The Idealist: A New Play at the Times Center February 23rd

I wanted to post a report of a special event I worked on at The Times Center last month. It was a staged reading of a new play, "The Idealist," produced and written by Jennifer Strome. The reading was also streamed live over the Internet to be viewed by people across the world in addition to being broadcast over Gatewave, a radio station for the visually impaired.

There were great performances in the cast, especially from Alison Pill as two central roles in the play, the French-accented Tereska Torres and a modern-day businesswoman. Martin Vidnovic gave a wonderful performance in the central role of Meyer Levin, filled with righteous anger and indignation at a society that was pushing him towards the edge into obscurity and irrelevance despite his illustrious writing career and his legal standing with regard to his dramatization of The Diary of Anne Frank. He commanded the stage as a man trying to understand what went wrong. Tony Roberts was also very influential in a relatively small but pivotal role as Otto Frank, trying to navigate unfamiliar waters of American business and entertainment. Samantha Soule was also great as a 1950's ambitious book editor and as a theater director in 2009 who is trying to resurrect the story of what happened fifty years ago and find out what the real issues are. This part actually anchors a large portion of the show. There was also a four-person Greek chorus filling in the holes and playing the peripheral characters around the four leads. 


I would definitely like to see a fully-staged production of the show because I think it provides a valuable history lesson and could have a wonderfully meaningful emotional impact.  For more information about the play, please visit http://www.theidealistonstage.com.  

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying- Al Hirschfeld Theatre, Broadway

Welcome back! I haven't written as many blog posts lately, and I am going to try and fix that and do more posts over the next few weeks to catch up on all the topics I wanted to talk about.

The first post is a review of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, now in previews at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway. Incidentally, this is the Broadway theater where I have attended the most performances, having previously four other shows at the venue.

I enjoyed this show and this production quite a bit. I wasn't sure what to think, as the show curtain looked a little tacky and I was thinking this production would be similar to Promises, Promises, in that it would be good but not spectacular and would be a little too slick and commercial, getting away from the show's heart. I was pleasantly surprised in that this show was much better than I expected, even with a dated book.  Seeing Daniel Radcliffe sing and dance in white shirt and teal bow-tie as J. Pierpont Finch was pretty wonderful. He really carried the show from his first entrance, rising from the orchestra pit on his window-washing scaffold.  It's fun to watch him weasel his way to the top through a mixture of lies, half-truths, and carefully placed words.  He still reads a bit young for the part though, as if he was an over-zealous and ingratiating summer intern who refuses to leave.  And when you look at the secretarial pool, you wouldn't want to leave either.

His love interest is Rose Hemingway as the earnest and idealistic Rosemary, who is quite fantastic in her Broadway debut. She is throughly likable as the sweet and wholesome ingénue who falls in love with Finch at first sight and dreams of their life together in New Rochelle where she keeps his dinner warm as he works his way up the corporate ladder, and doesn't give up when Finch doesn't always pay much attention to her.  She aided in her schemes by Mary Faber as Smitty, who is saddled with a pair of ugly white glasses which nevertheless helps indicate the 1960's time period.

I also really enjoyed Tammy Blanchard as the boss's mistress and all-around office sexpot Hedy LaRue, who almost stole the show for me. She played the role as a cross between Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe with a great figure but poor comprehension, dazed and oblivious to most of her surroundings.  She does have some ambition and a fairly correct moral compass though.  Ellen Harvey is underused as the boss' droll secretary Miss Jones.

John Larroquette was servicable as the big boss himself, J.B. Biggley. He was amiable and likable enough and believable in the role, but I think he needs to settle into the character and get comfortable a little bit more. His stand-out number was "Old Ivy" with Daniel Radcliffe and the male ensemble. Rob Bartlett also had a great number with those same two co-stars in "Company Way," with some comedic stage business for the principals and some inventive and highly entertaining choreography for the mail-room attendants. The perfect epitome of an office functioning in musical-comedy style.  The rest of the principals include Michael Park as Mr. Bratt, the personnel manager and Christopher Hanke as Bud Frump, the bratty and effeminate nephew of J.B. Biggley and the "villain" of the show.

Which brings us to the ensemble, who were truly fantastic. Special mention goes to Cameron Adams, Cleve Asbury, Marty Lawson, Ryan Watkinson, and Charlie Williams. That list is skewed in favor of the men because they had a lot more to do in this show. Rob Ashford gave them great, spectacular, and athletic choreography to perform, particularly in "Company Way", "Brotherhood of Men" and "Old Ivy," although the last one was a bit long and  started to stretch the limits of believability, even for this show. Both genders of the ensemble were great in "A Secretary is Not A Toy and especially "Coffee Break." The opening number was reminiscent of Ashford's choreography for Promises, Promises and also featured some wonderful partnering. The female ensemble got a chance to shine in "Cinderella Darling" and to a lesser extent in "Paris Original" which was another highlight of the show.

I enjoyed this production very much and urge you to see it as well. I admit that the show is dated at times and has sexist overtones, but is still an enjoyable experience. If only succeeding in business really was this simple...

The Idealist: A New Play at the Times Center February 23rd

I am free-lancing on an exciting new project called The Idealist.  It's a play which has been in the making for over a decade and is now receiving a staged reading at the Times Center in New York City on Wednesday, February 23, at 8:00 pm. The really wonderful thing about this event is that if you can't attend in person, you can watch it online! It will be streamed live on the night of the event, and will be available for six days afterward.  You can click this link and purchase tickets to attend in-person and this link for purchasing a pass to watch online.  And don't forget to visit the show's official website here.  The play is the true story of the struggle to dramatize The Diary of Anne Frank, and one man's fight for an authentic adaptation that was not cleansed of Jewish content.  I am personally fascinated by the play for its' insight into the xenophobia of 1950's America and the political climate of the time. I hope all of you can attend in-person or watch the live performance online, the first reading to be broadcast worldwide in such a manner. Become a part of history!

Cymbeline, Theater for A New Audience, New Victory Theater

A friend of mine couldn't use their ticket, so they gave it to me, and I was very glad to have an opportunity to see some live Shakespeare, as it had been 2 1/2 years since I had last done so.  I wasn't able to see the Lincoln Center production of Cymbeline from three years ago, so I was especially intrigued this particular play.  I thought the show was very good. It was presented by the Fiasco Theatre, composed of MFA graduates from the Brown University/Trinity Repertory program, and features six actors playing fourteen roles, which they more or less do with a straight face until the final sequence. The play was streamlined in terms of scenes and characters, and featured an explanatory prologue, but I don't feel it detracted from the piece, although I would really have to see the play in its' unaltered from to know for sure.  I had never seen Cymbeline before, so this was my first exposure to it. I wish I had seen the Lincoln Center production from 2007 but I wasn't in NYC then.  I thought the cast was very good all-around, but some of them were better than others. I was impressed with how they shift characters.  The actress who plays the Queen/Belaria, Emily Young is especially good and makes her performance seem effortless. Two of the actors, Noah Brody as Posthumus and Ben Steinfeld as Iachimo are also the co-directors, which makes me wonder what the rehearsal process. I think it's also quite amazing how much they cast can do with two crates, a fabulous trunk, and a white sheet as their set along with a few hand props and musical instruments.  I think it's a very accessible production with some great stagecraft.  It's a great way to introduce people to Shakespeare, especially a play which is one of the lesser-known works of the Bard.  The play runs through January 30, so you have one more week to catch this wonderful and intimate production, which is right next door to Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, at the opposite end of the theatrical spectrum and which I will not talk about in this post.

A Little Night Music- Broadway, Walter Kerr Theater

I realized that I never actually posted a review when I saw A Little Night Music last month. I had a really great seat in Row D of the right orchestra, and I was looking forward to seeing the show because I love Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch, as they are both Broadway institutions, specifically in connection to Stephen Sondheim musicals.  I had seen a regional production of A Little Night Music over a year ago, so I knew the plot and had some familiarity with the score.  I liked the opening "Night Waltz" with the majority of the cast on-stage, as it worked well in getting the audience into the realm and atmosphere of the play. Bernadette Peters was quite marvelous as Desiree, she really inhabited the role of the traveling actress, frequent lover, and sometime mother. Her line readings were imbued with a world-weariness and her performance felt very lived-in and naturalistic. Ms. Peters has a very distinctive voice and personality and I thought it served her well in this role, and allowed her to really make the role her own, separate from previous portrayals.  The whole house was quiet when "Send in the Clowns" began.  I have not seen Catherine Zeta-Jones in the role, and so I can't really draw comparisons between the two, but I don't think that Ms. Zeta-Jones could have brought a believable portrayal to the role that Ms. Peters did, and would have stuck out apart from the rest of the cast. Her Tony Awards performance certainly left a lot to be desired.  Seeing the show during Ms. Zeta-Jones' tenure would have been "event theater", all about seeing her live performance, and now I think seeing the show is more about experiencing the show as a whole, with less emphasis on the individual cast members.

Ms. Peters commanded the stage and had the requisite chemistry with Stephen R. Buntrock, who gave a wonderful performance himself as Frederik, the lawyer in his 40's married to a virginal 18 year old who he has known since she was a child (Ramona Mallory in the role of Anne, originated by her mother Victoria Mallory in 1973).  Mr. Buntrock reminded me of Brent Barret in physical appearance,  had great stage presence and singing voice, and was a believable partner/foil for the many other characters he comes into contact with. At times, his Fredrick seemed to be a bit too much of a ham and a buffoon, but it didn't detract too much from the proceedings. Ms. Mallory is quite good as Anne, coming to terms with being a wife and an adult while still very much a child. The one weak link in the cast seems to be Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, who doesn't seem to do much as Henrik other than be awkward and mope around. I didn't really care much about his plight, perhaps because I already knew what would happen. Erin Davie and Leigh Ann Larkin seemed almost underused as Countess Charlotte Malcolm and the lusty maid Petra, but they made great use of their time onstage, Ms. Davie in particular having some great one-liners.  I had previously seen Bradley Dean, who plays Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, on the national tour of Spamalot, and he seems to do his better work in hammy roles.  He looks older than Aaron Lazar, and I think that is a good thing for this character.  His character is the villainous buffoon of the show, and Mr. Dean did a great but not spectacular job in the role. Still very entertaining though. Elaine Stritch was a hoot as Madame Armfeldt.  Her dry delivery worked well with the role of the crotchety guardian of Frederika (played brilliant by Katherine McNamara) and exasperated mother of Desiree, and she showed her human side as well. The liebersingers were also great with their interludes and song snatches between scenes. I throughly enjoyed this production and I'm glad I got a chance to see it before it closed.

The King's Speech

This is my second movie review, and I feel it's somewhat fitting for this blog since the film has a very theatrical feel to it at times.  I've always enjoyed historical fiction, and this movie was getting a lot of awards buzz, so I was attracted to seeing it for those reasons in addition to also liking the cast a lot as well. Colin Firth was superb as Prince Albert, who became King George VI. Helena Bonham Carter was also fabulous as his wife, the future Queen Elizabeth.  Geoffrey Rush had a method to his madness as Dr. Logue the speech pathologist, and the cast was stocked with so many other wonderful actors: Michael Gambon as King George V, Jennifer Ehle as Mrs. Logue, Derek Jacobi as the Archbishop, Eve Best as Wallis Simpson, and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill, complete with cigar and a pompous scowl.  He communicated a lot of the character through his posture and mannerisms alone. I highly recommend this movie to everyone interested in history, England, or good acting.  It's a great example of how a movie should be put together, because even though the outcome is known ahead of time, there is still dramatic tension and buildup. This reminds me of the musical 1776, where even though we all know that the Declaration of Independence will be ratified and signed, the play does a great job of making us forget that in the moment of watching as we follow Thomas Jefferson and John Adams' actions. I hope that The King's Speech will inspire other similar movies about real-life events, so that people will learn more about historical events through watching them.

How Do You Know?

I figured I would post some movie reviews here as well, mix it up a little bit. I often see movies on Sunday afternoons, because I don't have to put as much planning into it as I do with seeing plays and finding affordable tickets. Plus movies make for better conversation since, on average, people see more movies than they do plays.

Last Sunday, I saw How Do You Know?, created by James L. Brooks. The movie was actually fairly disappointing. We barely saw Reese Witherspoon play softball, for all the media attention about it. We didn't see Owen Wilson play baseball at all. I expected more to happen in the movie, the stakes just didn't feel high enough.  Even the plot of Paul Rudd facing prison time due to his father's actions felt muddled and not serious.  Most of the actors appear to be walking through the film, although Paul Rudd puts some effort into his performance, and Kathryn Hahn is quite funny as Paul Rudd's pregnant and devoted assistant. This movie could have been so much better than what it was. Rudd and Witherspoon have some nice chemistry in a scene or two. The film also seems to end quite abruptly, it could have used another scene or two.  Overall, a very disappointing film and not really worth the price of admission.