Days of Wine and Roses

B-

It’s over 20 years since Kelli O’Hara (The King and I, The Light in the Piazza) suggested to Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza, Floyd Collins) that he write a musical for her and Brian D’Arcy James (Sweet Smell of Success, Into the Woods) based on Blake Edwards’s 1962 film about Kirsten and Joe, a couple struggling with alcoholism. That project has finally come to fruition on the stage of Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater. One might wonder why anyone would choose this screenplay to musicalize. The answer, in short, seems to be to provide a showcase for O’Hara’s prodigious vocal talents and acting chops. In that regard, it succeeds. However, the film does not yield itself easily to musicalization. Craig Lucas’s (Prelude to a Kiss, The Light in the Piazza) book generally hews fairly close to the screenplay, incorporating large blocks of dialog, but Guettel’s songs are not hummers and some of his lyrics neither advance the action nor deepen the characterization. The main difference in the musical is that the role of their daughter Lila (Ella Dane Morgan, Waitress) has been substantially enlarged, which somewhat blurs the focus. For some reason, the locale has been changed from San Francisco to New York. It is mentioned that Joe served in the Korean War and there is a brief hint that he suffers from PTSD. Since that war didn’t start until the middle of 1950, it seems strange that 1950 is listed in the program as the year the play is set. The other non-singing characters are well-cast. Byron Jennings (She Loves Me, Is He Dead?) is strong as Kirsten’s father and David Jennings (Tina, Once on This Island), no relation to Byron, is fine as Jim, Joe’s AA sponsor. Lizzie Clachan’s (Blindness, A Number) scenic design economically suggests a wide variety of locations. Dede Ayite’s (Slave Play, How I Learned To Drive) costumes fit the period. Michael Greif’s (Dear Evan Hansen, Machinal) direction is fluid and unfussy. For Kelli O’Hara fans, the show is a must see. I just wish that I found everything else as stirring as her performance. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission.

I Was Most Alive with You

C

Playwright Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss, The Dying Gaul) began with a noble goal: to write a play for charismatic actor Russell Harvard that would be equally accessible for a hearing audience as well as those who can read American Sign Language. To accomplish his goal he cast each character with two actors — one communicating primarily or exclusively by speech and the other by ASL. Playwrights Horizons is presenting the New York premiere. One of the characters is Deaf (capital D signifying one who identifies with Deaf culture) and another is deaf (small d signifying one who does not). There are so many interesting issues revolving around D/deafness, among them preferred method of communication and its implications, resistance to other methods, controversy over cochlear implants, attitude toward Deaf culture vs. assimilation, that there would seem to be rich material for a play with that as the main focus. Unfortunately, the playwright has chosen to harness the plot to the Book of Job, which is an uncomfortable fit. First of all, it is unclear who the Job figure is in the play. Is it Ash (Michael Gaston;Lucky Guy, The Cripple of Inishmann), a writer on a long-running TV show, who is beset with a variety of calamities on Thanksgiving Day? Is it his son Knox (Russell Harvard; Tribes, Spring Awakening) who is Deaf, gay and a recovering addict? Or is it possibly Knox’s deaf boyfriend Farhad (Tad Cooley) who suffered a horrendous childhood? If Job is about bad things happening to good people, it is not obvious which if any of these three qualifies as good. We also meet Ash’s writing partner and creative soulmate Astrid (Marianna Bassham; Our Town), his ironically named, boozy wife Pleasant (Lisa Emery; Marvin's Room, Marjorie Prime) who feels lost as both wife and mother, his mother Carla (Lois Smith; Marjorie Prime, John), who produces his TV show, and her nurse Mariama (Gameela Wright; Halcyon Days). When Lucas brings on the calamities, he seemingly throws in every topical social issue he can think of: alcoholism, opiate abuse, Ponzi schemes, bullying, sexual abuse, severe depression, capital punishment, antipathy toward Muslims, HIV, costly health care. The result is a play that is overstuffed and unfocused. As a further complication, the story is framed as a play within a play that the writers are developing. On the plus side, there are strong performances from the speaking actors and moments that are quite affecting. I never pass up an opportunity to see Lois Smith onstage. The shadow cast (Seth Gore, Beth Applebaum, Amelia Hensley, Harold Foxx, Anthony Natale, Kalen Feeney, Alexandra Wailes) performs on a balcony eight feet above the main stage, which makes it difficult to give simultaneous attention to them as well as to the actors below. I am not qualified to evaluate the quality of their ASL signing. The set by Arnulfo Maldonado (Iowa, Men on Boats) recreates the writers’ room of the tv show with gestures to other locations as needed. Unfortunately this requires some of the actors to be furniture movers. The costumes by David C. Woolard (The Rocky Horror Show) did not call attention to themselves. The lighting by Annie Wiegand is very helpful in establishing both location and time. Tyne Rafaeli (The Rape of the Sabine Women) directed with Sabrina Dennison as ASL director. The play could use some judicious cutting. There are repetitive passages, e.g. the same letter is presented twice, once in speech and later in ASL. While I admire the playwright for his ambition, I wish that he had not cluttered up the play with too many half-developed ideas. I do not grasp how the title relates to the play. Running time: two hours, 20 minutes including intermission.

NOTE: Here’s a YouTube clip of Russell Harvard’s prayer in the first act. Paste the link into your browser and press the CC button to see the captions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2392LaI0Ck&t=28s

An American in Paris ****

The just-ended Broadway season blessed dance lovers with two productions featuring dance in a central role. The season started with a wonderful revival of On the Town and ended with this stylish adaptation of the Oscar-winning 1951 film starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. In his first outing as director, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon does himself proud. It doesn’t hurt that he has wonderful Gershwin music to work with, as well as a pair of talented leads. Robert Fairchild, a principal with the New York City Ballet, is simply marvelous as Jerry Mulligan, the GI who stayed in Paris to become an artist. In addition to his impeccable dance skills, he is a natural actor with matinee looks and a pleasant voice. Leanne Cope, a Caron look-alike from the Royal Ballet, would also be a triple-threat if her singing voice were more expressive. The supporting cast is strong — Brandon Uranowitz as the expat composer Adam Hochberg, Max von Essen as Henri Baurel, Lise’s somewhat ambivalent fiancé, and Jill Paice as Milo Davenport, the American heiress who has her eye on Jerry. Each gets at least one chance to shine. Veanne Cox does her best with the cardboard role of Henri’s uptight mother. Bob Crowley’s costumes are excellent and his fluid set design, complimented by wonderful projections by 59 Productions, are amazing. However, the incessant motion of the sets and projections in the early scenes almost made me dizzy. The ambitious — perhaps overambitious — book by Craig Lucas moves the action back to 1945 when Paris is just emerging from the Nazi occupation. To me, the attempt to add gravitas to the plot was misguided and less than successful. My only other disappointment is that there was less Gershwin music than I hoped for. I missed “Embraceable You,” “Nice Work if You Can Get It” and “Our Love Is Here To Stay.” Despite these reservations, I had a wonderful time and highly recommend the show, especially to dance lovers. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes including intermission. 

The Lying Lesson *

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The publicity for Craig Lucas's new play at the Atlantic Theater bills it as a "comic thriller." Alas, it is neither amusing nor thrilling. This strange two-character play imagines an 1981 episode in which Bette Davis, in her early 70's, returns to a coastal Maine town where she had summered in her teens to buy a house and rekindle her acquaintance with her former heartthrob. Shortly after her arrival, she meets a young local woman who attempts to make herself indispensable. Carol Kane looks amazingly like Davis, especially in Ilona Somogyi's great costumes, but, when she opens her mouth, the illusion is shattered. I am sure there are still bars in Manhattan where any patron picked at random can do a more convincing Bette Davis. Mickey Sumner, lean and lanky, is convincing as the mysterious young woman, except when her down-East accent slips. The plot, such as it is, revolves around discovering her identity and motivation. Neil Patel seems off his stride with a set in drab shades of beige. Even director Pam MacKinnon, who did so well with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "Clybourne Park,"can't make a silk purse out of this. Running time: two hours, ten minutes including intermission.

Marry Me a Little **

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If you are an avid Sondheim fan (and I am not), you will no doubt enjoy the Keen Company's revival of this two-person show conceived and developed by Craig Lucas and Norman René.  Two neighbors in a Brooklyn apartment building (Jason Tam and Lauren Molina), alone on a Saturday night, sing 19 songs, almost all numbers cut from Sondheim musicals. They also dance a little and Molina plays the cello a bit. That's basically it for 63 minutes. There were a handful of songs I liked, but for me most of them made the case for why they were cut in the first place. Both performers are personable, but not that strong vocally. From the third row, I had trouble hearing some of the lyrics. John Bell is the fine pianist.  Dan Knechtges choreographed. Jonathan Silverstein directed.