"Daddy"

C-

Because I thoroughly enjoyed Jeremy O. Harris’s Slave Play at New York Theatre Workshop a few months ago, I have been looking forward to his new play for Vineyard Theatre and The New Group, now playing at Pershing Square Signature Center. While it shares with the earlier play a focus on interracial relationships, it unfortunately lacks that play’s wit and resonance. Subtitled “A Melodrama,” it revolves around Franklin (Ronald Peet; Spill, Cute Activist), a young LA-based black artist; Andre (Alan Cumming; Cabaret), the rich, white, middle-aged art collector with whom he begins a relationship; and Zora (Charlayne Woodard; Ain’t Misbehavin’, War), Franklin’s bible-quoting disapproving mother. We also meet Franklin’s vapid friends Bethany (Kahyun Kim; Love and Money) and Max (Tommy Dorfman; “13 Reasons Why”) as well as Alessia (Hari Nef, “Transparent”), the brassy owner of the gallery where Franklin is about to have his first show. There is also a three-woman gospel choir (Carrie Compere, Denise Manning, Onyie Nwachuckwu) whose presence adds a fanciful touch. For a good chunk of the first act, Franklin and Andre debate the contemporary art scene. While Bethany is inspired by Franklin’s good fortune in finding a sugar daddy, Max is jealous and resentful. Alessia is excited at the prospect of representing a hot new artist who will put her gallery on the map. Zora senses a threat and comes to town to see what’s up. She and Andre do not hit it off. We see the ups and downs of Franklin’s relationships at length — great length. Harris knows how to go for the theatrical: an onstage swimming pool, extensive male frontal nudity, simulated gay sex, larger than life dolls and that gospel choir. Alas, he is better at grabbing our attention than at maintaining it. My interest waned long before the third and final act drew to a close. Alan Cumming and Charlayne Woodard are always worth seeing onstage. The wonderful set design by Matt Saunders (Pipeline, Venus) featuring the pool of a Bel Air mansion is beautifully lit by Isabella Byrd (The Thanksgiving Play). The costumes by Montana Levi Blanco (Fabulation, In the Blood) add to the LA vibe. Director Danya Taymor (Pass Over, Familiar) keeps things moving smoothly except for an awkward scene break in the final act that many in the audience thought (or hoped) was the play’s ending. There are some worthwhile moments in the play, but they do not add up to a satisfying work. Running time: two hours 50 minutes including two intermissions. NOTE: Avoid rows A and B. People in row A will need the towels they have been provided to protect them from splashes from the pool. There is no rake between rows A and B so if you are sitting in row B behind a tall person, you are out of luck.

Superhero

B-

This new musical at Second Stage comes with an impressive pedigree — music and lyrics by Pulitzer winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and book by Tony winner John Logan (Red). Two years ago, Charlotte’s husband and Simon’s father was killed in an accident witnessed by Simon. Both mother and son have had trouble dealing with their grief. Simon (Kyle McArthur) refuses to talk about his father and spends most of his time drawing comic books about superheroes. Charlotte (Kate Baldwin; Hello, Dolly!, Big Fish, Giant) can’t break through Simon’s defensive posture or finish a book she has been trying to write. Simon gets it into his head that Jim (Bryce Pinkham; A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Heidi Chronicles) the reclusive man who lives in Apartment 4-B, is really a superhero in disguise. That’s all I will say so I won’t spoil the story. The downbeat book is intelligent and the songs are well-integrated into it. The first act is quite polished, the second act less so. Nevertheless, the show is still emotionally satisfying. The performances by the three principals are very strong. The  four secondary characters are all underdeveloped. The attractive scenic design by Beowulf Boritt (The Scottsboro Boys, Hand to God) has a series of frames gradually receding to a Manhattan skyline. Tal Yarden’s (Network) projections add an important element. Sarah Laux’s (The Band’s Visit) costumes are unobtrusive. Jason Moore’s (The Cher Show, Avenue Q) direction is a bit sluggish on occasion. At times, I was reminded of another recent musical about a troubled teenager and his depressed mother. If you liked Dear Evan Hansen, you might like this too. Just don't go expecting another Next to Normal. Running time: two hours ten minutes including intermission.

Merrily We Roll Along

B+

In view of the success of their production of Into the Woods a few years ago, it is not surprising that Roundabout has again turned to Fiasco Theater to apply their magic touch to another Sondheim show. A 1981 Broadway flop that has become a cult classic, Merrily has been revised numerous times for productions around the country as well as in London, where it won an Olivier in 2001. In this version, Fiasco has reduced the cast to six performers playing 11 roles. The streamlined book hews more closely to Kaufman and Hart’s 1934 play than George Furth’s original. What makes the story of three show business friends over a 22-year period unique is that it is told backwards from fame and prosperity in 1979 back to humble beginnings in 1957. Frank (Ben Steinfeld; Into the Woods) is a talented composer who gives up his talent to become a successful Hollywood producer. Charley (Manu Narayan; My Fair Lady) is his lyricist and buddy who, after a rupture with Frank, goes on to win a Pulitzer Prize. Mary (Jessie Austrian; Into the Woods), authors a best seller, gives up writing to become a film critic, harbors unrequited love for Frank and becomes an alcoholic. We also meet Frank’s first wife Beth (Brittany Bradford; Bernhardt/Hamlet), her parents (Paul L. Coffey and Emily Young; both in Into the Woods), his second wife Gussie (Young again); Joe (Coffey again), the husband she leaves for Frank; and Frank’s latest fling Meg (Bradford again), the star of his new movie. From a Hollywood party celebrating Frank’s latest film, we move backward in time and eventually end up on a New York rooftop watching Sputnik fly by. Along the way there are such strong songs as “Old Friends,” “Not a Day Goes By” and “Our Time.” The staging is very creative. The acting is first-rate; the singing leaves a bit to be desired in a case or two. The set by Derek McLane (The Price, Noises Off) is a show all by itself and worth arriving early to examine in detail. Recalling his cluttered set for “I Am My Own Wife,” he gives us the world’s largest prop shop with shelves laden with a multitude of objects reaching the highest levels of the stage. The shelves are punctuated by a window here and a chimney there and two enormous doors in the center which occasionally part to reveal backdrops that set the scene. I am not sure what relevance the crowded shelves have to the production, but they are something to behold. The costumes by Paloma Young (Time and the Conways) and Ashley Rose Horton help set the period. Noah Brody’s (Into the Woods) direction is fluid and assured. While I doubt that I will ever include Merrily among my favorite Broadway musicals, I grant that this production makes a strong case for it and provides an entertaining experience. Running time: one hour 50 minutes; no intermission.

NOTE: For an entertaining, informative look at the experiences of those in the original Broadway production, I highly recommend the 2016 documentary “Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened,” which is available to stream on Netflix.

Switzerland

B-

In Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith’s (Honour) 2014 play about Patricia Highsmith, now in its New York premiere at 59E59 Theaters, she weaves lots of facts about the writer’s life into an entertaining scenario about the last year of her life. The author of Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, feeling insufficiently appreciated in the US, moved to Europe and spent her final years in seclusion in a small village in Switzerland. Notoriously racist, anti-Semitic, abrasive and contemptuous of the literary establishment, she was not an easy person to like. None of her relationships with either women or men lasted very long. Highsmith (Peggy J. Scott; Is He Dead?, The Lucky One)  lived alone with her kitten, pet snails and collection of antique firearms, knives, swords and, surprisingly, Broadway show tune recordings, in her Alpine retreat. Her seclusion is interrupted by the arrival of a young man representing himself as Edward Ridgeway (Daniel Petzold; Pushkin), a seemingly callow editorial assistant at her publishing house who has been sent to get her signature on a contract for a new Ripley novel. The last assistant they had tasked with that assignment ended up having a nervous breakdown. Edward is determined to do better and deflects her abuse long enough to persuade her not to kick him out. As the play progresses, he gains confidence and uses her insecurity about her literary legacy to his advantage. To say much more would be to spoil the fun. There is lots of snappy dialogue about writers and writing and the relationship between an author and the character he or she becomes famous for. The play does not quite build up tension appropriate to a thriller and its final twist is not completely successful, but on the whole it is an entertaining evening. Both actors shine, especially Petzold in the trickier role. James J. Fenton’s (Southern Comfort) set has some sleekly modern design elements that seem out of place. Charlotte Palmer-Lane’s (Bedlam’s Peter Pan) costumes very cleverly reflect the changes in Edward. Dan Foster’s (The Chocolate Show!) direction is uncluttered. If you are a fan of Highsmith's work, I expect you will enjoy yourself. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

The Waiting Game

F

It’s only mid-February, but I have already suffered through what I expect will be a strong contender for the worst play I see this year. I was drawn to this 59E59 Theaters production of Charles Gershman's (Free and Proud) play after reading that it won the Best Overseas Play award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. If this won the prize, I shudder to think what the competition must have been like. The four characters are 30-something gay men who look like they spend a lot of time at the gym. Paolo (Marc Sinoway; Adam Minus Josh) and Sam (Ibsen Santos; The Wild Heart) have been married for ten years. A year ago, Sam went into a coma after a drug overdose and is basically brain dead. For a year before his overdose, Sam was carrying on an affair with Geoff (Joshua Bouchard; One Lieutenant Too Many). Meanwhile Paolo has been seeing Tyler (Julian Joseph; Bridesburg) but has been emotionally unavailable to him. As his husband, Paolo has control over Sam’s care, but Geoff wants him to sign over conservatorship to him, claiming that he was the one whom Sam loved toward the end and the one who knew his wishes about end of life care. To add a bit of mystery to the proceedings, Paolo seems to be getting online texts from the comatose Sam. This situation may sound promising, but the action is as comatose as Sam. Paolo may be sexy, but his drug use and mistrustful manipulative personality make him so unsympathetic that it is difficult to care about him. Geoff seems a decent sort who wants to do right by Sam. Tyler clings to the hope that Paolo will get over Sam and be nicer. We see poor Sam mostly as a figure walking slowly across the stage behind a scrim. Each character is waiting for something that never happens. After 65 long, long minutes, the play grinds to a halt. The set design by Riw Rakkulchon (Loose Canon) is minimalist to the nth degree. There is a rectangle chalked on the floor. The actors remove props from some onstage cubes and line them up on the floor just outside the rectangle. Clusters of words from the script are occasionally projected on the scrim. No costume designer is credited. The actors are convincing in their roles. For some reason they perform barefoot. Nathan Wright directed. Unless seeing four hunky men is enough to make your evening, you can skip this one. Perhaps it has some value as a warning to put your end of life wishes in writing. 

Alice by Heart

C-

I had misgivings about seeing this latest riff on the Lewis Carroll classic because, through some genetic quirk, I have always been immune to its charms. However, since the new musical has music by Duncan Sheik and a book by Steven Sater (with Jessie Nelson, who also directed), the team behind Spring Awakening, I decided to chance it. I was also eager to see the larger of the two theaters at MCC’s new space in the Far West 50’s. Loved the theater, endured the musical. In this version, set in a London Underground station in use as a bomb shelter during WWII, Alice (Molly Gordon; Sweeney Todd) is a young girl, orphaned in the Blitz, who tries to combat the awfulness of shelter life by rereading her beloved Alice in Wonderland. When her best friend Alfred (Colton Ryan; Girl from the North Country) is brought to the shelter severely ill, the two share their love of the Carroll book and fall through the rabbit hole into Wonderland where the residents of the shelter become characters from the book. I will leave matters there because further developments were too confusing to try to explain. Perhaps a closer knowledge of Carroll’s work might have helped, but I doubt it. I particularly objected to the book’s pandering to the audience by throwing in an occasional word like “kvell” or “haftorah.” A few of the songs made a strong impression, but they began to sound alike after a while. The talented young cast of 12, also including Mia Dilena, Zachary Downer, Noah Galvin, Zachary Infante, Andrew Kober, Grace McClean, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, Catherine Ricfort, Heath Saunders and Wesley Taylor, was in fine voice and moved well. The choreography by Rick and Jeff Kuperman (The Light Princess) was inventive. The scenic design by Edward Pierce (Angels in America) was appropriately gloomy. Many of  Paloma Young’s (Permission, Yen) costumes were clever. Honesty compels me to report that many in the audience reacted to the show with great enthusiasm. The new theater shows great promise. It is wide but shallow, with no orchestra seats more than nine rows from the stage and just two rows in the mezzanine. Running time: one hour 40 minutes; no intermission.

Boesman and Lena

B-

In a review of the 2000 film based on Athol Fugard’s (Blood Knot, “Master Harold” …and the Boys) searing drama, the Variety critic expressed the thought that the work managed the difficult feat of recalling both “Waiting for Godot” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” There is at least a grain of truth in this observation. In this Signature Theatre production, the set’s barren landscape with one dead tree certainly could be shared by Beckett’s play and both works are about a pair condemned to endless wandering. Like Albee’s couple, Fugard’s is a codependent pair prone to provoking each other. Boesman and Lena are coloureds, i.e. of mixed race, whose life in apartheid South Africa is a living hell. The policy of forced removals has turned them into domestic refugees with no prospects for a settled life. Watching a day in their life is almost unbearably painful. We meet them on a mud flat after their most recent shantytown has been demolished by the government. Exhausted after a long day of walking with most of their worldly goods on her head, Lena voices her unhappiness and begs for some wine, to Boesman’s deaf ear. We learn that he has mostly come to ignore her when he is not taking out his frustration with life by beating on her. They have been together for several years and had one child who lived for six months and several stillbirths. As they set up their lean-to, Lena sees someone approaching and, against Boesman’s wishes, invites him to join them. Their guest turns out to be a frail, elderly Xhosa tribesman, whose language they do not understand. Nevertheless, out of her fierce desire for companionship, Lena welcomes him as someone to listen to her. Boesman is not happy about it. Will Lena’s accumulation of grievances against Boesman lead her to finally leave him? The main strength of this production is the acting. Zainab Jah (Venus, Eclipsed) is superb as Lena and Thomas Silcott (Coming Home) is haunting as the old man. Sahr Ngaujah (Fela!, Mlima’s Tale) is a bit problematic; his Boesman is so relentlessly unpleasant that there is no inkling of why Lena would ever have been drawn to him. I don’t know whether the problem is in the script or in the performance. Susan Hilferty’s (Wicked, Into the Woods) costumes and bleak set are evocative. I have qualms about a few decisions by director Yaël Farber (London: Salomé, The Crucible). Having the pair wander through the audience before the play actually begins was not particularly effective and merely slowed things down. The decision to eliminate the intermission may have been determined more by fear of audience attrition than by artistic considerations. Two hours without a break was a challenge for my powers of concentration. It would have been helpful to have a few program notes about the prevailing racial stratification under apartheid as well as a short glossary of frequently used Afrikaans words. In today’s era of abused refugees, the play is all too timely. It is also one of the most depressing plays I have ever seen. Running time: two hours; no intermission.

By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

B+

I was surprised when Signature Theatre announced they were reviving Lynn Nottage’s (Ruined, Sweat) comedy as part of her residency because it is less than eight years since it was seen in New York at Second Stage. Since I rated it one of my ten favorite plays of 2011 (https://gotham-playgoer.blogspot.com/2011/05/by-way-meet-vera-stark.html), I was happy to have a chance to see it again. This new production makes a good case for its strengths without managing to minimize its flaws. 

Vera Stark (Jessica Frances Dukes; Bootycandy, Is God Is) is a young black actress who is surviving in Hollywood in 1933 by serving as the maid of an insecure aging ingenue Gloria Mitchell (Jenni Barber; Wicked, The Nance) who is emotionally dependent on her. Gloria, who is known for her dying scenes, is out to capture the role of the octoroon title character in “Belle of New Orleans.” Vera would love to get the part of Tillie, her maid, but Gloria seems reluctant to put in a good word for her. Vera lives with two roommates, the buxom Lottie McBride (Heather Alicia Simms; Fabulation, Fairview), who is eating her way to mammy roles, and the voluptuous, light-skinned Anna Mae Simpkins (Carra Patterson; Jitney, Wit), who is “passing” as a Brazilian sexpot. While waiting outside the soundstage for Gloria, Vera meets Leroy Barksdale (Warner Miller; The Old Settler), a musician supporting himself as a chauffeur. When Gloria throws a party for studio mogul Mr. Slasvick (David Turner; The Invention of Love, In My Life) and the film’s German director Maxmillian Von Oster (Manoel Felciano; Sweeney Todd, Amelie) , she engages Lottie to help Vera serve. Van Oster’s date is none other than Anna Mae, complete with thick Brazilian Portuguese accent, and his driver turns out to be Leroy.  It soon becomes clear that the mogul and the director do not share the same vision for the film. The party scene is hilarious, especially when Vera and Lottie attempt to portray the rapidly changing conceptions of their desired roles. As the first act ends, we do not know the fate of the proposed film. 

The first act is so entertaining that the shift of gears after intermission comes as somewhat of a letdown. We are now in 2003 at a colloquium devoted to the topic “What Happened to Vera Stark?” The three bloviating panelists, played by Mr. Miller, Ms. Simms and Ms. Patterson, are little more than caricatures who interpret Vera’s career according to each one’s politico-socio-cultural bent. We do get to see the delicious final scene of “Belle of New Orleans” which contains a few amusing surprises. We also get excerpts from Vera’s appearance on a 1973 talk show, after which she disappeared from sight. After a “successful” career playing a series of maids, Vera has been reduced to a two-week run on the Vegas strip. The interview scene is actually performed live, which makes for the awkward situation that the actors must freeze in place each time the interview is interrupted by a return to the panelists. The talk show host (Mr. Turner) is a blithering idiot and his other guest is a spaced-out British rock musician (Mr. Feliciano) whose inclusion is of dubious benefit. Things get interesting when Gloria makes a surprise appearance. We get a final outtake from the film that casts the relationship between Vera and Gloria in a new light. 

The actors are all very good, although I did occasionally wish director Kamilah Forbes (Between the World and Me) had asked them not to play things quite so broadly. The revolving set by Clint Ramos (Appropriate, Eclipsed) is a treat, especially Gloria’s glamorous living room and the gaudy TV show set. The period costumes by Dede M. Ayite (American Son, School Girls) are wonderful. Katherine Freer (Cellular Songs) is credited for projection design; if that includes the projected film, kudos to her.

While the satirization of Hollywood in the 30’s is hardly subtle, it is both entertaining and enlightening. Despite its second-act problems, the show is well worth seeing. Running time: two hours 20 minutes including intermission.

The Light

C+

The program for Loy A. Webb’s drama at MCC Theater’s spiffy new home on W. 52nd Street specifies that the play is set on October 5, 2018. That is the day of the Senate’s cloture vote leading to the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh the following day. The action takes place in real time that evening at the upscale Hyde Park condo of Genesis (Mandi Masden; Our Lady of Kibeho, The Piano Lesson), an attractive woman approaching 40 who is principal of a prestigious charter school for black students. Genesis is frazzled because one her white teachers stirred up a hornet’s nest by posting a pro-Kavanaugh message online. Rashad (McKinley Belcher III; The Royale), a hunky fireman who, with his mother’s help, is raising a 4-year-old daughter abandoned by her mother, arrives bearing two gifts to celebrate the second anniversary of their first date. The first gift is exactly what Genesis wanted, but the second gift, coveted tickets to a concert by a rock star she disapproves of, sets her off. Genesis takes a long time to admit the reasons for her antipathy to the rock star. One of Genesis’s gifts for Rashad raises a new issue late in the play. What started as a celebration becomes an extended argument over who has it worse, black men or black women. It resembles a mashup of themes underlying the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements. Both Genesis and Rashad have incidents in their past that make it difficult to achieve mutual understanding. As the play turns didactic, the freshness and vitality take a hit, which is a shame because the beginning is so promising. The acting is very strong and the set by Kimie Nishikawa is sure to evoke real estate envy. Emilio Sosa’s (The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess) costumes are appropriate. Director Logan Vaughn (Black Flag, Love Letters to a Dictator) occasionally lets the pace lag, The result is a flawed but interesting play. Running time: one hour 45 minutes; no intermission.