The Play's the Thing

Thank God for Stephen Adly Guirgis. By the time the first act of Our Lady of 121st Street ended, I thought, "wow, that was the most enjoyable hour of theater in months." The hour just flew by, and I found myself completely engaged and engrossed in this world on stage. Usually when I'm bored at the theater I find myself trying to see how many episodes of The Simpsons I can name with the names of characters in their titles. At Our Lady of 121st Street , there wasn't a thought of Bart Simpson in, well...sight. That's because Stephen Adly Guirgis' writing clearly shows that he understands people, how they act and talk, and well, he's not full of shit. As someone who was born and raised and has lived in New York City her entire life, it is refreshing and exciting to see characters on stage who think and act and sound like true New Yorkers. Within five minutes of the play's opening scene, I couldn't help but realize that I could relate an anecdote fr...

Coco Chanel is credited as saying, " Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off."  This is advice Dominique Morisseau should've adhered to when she was writing Paradise Blue . There is A LOT of ideas tossed around in this play. It's set in 1949 Detroit and deals with racism, gentrification, being haunted by familial history, trauma, domestic violence, the roles of women, and well, jazz. If that seems like a lot to swallow in one two and a half hour play, you are correct. And understandably, none of it is really fleshed out. Morisseau introduces a bunch of ideas that are just half-baked.  There's a lot to mine from an African American club owner battling with the decision to sell his property in a black area during the time of segregation and Jim Crowe. There's a lot to mine from a musician haunted by the crimes of his father and his own history, something that affects his own music and art. But I didn't think it was explore...

After seeing Clare Barron's new play, Dance Nation , at Playwrights Horizons, I am angry. I am angry that Playwrights Horizons put something so underdeveloped and half-baked on their stage. I am angry that this play represents the state of New York theater these days. I am angry that I won't get those two hours of my life back that I spent suffering through it. (And now I am angry at the raves it received. But nothing should surprise me anymore.) It's the kind of play that would make me swear off theater if I wasn't already excited to see The Beast in the Jungle and Torch Song and The Ferryman . And of course, if I wasn't a masochist. I really don't know what I was expecting from Dance Nation . I was okay with Barron's concept of adults playing the 13 year old girls (it happened in The Wolves and worked beautifully; I wouldn't expect, nor would I want, actual teenagers in this play), and I was even okay with one of them being played by an act...

I have to admit that I get a lot of anxiety whenever I go to Classic Stage Company. It could be because if I'm not sitting on the aisle, I feel very penned in (I have severe claustrophobia). Or because one time I was there and got sick and had to bolt from my seat (that was unfortunately not on the aisle). Or because I have to fight myself to stay awake and alert every damn time I am there. We need to talk, Classic Stage Company. What are you doing? What are you doing? This season alone they produced a dull As You Like It and a criminally boring Twelfth Night, both of which had no spark whatsoever or reason to exist. After they blew it with Shakespeare, they produced the dull and undeveloped Fire and Air , one of the worst things I saw in 2017-2018. And now, they have dug their hooks (in conjunction with the Transport Group) into poor Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke . What did Williams ever do to them to deserve this treatment? This might sound sacrilegious but Su...

Okay, okay, the 2017-2018 season is mercifully over and I've scraped together a list of my favorite shows: Angels in America. I mean, must I say more? Perfect. James McArdle and Denise Gough gave two of my favorite performances of the season. Spongebob Squarepants the Musical. Don't be a snob, see this show. It's smart and hilarious and fun fun fun and Tina Landau's work is excellent. Ethan Slater as the titular sponge gives the best performance in a musical this season. My Fair Lady. Bartlett Sher did it, he did it, he said he'd do it and indeed he did! It's a stunning, beautiful production, and Lauren Ambrose and Harry Hadden-Paton are wonderful as Eliza and Higgins. Eliza could've danced all night but I could've sat and watched this show all night. Torch Song. *takes a moment, gathers myself, gets on my soap box* I am not a religious person, I haven't found God, but you know what? After seeing Torch Song (and The Government Ins...

Although these should come as no surprise to anyone who has spoken with me about theater this season, here's a list of my favorite performances of the 2017-2018 season (in no particular order): James McArdle, Angels in America . I've written at length about McArdle's performance but man, did he nail Louis Ironson. He not only nailed the New York Jewishness of the character (most impressive for a man from Scotland) but succeeded in not making Louise a one-dimensional monster that he is typically seen as. What Louis does is reprehensible but McArdle shows that he is not irredeemable. He also knocked the character's long (and long-winded) monologues out of the park. Tell me more about justice, Louis. Ethan Slater, Spongebob Squarepants . This guy is insanely talented. What a Broadway debut! He is Broadway's brand new triple (or quadruple!) threat; he sings, dances, acts, and even nails the physicality of the role beautifully. Slater carries the whole musical and wi...

The 2017-2018 Broadway season was, in a word, disappointing. After a great one last season, this season was incredibly embarrassing, especially when it came to new plays. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is going to win by default, and quite frankly, it deserves to. The only other new play I remotely liked was Farinelli and the King , and even that had a very clumsy second act. And the musicals, well, the less said about the musicals the better. That being said, have you no decency, Tony nominating committee? Where is James McArdle's nomination?  That is such an embarrassing omission that I can't even wrap my head around it. McArdle gave the best performance on Broadway this season, and to not nominate him in favor of Michael Cera, whom I thought was great but is clearly the lead in Lobby Hero (it's ridiculous they didn't even consider him for lead) and David Morse, who is in a different play than everyone else in The Iceman Cometh . (Please, I can't even wit...