Hadestown (Broadway)

A-

Anaïs Mitchell's marvelous folk opera about Orpheus and Eurydice has had a long road to Broadway. What began as a simple stage version in 2006 in Vermont evolved into a concept album in 2010 that won many admirers. Not long after that, Rachel Chavkin came aboard to develop and eventually direct a new stage version for New York Theatre Workshop in 2016 that won wide acclaim, including from me. (See https://gotham-playgoer.blogspot.com/2016/05/hadestown.html) The intimacy of that production with the audience surrounding the performers on three sides made a Broadway transfer challenging, but there was probably no one better equipped to meet that challenge than Ms. Chavkin who had solved a similar problem with Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. After the off-Broadway run, the show moved out of town — way out of town — to Edmonton, Alberta for further work and then, in a smart move, to London’s National Theatre. Now it has finally reached the Walter Kerr Theatre. I was eager to experience the show again and see how it had been adapted for a large proscenium stage. Fortunately, most of the creative team has remained intact. What has been lost in intimacy has been counterbalanced by enhanced production values. The elaborate set by Rachel Hauck (What the Constitution Means to Me, Tiny Beautiful Things), which suggests a New Orleans bar, comes complete with walls that expand and contract and three concentric revolves, the innermost of which both rises and falls. The costumes by Michael Krass (Noises Off, Machinal) vaguely suggesting an earlier time, are more elaborate. The stylized choreography by David Neumann (An Octoroon) has been pumped up. Happily the two cast members who most impressed me before, Peter Page (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Casa Valentina) as Hades and Amber Gray (Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; Oklahoma! at Bard) as Persephone, are back. Eva Noblezada (Miss Saigon) portrays Eurydice as both feisty and wearied by deprivation. The role of Hermes, our narrator and emcee, has been beefed up for Andre De Shields (The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’) who stops just short of chewing the scenery. The three Fates (Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Kay Trinidad) are fine in full Andrews Sisters mode and occasionally even play instruments. The workers chorus is also excellent. The seven onstage musicians are splendid, especially trombonist Brian Drye. If you have been paying close attention, you may have noticed that I have not said anything yet about Orpheus. Alas, Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, “Penny Dreadful”), whom I have admired elsewhere, is miscast as Orpheus. Much of the role requires singing falsetto and his falsetto is far from pretty. Furthermore, he does not display much charisma and there is little chemistry between him and Ms. Noblezada. You might think that a miscast lead would be a near-fatal flaw, but the rest of the show is so strong and so enjoyable that it is little more than a lost opportunity of minor consequence. While there are aspects of the plot, such as the nature of Hadestown as an industrial dystopia of indentured workers, that remain a bit murky, the plot is not the big draw. The score, with its New Orleans jazz, gospel and blues accents, is the main attraction. Those expecting a traditional Broadway show (like the couple next to me who fled at intermission) may be disappointed, because it is at heart a through-sung folk opera. The rest of us will be grateful for the opportunity to enjoy something different. Ms. Mitchell must be prescient: a song she wrote at least ten years ago, “Why We Build the Wall,” has taken on new resonance these days. Running time: two hours 25 minutes including intermission.

Mankind

D

If only I had left Robert O’Hara’s new play at Playwrights Horizons at intermission, I would have had a pleasant but abbreviated evening. Until that point, the satire had remained relatively sharp and focused and there was a sense that the play had reached its logical conclusion. Unfortunately, after a mood-breaking fifteen minutes, the play resumed and ran steadily downhill for another 45 minutes. O’Hara’s initial premise of an oppressive society where women have become extinct and men have developed the ability to bear children is a promising one. In a nice twist, abortion is still illegal, so when sex buddies Mark (Anson Mount) and Jason (Bobby Moreno; Grand Concourse, Fulfillment Center) seek one after Jason’s surprise pregnancy, they are arrested for attempted murder. When Jason gives birth to the first female born in a century, he and Mark unwittingly become founders of a new feminist religion with rituals highly reminiscent of Roman Catholicism. O’Hara takes potshots at patriarchy, talk shows, materialism, climate change, organized religion, feminism and the innate intolerance of mankind. I wish his inventiveness were coupled with more discipline. The satire generates surprisingly few laughs and rapidly becomes tedious. Four other actors — David Ryan Smith, Ariel Shafir, Stephen Schnetzer (Oslo) and scene-stealer Andre de Shields (The Wiz, The Full Monty) — play multiple roles. Clint Ramos (Bella, Familiar) has designed an overcomplicated set with a revolving platform and modules that are pushed this way and that. Dede M. Ayite’s (School Girls, The Royale) ecclesiastical garb is funnier than most of the dialog. Once again, O’Hara demonstrates why playwrights (with rare exceptions) should not direct their own work. “Barbecue,” with another director, was considerably more rewarding than either “Bootycandy” or this play. It was a frustrating evening of missed opportunities. Running time: 2 hours including intermission.

The Fortress of Solitude ***

You have to give a lot of credit to director Daniel Aukin for conceiving the idea of turning Jonathan Lethem’s 528-page novel into a musical. Itamar Moses’s book manages to retain much of the book’s spirit and keeps the narrative reasonably clear. For me, the outstanding feature of this production, now in previews at the Public Theater, is Michael Friedman’s wonderful score. Ranging from R&B through gospel to hip-hop, Friedman’s music and lyrics brilliantly capture the musical background underpinning the lives of two Brooklyn boys, one white, the other black, starting in the 1970’s, before Gowanus became Boerum Hill. Dylan Ebdus (Adam Chanler-Berat) is the son of Abraham (Ken Barnett), an emotionally distant artist, and Rachel (Kristen Sieh), an activist who is proud that her son is one of only three white students in his school, but soon abandons him. Adam befriends Mingus (Kyle Beltran), a black neighbor who is also motherless and also named for a musician. Mingus protects Dylan from the neighborhood bully Robert Woolfolk (Brian Tyree Henry). The close friendship between Mingus and Dylan includes a bit of teenage sexual experimentation. Mingus’s father Barrett Rude Jr. (Kevin Mambo) is a burned-out coke addict, who once had a musical career that seemed promising but never caught fire. When Mingus’s preacher grandfather Barrett Rude Sr. (Andre de Shields) is released from jail and moves in with his kin, tragedy ensues. For anyone living in New York during the mid-seventies, the show recreates much of the societal context of racial strife, drugs, graffiti, blackouts, the so-called justice system, and the first stages of gentrification. The music is terrific, especially when sung by Barrett Rude Jr.’s singing group --the Subtle Distinctions -- and by de Shields. Eugene Lee’s set is appropriately drab and Jessica Pabst’s costumes suit the characters well. In both the novel and the musical, the introduction of a ring with magical properties seemed both unnecessary and a distraction. I am not sure how clear the story will be for those who have not read the book. Nevertheless, the wonderful score, the excellent performances and the show’s bold ambition won me over. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.