Small World

B+

This two-hander at 59E59 Theaters had a successful run at Penguin Rep Theatre in Stony Point two years ago. In it, playwright Frederick Stroppel presents three encounters between composer Igor Stravinsky and animator Walt Disney. The first, in 1939, actually took place when Disney invited Stravinsky to see a rough cut of the “Rite of Spring” section of “Fantasia.” Stravinsky is horrified at Disney’s turning his evocation of pagan Russia into a story about dinosaurs and volcanoes. Nor is he pleased that the film includes a shot of Stokowski, his enemy. The two men argue their respective views of the proper role of the artist in society. The playwright imagines that they meet again two years later. After the lukewarm reception to “Fantasia” Disney has lost his self-confidence and Stravinsky has gone Hollywood. He unsuccessfully pitches Disney the idea for a film, which turns out to be the germ of his opera “The Rake’s Progress.” The two meet for a final time in the afterworld, where their differences seem less important. The dialogue is witty and does not condescend to the audience.  The views of both men get their due. Stephen D’Ambrose (August: Osage County) is marvelous as Stravinsky and Mark Shanahan (The 39 Steps) makes a fine Disney. Patricia E. Doherty’s (Southern Comfort) period costumes are a delight and the set by James J. Fenton (Southern Comfort) is elegant. Joe Brancato’s (Daniel’s Husband) direction is fluid. My only quibble is about the length. At 75 minutes without intermission, it seems either too short or too long. Some of the ideas are merely mentioned rather than developed. On the other hand, it occasionally seems a bit stretched out, particularly in the middle scene. I think it would be even better as a one-hour play on a double-bill. As it happens, this is the second comedy of ideas I saw this week in which famous figures argue their philosophies in the afterworld. The contrast is striking. This play manages to avoid all the pitfalls that the other (The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord) falls into. Ends on October 7.

Theater Reviews: A Second Chance

I am surprised that The Public Theater has brought back its production of Tiny Beautiful Things, which got decidedly mixed reviews last Fall. Here’s what I had to say then:

https://gotham-playgoer.blogspot.com/2016/12/tiny-beautiful-things-c.html

Just for fun, here’s actual signage I saw a month ago at Signature Center, where the show was apparently rehearsing.

On the brighter side, Lincoln Center Theater is bringing The Wolves back to town. Here’s my review:

https://gotham-playgoer.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-wolves.html

Time and the Conways

B

Every once in a while, Roundabout Theatre Company surprises me by taking a chance on the revival of a neglected play, e.g. Machinal. To open their current season, they have revived this complex J.B. Priestley (An Inspector Calls) family drama that has not been seen in New York since 1938. Furthermore, they have given it a topnotch production with a superb cast, sensitive direction and a marvelous set design. In it we meet the Conway family — a widowed mother in a provincial British town (a fine Elizabeth McGovern, lately of Downton Abbey) and her six grown children. Hazel (lovely Anna Camp; All New People) is the town beauty. Carol (Anna Baryshnikov) is the youngest and sweetest. Alan (the always excellent Gabriel Ebert; Therese Raquin, Casa Valentina) is the eldest and most likely to be ignored. Madge (a fine Brooke Bloom; Cloud 9) is a budding Socialist. Kay (Charlotte Parry; The Winslow Boy) is a would-be novelist. Robin (Matthew James Thomas; Pippin, Spider-Man), just back from the Air Force, is the apple of his mother’s eye. Among the guests at Kay’s 21st birthday party are Gerald (Alfredo Narciso; Tiny Beautiful Things), a family friend and solicitor; Joan (a radiant Cara Ricketts), a neighbor; and Ernest (Steven Boyer; Hand of God), an awkward businessman newly arrived in town. Don’t be put off by the first act, the weakest of the three, which introduces the characters in the context of an interminable offstage game of charades at Kay’s party. There is general optimism since the Great War has ended and the future looks bright, both for the family as well as the country. In this production, there is no intermission between the first two acts. This is a wise choice as it provides a reason for a breathtaking set change, in which Neil Patel’s classic drawing room is replaced by something more ethereal. In the second act things get much more interesting. We are suddenly in 1937, when we see the many ways that things have not turned out as hoped for almost all of the characters. The disappointments of this rather smug family reflect the disillusionment in the world at large as the promise of peace and prosperity have faded. After intermission, Act III brings us back to Kay’s 21st birthday party in 1919 immediately after the moment we left it. We discover the seeds of many of the developments we witnessed in Act II. It’s an unconventional structure that has an emotional payoff even though it leaves some of our questions unanswered. The play explores the idea that the past, present and future are all taking place simultaneously, but you need not subscribe to that theory to enjoy the play. The cast is uniformly strong, although I do wish Ms. Camp smiled less. I admire Ms. McGovern’s bravery in portraying so unattractive a character. Paloma Young’s costumes are appealing, except for one hideous ball gown. Tony-award winning director Rebecca Taichman (Indecent) negotiates the play’s complexities smoothly. I felt that the production was probably better than the play deserved, that when you strip away the play’s gimmicks, there isn’t enough substance there. Nevertheless, I was grateful for the opportunity to see it in this splendid production. Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes including intermission.

The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord

C-

Primary Stages’ season opener at the Cherry Lane Theatre is this high-concept comedy of ideas by Scott Carter. The playwright’s main credentials are that he was a stand-up comedian and later a writer/executive producer for Bill Maher’s television show. The play’s concept sounds promising: Imagine Thomas Jefferson (Michael Laurence; Appropriate). Charles Dickens (Duane Boutté; Parade) and Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Thom Sesma; Pacific Overtures) locked together in a room for reasons they do not understand. They appear as they looked at the height of their careers, rather than at the time of death. When they realize that each wrote his own version of the gospel, they think their purpose must be to combine their efforts into a joint work. When that fails, each tries to persuade the other two of the superiority of his own version. Finally, it occurs to them that maybe their real task is to examine their lives and face up to the gaps between their writings and their behavior. It was only at that point, about an hour in, that the play came to life for me and I stopped struggling to stay awake. During their recriminations, poor Jefferson comes in for the roughest treatment. Neither the humor nor the lofty discourse engaged me much. Maybe I nodded off for a crucial moment that would have made all the difference. I doubt it. The production is on the lavish side: a gilded proscenium arch decorated with books frames a red velvet curtain which lifts to reveal Wilson Chin’s (Aubergine) minimalist set of a bare room with a metal table and two chairs. Words are occasionally projected on the back wall. The period costumes by David Hyman (The Treasurer) are excellent. Laurence has a quiet dignity as Jefferson, but Boutté’s Dickens is too much a caricature and Sesma’s Tolstoy barely registers. That this play attracted a director the caliber of Kimberly Senior (Disgraced, The Who and the What) makes me wonder what she saw in it that I missed. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission. 

Charm

C

Philip Dawkins's new play for MCC at the Lucille Lortel Theatre is inspired by events in the life of Miss Gloria Allen, a transgender woman in Chicago who, while in her 60s, volunteered to conduct a class in charm at the local LGBT Center. Mama Darleena Andrews (Sandra Caldwell) arrives at the Center with her well-worn copy of Etiquette in hand and sets out to tame the motley crew who show up for her class. There is Ariela (Hailie Sahar), an attractive “working girl” in her 30s; Jonelle (Jojo Brown), a bright student who wears wings; Beta (Marquise Vilson), a menacing gang member; Victoria (Lauren E Walker) and Donnie (Michael David Baldwin), a married couple whose reason for attending is not immediately apparent; Lady (Marky Irene Diven), a strange figure who babbles and whose gender is initially a mystery; and Logan (Michael Lorz), an affluent, effeminate student who is there out of curiosity. We also meet D (Kelli Simpkins), the Center’s well-meaning program director who has philosophical and practical problems with Darleena’s curriculum. [By happenstance, this is the second character named D that I have encountered this month, the other being the first letter of the Dairy Queen sign in Inanimate.] The overlong first act has too many noisy scenes of the students acting out that shed more heat than light. We don’t get a crisis until the second act. What follows is fairly predictable and not very enlightening. Caldwell quietly creates a vivid character. The others act with more gusto than polish. Arnulfo Maldonado’s set is effectively simple. The costumes by Oana Botez are deliciously over-the-top. Director Will Davis could tighten things up a bit. It’s intermittently entertaining, but not interesting enough to justify its length. Cutting it to a tight 90 minutes might have improved it. Running time two hours 15 minutes including intermission.

The Treasurer

B-

Playwright Max Posner is a lucky man to have a Playwrights Horizons debut with a production featuring Peter Friedman (Circle Mirror Transformation, The Heidi Chronicles) and Deanna Dunagan (August: Osage County), directed by David Cromer (The Band’s Visit, Our Town). Friedman plays The Son, a middle-aged man of calm demeanor who confesses in the long opening monologue that he expects to go to Hell for not loving his mother Ida. He has good reason not to because she abandoned her family when he was 14. She went on to a second marriage, lived profligately and fancied herself the belle of Albany. When her second husband dies, the party is over and she must adjust to a diminished lifestyle. The Son is tasked by his siblings with the job of managing her finances. She willfully resists his attempts to trim her sails. Whenever the two of them lock horns, we see how hard it is for him to say “no” to her. The play darkens as we realize that she is sinking into dementia. Marinda Anderson (Bella: An American Tall Tale) and Pun Bandhu (Wit, Plenty) play an array of people she interacts with, including a fundraiser for the Albany Philharmonic, a Talbot’s salesperson, a stranger she calls to find out why she keeps remembering a particular phone number, and a bedding store salesperson. Anderson also plays a pregnant woman sitting next to The Son on a plane. There are some very funny bits along the way, some more relevant than others. My favorites were a conference call during which the siblings try to choose an appropriate dog for Ida and a scene, overlong but still hilarious, in which The Son attempts to answer the security questions to log onto his computer. The airplane scene fell flat and the need for a second scene with Ida and a salesperson was questionable. The play takes a turn for the worse near the end that erased some, but not all, of my positive feelings. It is uneven and fragmented and could benefit from further work. Nevertheless, Posner’s writing has a quirky energy that shows promise for the future. The set by Laura Jellinek (Mary Jane, A Life) is problematic. The way it is divided, there are scenes where audience members on a given side of the theater will not see the actor speaking. There is an elaborate unfolding of the set for one short scene that is one of the play’s least interesting. Lucy Mackinnon’s projections before the play opens are wasted because they are shown on a back wall with patterned wallpaper that is partially blocked from the view of much of the audience. David Hyman’s costumes for Ida are wonderful. Director Cromer is only partially successful in pulling it all together. While it doesn’t seem quite ready for prime time, it is an imaginative take on an all too relevant problem and affords the opportunity to see two top-notch actors at work. Running time: one hour 35 minutes; no intermission.

Mary Jane

A-

No, it has nothing to do with marijuana. I’m not sure why Amy Herzog (4000 Miles, Belleville) chose that name for her title character, but anyone expecting her new play at New York Theatre Workshop to be a cannabis-related story will be disappointed. Everyone else should be stirred by this compassionate portrait of a young woman who must deal every day with one of life’s great tragedies, caring for a child who has been severely impaired since his premature birth. Alex, now two, cannot speak, hold his head up or eat solid food. His father could not deal with it and left. Fortunately the audience is spared the grief of seeing Alex. What we do see is several moments in the life of Mary Jane (a superb Carrie Coon; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, "The Leftovers") during which she interacts with various women: her super, Ruthie (Brenda Wehle; The Crucible); her conscientious visiting nurse Sherry (Liza Colon-Zayas; Between Riverside and Crazy); Brianne (Susan Pourfar; Tribes), the mother of a newly diagnosed child who turns to Mary Jane for advice about what to expect; Sherry’s college-age niece Amelia (Danaya Esperanza); Dr. Toros (Colon-Zayas again), Alex’s physician; Chaya (Pourfar), a Hasidic mother of seven; Kat (Esperanza), a music therapist; and Tenkei (Wehle), a Buddhist nun. Herzog captures the heroic nature of Mary Jane’s daily struggle without placing her on a pedestal. Coon’s naturalistic portrayal is immensely powerful. The other actors are strong as well. There are flashes of humor, but one does not expect a happy ending. The low-key final scene initially disappointed me, but, on further reflection, I decided that its tentativeness supported the play’s honesty. Laura Jellinek’s realistic set design of a cluttered apartment in Queens converts effortlessly to another completely different setting. Emily Rebholz’s costumes look appropriately lived-in. Anne Kauffman (Belleville, Marjorie Prime, Detroit, The Nether) directs with her usual skill. It was a heartbreaking, but also uplifting experience. Running time: one hour 40 minutes; no intermission.

On the Shore of the Wide World

D+

2006 must have been a really dismal year for London theater if this tepid family drama by Simon Stephens could win the Olivier award. I will grudgingly express admiration to the Atlantic Theater for their commitment to bringing three of his plays to New York although I wasn’t too impressed with the other two -- Bluebird and Harper Regan — either. However, I liked them better than Punk Rock at MCC or Heisenberg at MTC. Even his Tony-winner The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was an adaptation of someone else’s novel and owed a lot of its success to its brilliant staging. Therefore, I approached the present play with low expectations. They were met.  We meet three generations of the Holmes family of Stockport, the suburb of Manchester where Stephens grew up — grandparents Charlie (Peter Maloney) and Ellen (the always watchable Blair Brown), their son Peter (C.J. Wilson) and his wife Alice (Atlantic stalwart Mary McCann) and their two grandsons Alex (Ben Rosenfield) and Christopher (Wesley Zurick). There is also Alex’s girlfriend Sarah (Tedra Millan), his friend Paul (Odiseas Georgiadis), Peter’s client Susan (Amelia Workman) and Alice’s new friend John (Leroy McClain). We follow the Holmes family over the course of a year that is punctuated by tragedy. The play has a seemingly endless succession of short scenes that generated very little interest for me. I don’t require sympathetic characters, but I expect to feel some involvement which was lacking here. I looked at my watch often. There is lots of regret, missed opportunity and lack of communication. The fine cast, which struggles uncertainly with the accent, deserves better than this. The set design by Scott Park makes efficient use of space. Sarah Laux’s costumes are apt. Director Neil Pepe does his best with material that is basically inert. Running time: two hours 35 minutes including intermission. Seating advice: Avoid Row B at the Linda Gross Theater because it is not elevated above Row A.

Inanimate

C+

The Flea Theater has opened its new home on Thomas Street with this production in its Siggy Theater, named for Sigourney Weaver, a Flea founder. (The other two venues have yet to open.) Those familiar with the small downstairs theater in its former home on White Street will feel right at home here. It has similar dimensions — wide and shallow — and is quite intimate. Nick Robideau’s play, written for The Bats, the Flea’s resident company of young actors, is a good choice to carry on the Flea’s reputation for offbeat material. The heroine Erica (an excellent Lacy Allen) is a socially awkward 30-year-old who works as a grocery bagger in a small Massachusetts town. She loses her job when she is spotted talking to the items in a grocery cart. It turns out that she has a condition known as objectum sexualis, which involves attachment to objects rather than people. Her current main attraction is the sign at the local Dairy Queen, affectionately referred to by her as Dee (drolly personified by Philip Feldman). She also has had a thing for her floor lamp (Artem Kreimer), a stuffed animal (Nancy Tatiana Quintana), an Oxo can opener (Michael Oloyede) and assorted other objects. She confides in the equally awkward Kevin (Maki Borden), a former schoolmate of uncertain sexuality who has been working at the DQ for 13 years and who has a crush on her. Encouraged by his sensitive reaction, she finally gets up the nerve to explain things to her sister Trish (Tressa Preston), an ambitious local politician. Sarah Lawrence’s whimsical costumes are wonderful. The set design by Yu-Hsuan Chen makes good use of limited resources. The Bats are clearly enjoying their roles and their enjoyment is infectious. Director Courtney Ulrich’s staging is confident and fluid. The subplot about the sister’s ambitions does not blend well with the rest of the play. At times it is difficult to decide whether the playwright intends for us to feel sympathy or bemused scorn for Erica’s condition. It’s an edgy play that’s not for everyone. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission.

The Red Letter Plays: Fucking A

In 1997 Suzan-Lori Parks made a casual remark to a friend that she wanted to write a riff on The Scarlet Letter and call it Fucking A. What she eventually produced was not one but two plays, both about a poor, illiterate woman named Hester who has been ill-treated by life. For the first time ever, they are being presented in tandem at Signature Theater.

B

Fucking A, written a year after In the Blood, is a far more ambitious, complex work. Set in “a small town in a small country in the middle of nowhere,” this dystopian fable resembles a Jacobean revenge drama presented in the manner of Brecht and Weill. Hester Smith (a superb Christine Lahti; God of Carnage) has been forced to become the town abortionist, for which they have carved the letter A into her chest. She has been trying for 20 years to raise the money to ransom her son Boy from prison. The rich girl who snitched on him for his petty theft is now the town’s First Lady (Elizabeth Stanley; On the Town). Whenever Hester visits the Freedom Fund Lady (Ruibo Qian; Bull in a China Shop), she learns that the price of ransom has gone up because of her son’s latest infractions in jail. The Mayor (a droll Marc Kudisch), frustrated that his wife has not borne him a child, is dallying with Hester’s only friend Canary Mary (Joaquina Kalukango; The Color Purple), who hopes that he will marry her after he has his wife eliminated.  We learn that a dangerous criminal, Monster (the wonderful Brandon Victor Dixon) has escaped and is being trailed by three vicious hunters who look forward to torturing him before killing him. When Hester finally scrapes together enough money to arrange a picnic with her son in the prison courtyard, the guard (J. Cameron Barnett; The Emperor Jones) leads in a prisoner called Jailbait (Ben Horner; An Octoroon) who turns out not only not be her son but claims to have killed him. Aside from Canary Mary, the only person showing Hester any kindness is Butcher (the wonderful Raphael Nash Thompson; Othello at The Pearl), who has long been her secret admirer. The First Lady’s unexpected pregnancy sets in motion a crescendo of violence. The play’s tragic ending approaches the level of Greek tragedy. The play is enhanced by musical interludes with some of the actors doubling as musicians. Each of the main characters gets a song. Instead of a song, the butcher gets a bravura five-minute soliloquy during which he enumerates the many infractions of his daughter Lulu. One innovation (which I found merely a distraction) is that when the women discuss matters of female sexuality, they switch to an invented language called Talk with translations projected on supertitles. The casting of Lahti as Hester is an interesting case of nontraditional casting in reverse. The role has been traditionally played by a black actor. Casting a white actor shifts the basis for much of the injustice from race to class. Fortunately, the play can support either interpretation. Rachel Hauck’s (Our Lady of Kibeho) flexible set suits the action well. Emilio Sosa’s (On Your Feet!) costumes are appropriate to their characters. Jo Bonney’s (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) confident direction holds everything together. Running time: two hours 20 minutes including intermission.

The Red Letter Plays: In the Blood

In 1997 Suzan-Lori Parks made a casual remark to a friend that she wanted to write a riff on The Scarlet Letter and call it Fucking A. What she eventually produced was not one but two plays, both about a poor, illiterate woman named Hester who has been ill-treated by life. For the first time ever, they are being presented in tandem at Signature Theater.

C

In the first play written, In the Blood, Hester La Negrita (a strong Saycon Sengbloh; Eclipsed) is a woman with five bastard children by five different men, living with them underneath a bridge. As she struggles to get by, she is betrayed by all the people who should be helping her: The Welfare Lady (Jocelyn Bioh; An Octoroon), The Doctor (Frank Wood; Sideman, Can You Forgive Her?), her prostitute friend Amiga Gringa (Ana Reeder; The Big Knife), her first lover Chilli (Michael Braun; Everybody) and Reverend D. (Russell G. Jones; Father Comes Home from the Wars). Each gets a soliloquy to describe the nature of his or her betrayal of Hester. Unfortunately, the same actors must also play Hester’s children. Adults playing children is not a pretty sight. The letter A is important because it is as far as Hester got in her attempts to learn the alphabet. Eventually Hester snaps under the weight of her troubles and commits an act which is more shocking than surprising. The entire play seemed more than a bit schematic. The lack of subtlety in the writing is emphasized by the metaphorical set design by Louisa Thompson which features a curved slide of a back wall that no one can climb and a huge pipe that dumps trash from above. The costumes by Montana Levi Blanco are imaginative. Sarah Benson (An Octoroon) directed. Running time: two grim hours, no intermission.

Hello, Dolly!

A

Rankled by the relentless hype that placed Bette Midler’s return to Broadway musicals after 50 years right up there with the Second Coming, I resisted getting a ticket for the current revival of this warhorse. Could a show that I remembered as little more than a trite vehicle for superannuated divas possibly be worth the huge chunk of change a ticket cost? The answer is an emphatic “yes.” First of all, the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi fits Ms. Midler like a glove. She captures Dolly’s energy, determination, vulnerability and humor effortlessly. Her voice is still a pleasure to hear and her dancing ain’t bad either. At her first appearance, which brought the house down, I was surprised how tiny she is. Despite her size, she is a towering figure. With her name on the marquee, the producers probably could have gotten by with an otherwise unexceptional production. Fortunately, they did not. They cast the show profligately, splurged on lavish costumes and sets, excellent choreography, a large orchestra, and a topnotch director (Jerry Zaks.) David Hyde Pierce is delightful as Horace Vandergelder. In the ingenue roles, Gavin Creel is an outstanding Cornelius Hackl and Kate Baldwin is a lovely Irene Molloy. Taylor Trensch and Beanie Feldstein are charming as second bananas Barnaby Tucker and Minnie Fay. Melanie Moore is appropriately annoying as Horace’s niece Ermengarde and Will Burton is fine as her suitor Ambrose Kemper. Jennifer Simard is hilarious as Ernestina. Designer Santo Loquasto has outdone himself: the many backdrops resemble beautiful hand-tinted 19th-century prints, the tram and train are wonderful, and the costumes are a show all by themselves. Warren Carlyle’s choreography pays homage to Gower Champion’s without slavishly following it. Michael Stewart’s book is much tighter and funnier than I remembered. The millinery shop scene and the Harmonia Gardens scenes are real knee-slappers. Jerry Herman’s sturdy songs hold up very well. They don’t make shows like this anymore. For sheer entertainment, it is hard to beat. Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including intermission.