The Metromaniacs

B

If you have seen one of David Ives’s three previous riffs on classical French comedy — The School for Lies after Moliere, The Heir Apparent after Regnard and The Liar after Corneille — you will know exactly what to expect from this latest “translaptation” (what he calls his translated adaptations). A featherweight plot is sustained by the cleverness of Ives’s rhymed and often amusingly anachronistic couplets, artfully delivered by a talented cast in a stylish production. That’s what Ives again delivers, but this time out it does not seem quite as effortless. Ives had to dig deep to find his source, an obscure 1738 play by a virtually forgotten author, Alexis Piron. Based on actual events, it relates how a scorned Parisian poet got back at the literati by assuming the persona of a Breton shepherdess whose poetry charmed them all including Voltaire. In Ives’s version, the multiple impersonations and mistaken identifies are so complicated that even the actors get confused. The humor is a bit broader and the quality of the rhymes is a bit lower. The delightful cast includes holdovers from previous Ives plays — Christian Conn, Adam LeFevre and Amelia Pedlow — in addition to Noah Averbach-Katz, Adam Green (The Witch of Edmonton), Peter Kybart (Awake and Sing) and Dina Thomas (Tribes). Alas, Carlson Elrod, whose previous Ives performances added so much fun, is absent this time. Murell Horton is back with more wonderful costumes and Michael Kahn again directs with flair. The set design by James Noone (Sunset Boulevard) is also excellent. If you have not seen one of the earlier plays, you will probably be delighted; if you have, you might be a bit disappointed. Ives has apparently moved his New York base from Classic Stage Company to Red Bull Theater. CSC”s loss is a win for Red Bull. Running time: one hour 50 minutes including intermission.

Links to reviews of earlier Ives plays:

The School for Lies https://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2011/05/school-for-lies.html

The Heir Apparent https://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-heir-apparent.html

The Liar https://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-liar.html

Sunset Boulevard

B

To say that this revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1993 musical, now in a limited run at the Palace Theatre, was greeted with wild enthusiasm would be a gross understatement. From the moment that Glenn Close first appeared, it was clear that the evening would be a love fest between her and her fans. Not that she doesn’t deserve the acclaim. Although her voice sounded a bit pinched at times, her Norma Desmond is one for the ages. She is joined by a fine supporting cast — Michael Xavier as Joe Gillis, Fred Johanson as Max von Mayerling and Siobhan Dillon as Betty Schaeffer. The production, an import from the English National Opera, makes an interesting trade-off: instead of lavish sets, we get a 40-piece orchestra onstage. Unfortunately, the larger orchestra does not improve the quality of the music. The reduced emphasis on set design somehow makes the story stand out more. The production is more than semi-staged, but the bare-bones set by James Noone is only one step above a typical Encores production. The book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton is respectful to the screenplay of the Billy Wilder film and includes some of its best lines. Tracy Christensen’s evocative costumes are a major asset. Lonny Price directs with a sure hand. If you love the film and are a fan of Glenn Close, you will have a good time. If you do not appreciate Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music, you might not. Running time: 2 1/2 hours, including intermission.

While I Yet Live *

I hope that writing this family memoir was therapeutic for Billy Porter. That would at least provide some compensation for the ordeal of sitting through it. There are more family secrets under the roof of this home in Pittsburgh than one play can possibly handle. The fact that the only son of this religious black family is gay is far from the worst of its troubles. If only heartfelt emotions and good intentions were enough to make a play, this might have succeeded. Alas, the exposition is very clumsy. There are moments when it is difficult to tell not only when a scene is taking place but which characters are alive and which are dead. It does provide a fine opportunity for S. Epatha Merkerson, as the mother, to emote. I was looking forward to seeing Lillias White, but her underwritten role does not offer much chance to shine. The other cast members — Elain Graham, Sheria Irving, Kevyn Morrow, Larry Powell and Sharon Washington — do their best with the material. The second act meanders to a resolution that smacks of the wisdom of Oprah. I will give Porter credit for not sugarcoating the shortcomings of the character representing him.  James Noone’s set is attractive and Esosa’s costumes are appropriate to their characters. I enjoyed the player piano. I’m not sure what director Sheryl Kaller could have done to improve things for this Primary Stages production at the Duke. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes including intermission.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill ****

One could argue whether Lanie Robertson's 1986 work is a bioplay with music or a concert with monologues. Whichever it is, let's just be grateful that it has been revived as a vehicle for the multi-Tonied Audra McDonald in a limited-run production at Circle in the Square. Adding another superb performance to her long list, McDonald both vocally and dramatically inhabits the role of troubled jazz singer Billie Holiday near the end of her tragically short life.  McDonald's ability to disappear into Lady Day's persona is uncanny. In between songs, she relates many -- perhaps too many -- stories of her difficult life and career. Also onstage are a talented jazz trio (Sheldon Becton, piano; Clayton Craddock, drums; George Farmer, bass). Becton plays her music director and babysitter Jimmy Powers. Her pet chihuahua Pepi (Roxie) makes a memorable appearance too. James Noone's set designs fills most of the playing space with nightclub tables with a bandstand at one end and a bar at the other. Holiday's costume by Esosa is perfection. Lonny Price's direction is effective. The half-hearted use of projections is not. Ultimately, who cares as long as we have 90 glorious minutes of Lady Day as channeled by McDonald.