85° P/SUNNY, -
Sunday, October 05, 2008, 5:01 pm
Charming, folksy musical offers a pleasant diversion
Strange happenings Nick Santa Maria is a stranger who tries to win over a young woman played by Jillian Louis in a musical version of Mark Twain's story "A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage" at Florida Studio Theatre. (COURTESY PHOTO / AMY STEINMETZ)When night falls in Deerlick, Mo., it arrives with a loud thump.
That’s the kind of literal-minded joke that runs through the mostly charming, hokey and folksy new musical “A Murder, A Mystery and a Marriage” that opened Florida Studio Theatre’s new season Friday night.
Author and lyricist Aaron Posner and composer James Sugg have adapted a little-known and only recently published Mark Twain short story for the stage, turning it into a musical that combines a 19th-century prairie innocence with a touch of “Story Theatre.”
The narrator, Clem, tells the tale of the small town in 1876. Here, every day is pretty much the same and people know everyone. Young Hugh Gregory, son of the owner of the “general store, pickle barrel, fishmonger and clinic,” wants to marry Mary Gray, the son of John Gray, a hog farmer who wants his daughter to marry someone with more money. Hugh’s efforts are not helped when Mary’s wealthy uncle rewrites his will to leave her all his money, but only if she doesn’t marry Hugh.
That new will changes life in Deerlick, as word spreads and Mary is pursued by a variety of suitors from around the region. Then a seemingly cosmopolitan stranger arrives, speaking in an indecipherable accent that could be Spanish, French, Italian or German. It’s all Greek to Deerlick’s residents.
But Mary only cares about Hugh, who is unexpectedly arrested for a murder he insists he did not commit. Who did it? Will there be a marriage? Who is this stranger?
This may be high drama in Deerlick, but it comes across to the audience more as an engaging diversion in Pamela Hunt’s well-staged and performed production.
Hunt has gathered a strong-singing cast of actors who know how to play in tongue-in-cheek style while still appearing serious and earnest about their roles.
Nick Santa Maria is the comedic ham bone in this country buffet of performances. As The Stranger, he plays up his shifting accent, turns on his facetious charm to win over Mary, and relishes the simplicity of the odd people around him who don’t seem as suspicious as you might expect.
Aaron Young and Jillian Louis are delightful as the young lovers Hugh and Mary, and Trip Plymale and Joyce Nolen have an air of an ornery country freshness as Mary’s parents.
Andy Paterson is the friendly narrator who doubles as the local minister, and Billy Vitelli plays evil well as Mary’s uncle.
Sugg’s score is tuneful and often peppy, combining the sound of a hoedown with comical lyrics and some touching ballads that sweeten the air. It is sung powerfully by the seven actors and played with enthusiasm by the four-piece band of banjo, guitar, violin, bass and piano led by musical director David Nelson.
The music sets the right tone for Stephen Hope’s choreography of clogging and other traditional dance styles that raise the spirits visually, even if the show itself doesn’t create the same kind of sparks.
It is all genial and friendly, catchy and beautifully staged, but there is little about the show itself to draw you in and make you really feel or care much for characters that never have a chance to be fully fleshed out. But they are fun to be with for a couple of hours. -
Friday, October 03, 2008, 12:27 pm
Apple finds 'Gold' in musical comedy
Digging for love Sarah Farnham and Michael Swickard play would-be lovers in the musical comedy "Golddiggers of 1633" at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre. (COURTESY PHOTO / COSTARS)The title and costumes may tell you that “Golddiggers of 1633” is a Restoration musical comedy, but the show’s attitude, style and tone are clearly set in the late 20th century.
The 1974 musical, based on Moliere’s comedy “The School for Wives,” is back at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre for the fifth time and it’s easy to understand why the theater keeps bringing it back, even if the title might be a tough sell for today’s audiences.
It’s a fluffy soufflé of a show that floats on an air of comical silliness and lots of anachronistic jokes set to a cute and surprisingly bouncy score.
The story, set in Paris in 1633, is about the aging Arnolphe — his family crest includes a male chauvinist pig — who has been a guardian to the attractive young Agnes since she was 4. After Agenes has spent years in a nunnery, Arnolphe has decided to marry her. Agnes is not thrilled by the prospect, especially after she meets Horace, a young man who plans to whisk her away from Arnolphe.Horace is aided in his romantic quest by Arnolphe’s servants, who will do just about anything for a bag of gold coins. There also are some surprise twists that ensure that everything turns out right in the end.
You get a sense of the tone right off from Michael Newton-Brown’s slightly comic book-style set of Arnolphe’s garden patio, a street and an all-important metal gate that separates Agnes from Horace.
Some of the details have been trimmed away that might better explain why Arnolphe is masquerading as someone else and some of the other plot points, but it doesn’t matter.
The show is directed by Kyle Ennis Turoff and choreographed by Dewayne Barrett with a saucy and sassy style and tongue firmly in cheek. Whenever someone discovers “a note,” musical director and pianist John Visser hits one on the keyboard.
Visser does a fine job accompanying the cast on Hurwitt’s music, which ranges from the comically rousing “We Ain’t Dead Yet” to the sweetly innocuous “Feelings.”
The eight-member cast clearly understands the style and has fun with the roles, beginning with Golden Apple owner Robert Ennis Turoff as Arnolphe. While he could do more with his reactions and gesturing, he suffers the put-downs about his age with aplomb and wins laughs as he struggles to bend down and pick up a dropped letter.
Ben Turoff provides sturdy support as Arnolphe’s friend Chrysalde, who delights in his affairs with various mistresses.
Sarah Farnam captures the innocence of Agnes, but reveals she’s not so naive as she connives to spend time with Horace. She is well matched with newcomer Michael Swickard, who brings along a strong singing voice to the role.
It is fun to watch them having their first telephone call, and the way Farnam reacts to the ringing of an item she doesn’t recognize (remember this was years before the phone was invented.)
Samantha Barrett and Dewayne Barrett are eager to please as the singing and dancing servants. Dewayne Barrett’s choreography is as light as the show itself, combining some tap dances with kick steps and other moves not known in 1633.
Berry Ayers and Jeff Sargent play two mysterious masked men, who wander in and out of the action. It’s not clear at first why they’re there, but they do set the play in motion as if they’re pulling the strings on the story.
And the show itself pulls on just the right strings to get you laughing and forgetting your troubles. -
Thursday, October 02, 2008, 12:09 pm
Friends to recall life of Isa Thomas
A life on stage Isa Thomas, left, played a mentor to Rebecca Baldwin in the play "Collected Stories" at the Asolo.A memorial celebrating the life of longtime Asolo actress Isa Thomas will be held at 11 a.m. Oct. 19 in the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.
Thomas died in April after a career that included more than 125 roles during 36 seasons at the Asolo. After leaving the resident company, she frequently returned as a guest actor or as a guest director, while taking on roles in a number of theaters around the country and touring in Neil simon's "Lost in Yonkers."
Friends and colleagues will share stories of her life during the memorial. -
Wednesday, October 01, 2008, 5:50 pm
Arts Council hires new director
New Arts Council leader Russell Crumley was named Wednesday as the new Executive Director of the Sarasota County Arts Council. (COURTESY PHOTO)The Sarasota County Arts Council has moved quickly to find a new executive director.
About two months after the sudden resignation of Martine Collier, the Arts Council on Wednesday announced the hiring of St. Petersburg businessman and consultant Russell Crumley as the new director.
Crumley, 47, has a background in working with corporations and non-profit organizations to expand outreach and develppment programs.
Terry Romine, head of the council’s search committee, said he was selected from 47 applicants, including several from the Sarasota-Bradenton area.
Romine said that Crumley “has the canny ability to generate enthusiasm. He excels in communications. He is a polished public speaker and he speaks throughout the nation. He is a motivator and a terrific collaborator and that’s essential in the things we have planned.”
Crumley, a Florida native, said he has lived in St. Petersburg for about five years.
He said the Arts Council’s role is to “act as an effective chamber of commerce for the arts and to bring together patrons and artists and local and national organizations to collaborate on the delivery of arts that is meaningful for everyone within the community.”
Crumley said he would work to spread the word “how Sarasota is enriched by the abundance of local arts organizations.” -
Wednesday, October 01, 2008, 11:12 am
'Magnolias' opens shop in Venice
Back to Truvy's From left, Judith Thompson, Gianna Campo, Monia Joblin and Heather O’Dea are featured in "Steel Magnolias" at Venice Theatre. (COURTESY PHOTO / VENICE THEATRE)Another day, another production of Robert Harling’s “Steel Magnolias,” this time at the Venice Theatre.
Allan Kollar’s version is a lively and spirited production, that seems to hit most of the comedic moments, while also moving the audience, though not always in the most effective ways.
The pace is bright on Donna Buckalter’s too-open set for Truvy’s spacious beauty parlor. (sometime, I wish the Venice theatre would find a way to have a set that doesn’t use every inch of its large playing space.) Buckalter’s set is modern and comfortable, just not as homey as you’d expect of a shop adjacent to the owner’s home.
but it sure is a fun place to spend time, thanks to Judith Thompson, who is as sunny and optimistic a Truvy as you could hope for. She may not show up with hair piled on her head, but she always has a smile or a pithy comment to make your problems seem a little less important.
Gianna Campo does a fine job of revealing the naive and innocent Annelle’s growth from nervous newcomer to a full member of this friendly and gossipy group. Brenda Gibbs has a sense of command, not just because of her height, as the quippy Clairee, and Lynne Buhle displays a strong sense of sass and bitterness as Ouiser.
Heather O’Dea, who plays the central character of the diabetic Shelby offers the right touch of sweetness and determination, but Monia Joblin plays her mother, M’Lynn as too angry to come off as a loving and overly concerned parent. She wrings tears from M’Lynn’s major monologue at the end, but it comes off forced and actor-ish.
Still, the women combine to make for an evening with friendly company. -
Sunday, September 28, 2008, 2:12 pm
''Magnolias' teases at Manatee Players
Gossip and a spritz Hollie Corbitt, left, Mary Jo Johnson and Julee Breehne are featured in "Steel Magnolias" at the Manatee Players (STAFF PHOTO / ROB MATTSON)Robert Harling's hit comedy drama "Steel Magnolias" is 21 years old now, but it still packs a lot of laughs and can generate a few tears if treated right, even if you know what's going to happen or be said.
The Manatee Players production of the stage play opened Thursday, to be followed by a separate version at the Venice Theatre on Tuesday.
The Bradenton production catches much of the humor of the gossipy friends who gather each week at Truvy's Beauty Shop, where the philosophy is "there is no such thing as natural beauty."
The six characters are lifelong friends, who know about one another's problems, joys and foibles, and still manage to enjoy each other's company, no matter what happens in their lives.
The six women working with director Kelly Wynn Woodland don't consistently portray convincing characters -- some are playing more than acting. But Woodland successfully makes you believe that they really are friends, who are there for one another to the end.
Mary Jo Johnson is fun, but should be even livelier as Truvy, who has something to say about everything. Heather Gillman is sweet as the new assistant Annelle, but she could be made to look even plainer as the show starts. (She comes off as very comfortable working on the different hairstyles.) Joan O'Dwyer is charming (though sometimes a little too soft-spoken) as the ex-first lady Clairee, and she delivers many of the show's funniest lines with ease.
Patti O'Berg has the crustiness of Ouiser, but with a softer touch, which makes her a bit more human and less foreboding than others I've seen. Ouiser is the one who claims to have been in a bad mood for 40 years.
Julee Breehne sometimes seems to be channeling Julia Roberts as Shelby, the young bride whose health problems are a central part of the show's dramas, but she makes the character her own as warm and friendly. As Shelby's mother, M'Lynn, Hollie Corbitt comes off a bit flat at first, but she grows throughout the performance, until she becomes an emotional fireball delivering a moving monologue in the play's final act.
The show is staged on a well-designed set by Suzinn Edelston, with all the required beauty shop touches, includes chairs, shampoo basins, and shelves filled with products. It looks comfortable and lived-in, just like the characters who spend their time there. -
Friday, September 26, 2008, 11:15 am
Here comes 'Company'
'Company' In the musical "Company," Jason Kimble, plays a man reconsidering his bachelorhood with the help of, from left, Deniz Hakim, Erica Wilkes and Katherine V. (COURTESY PHOTO / TED MASE)Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical “Company” was a groundbreaker on Broadway in 1970. It was one of the first concept musicals, a show built more around an idea than a narrative story.
“Company,” which opened the Players Theatre’s 79th season Thursday night, is a series of vignettes about married life tied together by a bachelor named Bobby. He celebrates his 35th birthday by contemplating a future of pointless dates and wondering whether it is time, as his married friends advise, to settle down.
All that Bobby goes through during the show is apparently happening in his head, but that’s not always clear in Jared Walker’s uneven production.
While we watch, Bobby spends evenings with his various coupled-up friends, all of whom extoll the virtues of marriage while revealing how troublesome it can be with arguments over diets, drinking, commitment and sex. But is it real or his mental Memorex? You can’t be sure.
When the cast is singing Sondheim’s rousing, poignant and pointed songs, the show bristles with life and invention in Walker’s musical staging. Even the cast members with the weakest voices convey a sense of their characters.
But in the dialogue scenes, the show falls flat. Furth’s book may be a bit dated, but it is witty and full of humorous lines if played right. Too frequently, however, the scenes become tiresome because the actors don’t find enough variety in their words or characters.
That’s particularly true when Bobby spends a night with an airheaded flight attendant (played by the sweet-natured Katherine V.), who doesn’t have much to say, or when he gets high with two friends (Bonnie Schiavone and Richard Russell). There is no real payoff to the scenes.
That’s not true when Sandra Musicante is onstage as the boozy and older Joanne, who is never seen without a martini glass, tossing off zingers as she downs vodka stingers during a party scene or at a nightclub. Ellie Pattison is a delight as the dieting Sarah, who not-so-secretly likes Bobby (as do all the women in the show) and wants to see him happy. Stephanie Costello also puts a lot of passion into her scenes as the nervous bride, Amy, who wants to run away from the altar (maybe to be with Bobby).
I’m not sure that Jason Kimble conveys the magnetic charm Bobby needs, but he brings an easy-going manner and makes you believe the struggle he is going through as he tries to grow up and face life a serious partner.
He also sings with passion on such songs as “Marry Me a Little” and “Being Alive.”
The action takes place on Matthew Nitsch’s attractive scaffolded, multi-tiered set of ’70s modern furnishings. Kaylene McCaw’s costumes are straight from the period, overflowing with bright colors of spotted and flowered prints, and hairstyles that will probably return to style at some point.
Musical director Emily Croome leads a strong orchestra through the vibrant score, that includes bouncy ditties like “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” and songs with a powerful punch, such as “Another Hundred People” and “The Ladies Who Lunch,” each of which brings extra life to a show that should be a bit more welcoming to our company. -
Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 5:29 pm
Express yourself
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Monday, September 22, 2008, 4:19 pm
Arts Council elects four new and former board members
Some familiar names are among the four new board members elected to the Sarasota County Arts Council board.
Dr. Larry R. Thompson, president of the Ringling College Art and Design, is a past president of the arts council. Nancy Roucher has served twice as interim director of the arts council and is the Arts in Education chairperson for the Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts.
Christina Pfahler has served on numerous boards, and has served as chairman of the Sarasota Ballet. Darrell Huntley, another former arts council board member, is the owner of a graphic arts company in Fort Wayne, Ind.,and has been active in a number of arts and civic groups.
The CommunitySchools Partnership will honor assistant principals from Sarasota County schools at its fall meeting Wednesday, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the new Suncoast Polytechnical School, 4650 Beneva Rd. Organizers also will introduce a new Arts Education Leadership Award.
That meeting will include talks by James Perry, executive director of the Center for Fine Arts Education in Tallahassee, and Dr. Jennifer Putnam, principal of Suncoast Polytechnical School. For more information, contact Ashley Brown at 365-5118, ext. 3204 or abrown@sarasotaarts.org. -
Monday, September 22, 2008, 3:18 pm
Van Wezel 'Ain't Misbehavin' ' with education grant
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall received a $5,000 education grant. (COURTESY PHOTO)The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota is one of 10 theaters nationwide to receive a National Education Grant from the Broadway League.
The hall will receive $5,000 to support a program that will be focused on a touring production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” starring “American Idol” winner Ruben Studdard and Frenchie Davis, who also competed on the show. The musical will be presented Jan. 3-4.
The hall’s education department plans to use the revue of songs by Fats Waller “as a medium of multi-level, multi-age learning,” according to announcement released Monday. The hall also will work with the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, adult learners from area retirement homes and students form the Ringling College of Arts and Design and New College.
The idea is to bring to life the Renaissance Era of Harlem, when many of the show’s songs were written.
The grants are awarded to theaters that present touring Broadway shows and use them as an educational tool. The League, which represents most of the producers of Broadway shows, theater owners and directors of touring theaters like the Van Wezel, has presented $650,000 in grants since the program was started in 1996.
Other education grants were presented to theaters in Appleton, Wis.; Des Moines, Iowa; Fayetteville, Ark.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.; Lincoln, Neb.; Nashville, Tenn.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Schenectady, N.Y. -
Friday, September 19, 2008, 4:43 pm
Critics have harsh words for 'Tale of Two Cities'
Critics finally had their say about “A Tale of Two Cities” on Friday, and they weren’t kind.
The New York Times called it “lumpish” and “stolid” and the Hollywood Reporter wrote, “Unfortunately, this debut effort from writer-composer Jill Santoriello, who apparently has been working on the show for decades, demonstrates that Broadway is not the place for on-the-job training.”
The Star Ledger of New Jersey said the show “registers mostly as a dull cross between ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’” and describes Santoriello’s music as a “bland score decked out with 18th century trimmings.”
New York Post critic Clive Barnes noted that “Any show that boasts more producers than leading actors must be suspect. And this ‘Tale,’ which originated at Floridas Asolo Repertory Theatre has all the mannerisms of a modest provincial theater, with director/choreographer Warren Carlyle’s direction and choreography appearing equally thin.”
Barnes and others did have some praise for star James Barbour and Tony Walton’s sets. Now the question is whether the show will have time to find an audience to keep it running.
You can read a sampling of reviews, which have been collected at www.americantheaterweb.com. -
Friday, September 19, 2008, 4:36 pm
'Tale' producers throw lavish opening night party
Asolo on Broadway Michael Donald Edwards, left, producing artistic director of the Asolo Repertory Theatre, at the opening night party for "A Tale of Two Cities" with former board president Howard Phillips and board member Leslie Glass. (STAFF PHOTO / JAY HANDELMAN)Opening night for “A Tale of Two Cities” was quite an affair. The Al Hirschfeld Theatre was filled with producers, friends and family of the cast and creative team, along with a healthy dose of Sarasotans.
The Asolo Repertory Theatre, where the musical had a sold-out run last fall, was well represented. Among those spotted in the crowd were Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards (the show’s original director), Managing Director Linda DiGabriele and her husband, photographer Gary Sweetman, Production Manager Victor Meyrich, Development Director Debbie Trimble, major donors Ulla Searing and Virginia Toulmin, past board president Howard Phillips and several board members.
All cheered the show and then headed to the after party at the lavish banquet hall Cipriani Wall Street. The producers provided some buses to transport people downtown, but many had hired limousines, and others, like me, grabbed cabs. The party featured quite a spread, with an open bar. There were more than 2,000 people there, far more than were at the theater. But then, there were 19 producers or producing groups involved, and they all have friends and family.
The cast, author Jill Santoriello and director Warren Carlyle, were interviewed by journalists, before joining the crowds inside the party.
Among the celebrities at the show were theater legend Celeste Holm, actor Matthew Broderick, director and choreographer Susan Stroman, dancer Marge Champion, and singer Clay Aiken.
You can read a full report about the opening night performance and festivities in Sunday's Herald-Tribune Arts* section. -
Friday, September 19, 2008, 2:44 am
'Tale' needs more magic on Broadway
Barbour on Broadway James Barbour reprises his role of Sydney Carton in the Broadway production of "A Tale of Two Cities." (COURTESY PHOTO / CAROL ROSEGG)What seemed so impressive and in some ways spectacular about “A Tale of Two Cities” in Sarasota comes off as more down to earth on Broadway.
Jill Santoriello’s musical version of the Charles Dickens novel, which had its world premiere at the Asolo Repertory Theatre last November opened on Broadway Thursday night in a production that is improved in many ways. It is more involving and flowing and creates the kind of emotional ending it lacked in Sarasota.
But the show, which still retains inevitable comparisons to “Les Miserables” in its look and staging, doesn’t create the kind of sparks that make it must-see entertainment on Broadway as it was in Sarasota, where audiences were treated to the kind of Broadway-caliber performances and scenic elements they rarely get to see in a regional theater.
At Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre, it is a pleasant experience, enlivened by some of Santoriello’s pretty melodies like “I Can’t Recall,” “If Dreams Came True” and “Little One,” and heightened by the singing and performance of James Barbour. He returns to the role of the cynical and drunken attorney’s assistant Sydney Carton in a richer and more human portrayal.
“Tale” is the kind of show that audiences may enjoy far more than critics, who were generally downbeat about the show. At the critic’s preview I attended Monday night, the audience response grew more enthusiastic as the show moved on. Thursday’s opening was a far, far better performance, enlivened by an audience filled with financial backers, their families and leaders and donors from the Asolo.
There are millions who have read the book or seen one of its many film and television versions who may be curious about how Santoriello compresses Dickens’ sprawling story into a 2 ½ hour musical. She focuses on Sydney, and the love triangle created when he falls in love with Lucie Manette, despite her love for Charles Darnay, whose uncle held Lucie’s father captive in the Bastille for 17 years.
The musical about a family nearly torn apart by an innocent man’s long imprisonment in the Bastille and the start of the French revolution is relatively the same as it was in Sarasota.
The production is dominated by the moving, segmented, two-story scaffolding like set by Tony Walton, which smoothly shifts the action from various locations in London and Paris, where citizens are preparing themselves to revolt against the upper classes, who care nothing about running them down in their fast-moving horse-drawn carriages.
There are no new songs, but there is more underscoring by new musical director Kevin Stites, which adds an extra layer of connection to the characters and the story. And the song “Resurrection Man” has thankfully been cut, allowing the show to move more efficiently.
Warren Carlyle, the original choreographer who took over directing duties for Broadway from the Asolo’s Michael Donald Edwards, has made improvements by tightening up certain scenes and heightening the emotional resonance in others, particularly in the finale, when Sydney does a “far, far better thing” to ensure the Lucie’s happiness.
The performances of the returning players are stronger, particularly Natalie Toro, who plays Madame Defarge with fewer histrionics and more subtlety. Katherine McGrath as Lucie’s caretaker Miss Pross, Les Minski as the despicable Marquis St. Evremonde, and Nicholas Wyman as the opportunistic John Barsad, continue to impress.
Carlyle also has made some smart choices in recasting several significant roles, particularly Aaron Lazar as Charles Darnay and Brandi Burckhardt as Lucie, who bring extra heart to roles that are still underwritten. Lazar has a stirring voice and an impassioned aura about him.
Walton’s set looks familiar, as do Richard Pilbrow’s lighting and David Zinn’s costumes.
The choral elements are often powerful, particularly during the first-act closer “Until Tomorrow.”
But such sounds don’t do enough to make “A Tale of Two Cities” the kind of memorable experience it strives to be. -
Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 11:57 pm
ON BROADWAY: Take a flight with 'Boeing'
Tony winner British actor won a Tony Award playing a nervous American covering up his friend's dalliances in "Boeing Boeing." (COURTESY PHOTO / JOAN MARCUS)Farce is a difficult genre, but in expert hands, even a relatively silly and mindless play can seem brilliantly funny.
Fortunately, the revival of the Marc Camoletti’s French comedy “Boeing Boeing” is in such hands with director Matthew Warchus and a cast headed by Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance.
The comedy, which was a long-running hit in Paris and London beginning in the early 1960s, is about a young businessman named Bernard who lives in Paris and juggles three girlfriends. Each of the women – a German, an Italian and an American – work as flight attendants and Bernard keeps close track of their flight schedules to make sure that he has a relatively easy time keeping them apart.
You know where this is going. On the day that an old friend named Robert shows up unexpectedly, hoping to find a marital prospect, Bernard’s life turns upside down. In one door and out another, he keeps the women apart, but not without creating havoc and panic attacks for both Bernard and Robert, to say nothing about his French maid Berthe.
Warchus doesn’t try to play it straight. Everything is over-the-top. Kathryn Hahn as the American poses by thrusting her chest or hips out in awkwardly funny moves. Gina Gershon plays the Italian, who seems a bit more grounded, but pouts and flirts with equal abandon. And Missy Pyle, as the German, barrels through the play with her fists clenched and an impassion, alternately angry and seductive tone that makes her seem like a tall mountain to be challenged by an experienced climber.
Christine Baranski scores points as the put-upon maid who doesn’t like all the juggling of decorative touches in Bernard’s apartment, and Greg Germann (once a star on “Ally McBeal”) conveys confident charm, at least until his worst nightmares get the worst of him.
But the heart of the comedy falls on Rylance, who brilliantly underplays his every move and awkward reaction as a meek professor-type. Every gesture, reaction or licking of his lips, generates laughter (and even has some of the cast members laughing at him). He’s also a wonderful study in contrasts with the rest of the cast.
The plot may not overwhelm, but Camoletti created a story that serves its purpose, at least as it is staged and performed these days on Broadway. -
Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 6:03 pm
ON BROADWAY: A 'Gypsy' for the ages
A trio of stars Laura Benanti, left, Patti LuPone and Boyd Gaines each won Tony Awards for their roles in the Broadway revival of "Gypsy." (COURTESY PHOTO / PAUL KOLNIK)I have seen a lot of productions of “Gypsy” over the years, and a lot of women tackling Mama Rose, the Everest of female musical leading roles. But after seeing Patti LuPone in the new Broadway revival, I feel like I have never seen it all.
The role was defined for many years by Ethel Merman, who created it, and there have been worthy successors, including Angela Lansbury, Bette Midler (on TV), Tyne Daly and Bernadette Peters.
But in this mesmerizing and refreshingly new production, LuPone and her costars create a show that seems simultaneously effortless and inevitable. There is humor, but far more drama and human emotion in the story of Rose, the ultimate stage mother, who pushes her young daughters toward stardom during the waning days of vaudeville. When June gives up and runs off on her own (and fame as the actress June Havoc), Rose turns her attentions to her long-neglected and seemingly talentless daughter Louise, who grows up to become the famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.
The show is usually dominated by a towering performance surrounded by lesser beings, but that is not the case here. LuPone does dominate the show, as Rose should, but unlike others I have seen, she makes Rose sexy, alluring, bruising and determined to succeed at all costs.
She is accompanied on her journey by equally committed and compelling performances by Laura Benanti as Louise and Boyd Gaines as Herbie, the agent who loves Rose but can’t get her to commit herself to him.
Benanti makes a seamless and beautiful transition from awkward teenager nervous about getting on stage into a confident young woman who commands audience attention as a stripper. Gaines is a wonderful match for LuPone, enjoying the ride and determination until Herbie realizes he can never win or even meet Rose halfway.
It is no wonder that each of the three leads won Tony Awards this spring for their roles.
The revival was directed by Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book to a show many consider the best American musical ever. He has made some trims to the script, that allow the actors more time to dig into their characters.
It is a minimalistic production, with appropriately ratty curtains dangling over the stage and a few pieces of furniture moving on and off as needed. The splendid on-stage orchestra stays hidden except for some key scenes when their presence adds to the dramatic impact.
After seeing so many productions, I wasn’t keen to see it again, despite my affection for LuPone. This is one production that will be difficult to put out of my mind for years to come.
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