Schmigadoon

C+

First, some background: Schmigadoon is the stage adaptation of Apple TV+’s six-episode show’s first season, which was intended as a parody of and homage to the musicals of the 40’s and 50’s. The tv series’ co-creators, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, wrote a second season about musicals of the 60’s and 70’s which was streamed and a third season about 80’s and 90’s musicals which was not. Triple-threat Cinco Paul wrote the music, lyrics and book for the stage version, which the New York Times made a Critic’s Pick. In a season in which the number of new musicals was so low that there were only four nominees instead of five for best musical, Schmigadoon took home the Tony. Even with these accolades, I was reluctant to see it because I found the TV version too twee and gave up after two episodes. However, after an extremely knowledgeable friend told me it was a “must see” and an opportunity arose to see it at a group price, I bought a ticket. I was not surprised that I did not find it to my taste; I was surprised that six of the ten people I attended with left at intermission. So what was the problem? The first act gets off to a slow non-musical start. When the music finally begins, we get a series of songs that sound a lot alike accompanied by dances (by Christopher Gatelli, who also directed) that look a lot alike. I also did not find the lead characters engaging and felt little stake in the outcome. I won’t even try to explain the details of the plot. Suffice to say that two doctors from New York, while on a camping trip in the Catskills, get trapped in a magical town where everyone bursts into song at the slightest excuse. We learn how they affect the townspeople and how the townspeople affect them. It’s one of the rare shows that improves in the second act, which opens with a terrific group tap number. The writing is sharper, the stakes are higher, and the story takes greater risks. I enjoyed the mandatory dream ballet which features a pas de deux in front of a vending machine. The cast and the production values are topnotch. Alex Brightman as John, the doctor with the commitment problem, who hates musicals and refuses to sing, makes a fine straight man. Sara Chase, as his long-suffering partner Melissa, acts well and sure can belt a song. Ana Gasteyer, Ann Harada, Brad Oscar, Maulik Pancholy, Max Clayton and McKenzie Kurtz all excel in their supporting roles. The costumes by Linda Cho and sets by Scott Pask are a treat for the eyes and the orchestrations by Doug Besterman and Mike Morris please the ear. I wish the entire show were up to the level of the best moments of the second act. The show panders unabashedly to three segments of the intended audience – feminists who will enjoy seeing women learn to be independent, gay men who will appreciate its fairy (no slur intended) tale of universal acceptance, and avid musical lovers who will feel clever identifying all the references to other musicals. If you have access to Apple TV+, I suggest sampling the TV series before you commit to buying a ticket. Running time: two hours 35 minutes including intermission.

THEATER TALK

Summer is the quiet season in New York theater. With very few openings—especially on Broadway—it's a good opportunity to step back from individual shows and think about theatergoing in general and how to improve your chances of having a rewarding experience.

The best place to keep track of what's playing now and what's coming up is Playbill.com. In addition to theater news and feature articles, it lists Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, with summaries, running times, opening and closing dates, and information about where to buy tickets.

One word of caution: I usually ignore the ticket link on Playbill and instead go directly to the show's official website. When you search online, type the name of the show (or opera, concert or ballet) followed by "official website" to make sure you've reached the real site. That's the safest way to buy tickets. More than one friend has unknowingly purchased tickets from a website that looked official but wasn't, only to discover later that they had paid inflated prices and unnecessary fees. Friends who have used TodayTix have reported mixed experiences.

I also recommend signing up for the email lists of Telecharge, Ticketmaster, and Criterion Ticketing. They frequently announce new productions before tickets go on sale to the general public and often include worthwhile discount offers.

Many of New York's best Off-Broadway productions come from nonprofit theater companies such as Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company, Second Stage, Signature Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater, MCC Theater, and Classic Stage Company (CSC). These companies depend heavily on subscriptions, although they also sell tickets to individual productions. If you find yourself enjoying several shows from the same company each season, a subscription can be an excellent value—and it may encourage you to discover plays you might otherwise have overlooked.

There is, however, one trend that concerns me. Many nonprofit companies have been squeezed by rising costs and reduced government support. As a result, some have cut back on the number of productions they present, rented their theaters to outside producers, relied more heavily on familiar revivals that are likely to sell well—or all of the above. Broadway faces its own challenge: the cost of mounting a new production has become so high that producers are understandably more cautious about what they are willing to risk.

Despite these challenges, I'm optimistic. Every season brings worthwhile discoveries, and the coming one already looks promising. In my next column, I'll highlight some of the productions that I think are most deserving of your attention.

 

Robert Sholiton has been writing a theater blog called Gotham Playgoer (https://gotham-playgoer.blogspot.com) since 2010. If you would like to be on his distribution list to receive each new review, send him a request at rsholiton@gmail.com

 

Disruption

 

C

This play by Andrew Stein, which received mostly favorable reviews when it premiered in London three years ago, is now onstage at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center. Its main topic could hardly be more timely – the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our lives. Just in the three years since the play premiered, some of its premises already seem less improbable. I am therefore sorry to report that this dark comedy with such a relevant theme is largely a disappointment. In a nutshell, the plot revolves around three well educated, well-to-do 40-ish New York couples who are summoned to dinner by a former classmate, Nick (John David Washington), who has become a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur but whom they hold in low regard. We meet Paul (Joe Tippett), a print journalist, and his dutiful but charmless wife Jill (the excellent Elizabeth Stanley), parents of two young boys, whose marriage is very rocky. Ben (the versatile Conrad Ricamora), a Columbia professor, and Suzie (Shaunette Renée Wilson), a psychiatrist, are seemingly the perfect couple who have deliberately decided not to have children, but Ben has a secret. Barry (Jason Ralph) and Mia (Irene Sofia Lucio), a surgeon and a photographer respectively, would like to buy a Brooklyn brownstone that is beyond their means. Just in passing, we learn that Mia, who is Jill’s sister, has slept with all three men. Nick has summoned everyone to tell them about his latest project, an algorithm that can determine what will make someone happy and “curate coincidence” to cause it to happen. He brings along Raven (Emma Kikue), the sexy young Harvard and MIT grad who is the brains behind the algorithm. He assures his friends that the two are merely business partners. At least three quarters of the play is spent showing which of the husbands would take the bait. Tellingly, Nick doesn’t seem to be at all interested in what would make the wives happy. Along the way, Suzie is the person who most strongly stands up against Nick and warns of AI’s downside. When Nick and Raven discover that the algorithm has begun acting independently, Raven implausibly turns against it and is fired. We jump ahead a year to learn how things turn out. This sounds more interesting than it plays. The actors do their best with roles, some of which are underwritten and/or schematic. The direction by Hersh Ellis is sluggish. I knew something was amiss when I realized I was paying more attention to the fascinating permutations of the stage floor than to the dialogue. Rather than the scenic design serving the play, things seemed to me the other way around. Scenic (and costume) designer Zoē Hurwitz, lighting designer Reza Behjat, and projection designer Yana Biryukova provide a feast for the eyes that I found more interesting than the material it is supposed to support. It’s a triumph of style over substance. The imminent disruption of our lives by AI deserves a worthy play. This is not it. Running time: two hours including intermission.