Okay, folks, I've seen a lot of theatre lately and I just don't have time to write up full posts on all of it. I'm terribly behind and would like to hit some hightlights and move on. If you would like a fuller opinion from me, just drop me a line and I can certainly oblige. Otherwise, here goes:
Last Saturday I saw the Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Longacre Theatre. Kathleen Turner is a goddess. Bill Irwin is amazing. The other actors were great. They're all deservedly nominated for Tonys as is the production. I was unfamiliar with this classic before I went in and found these sad, bored, awful characters utterly fascinating. Go see this if it's at all possible.
Sunday afternoon, I caught the current Broadway revival of On Golden Pond at the Cort Theatre, which stars James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams. Uggams took a couple of scenes to hit her stride, but Jones is masterful from the start and holds the audience in the palm of his hand. He really achieves something remarkable here: Although the audience can full well see the robust and healthy Jones on the stage in front of them, the actor makes us believe in his character's frailty and declining health. The play itself is a bit creaky, but the performances make it worth seeing. Linda Powell, perhaps best known as the daughter of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, but a working actress in her own right, is also wonderful as the estranged daughter of Jones and Uggams who must come to terms with the past before it's too late. Alexander Mitchell is great as the kid who manages to bring out the best in the grumpy Jones. This is the same kid who played the son of Sean Combs (Puff Daddy) and Audra McDonald in last season's revival of A Raisin in the Sun.
Sunday night, I caught the latest offering from the Encores! series, a concert version of 1966 three acter The Apple Tree, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock's follow up to their blockbuster Fiddler on the Roof. The stars were Broadway darling Kristin Chenoweth in roles created by the legendary Barbara Harris (Chenoweth played another Harris role in the Encores! On A Clear Day You Can See Forever a couple of seasons ago), Malcolm Gets in the roles done originally by Alan Alda, and Michael Cerveris in those created by Larry Blyden.
This is actually three one act musicals that relate thematically, but otherwise have no connection. In the first, "The Diary of Adam and Eve," Gets and Chenoweth play an Adam and Eve who manage to clash over most everything in Eden, notably the names of things. (You see, God has asked him to give names to everything, but he exhibits no talent for this, unlike the gregarious Eve who sees right away what any given object should be named.) This wacky comedy becomes unexpectedly poignant toward the end and Gets and Chenoweth were remarkable in what is essentially a two person show (Cerveris cameos as the Snake).
"The Lady or The Tiger?" finds Chenoweth as a princess whose commoner lover, Gets, is on trial for daring to love her. He must choose between two doors, one of which will release a vicious tiger, and the other a beautiful woman whom he must immediately marry. When the princess discovers which door is which ahead of time, she is torn...would she rather see her lover torn to pieces and eaten or as the husband of another? It's a quandry...
And the final act is "Passionella: A Romance of the '60's" in which Chenoweth plays a dowdy chimney sweep who dreams of being a glamourous movie star. Her television set grants her wish (don't ask) and she becomes a voluptuous Marilyn Monroe-esque star. When she meets a Bob Dylan-esque folk singer who chastises her for being empty and fake, she's torn between her new life and possible love. And how this is resolved is very funny indeed.
Oh. Cerveris played narrators in the second and third pieces and was wonderful adding a variety of colours to the evening.
I've always heard that the first act of The Apple Tree was the best and the other two were just not as strong. I disagree and think that, while all three are capable of standing alone, together they make this one terrific show. I'm so glad that I got a chance to see this. No idea what's wrong with it and why it's fallen out of the repertory.
Are you a producer? Do this show. Are you a director? Cast me in it. Thank You.
And the last play I have to catch up on is Privilege, a new play by Paul Weitz that was playing at Second Stage. You know Weitz as a screenwriter and film director of such films as About A Boy, the American Pie movies and the recent In Good Company. This comedy drama focuses on two brothers whose father has been indicted for insider trading in the New York City of the mid-1980's. Actor/comedian Bob Saget plays the father, though the play really belongs to young actors Conor Donovan and Harry Zittel as the boys.
Excellent production all the way around. Whee!
Posted by Jere at May 21, 2005 04:16 PM | TrackBack