Oscar E Moore

The very clever Joe DiPietro has written a very clever play that brings “That Girl” – Marlo Thomas back to the New York stage where she rightfully belongs.  Her distinctive voice is heard off stage in the second scene of this five character comedy – I am including the newly born baby girl of her son Billy and his wife Jane – the sound cues for her are excellent and she is unknowingly the catalyst of much that follows.

Bill, Sr. (Greg Mullavey) and his son Bill (George Merrick) have just had a post tennis match man to man heart to heart face to face talk in the locker room of their health club where Bill has disclosed an indiscretion and begs his dad not to let on with his mom Alice (Marlo Thomas) who somehow has a knack for knowing when all is not right.

As it turns out he is right about his mom who bemoans working in a bookstore while keeping her beige life in the suburbs on an even keel and attempting to do what parents are supposed to do – help their children.

Once she gets a whiff of a problem she does a Miss Marple – searching for clues to unearth what the trouble with her son and his wife is all about.  They are summoned to dinner.  There is an amusing albeit a tad too long drive with wife (Kate Wetherhead) and baby in the rear seat while excellent projections get them to their destination.

Up to now you may be thinking this is your run of the mill sit-com.  All they need are some commercials to fill in this elongated skit but then the clever plot takes a very clever turn resulting in unexpected developments as Alice tries to explain what her son should do – in subtle ways and words that result in her speaking herself into a corner where the only way out is telling the truth about some past events that eventually affects them all.

It’s surprising and fun and heartfelt.   The little lies have an hysterical snowballing effect that leads to a very satisfactory conclusion for the audience.

Two generations dealing with basically the same problems.  What happens after the first child is born.  What adjustments have to be made.  What makes a marriage work.  What is love and what is a simply a detour.

CLEVER LITTLE LIES is deftly directed by David Saint.  The design elements by Yoshi Tanokura are excellent.  And Marlo Thomas is back.  Better than ever – showing us she has more to deliver than just a quirky character with a distinctive look and voice.

At the Westside Theatre/Upstairs.  90 minutes.  No intermission.

Photos:  Matthew Murphy

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www.cleverlittlelies.com

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You just might want to see this finely crafted and multi textured production at least three times to fully grasp the artistic merits and musical majesty presented at The Public Theater in its intimate Anspacher space where you enter the surreal world of Michael John LaChiusa who has written book, lyrics and music – weaving fact and fantasy in this four part Suite featuring the daughters and mothers and ghosts of first families in a house that can never be a home.

It’s the imagined “inside scoop” of how these women cope with their decision to follow the life of living in the White House.  They are not happy campers.  Even if they pretend to be.  They have made a choice and have to deal with the consequences.

It’s daring.  It’s dishing the dirt on a higher plane.  They are disturbed by their disturbing choices and we get to watch them up close – warts and all.

Mr. LaChiusa has thrown down the gauntlet, challenging his actresses to rise to the occasion and do they ever.  It’s a fascinating – and entertaining look into the pressures and the problems and the psychology of the daughters and mothers in four vastly different vignettes.  Serious.  Sad.  Melancholy.  Bitchy.  Disturbing.  Wild.  Confrontational.

HAPPY PAT.  She is anything but.  Tricia is about to be married June 1972.  Pat prim and tense and trying to keep the calm between the two sisters smokes and sips a martini while dealing with Nixon’s mother Hanna – a ghostlike thorn in addition to the impending rain that might spoil the outdoor ceremony.

Barbara Walsh is at the very top of her game here as Pat.  Caissie Levy as Julie also astounds as Patti Davis.  Betsy Morgan as the impatient bride-to-be Tricia does likewise as Susan Ford and Theresa McCarthy as Hannah Nixon returns as the ghost of Robin Bush.

AMY CARTER’S FABULOUS DREAM ADVENTURE.  Spring 1980.  On deck of the Presidential Yacht.  Cocktails and the Iran crisis.  A calm Rosalynn (Rachael Bay Jones) focused on a book tries to quiet little rambunctious Amy (Carly Tamer) while Betty Ford (Alison Fraser) wants to dance and drink – looking dazzling and doing high kicks and a split while they go off to Iran shooting photos and people alongside Susan Ford (Betsy Morgan).

PATTI BY THE POOL.  November 1986.  Sunning themselves at Betsy Bloomingdale’s pool a frosty Nancy (Alison Fraser)  – in a knock out Reagan Red bathing suit ensemble all but ignores Patti (Caissie Levy) – in full Madonna combat mode who flaunts her best-selling tell all book.  More talk than singing here but powerful stuff as the maid Anita (Isabel Santiago) first ignores Patti and then helps Nancy find a solution.

IN THE DEEP BOSOM OF THE OCEAN BURIED.  Kennebunkport, Maine.  October 2005.  Barbara Bush – a phenomenal Mary Testa steadfastly and stoically refuses to help her son on the 50^th anniversary of her daughter Robin’s death.  Theresa McCarthy seemingly floats in and out.  Laura Bush (Rachael Bay Jones) tries to mend fences between mom and George.  A son that Bar believes to be mediocre and misguided.  A huge disappointment.

The entire cast excels dramatically and vocally.  They delve deeply into each character trying to resolve their problems.  Politics and pressure take their toll on the battleground of THE FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE.  It’s horrifying and humorous – melancholy and disturbing.  And vivid.

The creative team – led by the outstanding director Kirsten Sanderson make this the theatrical event of the season:  Choreography Chase Brock – Scott Pask (scenic designer) Costume Design (Toni-Leslie James) Lighting Design (Tyler Micoleau) Sound Design (Ken Travis) Orchestrations Michael Starobin and Bruce Coughlin and Wig and Hair Design (Robert-Charles Vallance).

Welcome to the amazing world of MICHAEL-JOHN LaCHIUSA.  Extended off-Broadway through November 22^nd.

Photos:  Joan Marcus

Visit www.TalkEntertainment.com

www.PublicTheater.org

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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  So the adage goes.  So why give the delightful DAMES AT SEA an overdose of growth hormones that turns the charmingly tiny 1968 Valentine to 1930’s backstage musicals that had style to spare, ingenious direction and choreography by Neal Kenyon that introduced the lovable and funny star-in-the-making Bernadette Peters into a big Broadway extravaganza of a show that turns into what it is supposedly spoofing albeit with the same small cast of six?

The sets are bigger.  The orchestra is fuller.  The costumes are more day-glow colorful.  And every number becomes a production number with lots of dancing under the guidance of Randy Skinner.  Most routines are just that.  Routine.  There is little in the way of ingenious creativity going on – although the production is enjoyable and entertaining.

The one spark of inspiration is the opening VITAPHONE movie credits introducing the cast.

It’s just not what the original creators had it mind.  A small spoof.  That’s what made DAMES so endearing with a knowing book and clever lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise.  DAMES AT SEA has a terrific score.  Tuneful.  A spot on take-off of the period with witty words that are uplifting and leave one humming and in a fine mood.

It was all so simple then.  Innocent.  An ode to the tap happy Busby Berkeley musicals starring Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Joan Blondell.

Young girl arrives by bus from Utah with only a small suitcase wanting ever so much to be in a Broadway show.  Voila!  She’s in making best friends with hoofer Joan and falling head over tap shoes for Dick – a sailor/songwriter.  And he for her.  However…

The star of the show takes a liking to Dick, becomes ill and can’t go on leaving an under rehearsed Ruby to save the day on board a battle ship cause the theatre that was supposed to house opening night is being torn down to make room for a roller rink.

Mr. Skinner however seems to be at sea with his direction.  The book scenes mostly fall flat while racing into the next musical number that become a bit repetitive and more 1940’s than 30’s.

Casting also is questionable.   The diva Mona Kent is portrayed by an overly mugging Lesli Margherita in an over the top cross between Norma Desmond and Ethel Merman.  John Bolton in the dual roles of Hennesey and The Captain mugs his way through the show with not much distinction between the two men.

Mara Davi as the wise cracking Joan comes off best.  She has the style of the period and a powerhouse voice with natural tap abilities that charm down pat.  Her cohort Lucky is also excellent – Danny Gardner is Donald O’Connor opposite Cary Tedder as a Gene Kelly inspired Dick who is smooth sailing all the way.

Then there is Ruby.  A miscast Eloise Kropp.  How unfortunate.  She’s pert.  Sings well and taps up a storm with a frozen smile on her face throughout even while singing “Raining in My Heart” which left me feeling seasick.  At The Helen Hayes Theatre.

Photos:  Jeremy Daniel

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www.damesatseabroadway.com

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An excellent ensemble cast of six brings to life this sporadically amusing and mostly depressing play by Stephen Karam set in downtown New York during the Thanksgiving festivities of the Blake family where strange things begin to take place in the newly moved in basement duplex apartment of youngest daughter Brigid (Sarah Steele) and her live in beau Richard Saad (Arian Moayed) thirty eight year old student awaiting his trust fund which becomes available when he reaches 40 – which will mostly go to repay his student loans.  He’s the cook.

It’s a spacious, mostly void of furniture apartment on two levels designed by David Zinn – although those sitting in the first few rows of the orchestra might leave the theatre with a stiff neck.  Others might leave with a depressing headache.

They all have problems.  Physical ailments.  Money.  Jobs.  There isn’t a problem it seems that Mr. Karam doesn’t touch upon.  He puts a lot on his plate besides turkey for us to digest in this family gathering that has brought Erik Blake (Reed Birney) and his wife Deirdre (Jayne Houdyshell) and his mom Momo (Lauren Klein) wheelchair bound and suffering from dementia to New York from Scranton Pennsylvania.

Brigid’s sister Aimee (Cassie Beck) is suffering from a disease that can lead to cancer, has broken up with her girlfriend and lost her job.  During the course of this intermission-less saga you will find out lots more about what makes the Blake family tick, tick boom!

They may have a problem speaking about important things with each other but wine always loosens the tongue.  And Mr. Karam’s dialogue is natural and enlightening.

However he adds mysterious (perhaps symbolic) things that bewilder.  Extremely loud noises from an upstairs neighbor – a seventy year old Chinese lady.  What could she be doing to cause such a racket?  And then there are the lights that suddenly go out resulting in a Steven Spielberg flashlight sequence from director Joe Mantello as they chase a cockroach as big as a mouse.  And then there is the question of cell phone reception.  Dad has to nearly lean out the window while Aimee has no problem whatsoever.  Then there are the dreams, rather nightmares.

For those of you having to deal with someone suffering from dementia watching this production will prove difficult.  Lauren Klein does an outstanding job – although it is painful and heart wrenching to watch.

Joe Mantello is the master of misdirection as he manages our focus elsewhere while Momo somehow gets herself up off the sofa and into the kitchen without her wheelchair…

THE HUMANS runs through December 27th at the Laura Pels and will be transferring to Broadway next year.

www.roundabouttheatre.org

Photos:  Joan Marcus

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Never could I ever imagine that I would refer to a musical score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick as forgettable.  FIORELLO! was my very first Broadway musical and I can still see it in my mind’s eye.  It was that unforgettable.  TENDERLOIN, SHE LOVES ME and their masterpiece FIDDLER ON THE ROOF followed.   Each having wonderful and memorable scores.

But there is a time for everything and so sadly I report that the songs written first for THE ROTHCHILDS (1970) and now for this misguided and reimagined production newly renamed ROTHSCHILD & SONS leaves one wondering what went wrong.

Sherman Yellen has “significantly” revised his original book (based on the book by Frederick Morton) from a two act production with over 40 actors to a single dull elongated one act version (performed without an intermission) for 11 actors that is now at The York Theatre until November 8^th

Not only was I disenchanted with this lackluster linear production on Saturday’s matinee but when I went to leave the infamous elevator was once again OUT OF SERVICE – upstaging the show.

Several patrons with walkers and one wheel chair bound man were left stranded in the lobby as a “talk back” was taking place or perhaps they were doing some sort of interview on stage.  I have written to the proper authorities about this inexcusable situation.  It seems that there is no alternative route of escape for disabled people.

And so what is more important?  A mediocre production or the safety of those people who come to support the York?

I imagine everyone would be in favor of elevator safety than what I have to report on this show but here is my take.

Robert Cuccioli is given an A for effort in his portrayal of Mayer Rothschild a German/Jew peddler in Frankfurt who sires five sons so that they can continue the family business -indoctrinating them into doing what he thought best.  He was ambitious, aggressive and a risk taker.  And expected no less from all his sons.  He was successful in turning a ghetto coin business into a huge financial empire.  This is their story.  Remarkably bland – all things considered.

His dream to secure a declaration of rights for European Jews does happen.  And for that alone we should be grateful for Rothschild’s persistence and fortitude.

It is staged to numbing effect by Jeffrey B. Moss.

Photos:  Carol Rosegg

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www.yorktheatre.org

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Growing old gracefully wasn’t what D. L. Coburn had in mind when he wrote THE GIN GAME a drama/comedy for two aging actors – a slight, funny yet moving play that mysteriously won a Pulitzer Prize in 1978.

Dealing with life in a nursing home when no one comes to visit, having to give up your life’s savings and your dignity, staring into space day after day and accepting the aches and pains of life after a certain age are some of the situations the playwright tackles as two oddly matched patients meet and develop a relationship over a deck of cards.

This ramshackle home for the aged has seen better days as have its inhabitants.  Looking like it’s ready to hold a yard sale for wheel chairs, walkers and canes we meet Weller Martin (a steadfast and blustery James Earl Jones) – a grumpy and cynical man who has trouble walking – his maladies being old age and an obsession with playing and winning gin rummy.

A new girl at the home shuffles into his life – Fonsia Dorsey (a remarkable Cicely Tyson) fragile, well kept, clutching her handbag and suffering from diabetes who turns out to be a feisty and formidable opponent in the game of cards that Weller teaches her to pass the time of day.

She is a quick learner and an even quicker winner.  Much to his growing frustration and anger she wins every game, swooping in to take his discarded cards and beating him at his own game.  In more ways than one.  Playing cards relaxes her.  Playing to win raises his blood pressure to a boiling point.  That’s about it.

Variations on how she says “Gin!” every time she wins is priceless.  As is her attempt to soften up Weller.  She does get him to reluctantly dance on the porch – flirting like a young girl and losing about thirty years in the process.

We discover what makes each of them truly tick.  It’s interesting and quite entertaining.  But slight.  Without two expert actors we would be left with only a deck of cards.  With pros like James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson we are the winners – getting to eavesdrop on two expert performers at the height of their game eventually bringing out the best and the worst of each other.

THE GIN GAME is nicely directed by Leonard Foglia.  Riccardo Hernandez has done an excellent job with costumes and scenic design.  At the Golden Theatre.  Through Jan 10th

www.thegingamebroadway.com

Photo credit:  Joan Marcus

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Hop on board!  You’ve never been on a journey like this.  Ever.  And I advise you to book passage immediately in this KEEN COMPANY production at The Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row ONLY THROUGH NOVEMBER 14^th.

TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Graham Greene and brilliantly adapted by Giles Havergal (1989) for four men is astonishing.  You read that right – four MEN – one of whom portrays Aunt Augusta and her nephew Henry with the other three portraying Henry and a slew of other unforgettable and totally believable characters.

The ensemble of expert thespians are: Thomas Jay Ryan, Jay Russell, Dan Jenkins and Rory Kulz.  Bravo to one and all.

Guided by the imaginative Jonathan Silverstein this production is a theatrical banquet, full of savory characters and delicious wit leaving one completely sated.  Even if it is a tad long.  I’ve discovered there is a shorter 50 minute version out there but that would be too short.  A happy medium would make this two act version shorter by about fifteen minutes.

It is performed straight.  No camp here.  And the story will keep you enthralled as you witness the slight-of-hand that each actor accomplishes as he switches character in the blink of an eye.  Different ages, different genders, different accents (even a dog) – all done so smoothly you can’t imagine how they will keep it going.  Yet they do.  Beautifully.

As we enter there are four vacant black chairs on stage in front of a nondescript building that is in front of a scalloped curtain.  Lights down.  When they come up four gentlemen dressed exactly alike looking very much the British banker – 3 piece black suit, watch fob and black bowler hat commence the story of Henry Pulling and his Aunt Augusta which takes them on a journey hither and yon.  Full of surprises.  Smuggling.  Police.  And the CIA.

Aunt Augusta an independent witty woman married many times over is torn between her present lover Wordsworth and Visconti.  Intrigue follows both Augusta and Henry as they leave England on The Orient Express to meet up with Abdul in Istanbul – hitting Paris and Paraguay along the way.

The set (Steven C. Kemp) is like an Advent Christmas Calendar – with surprise secret compartments opening up for props and the like.  Sound and light cues abound but never intrude with the actors as they engage us in this engaging story with a surprise and endearing ending.

Miming is of the essence.  Case in point.  When Mr. Ryan as Augusta removes her hat.  She first removes an invisible hat pin.  Details like this are truly scrumptious.  As is the entire invigorating production.

www.KeenCompany.org

Photo Credit – Carol Rosegg

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As a devoted fan of Nina Arianda I looked forward to seeing this first Broadway joint production (Manhattan Theatre Club in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival) of Sam Shepard’s FOOL FOR LOVE first produced in 1983.  She does not disappoint.  Going full throttle on all cylinders she is the distraught May, mate of long time missing former lover Eddie (Sam Rockwell).  She needs him and loves him and wants him to stay and then just as quickly to go then stay again – to fill her empty life no matter what she says.

And she says a lot in this 75 minute saga that takes place in a seedy motel room where you can almost smell the mildew – somewhere in the Mojave Desert.  She also speaks volumes with her wild mane of hair as she grapples with Eddie both physically and verbally – attempting to sort out her complicated relationship with him that usually ends the same way when they part.  Depending on which one is telling the story.

Eddie is a cowboy.  Fit and lanky and ready to lasso May in again as he returns after a too long absence.  He also is a story teller and a drinker.  May is on the wagon but not for long as she waits for her “date” to arrive.   It’s a love hate relationship ready to continue a cycle that should have been broken about fifteen years ago.

Who is telling the truth?  Cause when the truth hurts too much – one sometimes resorts to telling lies.  It’s a he said – she said type of thing they have going which makes for some mighty fine and fierce dialogue and slamming doors.

When the unsuspecting Martin (Tom Pelphrey) arrives they are in full throttle.  Trying to recover, May retreats for a very prolonged and hard to believe stay in the bathroom while Eddie “baits” the easy going and naïve Martin with his version of who he is and what his relationship to May might be allowing for some humor to creep in.

Now here is the fly in the ointment.  Off to the side of the stage sits The Old Man (Gordon Joseph Weiss) staring into space while sitting almost frozen in an armchair who becomes a sort of Greek chorus – commenting and giving his thoughts on these two lovers who may be even more closely related to one another.  Giving the love factor an ick factor.

May and Eddie erupt every so often.  A bewildered Martin – a regular guy who does yard work tries to take it all in, coping as best he can but he is in far deeper than he ever expected.  More than just going to the movies with May.

Trying to undo the mess of her life May is forever trying to straighten out the sheets on her bed – to no avail.  Her bed and her life remain a mess.

Great acting.  Great chemistry between May and Eddie.  The play itself isn’t totally satisfying.  Straightforward direction by Daniel Aukin and excellent fight sequences by David S. Leong.  At The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

www.manhattantheatreclub.com

Photos:  Joan Marcus

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A spacecraft named OLD TIMES has landed at the American Airlines Theatre helmed by Douglas Hodge and carrying as its messengers Clive Owen, Eve Best and Kelly Reilly.  Penned by Harold Pinter.  And it is over before you know what happens.

Running a mere 65 minutes it is never boring.  As you try to figure the enigma that you are witnessing as strobe lights flash in your eyes and a turntable revolves ever so slowly.

Other worldly music (Thom Yorke) greets the audience as we enter – or should I say annoys the eardrums of the audience as the curtain goes up on this Twilight Zone inspired Roundabout production.  Cavernous set by Christine Jones.  It’s the first Broadway production of this play first confounding audiences in 1971.

Your guess as to what it means is as good as mine.  Is it a riff on Noel Coward’s Private Lives?    Is it a dream?  Is it a group therapy session?  Is it the real turtle soup or merely the mock?

There is an armchair on which sits Deeley a handsome specimen of manhood Clive Owen, torn between two attractive and troubled women:  His wife Kate (Kelly Reilly) and her only friend that she has not seen in twenty years – Anna (Eve Best) perched atop two matching purple divans (thus the shrink reference).

They drink coffee and brandy.  They smoke.  They banter.  They pause.  They give one another telling glances while keeping from us what it is they are trying to communicate with each other.  They pose in stylized Zombie mode.  They pause.  Giving us pause for thought.  They seem bored.  They seem ready to have sex.  They are waiting for something to happen.  Lots of mention of death.  The word hot is oft heard.

Kate leaves to take a bath and chatterbox Anna chatters on.  Too bad her projection is not as clear as her companions on stage.

Then they sing snippets of “She’s Funny That Way”  “I Get a Kick Out of You” and “These Foolish Things.”

Enough said.

Limited engagement through November 29^th.

Photos:  Joan Marcus

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Make a fist as if you are about to knock on a door.  Then air-knock once with your fist.  You’ve just signed “yes” in American Sign Language (ASL).  And I could use this sign until my knuckles were raw to praise this volcanic and emotionally draining revival of SPRING AWAKENING brilliantly conceived and directed by Michael Arden using singing and hearing impaired actors using sign language simultaneously with inspired choreography by Spencer Liff in the amazing DEAF WEST THEATRE production of this Steven Sater/Duncan Sheik landmark rock musical based on the once banned play by Frank Wedekind.

Germany 1891.  The angst ridden teens – strictly separated – have one thing in common.  Sex.  Thinking about it.  Dreaming about it.  Not even knowing sometimes why they are thinking and dreaming about it.  Only that it is forbidden.  And taking it into one’s own hands to tragic consequences for some.

A young girl Wendla (Sandra Mae Frank/voice of Wendla – Katie Boeck) is blossoming into womanhood without an explanation from her mother (Camryn Manheim – who does her own signing) – thinking that a stork still delivers babies.  A mother who has her own designs on a young male pianist.

A not very excellent student – Moritz (Daniel N. Durant/voice of Moritz Alex Boniello) is under pressure from his father (Russell Harvard) to succeed at all costs.  Being bullied into being the best.

Being gay is verboten.  But makes for a lovely scene between Ernst (Joshua A. Castille/voice of Ernst – understudy Van Hughes for Daniel David Stewart) and Hanschen (Andy Mientus) who wastes no time is beating around the bush but takes life firmly into his own hand.

Shame.  Guilt.  Pain.  Going to extreme lengths to feel something.  Drugs.  Frustration.  Abortion.  These teens are ready to explode.  And they do.  Rocking to “The Bitch of Living” “My Junk”  “Touch Me” and a show stopping “Totally Fucked.”  All songs expressing the inner feeling of the characters with a throbbing pulsating beat.

Some scenes are totally silent.  With words projected above.  Haunting and extremely moving.

Other standouts in this amazing ensemble are Patrick Page, Krysta Rodriguez, Alex Wyse, Treshelle Edmond and Marlee Matlin.   But it is the group effort of all the actors that make SPRING AWAKENING a resounding success.

See it.  Yes, see it.  Limited run through January 24^th.  Brooks Atkinson Theatre

Photos:  Joan Marcus

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www.springawakeningthemusical.com

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