Saturday, May 10, 2008
2008 Tony Award Nominations
As expected, it was a very good day for South Pacific, which received nominations in every category in which it was eligible. August: Osage County led the field of plays, while the new musical In the Heights was the overall nominations leader with an impressive tally of 13. A Special Tony Award will be presented to composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim for LIfetime Achievement in the Theatre. Click on the link below to view the complete list of nominations.
Outstanding Play:
August: Osage County by Tracy Letts
Rock ‘n’ Roll by Tom Stoppard
The Seafarer by Conor McPherson
The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow
Outstanding Musical:
Cry-Baby
In the Heights
Passing Strange
Xanadu
Outstanding Revival of a Play:
Boeing, Boeing by Marc Camolletti
The Homecoming by Harold Pinter
Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Outstanding Revival of a Musical:
Grease!
Gypsy
South Pacific
Sunday in the Park with George
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play:
Ben Daniels in Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Lawrence Fishburne in Thurgood
Mark Rylance in Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell in Rock 'n' Roll
Patrick Stewart in Macbeth
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play:
Eve Best in The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan in August: Osage County
Kate Fleetwood in Macbeth
S. Epatha Merkerson in Come Back, Little Sheba
Amy Morton in August: Osage County
Outstanding Lead Actor in Musical:
Daniel Evans in Sunday in the Park with George
Lin-Manuel Miranda in In the Heights
Paulo Szot in South Pacific
Stew in Passing Strange
Tom Wopat in A Catered Affair
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical:
Kerry Butler in Xanadu
Patti LuPone in Gypsy
Kelli O'Hara in South Pacific
Faith Prince in A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell in Sunday in the Park with George
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:
Bobby Cannavale in Mauritius
Raul Esparza in The Homecoming
Conleth Hill in The Seafarer
Jim Norton in The Seafarer
David Pittu in Is He Dead?
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:
Sinead Cusack in Rock 'n' Roll
Mary McCormack in Boeing, Boeing
Laurie Metcalfe in November
Rondi Reed in August: Osage County
Martha Plimpton in Top Girls
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:
Daniel Breaker in Passing Strange
Danny Burstein in South Pacific
Robin de Jesus in In the Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald in Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines in Gyspy
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:
De'Adre Aziza in Passing Strange
Laura Benanti in Gypsy
Andrea Martin in Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz in In the Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre in South Pacific
Outstanding Direction of a Play:
Maria Aitken for The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson for The Seafarer
Anna D. Shapiro for August: Osage County
Matthew Warchus for Boeing, Boeing
Oustanding Direction of a Musical:
Sam Buntrock for Sunday in the Park with George
Thomas Kail for In the Heights
Arthur Laurents for Gypsy
Bartlett Sher for South Pacific
Outstanding Score of a Musical:
Cry-Baby - Adam Schlesinger & David Javerbaum
In the Heights - Lin Manuel Miranda
The Little Mermaid - Alan Mencken, Howard Ashman & Glenn Slater
Passing Strange - Stew & Heidi Rodewald
Outstanding Book of a Musical:
Cry-Baby - Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan
In the Heights - Quiara Alegria Hudes
Xanadu - Douglas Carter Beane
Passing Strange - Stew
Outstanding Choreography:
Cry-Baby - Rob Ashford
In the Heights - Andy Blankenbuehler
South Pacific - Christopher Gattelli
Xanadu - Doug Knechtges
Outstanding Orchestrations:
A Catered Affair - Jonathan Tunick
In the Heights - Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman
Passing Strange - Stew & Heidi Rodewald
Sunday in the Park with George - Jason Carr
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play:
August: Osage County - Todd Rosenthal
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Scott Pask
Macbeth - Anthony Ward
The 39 Steps - Peter McKintosh
Outstanding Costume Design of a Play:
Boeing-Boeing - Rob Howell
Cyrano de Bergerac - Gregory Gale
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Katrina Lindsay
The 39 Steps - Peter McKintosh
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play:
August: Osage County - Anna G. Wrightson
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Donald Holder
Macbeth - Howard Harrison
The 39 Steps - Kevin Adams
Oustanding Sound Design of a Play:
Boeing, Boeing - Simon Baker
Macbeth - Adam Cork
Rock ‘n’ Roll - Ian Dickinson
The 39 Steps - Mic Pool
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical:
In the Heights - Anita Louizos
South Pacific - Michael Yeargan
Sunday in the Park with George - David Farley
Young Frankenstein - Robin Wagner
Oustanding Costume Design of a Musical:
Gypsy - Martin Pakledinaz
In the Heights - Paul Tazewell
South Pacific - Catherine Zuber
Sunday in the Park with George - David Farley
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical:
In the Heights - Howell Binkley
The Little Mermaid - Natasha Katz
South Pacific - Donald Holder
Sunday in the Park with George - Ken Billington
Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical:
Gypsy - Dan Moses Schreier
In the Heights - Acme Sound Partners
South Pacific - Scott Lehrer
Sunday in the Park with George - Nick Borisjuk
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Nominations NEITHER Clinton or Obama will Get
By Josh R
You could definitely tell that Hollywood was having labor problems. Faced with a WGA walk-out that paralyzed the film and television industry for months, and an impending (hopefully to be avoided) SAG strike looming on the not-too-distant horizon, the Broadway stage played host to more high-profile displaced refugees than London and Paris during the Russian Revolution. Some of the big names to tread the boards this season included Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Garner, Terrence Howard, Frances McDormand, Kevin Kline, Lawrence Fishburne, Claire Danes and Laura Linney. While some of these appearances were more kindly received than others, it could make for an awards season heavy with star-power.
Now that one of the nuttiest seasons in recent memory has drawn to a close (bitter stagehands strikes were supplanted in early spring by shows moving from theater to theater in wacky musical-chairs-type fashion), it’s time for the theater-philes to turn their attentions to that Broadway blood sport known as The Tony Awards. The play was most definitely the thing this year on The Great White Way, with no fewer than four new works debuting to widespread critical acclaim (usually, it’s hard to find one) and a king’s ransom of high-profile revivals. As for the musicals, things weren’t quite as rosy, although two off-B’way transfers – In the Heights and Passing Strange, both of which I’ve seen but have yet to review for this site – provided some encouraging signs of new life. On the revival front, there was, of course, South Pacific, by far the best and most satisfying of all the musical productions to grace the boards this year – and poised to do very well when Tony Nominations are unveiled on Tuesday, May 13. Here are my best guesses as to what this year’s major categories will consist of:
Best Play
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY by Tracy Letts
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL by Tom Stoppard
THE SEAFARER by Conor McPherson
THE 39 STEPS by Patrick Barlow
In a season that has produced no less than nine new plays, there seems little room for doubt as to what the four eventual nominees will be. While a few of the other new offerings garnered some positive notices, these four have received by far the most enthusiastic critical reception; the fact that they were all box-office hits doesn’t hurt either.
Best Revival of a Play
CYRANO DE BERGERAC by Edmund de Rostand
THE HOMECOMING by Harold Pinter
MACBETH by William Shakespeare
TOP GIRLS by Caryl Churchill
A tough category to predict given the proliferation of revivals to choose from; if Tony nominees are in a decadent mood, Les Liaisons Dangereuses may land a berth, while if they prefer something a bit more on the lighter side, Boeing-Boeing could snag a nod.
Best Lead Actor in a Play
KEVIN KLINE in Cyrano de Bergerac
BEN LEE in Les Liaisons Dangereuses
MARK RYLANCE in Boeing-Boeing
RUFUS SEWELL in Rock 'n' Roll
PATRICK STEWART in Macbeth
The most difficult lead acting category to pin down, given how many critically lauded performances are in the mix. While Kline and Stewart are virtual locks, the remaining slots could just as easily be filled by Lawrence Fishburne (Thurgood), Norbert Leo Butz (Is He Dead?), Nathan Lane (November), Chazz Palmintieri (A Bronx Tale), James Earl Jones (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) or Kevin Anderson (Come Back, Little Sheba).
Best Lead Actress in a Play
EVE BEST in The Homecoming
SINEAD CUSACK in Rock 'n' Roll
DEANNA DUNAGAN in August: Osage County
S. EPATHA MERKERSON in Come Back, Little Sheba
AMY MORTON in August: Osage County
As a warring mother and daughter, Dunagan and Morton go head to head eight nights a week in August: Osage County - so it seems only fair that their blood feud should extend to The Tony Awards. While Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ Laura Linney and The Country Girl’s Frances McDormand each received mixed reviews, they may sneak in by virtue of their star power. Anika Noni Rose, while the most praised member of the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof cast, could also make the cut if Cusack’s status turns out to be featured.
Best Featured Actor in a Play
MICHAEL CERVERIS in Cymbeline
RAUL ESPARZA in The Homecoming
FRANCIS GUINAN in August: Osage County
BYRON JENNINGS in Is He Dead?
JIM NORTON in The Seafarer
You could fill this category with the cast of The Seafarer alone; since Tony voters will be looking to share the wealth, I suspect that show (and August: Osage County, which has four worthy entrants) will limited to single or double nominations. Sharing the wealth can frequently make for some very strange results; since the Tony nominators really only have a handful of shows to choose from (only Broadway productions are eligible), they sometimes try to create the false illusion of breadth by giving nominations to as many different shows as possible. This could benefit Bobby Cannavale (Mauritius) or Jay O. Sanders (Pygmalion), whose long-forgotten shows really stand no chance of being recognized anywhere else. Personally, I’d prefer to see Arnie Burton and Cliff Saunders, the two great clowns of The 39 Steps, get the nods instead - since their contributions are so inseparable, they’ll probably cancel each other out.
Best Featured Actress in a Play
LAURIE METCALFE in November
RONDI REED in August: Osage County
ROSIE PEREZ in The Ritz
MARTHA PLIMPTON in Top Girls
MARISA TOMEI in Top Girls
Pick a Top Girl, any Top Girl. Beyond Reed and Perez, both of whom I suspect are good to go, this category is a virtual free-for-all. Possibilities include the entire cast of Top Girls, two daughters of Osage County, a pair of 17th century French aristocrats from Les Liaisons Dangereuses, one very domineering German stewardess courtesy of Boeing, Boeing, and The 39 Steps’ multi-tasking Jennifer Ferrin - who actually plays three people. Oh, right, and possibly Rock n Roll’s Sinead Cusack, if she isn’t deemed a lead. Confused already? It’s a long and unruly list of prospective candidates, one which I suspect will be difficult for the nominators to comfortably pare down.
Best Director/Play
MARIA AITKEN for The 39 Steps
DAVID LEVEAUX for Cyrano de Bergerac
TREVOR NUNN for Rock n Roll
ANNA D. SHAPIRO for August: Osage County
I would love to see The Homecoming’s Daniel Sullivan remembered, but the competition is especially stiff this year. Macbeth’s Rupert Goold is also a strong possibility.
Best Musical
A CATERED AFFAIR
IN THE HEIGHTS
PASSING STRANGE
XANADU
Three of this season’s new musical offerings were widely well-received. As for the show destined to round out the bill – well, three out of four ain’t bad. Since Cry-Baby prompted more yawns than tears and the critics found The Little Mermaid about as appetizing as day-old salmon, the race for the final spot is between two shows that don’t inspire much enthusiasm. Since the nominators tend to prefer small-and-serious to big-and-shallow, I suspect the drab A Catered Affair will hold off the marginally better Young Frankenstein – also, the Broadway community seems to be intent on sticking it to the newly unpopular Mel Brooks.
Best Revival of a Musical
GREASE!
GYPSY
SOUTH PACIFIC
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
Since only four shows are eligible to fill four available slots, here’s your lineup. The committee will doubtless resent being forced to nominate Grease – yet another reality TV experiement gone horribly awry – but under the present set of rules, its inclusion is mandatory.
Best Lead Actor in Musical
DANIEL EVANS in Sunday in the Park with George
CHEYENNE JACKSON in Xanadu
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA in In the Heights
PAULO SZOT in South Pacific
STEW in Passing Strange
I’m not exactly sure whether A Catered Affair’s Tom Wopat is eligible as a lead or featured actor; regardless, this is probably still the slate nominators opt for, although Xanadu’s appealingly dim leading man, Cheyenne Jackson, is arguably vulnerable. There are those who insist Young Frankenstein’s Roger Bart can make the cut – they’d do well not to put any money on it.
Best Actress in a Musical
KERRY BUTLER in Xanadu
PATTI LuPONE in Gypsy
KELLI O’HARA in South Pacific
FAITH PRINCE in A Catered Affair
JENNA RUSSELL in Sunday in the Park with George
This lineup has been set in stone for several months. While Butler is arguably the most vulnerable of the five, I can’t see really see her being displaced by anyone else – In the Heights’ Mandy Gonzalez has what is really a supporting role, and The Little Mermaid’s Sierra Boggess…well, she’s in The Little Mermaid.
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
DANIEL BREAKER in Passing Strange
DANNY BURSTEIN in South Pacific
CHRISTOPHER FITZGERALD in Young Frankenstein
BOYD GAINES in Gyspy
SHULER HENSLEY in Young Frankenstein
All five of these performers would seem to be on track, but there’s some wiggle room here. If Tom Wopat is judged to be a featured actor instead of a lead, he could easily land a berth; South Pacific’s Matthew Morrison is a rising star in a show with coattails; Xanadu’s Tony Roberts is a beloved veteran; and In the Heights’ Robin De Jesus is an endearing scene-stealer.
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
LORETTA ABLES SAYRE in South Pacific
LAURA BENANTI in Gypsy
SUTTON FOSTER in Young Frankenstein
LESLIE KRITZER in A Catered Affair
ANDREA MARTIN in Young Frankenstein
Operating on the theory – possibly mistaken – that Xanadu’s Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman will cancel each other out, this is what the slate should look like, barring a surprise appearance by Passing Strange’s Eisa Davis or one of the many women of In the Heights. Harriet Harris (Cry-Baby) and Sherie Rene Scott (The Little Mermaid) may be musical theater heavyweights, but they’re stuck what are generally judged to be pretty rotten shows.
Best Director of a Musical
SAM BUNTROCK for Sunday in the Park with George
ARTHUR LAURENTS for Gypsy
BARTLETT SHER for South Pacific
THOMAS KAIL for In the Heights
Arthur Laurents has been deemed eligible for inclusion, despite having helmed two previous productions of Gypsy on Broadway (the rule applied to actors apparently doesn’t go for directors).
Best Score of a Musical
A CATERED AFFAIR (John Bucchino)
CRY-BABY (Adam Schlesinger & David Javerbaum)
IN THE HEIGHTS (Lin Manuel Miranda)
PASSING STRANGE (Stew)
It’s entirely possible that Young Frankenstein could make the cut; judging by the anti-Brooks sympathies running rampant at the moment, it’s equally possible that he’ll be rather conspicuously omitted in yet another category. Abetting his cause is the fact that there isn’t a great deal of fondness out there for Cry-Baby, either.
Best Book of a Musical
IN THE HEIGHTS (Quiara Alegria Hudes)
XANADU (Douglas Carter Beane)
PASSING STRANGE(Stew & Heidi Rodewald)
A CATERED AFFAIR (Harvey Fierstein)
Really the only slate of predictions I have complete confidence in; it would be a stunning surprise if any one of the four failed to be nominated, given what’s left to choose from.
Best Choreography
CRY-BABY (Rob Ashford)
IN THE HEIGHTS (Andy Blankenbuehler)
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (Susan Stroman)
SOUTH PACIFIC (Christopher Gattelli)
Anti-Frankenstein feeling should not keep the venerable Susan Stroman out of contention; despite their feelings about the show itself, Cry-Baby’s Ashford has likewise distinguished himself as a perennial favorite of the nominators - and it sounds as if his contribution may indeed be the production’s saving grace.
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Friday, May 09, 2008
Celebrating 50 years of Vertigo
Originally, we planned to have a full-fledged post marking the 50th anniversary of Vertigo, one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films, but the contributor (now former contributor) who'd volunteered to do the piece let his ego, insecurities and neuroses get in the way at the last minute when no one else had time to pick up the slack. Alas, a photo will have to do, but feel free to comment on the film anyway.
Labels: 50s, Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart
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Friday, May 02, 2008
The Wow Factor
By Josh R
The clean-scrubbed, resolutely cheerful heroine of South Pacific describes herself – in song, no less – as “A Cockeyed Optimist.” Outside the rosy alternative reality of musical theater, I have heard that such people do, in fact exist – somewhat astonishing given how little there is in today’s socio-political and economic climate to inspire a sanguine frame of mind. As to all the optimists out there, cockeyed or not, I envy them fact that they can find things to sing about; optimism and I parted ways two presidential elections ago.
It might not sit well with those who prefer to view the world through rose-colored glasses, or with their heads buried deep in the sand, if I were to suggest that their outlooks could benefit greatly from of healthy injection of cynicism. Think of all the mess that could be avoided if our willingness to accept whatever we’re told by authority figures - parents, teachers, religious leaders and politicians - were tempered by skepticism and an element of suspicion? As both general virtues and qualities of citizenship, they get a bad rap.
When Lincoln Center’s revival of South Pacific, currently playing at The Vivian Beaumont Theatre, started reaping the kind of notices press agents dream about – and really, its reception by the New York theater critics has been no less enthusiastic than that accorded to the original 1949 production – I registered it all with a grain of salt. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s seminal achievement, while outfitted with one of the greatest scores ever written for the musical stage, has never been entirely my cup of tea; in terms of its attitudes, which flirt dangerously with both corniness and preachiness, the material has always seemed so specific to the postwar era that it seemed worth questioning how much resonance it could have for a contemporary audience. Not even a show armed to the teeth with the sort of musical standards that never go out of style can necessarily make for a timeless work of theater.
By my estimation, my vast reserve of cynicism had thoroughly evaporated less than five minutes into Bartlett Sher’s breathtaking, bountiful and altogether extraordinary new production, which not only restores South Pacific to its former glory, but is one of the few musical productions in recent memory to qualify as a truly transcendent theatergoing experience. Not for a fraction of a second does the show betray its age, or feel even remotely like a relic of the past; delivered with gripping immediacy and an even more dazzling sense of theatricality, it is the kind of unqualified triumph that comes about as close to perfection as any show can be reasonably – or unreasonably – be expected to do. As an improbable side note, it’s also the first show I’ve seen in a long, long time that runs the risk of turning me into a cockeyed optimist; if South Pacific is any indication of what the theater is still capable of, I’d say that looking ahead, there’s every reason to look on the bright side.
Adapted from James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories, the show is primarily a consideration of culture clash - and the conflicted impulses it can produce in those doing the clashing - set against the backdrop of World War II. The pert, positive-thinking Nellie Forbush, a navy nurse stationed with American troops on a tropical South Seas island, has fallen in love with a middle-aged French plantation owner, Emile De Becque. Their burgeoning romance hits a stumbling block when Nellie learns that Emile has fathered two bi-racial children by his late wife, a Polynesian native; her prejudice overrides her better instincts, and she rejects his proposal of marriage. In a parallel storyline, Lt. Joe Cable, the Ivy League scion of a wealthy Philadelphia family, becomes similarly enamored of a native girl. Like Nellie, he doesn’t trust his feelings enough to place them above his own unspoken fears and doubts about entering into an interracial marriage. While not the first Broadway musical to deal frankly with the subject of racism – Show Boat, Hammerstein’s landmark collaboration with Jerome Kern, preceded it by about 20 years – South Pacific was groundbreaking in terms of just how direct, and directly confrontational, it was in its approach. In putting racial prejudice under the microscope, the authors were also holding up a mirror to their audiences, in a manner not only intended to strike a chord of instant recognition but hit uncomfortably close to home. Complacent theatergoers were being asked not only to understand, but to identify with the behaviors being held up for scrutiny and condemnation. The practitioners of race prejudice here are not simply two-dimensional villains; they are fundamentally decent individuals grappling with feelings they cannot fully define or comprehend, which become a source of both shame and embarrassment. In “Carefully Taught,” one of the show’s most famous songs – and still incendiary stuff by modern standards - the authors trace the origins of prejudice back to formative experience and systematic indoctrination. Nellie insists that her inability to reconcile her understanding of right and wrong with the irrational fears that keep her in tether as “something that’s born in me.” Rodgers and Hammerstein know better - they contend that bigotry is the product of environment and upbringing, as opposed to biological instinct.
This being Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose most oft-revisited works are the family-friendly classics Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music, the vinegary content is diluted with ample quantities of sugar water. The marriage of sober social commentary and bright, crowd-pleasing entertainment has never seemed an altogether comfortable union – not even in Josh Logan’s enjoyably lavish 1958 film adaptation - but in Sher’s production they meld seamlessly into a remarkably balanced and unified whole. Just as very little in life is ever black-and-white, there is room in South Pacific for both light and dark, elements which are rendered here in ways that not only complement each other but have an effect of mutual enhancement. A big, brash production number like “There is Nothing Like a Dame” is subtly informed by the way in which the African-American soldiers occupy a different part of the stage from their white counterparts, while the lush romanticism of “Younger than Springtime” also poses for a moment of reflection and foreboding – one in which it becomes all too apparent that nothing is quite as simple or as straightforward as it appears on the surface (a boy and girl are falling in love in the most blissful way imaginable, while at the same time a woman is also selling her daughter’s virtue to ensure her own survival). The comic and tragic elements are integrated in such a way that even the most stylized contrivances of South Pacific contain a kernel of reality; more impressively still, none of the entertainment value falls by the wayside in the process. Sher and his team don’t have to sacrifice any of the fun or the joy of South Pacific in order to get its message across - which they do, without pressing or in any way dampening the buoyant spirit of the material. Whether making a serious point, or simply trying to entertain the dickens out of its audience, everything taking place on the stage of The Vivian Beaumont exists in perfect harmony with everything else.
Harmony is the right word to describe the level on which Sher’s cast functions. There isn’t a single individual cavorting across the broad expanse of David Yeargan’s evocative set who seems in any way out of place, and the interplay between the actors – which extends right down to the minor members of the large ensemble - is nothing less than miraculous. The principals are so-well chosen that seem to inhabit their characters with an effortlessness that goes beyond natural instinct; often, it seems almost by chance.
The beguiling Kelli O’Hara has attracted a great deal of attention of late for her performances in celebrated
musicals of yesteryear; in addition to her delectable Tony-nominated turn in The Pajama Game, this past year alone she has toplined a much-praised concert staging of My Fair Lady for The New York Philharmonic, and a revival of Oklahoma! as part of that state’s centennial festivities. With her performance in South Pacific, she confirms her status as one of the best interpreters of vintage material in contemporary musical theater. That distinction owes itself to more than just her mastery of period vocal style, for Ms. O’Hara is as fine an actress as she is a singer - and believe me, that’s saying something. It’s easy to judge musical theater performers on a different, and somewhat lesser scale than actors in straight plays; in most cases, their performances seem pitched squarely to the audience, with emotions delivered in all caps for exaggerated emphasis (or worse still, in hastily scrawled-out shorthand). From this point on, Ms. O’Hara can be held to a different standard entirely; if she ever decides to take a break from musical theater (hopefully, not a permanent one), there’s no danger of her seeming out of her depth should she decide to ply her talents elsewhere. As Nellie Forbush, she gets the quality of apple-pie wholesomeness absolutely right, but even when singing about being “as corny as Kansas in August” (the role seemingly screams out for the oblivious, white-washed sunniness of a latter-day Doris Day) there isn’t one aspect of her characterization that seems false, forced or in any way disingenuous. Her Nellie is an All-American sweetheart with girl-next-door charm to spare, but also a deeply conflicted woman, unsure of herself in unfamiliar surroundings, and coming face to face with inner demons that rattle her to the core. For bringing her character to three-dimensional life with such empathy and insight, and for never flinching when the material requires her to dig deeper below the surface, she ably demonstrates that the only limitations on her talent in future may be the lack of opportunity to exercise it. If some enterprising soul would write a new musical worthy of her, this wouldn’t be so conspicuous a challenge. It isn’t a problem here, though. Ms. O’Hara has shone brightly on previous occasions; in South Pacific, she has unmistakably attained the luster of a genuine star. Since one star does not a constellation make, Mr. Sher has populated his production with performers who can not only travel the same altitude as his leading lady, but radiate enough light and warmth on their own to illuminate the material in ways mere star turns seldom do. Brazilian opera star Paulo Szot, best known on these shores for his appearances with The New York City Opera, makes a stunning theatrical debut in the role of Emile. With his broad shoulders and soulful eyes, the matinee-idol handsome Mr. Szot is not only a believable object of romantic attraction; when he applies his rich, soaring baritone to that little ditty that launched a thousand sighs, “Some Enchanted Evening,” or the equally swoon-worthy “This Nearly Was Mine,” the lyrics have an emotional resonance that extends beyond the words themselves. Every phrase is invested with such tenderness and longing that everything around the actor seems to fade into soft focus; I swear that in the middle of his rendition of “This Nearly Was Mine,” time stopped – no mean feat, considering how swiftly this three-hour production, which cuts through the waves as smoothly as ocean liner, seems to glide by. The qualities that make his vocal performance so spectacular carry over to his acting scenes with Ms. O’Hara; the captivating chemistry they share is all the more disarming for its poignant delicacy. Is it unlikely that Mr. Szot, whose talents will doubtless be no less in demand in the wake of this most recent triumph, will become a frequent visitor to the Broadway stage. It can only be hoped that this appearance will not be his last.
The supporting cast is top-of-the-line, with each member given his or her chance to shine in turn. Danny Burstein is in great form as the mischief-making seabee Luther Billis - his “Honey Bun” routine with Ms. O’Hara provides the evening with its comedic high point. Matthew Morrison, who continues to move up quickly in the ranks of Broadway leading men, gives a thoughtful, sensitive account of the conflicted Lt. Cable, while Li Jun Li makes the piece’s most thinly conceived character, the fragile and pliant Liat, a genuinely touching figure. The Hawaiian actress Loretta Ables Sayre brings a sense of bare-knuckled desperation, as well as some intriguing hints of menace, to her depiction of the wily war profiteer Bloody Mary - a role usually played, in previous contexts, in the spirit of broad comic caricature. As for the remainder of the 40 person cast, there is nary a generic chorus kid in sight; each member of the energetic ensemble has been directed to give a highly individualized performance, while collectively they contribute immeasurably to the production's highly authentic sense of time and place – something abetted by Catherine Zuber’s pitch-perfect period costumes and Donald Holder’s sumptuous lighting design. The 30-piece orchestra, working from the original 1949 musical arrangements, does full and glorious justice to Rodgers’ rich, melodic score, which washes over the audience like a succession of waves breaking smoothly upon the sand.
So what’s wrong with South Pacific? The only thing I can come up with – and I’m reaching here – is that The Vivian Beaumont Theatre doesn’t seem to come equipped with enough seats. According to sources in the know, the ticketing crunch has grown to the point that there’s already a waiting list for Thanksgiving weekend (one can only imagine the boon this has been to the scalping industry). For anyone who cares about musical theater – heck, for anyone who cares about theater in general – do whatever you have to do in order to snag yourself a shore pass. Genuine wows are in short supply on Broadway these days. When one comes along…well, to paraphrase the song, once you have found it, never let it go.
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Centennial Tributes: Eve Arden
By Edward Copeland
Nearly every time you see Eve Arden on screen in black-and-white, she seemed to have a cigarette firmly ensconced in her hand. Somehow it was appropriate that embers would be slowly dripping off her smoke since inevitably sparks would be flying from the dialogue emanating from her lips. In fact, her photo should appear next to the definition of wisecrack in the dictionary. Born Eunice Quedens on April 30, 1908, Arden almost always was the girl Friday or best pal to other stars, but she many times she ended up being the best thing in bad films, raised good films to a higher level and was just plain fun more times than not. Her lengthy time in film led to a longer time in radio and television. Along the way, she managed one Oscar nomination and several Emmy nominations, including one win. She even appeared in the infamous Broadway flop Moose Murders, though she was replaced during previews before the show got its one night run. In only her second film appearance as Eve Arden, she played one of the many smart-mouthed broads trading barbs in the Footlights Club boarding house for aspiring actresses in 1937's Stage Door. With Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball and Ann Miller among the many cracking wise, Arden might have been lost, but she's easy to spot since in nearly every one of her scenes she uses a white cat as a prop, usually draped around her neck like a scarf. In 1939, she got to hold court with one of the kings of fast-talking comedy, Groucho Marx, in At the Circus. The first role that really allowed her to shine was as model scout Cornelia "Stonewall" Jackson in the 1944 musical Cover Girl. She got to be the voice of reason and a funny voice at that. When her older boss sees a vision of a lost love of his past in Rita Hayworth, he asks Cornelia
what she would do if she saw her youth walk through the door. "I'd put braces on its teeth," she replies. The next year, she got one of her very best roles and earned an Oscar nomination as Joan Crawford's friend and business associate Ida Corwin in Mildred Pierce. Ida saw through Mildred's good-for-nothing daughter Veda (Ann Blyth), even if Mildred couldn't see it. "Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea," Ida tells Mildred. "They eat their young." In 1946, she again got to play the best friend, this time to Barbara Stanwyck in a dreadfully dull melodrama My Reputation that Arden tries single-handedly to drag kicking-and-screaming into the realm of romantic comedy. Alas, she fails in the effort. That same year, she showed her ability to surprise: Taking the role of a French chanteuse in the whitewashed Cole Porter biopic Night and Day with Cary Grant. Perhaps tired of
always being second (or third) fiddle in film, Arden moved to radio where she created the role of high school teacher Connie Brooks, which she transferred to TV in 1952, sparring with harried principal Gale Gordon in his pre-Lucy days and teaching Richard Crenna with his wonderfully fake cracking adolescent voice. The role brought her an Emmy and several nominations and she tended to stick to television for the rest of her career, though she did venture back on the big screen now and then. In 1951, she was the best thing in Three Husbands, a better idea than a movie that attempted to spoof A Letter to Three Wives. In 1959, she was girl Friday again, this time to lawyer James Stewart in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder. Of course, for the younger out there, perhaps Arden always will be best remembered as Principal McGee of Rydell High in Grease and Grease 2. Remember, if you can't be Eve Arden, be an Eve Arden supporter.
Labels: Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Marx Brothers, Television, Theater
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Saturday, April 26, 2008
THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD!
By Edward Copeland
When I first planned to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz, I'd hoped to integrate thoughts on Scorsese's recent Rolling Stones film, Shine a Light, but it slipped in and out of town before I got a chance to see it. It was probably for the best. When you've already made one of the greatest concert film/rock documentaries of all times, it would be pretty difficult to top. When I saw The Last Waltz for the first time, I was very fortunate: It was in a Manhattan movie theater on the occasion of its 20th anniversary re-release. For those unfamiliar with The Last Waltz, it chronicles the farewell concert of The Band on Thanksgiving 1976 at San Francisco's Winterland theater after 16 years on the road, since the musicians couldn't imagine continuing touring and playing for 20 years (an interesting contrast to the Stones). The thought of two decades on the road is daunting because, as Robbie Robertson says, it's a "goddamn impossible way of life." The event turns out to be more of a celebration than a concert, with countless musical greats showing up to give The Band a suitable send off, including Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Emmylou
Harris, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, Van Morrison, Ronnie Hawkins, The Staples, Ron Wood and even Neil Diamond. The great Muddy Waters shows up to perform his quintessential "Mannish Boy," a song I was first introduced to in Risky Business. What makes The Last Waltz so great, other than the music, is the way Scorsese has designed it as a film. You're barely aware that there is an audience present as the cameras are firmly ensconced on stage with the performers. He's also aided by first-rate cinematographer Michael Ballhaus with backup help by Vilmos Zsigmond and Michael Watkins. He also has enough inside stuff to make The Last Waltz qualify as a documentary, but not enough to stop the film from being a
true musical feast. You get plenty of great nuggets from the members of The Band about their history and other elements, but the show's the thing, especially the way Scorsese has storyboarded it out as he would any feature he makes. It's especially notable once the great Bob Dylan shows up in a shot that begins with his hat before moving down to the unmistakable face and voice. Scorsese's brilliant way of shooting the concert makes it so intimate, especially if you are fortunate enough to see it in a theater, that you feel as if you are more a member of the assembled musicians on stage than just an audience member. If only I could have been there in 1976...
Labels: 70s, Bob Dylan, Documentary, Music, Scorsese
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Monday, April 21, 2008
A few words about Lars
By Edward Copeland
"Whimsical." "Touching." "Funny." Those were some of the adjectives pulled out of reviews for quotes to praise Lars and the Real Girl, the film that inexplicably received an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay and that I just now caught up with on DVD. Here are my alternatives: Mannered. Ridiculous. Excruciating. Unbearable. I have liked Ryan Gosling in roles before but he is all tics here to the point here that I was just hoping at some point someone would slap him silly. What's even worse is that the portrayal of the town his character lives in and its willingness to indulge his delusion that the sex doll he purchased over the Internet is a real person goes beyond straining credulity. Aside from a few moments where his brother (Paul Schneider) expresses true concerns about Lars' mental health, everyone seems to think that nothing is out of the ordinary, prompting me to think that perhaps the entire community belongs in an institution. How anyone could mistake this film for a comedy (or a movie for that matter) is beyond me. It drags on and on and on. In the end, the doll, Bianca, may well be the most realistic and well-formed character in the entire charade.
Labels: 00s
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Friday, April 11, 2008
Something Old, Borrowed and Blue
By Josh R
It has been said that surest way to divest your self of sanity, acumen, and a sense of a proportion is to run for office. While all-too-recent history has provided no dearth of compelling evidence to support that contention, for the common man with neither the yen for power nor the clout to actualize it, planning a wedding will do just as nicely. As a guest and/or participant at many nuptial celebrations – thankfully, none of them my own – I have seen how quickly things can spiral out of control when delusions of grandeur meet the concept of buying on credit.
The same rule applies to the process of mounting a musical on Broadway, a folly reserved for those with deep pockets, a hunger for success and a commensurate lack of forbearance. Like marriage, commercial theater production is a highly speculative pursuit, requiring a great deal of expense and no small amount of optimism. In both cases, there is no guarantee of success – no matter how much money is spent, or how pure of heart the intentions are, the honeymoon can be short-lived.
The matrimony-themed A Catered Affair, the new musical currently in previews at The Walter Kerr Theatre and set to take its stroll down the aisle April 17, hedges its bets to some degree with a production that is modestly scaled by Broadway standards. In an age of grandiose spectacle, it is admittedly refreshing to see a show whose creators don’t try to camouflage its simplicity by stacking it in tiers and burying it under a blanket of white icing. While admirable for its lack of pretension, and the fact that it manages to achieve an emotional resonance of the kind largely absent from most of this season’s musical offerings, this resolutely old-fashioned entry by composer John Bucchino and librettist Harvey Fierstein doesn’t quite make the grade as an affair to remember. Despite fine, heartfelt performances by Tom Wopat and Leslie Kritzer, and a beautifully calibrated one by the superb Faith Prince, this drab, homey little brown loaf of a show doesn’t leave any more of a lasting impression on the palate than the flashy confections it’s trying to outclass with its unadorned simplicity. With or without the frosting flowers, it’s still Betty Crocker, made from a mix and a bit on the bland side.
Adapted from the 1956 film of the same name, which featured Bette Davis and Debbie Reynolds in de-glamorized mode, A Catered Affair is nothing if not earnest. Like its source material – written by vaunted screenwriter Paddy Chayevsky before his sense of social indignation had crystallized into the lacerating acerbity of Network and The Hospital - the musical serves up a gentle, slice-of-life consideration of family dynamics viewed through the prism of working class struggle. Janey Hurley (Ms. Kritzer), a firm-minded young woman from a blue-collar family, wants to get married. Her boyfriend Ralph (Matt Cavenaugh) is only too happy to comply; together, they decide to have a simple, no-frills civil ceremony. Their plans hit a snag when Janey’s mother, Aggie (Ms. Prince), balks at the notion of a hasty City Hall marriage, and insists on giving her daughter a full-blown formal wedding – a course of action which not only runs contrary to the desires of the prospective newlyweds, but creates a financial burden that Aggie and her husband, Tom (Mr. Wopat), are not really in a position to assume. As the wedding plans become increasingly elaborate, tensions run high in a family already divided by deep-seated undercurrents of guilt, resentment, and grief that have never been openly acknowledged. Equal parts kitchen-sink drama and social commentary, A Catered Affair is at its most compelling when examining the manner in which the problems specific to poverty can take a harsh toll on the bonds created by birth and relation, or those forged through love and intimacy. As Aggie basically states, it’s hard for romance to retain its bloom when the bills keep piling up and sentimental notions are swept aside by the stark realities of daily routine.
Equally difficult is the challenge of bringing a sense of freshness and immediacy to a work of theater that feels so firmly grounded in the past. Director John Doyle, best known for his post-modernist take on the works of Stephen Sondheim, seems to be out of his element with the sort of hidebound material that doesn’t furnish a lot of room for creative interpretation; accordingly, his staging techniques tend towards clunky functionality. That said, the blame for A Catered Affair’s waterlogged condition can’t really be laid at the feet of the ship’s captain, given how less-than-seaworthy the vessel is. An obvious effort has been made to imbue the show’s low-key dramaturgy with a kind of careworn, old-fashioned charm, but since neither Fierstein’s libretto nor Bucchino’s substandard music and lyrics are particularly memorable, the lavender-and-old-lace nostalgia factor never really kicks in. As it is, the show can’t avoid seeming like a musty relic of a bygone era - the olfactory experience is less redolent of lavender than mothballs. One can understand the impulse to recreate the feel of vintage book musicals, of the sort that favor substance over style - but the approach is so humble and self-effacing that it’s like training your gaze on an old photograph that fades before your eyes.
Fortunately, there is one figure in the sepia-toned snapshot that remains as sharply defined as a work of digital imaging – specifically, the production’s leading lady. As the mother of the bride, Tony-winning actress Faith Prince gives a poignant performance which believably communicates the full weight of Aggie's numbing workaday existence - the product of years of compromise, struggle and diminished expectations. Like S. Epatha Merkenson, who enlivened the similarly fusty Come Back, Little Sheba a few months ago, Ms. Prince invests her portrayal with deep reserves of empathy and insight, capturing the essence of the unsophisticated, rather frumpish character she is playing with an unaffected simplicity that never stoops to condescension. Sturdy, unruffled support is provided by Tom Wopat, as the cab driver husband who seems like a burnt-out shell but still longs for the things that are just beyond his grasp, and the equally fine Leslie Kritzer, who delivers an understated, eminently credible portrait of a smart, down-to-earth woman whose brisk pragmatism exists mainly as a coping mechanism to weather disappointment.
The remainder of the cast makes less of an impression, although only one member seems entirely out of place. As the gay uncle trying to shoehorn his way into the nuptial preparations, Mr. Fierstein seems to have wandered in from a different show altogether. It goes beyond the fact that his particular brand of comic relief, which relies on rather obvious gay humor, feels out of keeping with the tone of the show itself. For reasons difficult to fully comprehend in show that otherwise seems so firmly ground in the realm of realism, his character hovers on the outskirts of scenes in which he is not featured as an unseen, omnipresent observer; whether this is represents some form of commentary or merely a case of authorial hubris is anybody’s guess.
It is Mr. Fierstein who delivers the show’s all-too-cozy coda, a song encouraging the audience to live life to the fullest. A Catered Affair labors mightily to meet that standard, but in spite of the best efforts of a few of its actors, it mostly feels dull, sluggish and out-of-date. When done correctly, old-fashioned charm can still give off the rosy glow of a polished antique. Unfortunately, when this bouquet of withered roses goes sailing through the air, there’s no one around to catch it – Janey and Ralph may be engaged, but the audience isn’t. As a result, this particular piece of old furniture looks ready for retirement.
Labels: Bette Davis, Musicals, Paddy Chayefsky, Theater
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