years when the "talkies" threatened Chaplin's way of work, his success of his portrayal of a comical Hitler in The Great Dictator and how his desire to be something of a political presence made his political views to be questioned and ultimately forced him to leave the country.  And while the show doesn't shy away from Chaplin's desire for teenage girls, it doesn't focus too much attention on it and even turns his first three wives's divorce proceedings into a boxing match. 

Rob McClure, Zachary Unger and
Christianne Noll

Added to all of these moments is Chaplin's relationship with his mother and to a much lesser extent, his forever absent father.   While his mother sets the story in action with the excellent opening musical sequence "Look at All the People" where she shows the young Charlie how to observe people around him.  Those moments come into play later when he uses them to become "The Tramp."  But it is really his mother's later years after she has become ill and no longer recognizes Charlie that provide some of the more dramatic elements to the plot.  There are many scenes throughout the show where Charlie's past and the character of his mother and his younger self come into play to shape not only Charlie but the films he makes.  One of the best of those sequences is when Charlie is filming The Kid and we see how his own childhood influenced what ultimately made it onto the screen.

The cast is first rate with McClure giving a performance of many layers.  Whether he is the young Chaplin trying to make his way in Hollywood or the older Chaplin who realizes that the cinema and the world have passed him by, McClure has the appropriate blend of subtlety and realism to his portrayal.   He is a great physical comedian as well.  The most impressive moments come when he is first in Hollywood, afraid he is about to be fired, and draws upon the many people he remembers seeing on the streets of London to concoct the character of "The Tramp."   Using bits of the characters we saw in the opening sequence, he takes parts from each of those people to build upon each other until "The Tramp" is born.  This scene alone will stick with you for a very long time and is perfectly set up and staged by Director Warren Carlyle.   While McClure doesn't have a lot of songs to sing his second act solo "Where Are All The People?" is one that is quite effective.

Rob McClure and Erin Mackey

The supporting cast is perfectly suited for their roles with Christiane Noll especially touching as Chaplin's mother and Erin Mackey, who is engaging and charming, as his final wife, Oona O'Neill, the daughter of Eugene O'Neill.  I thought Wayne Alan Wilcox was quite moving as Chaplin's brother Sydney who became his business manager.  The two of them had some nice moments together and when their relationship hit a rough patch their scenes together were quite effective.   As Hedda Hopper Jenn Colella provides plenty of sass and drive and also gets one of the best songs in the score "All Falls Down" that she belts the heck out of.  Zachary Unger is also quite effective as the young Charlie and also plays the young Jackie Coogan who Chaplin directed to acclaim, even though in a dubious manner in the film The Kid.

The score by Christopher Curtis is his first for the stage, and while some of the songs are more ho-hum, there are several that are very effective including a rousing ending number "This Man" that builds to an emotional choral finale.  The book is by Curtis and Thomas Meehan and while the various moments in Chaplin's life sometimes come across more on the melodramatic side to a certain extent, they somehow make it all come together and works as a musical.

Jenn Colella

While the set design is fairly simple, the use of film images by Jon Driscoll throughout the show is quite effective.  The costume design is based on muted greys and shades of black and white, which ties directly into the silent black and white films.   There is only one bright color used for the majority of the show and that is the red rose that Charlie/The Tramp holds or has on his lapel.  However, there is a burst of color at the end of the show which I found to be extremely effective.

A few quibbles: the second act focuses mainly on Hopper's attacks against Chaplin's political beliefs, which we are led to believe all stemmed from Chaplin's refusal to give her an interview.  This turns Hopper into the major villain of the musical, and makes one believe she was the driving force to make Chaplin leave the US, both points which I don't think are fully accurate.  Also, there is a weird theatrical framing device of having the entire musical as scenes within a film about Chaplin.  This means the scenes start with an ensemble member saying something like "Chaplin, scene 1, the early days" while holding a film clip board, as if the musical is a movie within the show.  However this disappears about 1/3 of the way in and I don't recall any of these scene openings even existing in act two.

But with McClure's break out performance, a fairly stellar supporting cast and a clear storyline, Chaplin is a show I think any fan of Charlie Chaplin or musical theatre will enjoy.  The sad thing is, I'm sure many people under the age of 30 have no idea who Charlie Chaplin even is.  In a year when so many of the film companies are celebrating their 100th anniversaries it is fitting that this musical is on Broadway to allow us a way to remember one of the people who was there almost at the start of it all.

Official Show Site

Highlights from the musical:

cabaret review MARIN MAZZIE, 54 Below, Sept 5

Marin Mazzie at 54 Below

Marin Mazzie can do no wrong.  She has an amazing wit, a razor like connection with her audience and a clear, forceful voice that she uses to elevate any song she sings to a higher dimension.   While we've seen her perform with her husband Jason Danieley a few times this was our first time seeing her perform solo. 

Her recent cabaret concert at 54 Below was a recollection back to her teen years in the early 70's in Rockford, IL and the songs and personal stories that impacted her at that time and made her into the person she is today.   Her concert reminded me so much of Brian d'Arcy James' recent show at the same club about his growing up in the early 80's.  But while James' show was more pop/rock focused, Mazzie's was a more nostalgic youth focused one with some of the songs we now love to hate ("Midnight at the Oasis" anyone?) delivered by Mazzie in such a way that she made us fall in love with them all over again. Mazzie managed to embody each song with an intensity as well as an element of fun from the first note she sang and in doing so she had us all hooked and taking the journey with her.  The fact she didn't sing a single Broadway showtune didn't matter at all.  The stunning, beaded white cocktail dress Mazzie wore provided an added touch of heat and spark to the evening that perfectly complimented the heat and spark in her voice.

Any of us who grew up around the 70's remembers fondly the stereo in the living room and the turntable that had stacks of lp's mounted on it ready to continuously play.  Mazzie perfectly evoked the feeling of that period that transported the crowded room back to the 70's to relieve the time and music with her.  Starting off with a slowed down and sexy take on the Rosemary Clooney hit "Come On A My House,"  Mazzie talked about her parents dancing in the living room while she mimicked their moves with her Malibu Barbie and Skipper Ken dolls. As she talked about the stacked records changing automatically on the turntable she also moved from one song to another including a touching yet jazzy "Tenderly."  However, a percussion only accompanied "Begin the Beguine" was for me the clear standout of the evening.  Mazzie's voice and percussionist Larry Lelli couldn't have been more in sync for this song, it is still playing in my head weeks after seeing this show. 

The evening followed a basic chronological order as Mazzie grew up and became more interested in music that spoke to her as well as when she got her own record player to play alone in her room.  While Mazzie mentioned how she was in love with Davey Jones and longed to be "the long lost Partridge family member, Marin Partridge" as she grew up the songs that connected to her became more serious.  Her take on the Carly Simon classic "That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be" was heartbreaking and breathtaking all at the same time.  She also had such conviction with her delivery of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" you couldn't help but be moved.

Mazzie's teen years in Catholic School were highlighted with a very humorous story about singing at the blessing of the class rings.  The song she picked was the Barbra Streisand hit "Evergreen" even though Sister Ann Patrice (or SAP for short) censored a few of the lyrics she thought were too explicit, so Mazzie had to hum them for her classmates.   For the somewhat never ending Barry Manilow song "Weekend in New England" Mazzie managed to make us remember why we were also so drawn to that song so many years ago.

Directed by Scott Burkell, the personal stories that Mazzie told about the songs and that time in her life were both touching and humorous, with some very funny comments and moments as well.  While Mazzie has been known for more serious Broadway and Off Broadway roles, it is very clear that she would excel in a comedy.  Mazzie's humorous tales of the commitment she made to the Columbia record club as well as her realization that her purple hair brush could be used for other purposes only highlighted the sultry and comical evening.

The long lost "Marin Partridge" did get a chance to shine with her sunny, upbeat and firmly committed take on "I Think I Love You" as well as the Davey Jones inspired encore of "I'm a Believer."  Musical direction and piano accompaniment were by Joseph Thalken, with Peter Donovan on bass, Larry Saltzman on guitar and the afore mentioned Larry Lelli on percussion.  All of the musicians were given solo moments to shine throughout the evening and Mazzie's connection with each was more than just a passing one.

54 Below is the best place to see Broadway and cabaret performers break out of their musical theatre mold and show their versatility.  The sound is so amazing that when you have a performer like Mazzie with impeccable phrasing you hear every single word as if you've never heard it before.   So if Mazzie comes back to 54 Below, or a theatre near you, or if one of your favorite performers books a date at 54 Below, make sure you don't miss it.

Official 54 Below Site

clips from the show! -

Les Miserables movie - can't wait!

This is just looking better and better - release date is now Christmas Day- I'm hoping it will be a very nice present for many. many people.

cabaret review FAITH PRINCE & JASON GRAAE, 54 Below, August 23



Jason Graae and Faith Prince at 54 Below

We journeyed back to the hot new nightclub 54 Below to see Tony winner Faith Prince and Jason Graae in a show jokingly called "The Prince and the Show Boy."   With the high level of comedy these two musical clowns create, and Graae's overachieving humorous delivery and eagerness to please, it could have been just as easily titled "Prince and the Jester."

Both Prince and Graae have appeared in numerous Broadway and Off Broadway shows and while Prince is clearly the more established and well known "name" here, Graae has plenty of credits and recording contributions as well.  While they might seem like a somewhat strange combination for a cabaret concert, the fact that the two of them went to the same school together, CCM in Cincinnati, and have worked together a few times over their careers provides a nice amount of charm and authenticity to their "friendship" that you don't always get when two people come together in a duo show like this.

Starting off with a medley of showtunes that included various versions of the name "Prince" in their lyrics it clearly set the stage for what was about to come.  That medley included songs like "Someday My Prince Will Come" as well as "Put on a Happy Face" with "Face" jokingly changed to "Faith" and another song from Bye Bye, Birdie, "One Boy" changed to "One Showboy," to get the full name of the concert and the theme behind the show clearly out there.   The fact that the medley also included "Liza with a Z" elevated the medley to heights of comical zaniness since even though that song had absolutely nothing to do with the name of the show, it added the appropriate amount of insanity that Prince and Graae excel at.

Prince has recorded a live cd of a previous cabaret show that she's toured around the country, and a few selections as well as some of the patter from that show were carried over to this one.  One of the gems she sung in those earlier shows she repeated here, Mary Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim's "The Boy from ..." from The Mad Show which Prince manages to ring every nuance out of the insane lyrics. 

But the concert wasn't only humorous songs, in fact some of the best moments were the more serious ones.  Both Prince and Graae appeared in various versions of the William Finn show Falsettos, with Prince originating the role of Trina in the Off Broadway production of the one act Falsettoland and Graae a replacement for Mendel in the Broadway production of the later version of the two act show.   For their cabaret, Graae sang an emotionally rich version of "What More Can I Say?" immediately followed by Prince with a heartfelt version of "Holding to the Ground."  Graae also accompanied Prince by playing the oboe on "Smiles" that lead into Faith singing the Charlie Chaplin classic "Smile" with Graae continuing playing in counterpart.  It was a lovely duet in a classy and very different way.  Prince also sung the hell out of "The Ladies Who Lunch" from Sondheim's Company, and I personally didn't detect one comic tick on her face during it, which proves that Prince doesn't need to be funny to achieve greatness.

A Jerry Herman section included Prince talking about her son who is now in his late teens before she sang a touching and personal version of Mame's "If He Walked Into My Life."  The Herman section also included Graae's heartfelt story of his coming out to his mother before he delivered an emotional "I Am What I Am" from La Cage Aux Folles.  A rousing "Before the Parade Passes By" from Hello Dolly provided Prince a chance to show how she'd be as Dolly with Graae throwing out sung snippets from a multitude of other Herman songs in counterpoint to Prince.

While the majority of the songs for the evening were hits, a couple of Graae's selections were a little too forced, including his take on Wicked's "Popular" and the Kooman and Dimond song "To Excess" about a stalker.  Graae's drive to "sell" those songs just made them a little too over the top for my taste.

Musical director Alex Rybeck provided lovely accompaniment as well as contributed to the shenanigans on stage.

theatre review BRING IT ON, Broadway, Aug 21

After what seems like a slew of Broadway musicals based on movies where the musical is almost a scene by scene replay of the film, it is refreshing that the new musical Bring It On takes little more than the name and theme of the 2000 cheer leading movie it comes from.  With a completely new plot and characters, the musical is an exuberant two plus hours of comedy, music, dance and high flying cheer leading acrobatics.  We enjoyed it so much we are going back in a few weeks with our nieces.

Telling the story of what happens when Campbell, the perky, driven cheer leading team captain of a high school is redistricted to a different school over in the "hood" where she doesn't quite fit in and they don't even have a cheer leading "squad," Bring It On is the perfect "fish out of water" story with a dash of All About Eve thrown in as well.  Will Campbell succeed at her new school?  Can she convince them to start a "squad" to compete against her former school to win the cheer leading championship?  The script doesn't always go where you think it will go, which is nice and refreshing.  There are characters in this show we've seen before but also plenty that we haven't.  Much of the success of this musical can be credited to the witty script by Jeff Whitty.

Taylor Louderman and Adrienne Warren

Campbell is the team captain forced to now go to the new school, leaving her boyfriend, team mates and championship bound cheer leading squad behind.  Taylor Louderman plays Campbell with the appropriate amount of high energy as well as fear for her new surroundings.  She has the perfect fresh faced look of the girl who can easily be the team captain but also the right amount of acting skills to not only pull off the loneliness of suddenly being an outsider but also the Broadway caliber vocal skills to pull off singing about that experience as well.

Ryann Redmond and Taylor Louderman

Ryann Redmond is Bridget who also gets redistricted along with Campbell.  Bridget has been the team mascot for the past few years but longs to be a full fledged cheer leader.  Redmond is sassy, hysterical and the perfect oddball friend that anyone would love to have on their side.  She also has impeccable comic timing.  If this show opened next Spring I would think that Redmond would have a strong chance of getting a Tony nom for her performance but I'm still hoping she'll be remembered next Spring by the Tony nominating committee.

Adrienne Warren is Danielle the leader of the "crew" at the new school who Campbell attempts to befriend.  Warren has the perfect blend of sass and "you think you're better then me but you aren't" attitude but also has a compassionate side as well.  She is the kind of character that is realistically rough around the edges and Warren is up to the challenge of playing this character that could easily come across as one we've seen before, but has plenty of layers to it.

Gregory Haney

I also absolutely loved how the character of La Cienega, who is clearly a gay man who prefers to dress up as a woman, required no explanation, back story or heartbreaking revelation.  He just "was," no excuses required.  Gregory Haney was outstanding in the part as well and got some of the biggest applause at the curtain call.

The majority of the cast is making their Broadway debuts with many of them having had years of college cheer leading experience.   However, with so many professional cheer leaders in the cast, it is nice to see that the majority of the main cast is tasked in the cheer leading routines as well, with a couple of them involved in more of the highly intricate and even some of the high flying routines.

Director / choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler seamlessly weaves together the cheer leading sequences into the story with many of them naturally building from the musical numbers.  But he also includes plenty of modern day dancing as well, with the dancing by the "crew" at Campbell's new school especially effective.  With a score by three different composers you might think that the music wouldn't quite gel together but it does with many effective numbers.  It helps that you have Tony winners Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) providing the music with Miranda and Amanda Green the lyrics.



one of the high flying cheer sequences

 This production comes to Broadway for a limited run after a national tour.  While it might have the look and feel of a somewhat bare bones touring production, the minimal set pieces and video screens are effectively used and are almost always moving that you don't miss huge and elaborate set pieces.  The set design by David Korins and the lighting design by Jason Lyons is extremely effective and brings the entire production.

Bring It On is the first musical of the 2012-2013 season and it is a breath of fresh air.  The original limited run has now been extended to the end of January, so make sure to catch it if you're up for a fun filled, high energy, high flying time.

Official Show Site

Highlights from the musical:

theatre review WAR HORSE, Broadway, August 8

A "blogger's night" on Broadway provided the opportunity for us to revisit last year's Tony winner for Best Play, War Horse.  Seeing a show a second time is usually a good way to notice things you might have missed the first time around, which in the case of a show like War Horse, that has a huge cast, a giant stage and is set over many years, is a huge plus.  However, seeing a show more than a year after it opened and with an almost completely new cast can sometimes be a negative if the new cast isn't up to the same level that the original cast was.   And, considering that the plot twists of the play along with the ending are already known when you make a second visit, that alone can make the second viewing less of a rewarding experience than the first.

I won't go into a complete overview of the plot of the show, since I did that already in my original review you can read here, but I'll simply state that this play shows the horrors of war and the effect it has on numerous people.  Focusing on a teenage boy Albert and the horse he loves, Joey and how they both end up in the middle of World War I, War Horse brings to life not only the impact that war has but also through the use of imaginative puppets Joey and several other horses and animals as well.   The play won six Tony Awards including Best Play as well as one for the Handspring Puppet Company who created Joey and Topthorn, the horse Joey befriends in the war.

Andrew Durand and "Joey"

While this is an ensemble show with even many of the supporting actors playing multiple parts it really is the part of Albert that sets the tone for the show.  He is a teenage boy in love with his horse and his country, if played too over the top it could bring down the dramatic thrust of the play, and if played too melodramatic it could threaten the emotional balance of the show.  Fortunately Andrew Durand perfectly plays the part, both the emotional teenage boy in act one, who loves his horse and hates the obstacles that get in his way of being with Joey and the slightly older boy who quickly becomes a man in act two when he is fighting for his country. 

Andy Murray as Albert's father was wonderful as the broken down man who drinks too much and gambles on the wrong things and the scenes that highlight both the struggles and love he has for his wife and his son are the emotional center of the play.  While I enjoyed David Lansbury as the German officer Muller who cares for Joey and Topthorn once they come under German ownership, I didn't think he had quite the stage presence of Peter Hermann who played that part originally.  Sanjit De Silva as the English officer who buys Joey and rides him into the war had the appropriate balance of compassion and power and his scenes with Albert were touching. 

Several original cast members are still with the show including Alyssa Bresnahan as Albert's mother, David Pegram as the soldier Albert becomes friends with and Kate Pfaffl as the Song Woman.   All three are giving richer performances then they did a year ago and the play is even better because of them.  Bresnahan in particular, who as the strong wife and mother who always has to take charge of the situation could become a caricature or stereotypical character but Bresnahan has a firm control of the part and her final moments in the show are especially memorable.

The staging by Tony winners Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris is highly effective and even in the large ensemble scenes is staged appropriately so your eye is drawn to the focus of the scene.  The creative elements of the show are even more memorable on a second viewing including the extremely rich lighting design by Paule Constable, the inventive set design by Rae Smith and clear sound design by Christopher Shutt, all three won Tony Awards for their work.

While the melodramatic moments of the play are slightly more apparent on a second viewing along with the fact that some of the scenes are a little slow going while still other plot points are somewhat brushed over, the magic of the show is still alive.  I once again was completely blown away with how you believe there are horses on the stage, you still see the three puppeteers controlling Joey and Tophorn, but somehow your mind ignores them and focuses instead on the majesty of the horses in front of you. 

So, War Horse is still a powerful, moving play and a rewarding and emotional theatrical experience filled with some of the most imaginative things you'll see on a Broadway stage.

Official Show Site

Montage of scenes from the Lincoln Center production:

Behind the scenes with Stephen James Anthony, one of the original ensemble members who now plays Albert's cousin in the show:

A brief behind the scenes clip of the puppeteers who bring Joey to life:

cabaret review LIZ CALLAWAY AND FRIENDS- EVEN STEPHEN, Town Hall, July 30

Wow!  I think that pretty much sums up my review of Liz Callaway's concert at Town Hall last week.  Titled "Even Stephen" and featuring four special Broadway co-stars (three of whom are former Tony nominees like Liz no less) the evening featured the songs of three guys named "Steve"- Stephen Flaherty, Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim.

Now considering that Liz just played Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard in Pittsburgh the week before this concert, it is amazing not only how clear and strong her voice was but that she delivered a two hour long concert that included some of the most challenging songs by the three Steve's.  Several of the solo highlights included a perfect "Meadowlark" from The Baker's Wife, a heartbreaking "Losing My Mind" from Follies and a stirring "Back to Before" from Ragtime.

Directed by Liz's husband Dan Foster, the concert was divided into sections.  After a beginning that featured Liz singing one song from each composer, "Company," "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin and a rousing "Waiting For Life to Begin" from Once On This Island, the evening wisely then separated each composer into their own 30 minute set.  While this separation didn't do much to show how each composer is comparable to the others, it did provide a more focused way to allow each to stand alone.  I only wish Liz had given us a coupling or trio of two or three songs by the different men as segues between the sections.

Liz and Norm Lewis

Liz has had a personal connection to each of these men.  In 1981, she made her Broadway debut in Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, appeared in the legendary 1985 concert of Follies as well as the 1983 concert "A Stephen Sondheim Evening."  For Flaherty, she sang on many demo recordings for him and his lyricist partner Lynn Ahrens as well as sang the lead part of Anastasia on the film of the same name that they provided songs for.  For Schwartz she has toured the country with him for many years in his "Stephen Schwartz and Friends" concerts.  The personal stories she told about each composer is what made this concert even more special and made it more than just a singer singing songs from some of their favorite composers.

Jason Danieley, Norm Lewis and Joshua Henry were the three male Broadway "friends" that joined Liz throughout the show.   Each of the men got two solo spots as well as a duet with Liz.  Danieley was first out of the gate with a roof raising take on "The Streets of Dublin" from Flaherty and Ahrens' A Man of No Importance.  He actually was the only "guest" to appear in all three sections, coming back in the Schwartz section with a forceful "Out There" from the film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and capping off the evening with an absolutely perfect duet with Liz, "Move On" from Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George.  Norm Lewis got the touching duet with Liz, "Forever Yours" from Once On This Island which he followed with a slightly subdued "Wheels of a Dream" from Ragtime.  I don't know if it was because it was his night off from performing in the Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess or what, but it seemed like he was struggling a bit as well as holding back.  Fortunately later in the evening he gave us a soaring version of "Being Alive" from Sondheim's Company and he didn't disappoint.

On the surface, Joshua Henry's three songs might seem to be all slow and simple but they allowed his clear voice and straightforward delivery of the lyrics to shine through.  He had a fun and charming duet with Liz on "Love Song" from Pippin which he followed with a perfectly delivered "Beautiful City" from Godspell and came back with a simply lovely take on Sondheim's "I Remember" from the tv musical Evening Primrose.  The three men joined together for a lovely yet somewhat under rehearsed "Pretty Lady" from Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.  The "special" guest of the evening was Liz's sister, Ann Hampton Callaway, and their duet of "For Good" from Wicked was stirring, touching, heartbreaking and just about as perfect as you can get. 

Liz was joined by musical director Alex Rybeck on piano, Jered Egan on bass and Ron Tierno on drums.  The arrangements for the songs and their playing of them was always concise, professional and lively. The direction by Foster was exactly as it should be, finding a way to combine Liz's personal stories about these three men with some beautiful songs and four guest stars and letting the stories and songs shine through.  Besides my one quibble about not finding a way to combine songs from any of the composers together, this was just about as good as you can get with a concert from a Broadway leading lady.

Other solo highlights included the beautiful pairing of two Anastasia songs "Once Upon a December" and "Journey to the Past," a quiet and simple "Lion Tamer" from Schwartz's The Magic Show and a straight forward yet forceful "There Won't Be Trumpets" from Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle.  Liz also sang two Sondheim songs she has sung many times in concert, "What More Do I Need?" from Saturday Night and her encore for the night, "With So Little To Be Sure Of" from Anyone Can Whistle.  Both could not have been delivered any better and they are completely different types of songs, with one a driving, humorous song about living in New York City and the other a perfect and touching statement for the end of a perfect evening.

Liz sings "Meadowlark" -

Liz sings "Journey to the Past" -

Liz sings "Losing My Mind" -

theatre review THE COMMON PURSUIT, Off Broadway, July 19

There have been many plays and musicals that attempt to show how the hopes of youth become shattered with age, including one of my favorite musicals Merrily We Roll Along. Simon Gray's 1984 play The Common Pursuit is one whose message of shattered dreams slowly sneaks up on you.   The Off Broadway revival that just ended a three month run was fortunate to have a fairly consistent ensemble of actors playing the group of five men and one woman who meet at Cambridge with the plan to form a literary magazine that will challenge those around them.  The challenges of real life and the impact of society affect everyone but when they touch upon the ideas of youth it is even more shattering. 

The main characters of the play are Stuart and Martin.  It is Stuart's idea to start the magazine and Martin, who desires a career in publishing, becomes the business man for the magazine.  The play follows their two lives, as well as the four other characters who are part of the magazine, over twenty years.   Over the years we see Stuart's struggles with getting funding for the magazine and how he eventually forms a publishing company with Martin's urging. While the other characters also have struggles of their own, mainly to do with career and relationship choices, it is really the relationship between Stuart and Martin who ground the play.  It is their struggles and the fact that Stuart is the more creative one and Martin the more business focused that also adds another layer to the play, the struggles between the creative and the commercial. 



Jacob Fishel, Josh Cooke, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Kieran Campion,
Kristen Bush and Tim McGeever



These are characters who think they can change the world much as many college aged individuals believe. And while most of them are ambitious in their own ways with one hoping to be a theatre critic and another a philosophy professor, it is the struggle they all have and the devotion they have to each other that drives home the message of tarnished ideas and broken dreams.  I will admit that for the first act I wasn't taken that much by the play, but by the time the second act was half over I was completely focused on these friends and how life didn't always treat them the way they thought it would.   The final scene, which is a continuation of the first scene from twenty years ago, was extremely moving.  Now, I'm not certain if the reason I was taken by this scene and ultimately the play has something to do with the fact that the new cast recording of the recent concert production of Merrily We Roll Along, which as I stated above is all about broken dreams, just came out and I had just listened to if a few times or if it was the writing of Gray and the acting of this ensemble.  None the less, I ended up liking this play more than I thought I would.

Josh Cooke and Jacob Fishel

Josh Cooke as Stuart and Jacob Fishel as Martin are touching in their portrayals of the two main friends, one more loyal than the other.  Kristen Bush is Marigold, the girlfriend of Stuart who has one shocking scene and a future not exactly easy to see coming.  Tim McGeever as Humphry, the one who wants to be a philosophy professor, perfectly plays the grounding presence of the ensemble. Kieran Campion is the womanizing member, who ends up getting much more than he had originally hoped for and Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, who I'm not sure if he was just playing his part too broad for the rest of the cast or if he was trying to portray a character that he thought his friends would be drawn to.  Take for example his constant cough, which never seems to be real - I'm not sure if he's doing that to get their sympathy, or if he's just a bad actor when coughing on stage.

Directed by Moisés Kaufman, I did appreciate Kaufman's light hand, especially in dealing with all of the somewhat heavy handed literary topics.  This ultimately made the play more accessible and helped with the impact of the outcomes of some of the group.  I especially liked the effective set design by Derek McLane that used a window as one of the main pieces used throughout to join the scenes, years and characters together.

Clips from this production:

theatre review NEWSIES, Broadway, July 17

The Broadway musical Newsies is a crowd pleaser in the truest sense.  It has an exuberant cast, an engaging David vs Goliath story, several highly effective and tuneful songs and some of the most infectious and thrilling dance numbers to grace a Broadway stage in many years.  Having seen the pre-Broadway run of the show last Fall at the Paper Mill Playhouse we decided to revisit the show to see what was changed and how the show plays on the Great White Way.  It was well worth the second trip.
 

I won't go into the story of the flop movie that this musical is based on or talk about the real life turn of the century struggle that this show musicalizes, since I already wrote about those things in my earlier review that you can read here.  Instead I thought I would spend a few paragraphs to talk about the changes that have been made for the show, all of which are for the better.


Tony winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist Jack Feldman have replaced a few of the newer songs from last Fall's production with even newer ones.  And while none of the new songs is as good as the ones used from the film, or the one knockout new song "Watch What Happens," they are all better then what was heard at the Paper Mill.

Kara Kindsay and Jeremy Jordan

The recasting of the only supporting female character in the show Medda Larkin with Capathia Jenkins was clearly a good decision. Not that the woman who played the role at Paper Mill wasn't good in the part, it's just since the part is a small one having someone with the high wattage stage presence of Jenkins made the part more than the sum of the small amount of stage time it receives.  She also had a great time with her one solo song.

The Nederlander Theatre is the perfect venue for the dance centric show with the Mezzanine so close to the stage that I'd recommend sitting there instead of in the orchestra.  The three tier set also is more accessible from the mezzanine, especially since several scenes are played out on the second tier of the set.

Jeremy Jordan as the male lead Jack Kelly is now a Tony nominated actor and is still delivering an honest, rousing performance.  Kara Lindsay as the female lead and love interest is also still exhibiting a natural and strong take on this woman who is slightly ahead of her time.  Many of the supporting characters are played by actors carried over from the Paper Mill run with those delivering great work at Paper Mill like Ben Fankhauser, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Ryan Breslin and Ryan Steele still delivering the goods.

Not much more to add except to say to go see this show if you're looking for a rousing, fun big Broadway show.

Newsies Official Website

Highlights from the show:

2012 Tony Awards performance:

cabaret review REBECCA LUKER, 54 Below, July 6

Composer Jerome Kern was a major influence on the beginning of Rebecca Luker's Broadway career as Luker's first New York show was a concert in 1985 of Kern's Music in the Air at Town Hall.  After getting noticed at that concert, Luker recorded several Kern tunes on some studio recordings and after appearing in the original Broadway casts of The Phantom of the Opera and The Secret Garden she received a Tony nomination for her performance in the Kern/Hammerstein 1994 Broadway revival of Show Boat.  So it is no surprise that for Luker's debut concert at the new cabaret spot 54 Below it was an evening dedicated completely to Kern.

Directed by Luker's husband Danny Burstein, the concert was a perfect balance of Luker's lush soprano voice combined with stories about Kern that included a bit of his history as well as information on the shows he worked on and lyricists he worked with.  And while many of the songs were lesser known Kern tunes, there wasn't one misstep, false note or moment that Luker didn't completely own.  Her voice was clear, bright with perfect punctuation, making each and every lyric clearly understandable.

"Can't Help Singing" is a lovely song that set the tone for the evening, Luker was here to sing and nothing was going to stop her.  The comical tune "Saturday Night" is a humorous patter song with a funny tune to match the lyrics and Rebecca had no problem alternating between the serious songs and the comical ones in the set list like this one.  A phenomenal pairing of Show Boat's "Bill" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" was simply stunning.  The comical song from Sweet Adeline "My Husband's First Wife" provided a very humorous moment in the evening.  Luker followed this with the jaunty and jazzy "The Folks Who Live on the Hill".  "I'm Old Fashioned" and "The Way You Look Tonight" are two of Kern's most well known songs and Luker's performance of both was spot on.  Roberta's "I'll Be Hard to Handle" gave Luker another chance to wrap her stirring soprano voice around some witty lyrics by Otto Harbach set to a lovely Kern melody. One of Kern's last songs, set to lyrics by Dorothy Fields many years after his death, "April Fooled Me " gave Luker another chance to show her impeccable skills and her interpretation of the song was sweet, simple and a simply lovely end to the concert before Luker came back for two encores.  Those encores included a soaring version of "Why Was I Born?" and a vibrant "All the Things You Are."

Pianist and Musical Director Joseph Thalken was joined by Dick Sarpola on Bass and together they provided the perfect compliment to Luker's lush voice.

The acoustics at 54 Below are so clear and the setting so intimate that I can't wait to go back again to see another Broadway performer in an evening like the spectacular one that Luker gave us.

Rebecca's official website

54 Below website

theatre review CLOSER THAN EVER, Off Broadway, July 5

Musical revues aren't usually my cup of tea.  A series of songs with no story to combine them just doesn't work for me.  However, I've always been a fan of the cast recording of the 1989 Off Broadway review Closer Than Ever so I didn't want to miss the new production being staged at the York Theatre Company on the Upper East Side.  I guess the main difference between this review and most others is that the songs that Richard Maltby, Jr and David Shire have created are story songs that can easily stand alone but when combined together make the entire show into something actually greater than the sum of the individual songs.

Maltby and Shire have actually never had a hit together on Broadway.  They were behind Baby and Big, both of which had very short Broadway runs.  Now Maltby did conceive and direct another Broadway revue Ain't Misbehaven which he won a Tony for as well as directed Fosse and provided lyrics to Miss Saigon and Song and Dance and Shire has written many film scores including winning an Oscar for his song for the movie Norma Rae.  So, they have had successes individually but never together on Broadway.   Another revue of their songs Starting Here, Starting Now was successful and, like Closer Than Ever, both shows include some songs that were included in or cut from some of the various musicals they've written together.

The songs in this show cover the multiple aspects of normal, everyday life - but lives that have been lived, this isn't a show that a 20 year old would quite understand since most of the songs are self contained stories that show the changes that each character has experienced or the personal feelings they have, told from the perspective of various characters in their late 30's to early 50's.  The songs tells the stories of mostly middle aged people as they reflect back on the choices they made and also touch on various other issues like the struggles of working couples, divorce, unrequited love and how close friendships change over the years.  The various group numbers in the show allow for some excellent harmonies.  These include the opening number "Doors," "Next Time" and the closing title number.  Shire's music is varied yet bright and simple but still completely memorable while Maltby's lyrics are poignant and sophisticated.

George Dvorsky, Christiane Noll, Sal Viviano and Jenn Colella

The four member cast brings considerable skill, charm and life lessons to the various roles they portray.  While all four are excellent, it is the women who truly shine.  Jenn Colella who has unfortunately starred in a couple of Broadway flop musicals is the stand out here.  She has a rich, strong and clear voice and easily handles the comical, sexual and dramatic beats of the characters she plays. Her "Miss Byrd" is exceptional and her duet with the bass player, "Back on Bass" is pure sensual joy.  Christiane Noll gets the more serious songs and her take on both "Life Story" and "Patterns" are gorgeous and heartfelt, but she also gets to show her humorous side with the comical gem "The Bear, the Tiger, the Hamster and The Mole."   Together they both bring a lovely touch and considerable depth to the act two duet of "It's Never That Easy" and "I've Been Here Before."

George Dvorsky and Sal Viviano are the two men in the cast and while they both get plenty of time to show what they're capable of, the songs for the men, while good, aren't quite as exceptional as the ones for the women.  Still Dvorsky and Viviano add a nice heartfelt touch, skill and personality to "What Am I Doin?" "One of the Good Guys," "Father of Fathers," and "If I Sing."

Matlby directed the production and he does an exceptional job of creating various different playing spaces on the small stage.   There is very little repetition of the staging which when you only have four singers, a pianist and a bass player and a small space says a lot of the creativity of Maltby.  Of course since he is also the lyricist that gives him a slight edge on ensuring that his lyrics are staged the way he wants the story he wrote to be told.  The cast isn't mic'd and even though the space is small it sometimes still creates a slight problem in being able to hear them clearly, especially if they turn slightly away from where you're sitting. This is really my only downside to this lovely production.

The run has been extended again through August 25th, though Noll and Colella will only be with the production for a couple more weeks as they are both in the new Broadway musical Chaplin that begins performances on August 21.

A cast recording has been made and will be released shortly.  This production of Closer Than Ever is one not to be missed.

Official York Theatre Site

theatre review HARVEY, Broadway, June 30

Casting an A list TV name in a Broadway show is something that has been going on for years.  Usually it is something that happens when a show is waning, ticket sales are down and the producers do whatever they can to get some buzz and lure in the tourist crowd.  So, it is refreshing that the producers of the Broadway revival of Harvey scheduled this production to coincide with Jim Parsons' down time from the hit show The Big Bang Theory.  I'm sure the fact that this is a not for profit limited run production from the Roundabout Theatre Company made it easier to work around his schedule, as it isn't like the run could be extended since he has to return to his tv show.  With a lovely performance from Parsons and an excellent ensemble cast it is just too bad that the timing of Parson's availability made it open after the Tony eligibility deadline as I'm sure this show would have received several nominations. 

Now Parsons did appear on Broadway last season in the revival of The Normal Heart in a small supporting role as well as lead the ensemble in a reading of the play June Moon at the Roundabout last Summer.  And while the central character of Edwin P. Dowd he plays in Harvey is just as eccentric and odd as the part he plays in The Big Bang Theory, Parsons brings the appropriate amount of charm, caring and love to Dowd which is an almost complete opposite of the tv role of "Sheldon" that has won him two Emmy Awards. 

Jim Parson and "Harvey"

Harvey was written by Mary Chase in 1944 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  Focusing on Dowd and his sister Veta and set in a small town, Elwood also has a seemingly imaginary friend Harvey who is, according to Elwood, a six foot tall rabbit.  Elwood feels the need to introduce Harvey to everyone he meets, and why shouldn't he? Wouldn't you introduce your best friend to people you come in contact with?  Of course Veta fears the embarrassment of this not just for herself but also for the reputation of her daughter Myrtle Mae who is at the marrying age.  So Veta decides the best thing for everyone involved would be to have Elwood committed at the local asylum and given a treatment to make him "normal."  The play is an interesting one as not only is it an expertly crafted comedy but one that touches on the serious theme of "what is sanity?" 

Parsons is giving an understated and perfectly measured performance as Elwood.  He lovingly captures the charm, passion and sheer happiness of this man who wants to have a connection with everyone he meets.  But we also believe that it is Harvey that has made him into this man, a man who wants to truly live life and while some may think he is crazy to believe his best friend is a giant rabbit we come to learn that it is most likely the death of his mother that triggered this new relationship in his life.  But maybe not as while Harvey seems only to be imaginary, we start to believe in him and when the play ends I believe most people in the audience would say he wasn't imaginary just invisible.

Charles Kimbrough, Jessica Hecht and Jim Parsons

Parsons is known for playing the outsider in his tv show but the outsider he plays here is one who desperately wants to be in, unlike Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory who would never want to be in that crowd.  And while the voice and mannerisms are similar between the two characters, after all it is the same actor playing both, the similarities end there.  Parsons has such warmth and compassion in this role that makes you not only wish he was your friend but that you could hang out with him and Harvey at their local bar some night. 

As Veta, Jessica Hecht has the appropriate range of emotions one would expect from a woman with a brother like Elwood particularly in the last act when she has to make a very important decision about Elwood's future.  Her crazy rants, rubber facial expressions and wide range of emotions are in perfect opposite to Parsons performance which is exactly what is needed and goes back to that theme of what is sanity and could the person we believe to be insane actually be the sane one?

Carol Kane and Jim Parsons

Charles Kimbrough is the head doctor at the asylum and when his wife played by Carol Kane comes to visit him the scene she shares with Parsons is touching, lovely and humorous.  Kimbrough starts to believe in the possibility of Harvey's existence even while trying everything he can not to and the scenes when he is trying to get away from Harvey are not only well crafted in how Chase wrote them but also staged and directed expertly with Kimbrough literally going insane in front of our eyes.  The asylum is staffed by Morgan Spector, Holly Fain and Duane Wilson and I especially liked Wilson as the orderly who tries to run the show in a brisk and brusque fashion and can't believe that the people around him start believing in the possibility of Harvey actually existing. 

Scott Ellis directs the production perfectly with the appropriate shades of comedy and seriousness but always with a focus on the craziness that the events of the struggle between the sane and insane can create.  David Rockwell has created a large and lovely revolving set design that perfectly combines the two sets and includes some great rabbit designs embedded into the wallpaper of Elwood and Veta's house.  Jane Greenwood's costume designs are top notch with crisp period perfect designs.

Harvey is a well crafted comedy and this production features a top notch ensemble cast with some great performances including Parsons, Hecht, Kimbrough and Kane.   It runs through August 5th and is not to be missed.

Official Roundabout Site

Clips from the production:

Broadway.com interview with Jim Parsons:

cabaret review BRIAN D'ARCY JAMES, 54 Below, June 29

Brian d'Arcy James has appeared in numerous Broadway musicals and plays, including receiving two Tony nominations, as well as having roles on various tv shows including last season's Broadway themed series Smash.  However, after attending one of Brian's cabaret shows during his week run at the hot new cabaret spot 54 Below, it seems deep down he really wants to be an 80's pop star rocker.  Backed by an impressive 7 piece band and two back-up vocalists, Brian really rocked out and had his Broadway fan based audience in the palm of his hands throughout the 75 minute show -and he didn't even sing a single show tune.

Titled "Under the Influence," the theme of his show was all about the music of his teen years that he was influenced by.  In between songs he spoke about how these songs spoke to him and made him who he is today.  He also told many funny stories, including mentioning that he skipped a school basketball game, with his parents claiming there was a "family emergency" so he could attend his first stadium concert.  That Billy Joel concert with the combination of Joel and the size of the venue and the other pop songs of his youth that he heard either on 45's played in his basement or on cassette tapes he played in his car basically opened his eyes to the world.

Billy Joel obviously had the biggest influence on him and his delivery of three of Joel's songs “Worse Comes to Worst,” "Everybody Loves You" and a quiet, yet emotional “She’s Got a Way” were flawless.  But other bands and singers of that era also spoke to James including Steve Winwood, Squeeze, Genesis, James Taylor, Carly Simon and even Bobby Sherman.  He managed to make songs by those groups and singers his own with a sharp focus on the lyrics. 

The Winwood song "Take It As It Comes" opened the show and set the tone for the evening and I especially liked his take on the Genesis hit “That’s All" as well as Squeeze's "Tempted."   His crisp and clear delivery of the lyrics for these songs was especially effective in getting the message of the songs that spoke to him across. Broadway performer Julia Murney joined him for an inspired and extremely fun take on the Taylor/Simon hit "Mockingbird."  And even though Sherman's "Julie Do Ya Love Me"" is a 70's song that in my opinion should be left in the past, Brian had a fun time turning it into an audience sing along claiming "come on you know you want to join in" when he got to the chorus.

Brian rocks out at 54 Below

But Brian also noted that he was "down" with the songs of today and he gave a truly inspired performance of Adele's "I'll Be Waiting" which I thought was the highlight of the concert.  Another more recent artist, Gabe Dixon, was represented with the rocking "You and Only You." But he showed that rocking out wasn't the only thing he could pull off as his delivery of the solemn and soulfoul Kate McGarrigle "Saratoga Summer Song" that Brian saw McGarrigle's son Rufus Wainwright perform in concert was the perfect end to the evening.  

Jame's infectious enthusiasm and the power and drive of his voice propelled the material and with his personal interjections you really understood how this music made him who he is today.  The fact that the night we saw his show was also Brian's birthday added a nice personal touch to the evening that ended with everyone singing Happy Birthday to him as his wife and daugher joined him on the stage.   Another personal but very humorous moment in the show was when Brian told the story of how Matthew Sklar, the 19 year old assistant conductor for the Broadway musical Titanic at the time, told him one day how he had a dream about him the night before and how that dream was about Brian's theme song.  He said that over the past dozen years whenever he'd run into Sklar that he would always ask him to sing the theme song to him and how he decided to take the opportunity of his cabaret debut to actually let us hear it.  It was a truly inspired 30 second song that included Brian doing a very funny dance.  It was so inspired that when the audience wanted to hear it again, the band immediately jumped right in for an encore.

Dan Lipton led the power house band that featured impressive turns on guitar, saxophone and horns and Brian also sang a lovely and touching original song that he wrote with Lipton, "Don't Hold It Against Me." The back-up singers for his show were co-stars from Brian's former Broadway shows, Haven Burton who was in Shrek with Brian and Clarke Thorell who appeared in Titanic with him.  After the almost SRO audience and the joy and skill that James showed, it wouldn't surprise me to see Brian return to 54 Below later in the year with a new show.

And speaking of 54 Below, which just officially opened three weeks ago, the venue is the perfect place to see someone perform.  It is a large enough space to include a nice sized crowd but intimate enough to have a personal interaction with the performer with every seat in the room being less than 30 feet from the stage.  And even though there is a food and drink minimum on top of the ticket price, I found the food prices to be not too crazy and the portion sizes to be fine.   The quality of the food and the wait staff is on par with the high marks for the sound and lighting design in the space.   All of this combined in a glorious space makes 54 Below THE place to see a Broadway performer perform outside of an actual Broadway theatre.

Official Brian d'arcy James Site

Official 54Below Site

Rehearsal clip and interview for his concert at Below 54:

Brian talks about his Below 54 show: