My 1,000th Post!

 

Little did I know back in 2010 what I was getting myself into when I started this blog by publishing a few lines about a play I had just seen to share my impressions with a few friends. As my comments grew more extensive, these friends shared them with their friends and the number of readers grew. I began seeing more shows and writing more elaborate reviews, reaching a peak of 112 in 2018. A combination of health problems and the pandemic slowed me down for several years and I hit bottom with only four reviews in 2024. The loyalty of my readers encouraged me not to give up. Thanks to my doctors and Access-A-Ride, NYC's paratransit program, I have been able to resume a good portion of my theatergoing. And so, as I reach this landmark, I offer my gratitude to my readers and resolve to continue for as long as possible to fulfill my stated mission -- to prevent readers from wasting time and money on plays they are not likely to enjoy and to point them toward worthy plays they might not know about.

School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play (Broadway)

A-

Since I enjoyed this comedy by Jocelyn Bioh thoroughly when I saw it at MCC Theater nine years ago, I was happy to hear that Manhattan Theatre Club was bringing it to Broadway where more people could enjoy it. This production, with a completely different cast and an all-female, all-black creative staff, adds some star power to the casting with Denée Benton of “The Gilded Age,” Jasmine Amy Rogers of Boop! The Musical, and Patina Miller, Tony awardee for Pippin. Benton plays Paulina, the reigning mean girl at Aburi Girls Boarding School in central Ghana in 1986. Ama (Lucia Aremu), Gitty (Nia Otchere-Sarfo), Mercy (Jordan Rice) and the obese Nana (Erin Morton), are the long-suffering members of the clique Paulina bullies. Headmistress Francis (Heather Alicia Simms) is the calm center of the school. When the play opens, the girls are excited about the upcoming Miss Ghana contest. A recruiter, Eloise (Miller) is coming to audition the girls for the pageant. Being chosen as Miss Ghana is rewarding not only to the winner but involves a bonus to the recruiter who found her and a contribution to the school she came from. Pauline’s clear path to being selected the school’s contestant is suddenly blocked by the arrival of a new girl, Ericka (Rogers), recently arrived from Ohio and daughter of the country’s leading cocoa producer. Ericka is beautiful, talented and, most importantly, light-skinned. Eloise immediately wants her because her light skin gives her a better chance of winning herself a bonus, while the headmistress prefers Paulina. We see the lengths to which Paulina and Eloise will go to get their way. Although there are loads of laughs, the insidious presence of colorism darkens the humor. The front curtain is a huge Ghanaian flag which lifts to reveal the school cafeteria designed by Teresa L. Williams. The costumes by Qween Jean for the gown competition are attention grabbers. Whitney White’s direction is fluid. Everything comes together to provide a very enjoyable experience. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission.
NOTE: If you would like to read my review of the 2017 production, here’s the link:
https://tinyurl.com/ycx7x2cr
 

THEATER BULLETIN: A unique Broadway double presale

Beginning Thursday, September 10 at Noon, two Broadway premieres of plays by Pulitzer-winning playwrights go on sale as a package deal -- Bruce Norris’s 2022 drama Downstate and Bess Wohl’s 2015 Small Mouth Sounds, both directed by multiple Tony winner Joe Mantello. The rules are very complicated so I have attached a link to the press release below, but the gist of it is that if you buy a ticket for the limited Fall run of Downstate for $150 or more, you are assured a ticket for the Spring run of Small Mouth Sounds for “only” $250. I liked the Norris play very much (https://tinyurl.com/2rwdn887) and highly recommend it. While I enjoyed Small Mouth Sounds too (https://tinyurl.com/4h9xnx7b), I can’t imagine it in a Broadway theater, nor can I image anyone paying $250 or more to see it. A large part of the appeal of its earlier production was that that there were only two rows of seats on facing sides of a long, narrow stage, so you felt very close to the action. If Mantello can recapture that feeling of intimacy, he is truly a miracle worker. My advice is to sit tight until September 25, when separate tickets for Downstate go on sale. This is a marketing ploy by Scott Rudin that I hope doesn’t catch on.

Link to press release: 

https://tinyurl.com/mrc3272a

FLASH: The Times just announced that Julia Roberts, Paul Rudd, Sarah Paulson and Martin Freeman will be in the Small Mouth Sounds cast. I suppose it's an easy opportunity for them to appear on Broadway without having to learn a lot of lines and a reason to charge big bucks for tickets.

Paranormal Activity

B-

In 2007 a very low-budget indie horror film with the same name, about a young couple in a haunted house, was a surprise hit that went on to become one of the most profitable movies Hollywood ever made. Its gimmick was that the story was presented as found footage recorded by security cameras, at that time the utmost in high tech. Six sequels followed. Now, playwright Levi Holloway has taken up the gauntlet with a theatrical version for the age of Alexa, FaceTime and Zoom. Lou (Cher Alvarez) and James (Travis A. Knight), a bickering young couple who have been married for almost a year, have just moved from Chicago to London, mainly to escape Lou’s anxiety, depression and blackouts, caused by a sense that she is being haunted. Alas, they learn that you can’t leave your troubles behind, and we eventually learn that Lou is not the only one being haunted. We also meet James’s Bible-thumping Southern mother Carolanne (Shannon Cochran) and a medium, Etheline Cosgrave (Eva Kaminsky), whose podcasts Lou has been avidly following. The actors are all well-suited to their roles. There are enough laughs to keep the rising tension from boiling over. Fly Davis’s cross-section of a rather dowdy London house provides a suitable setting for the action, with failing fuses, tripped alarms, banging doors and more. Designer Chris Fisher gives us two illlusions, one in each act, that got enthusiastic ovations. Note that I mention applause, not screams – I did not hear a single scream during the entire play. There were a few moments that were startling, but not truly scary. For me, things didn’t really kick into gear until the last fifteen minutes when we finally learn more about Lou and James and why they are being punished. The ending is so abrupt that if you blink you will miss it. The younger than usual audience was attentive, but not demonstrative. Most of the major New York critics gave the play enthusiastic reviews. I wish I could join them, but I thought two hours was a long time to sit there for a very modest payoff. 

Amaze

B+

This magic show/memoir featuring Jamie Allan, a British magician/monologist who intersperses memories of his childhood with a series of amazing illusions, sleight of hand and mentalist tricks, has been running at New World Stages for over a year.

Allan grew up over a village pub owned by his loving, supportive parents. His mother, who sang at the pub’s cabaret, died when he was still a child. The show is in large part a tribute to her. 

Some of the tricks are small scale, involving Rubik cubes, playing cards and a jigsaw puzzle, but they are projected on three large screens. The first act ends with a spectacular levitation with a surprise twist at the end. The second act involves more tech, including video screens, iPads and, in a trick that especially baffled me, the calculators on the audience members’ cellphones. There is low-key audience participation, mostly with children. The set and projections are quite elaborate. His two female assistants are duly attractive. At two hours with intermission, it’s a little long. Some of the reminiscences are a bit long-winded and could be trimmed to pick up the pace. Nevertheless, it delivers on its title and is a good family show. Discount tickets are available on TodayTix.

THEATER TALK: September 2026

Now that September is here, the pace of openings both on and off Broadway is picking up greatly. Here are a dozen shows opening in the next two months that caught my eye. 

On Broadway, there are many more revivals than new works: 

Manhattan Theatre Club is bringing Jocelyn Bioh’s comedy School Girls: Or, the African Mean Girls Play, an off-Broadway hit in 2017, to the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre starting September 8^th. (Here’s a link to my review of the 2017 production: https://gotham-playgoer.blogspot.com/2017/11/school-girls-or-aftrican-mean-girls-play.html.)

Roundabout Theatre Company presents Tony winner Bill Irwin starring in his own adaptation of Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid at the Todd Haines Theatre starting September 25.

On September 29, Jon Robin Baitz’s 2011 play, Other Desert Cities, begins previews at the Hudson Theater, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris and Allison Janney. That’s a play I reacted to quite differently the two times I saw it (https://gotham-playgoer.blogspot.com/2012/01/other-desert-cities-revisited.html). With this cast, I’m tempted to see it yet again.

Lincoln Center Theater has revived Aaron Sorkin’s 1989 hit, A Few Good Men, with Bradley Whitford leading the cast. 

A hit in London, Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing comes to the Winter Garden Theatre starting October 31^st starring Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell.

In a musical revival with a twist, The Fantasticks finally arrives on Broadway, regendered to be about two mothers and their two sons, at Second Stage’s Hayes Theatre on October 25^th.

As for new shows, here are two of note:

Billy Crystal returns to Broadway in 860, a one-man show about the loss of his home in the Palisades fire, starting October 1^st at the Imperial Theatre.

And, finally, the only new Broadway musical soon to open is Wanted, about Mary and Martha Clarke, two outlaws on the run in 1890’s Texas. With no names I recognized among the creators or the cast, this is truly a dark horse. Previews start October 15^th.

Off Broadway, Greenwich House Theater is presenting a limited-run revival of Marin Ireland’s semi-autobiographical play Pre-Existing Condition about moving forward after a life-altering relationship. It was a New York Times Critic’s pick in its earlier production. The leading role will be played by a different actress each week, including Lupita Nyong’o, Phillipa Soo, Susannah Flood and Edie Falco. Previews begin September 1^st.

Vineyard Theater presents the one-man show In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat, written and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith, beginning September 9^th.

Starting September 29^th. The Public Theater is presenting Ryan J. Haddad’s Good Time Charlie, which Playbill describes as a “multigenerational story of gay men growing up, falling in love, and cherishing the arts.”

The Public is also presenting the North American premiere of the musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button after a West End run. Previews begin on October 8. 

These twelve shows vividly illustrate the variety and vitality of the New York theater scene. There should be something here for just about every theatergoer.

If you would like to be on his distribution list to receive each new review, send a request to rsholiton@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

A-

If you’re looking for a witty, hilarious theatrical experience at a reasonable price (my orchestra seat was only $77), I direct your attention to the 20^th anniversary revival of William Finn (music and lyrics) and Rachel Sheinkin’s (Tony winning book) delightful musical, which has been running strong since November off-Broadway. Since I enjoyed it so much 20 years ago, I was afraid to see the revival lest it not hold up to my affectionate memories of the original production. I needn’t have worried: although it may not be as nearly perfect as the Broadway version, it is very good indeed. I didn’t spot an upcoming successor to Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Dan Fogler or Celia Keenan Bolger in the cast, but the present cast is just fine and includes recent Tony winner Alex Newell in a stellar performance as Rona Lisa Peretti, who is managing the event. We meet six tweenagers – Chip Tolentino (Philippe Arroyo), last year’s champion, whose performance this year is affected by his passage through puberty; Missy Clark (u/s Emily N. Rudolph), who is feeling the burdens of expectations of perfection; Leaf Coneybear (Fernell Hogan, a talent to watch), whose family thinks he is not smart; Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Laura Marano), whose gay dads are obsessed with winning; Olive Ostrovsky (u/s Cecilia Snow), whose parents are not there to support her; and William Barfée (standout Julian Sewell), a bullied outsider with a unique way of spelling his words with his foot. We also meet the four brave audience members who volunteered to be in the bee; they ran the gamut of age and gender and their personal characteristics were cleverly incorporated into the show. Spoiler alert: none of the volunteers wins. Matt Manuel plays Mitch Mahoney, the “comfort counselor” who escorts each loser offstage. Jon Cryer portrays Vice Principal Douglas Patch, who reads the contest words and the absolutely hilarious sentences they are used in. The contestants are competing fiercely for the chance to go to the National Spelling Bee in Washington. In his review in The New York Times when the show premiered, Charles Isherwood cleverly described the show as A Chorus Line with pimples. The two shows do share the structure of having each competitor break into song with their back story, but that show, for all its glories, was not a hilarious comedy. Finn’s score is still a treat and Sheinkin’s book is as clever as ever, with a few tweaks to bring it up to the minute. The scenic design by Teresa L. Williams captures the essence of a school gymnasium. Emily Rebholz’s costumes suit each character well. Danny Mefford’s choreography is a treat and his direction is skillful. There are a few moments near the end where things lagged a bit, but not seriously. I was happy to see that there were a lot of young people in the enthusiastic audience. If you want to escape harsh reality for a brief while and enjoy some laughs, I can think of no better place to go than New World Stages to catch this show. Running time: 95 minutes; no intermission.

NOTE: it’s always a pleasure to go to New World Stages, where a multiplex that failed was converted to five theaters the perfect size for most off-Broadway shows.