Little Women

C+

Keeping up with Kate Hamill’s recreations of classic novels has been a case of diminishing returns. Her take on Sense & Sensibility with Bedlam was sheer joy and set the bar very high. I missed Vanity Fair but was disappointed in Pride and Prejudice for lacking the inventiveness of her earlier Austen adaptation. For me, this reworking of Alcott, in a Primary Stages production at the Cherry Lane Theatre, is another downward step. Hamill’s version is almost bipolar, with a first act that is basically faithful to Alcott but a second act that is more Hamill than Alcott. She significantly alters the character and fate of Jo, omits a key character, manages to make Amy completely unsympathetic and drops an interesting thread relating to Laurie’s sexuality. On the plus side, the play provides meaty roles for two exciting young actors — Kristolyn Lloyd (Blue Ridge) as Jo and Nate Mann (fresh out of Juilliard) as Laurie. Her sisters Meg, Beth and Amy are played respectively by Hamill, Paola Sanchez Abreu (The Wolves) and Carmen Zilles (Small Mouth Sounds). Hamill’s Meg was disappointing, Abreu’s Beth was serviceable and Zilles’s Amy was relentlessly annoying. Michael Crane (Gloria) is fine as Brooks and Dashwood but inspired as a parrot (more about that later). John Lenartz (Inherit the Wind), who also plays Mr. Laurence, and Maria Elena Ramirez (Fish in the Dark), who also plays Aunt March, are solid as the girls’ parents and Ellen Harvey (Present Laughter) is fine as Hannah and Mrs. Mingott. Except for the fact that Jo is dressed in men’s clothes from the beginning, the first act stays fairly close to the book. It is wildly uneven, with scenes ranging from touching to leaden. I doubt there were many dry eyes in the house when the March family is reunited at Christmas. After intermission, things go seriously astray. A scene for Aunt March, Jo and Amy includes the parrot, which is good for a few laughs, but seems completely incongruous with everything else. Amy’s act of spite against Jo, invented by Hamill, was hard to believe. As in the book, I found it difficult to grasp how someone attracted to Jo could also be attracted to Amy. The extra burden of feminism placed on Jo essentially changes Alcott’s message. The two-level set by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams fills in the framework of the March home with a minimum of furnishings. Valerie Therese Bart’s period costumes are fine. Sarna Lapine’s (Sunday in the Park with George) direction occasionally lets scenes lag. If you love Alcott’s novel, you will probably enjoy the first act. If you are expecting an experience as bracing as one of Hamill’s Austen adaptations, you will probably be disappointed. Running time: two hours five minutes, including intermission.

Important Hats of the Twentieth Century *

I wasn’t all that fond of Nick Jones’s “Verité” at LCT3 last winter, but it seems like “Hamlet” compared to his new comedy at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Studio at Stage II. Imagine a very, very long Saturday Night Live sketch or a class play whipped up by stoned students at some fashion school. The insipid plot involves Sam Greevy (a misused Carson Elrod), a top 1930’s designer of haute couture; T.B. Doyle (John Behlmann), the fashion reporter he is sleeping with; and Paul Roms (Matthew Saldivar), a rival designer who introduces future fashion ideas such as sweatshirts and skater pants, using a time travel hat that he has stolen from mad scientist Dr. Cromwell (Remy Auberjonois). Roms’s portal to the future is through the closet of Albany teenager Jonathan (Jon Bass) whose father Darryl (Triney Sandoval) he accidentally kidnaps. Reed Campbell, Maria Elena Ramirez and Henry Vick round out the cast in multiple roles. Timothy R. Mackabee designed the minimalist set. Jennifer Moeller's clever costumes are the production's creative highlight. Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Verité, Hand To God) directed. Prepare yourself to be traumatized by the sight of masturbating yetis. And did I mention that mysterious glowing space balls are attacking New York? What were the folks at MTC thinking when they decided to subject us to this drivel? Honesty demands that I report there were a few in the audience who expressed their approval loudly and often. Running time: two hours, including intermission.

Somewhere Fun *

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)
I am sorry to report that Jenny Schwartz's surrealist comedy now at the Vineyard Theatre is not on the level of her well-regarded "God's Ear" of a few years back. After a promising, delightful first act, it goes off the rails and spins its wheels for two more acts. Although it's always a pleasure to see Kathleen Chalfant (despite the fact her role here not so cleverly recalls her part in "Wit"), the biggest treat here is Kate Mulgrew, who has a brilliant monologue (dialogue if you count the few words her friend is able to get in) before her character melts into a puddle on the street. Chalfant plays Evelyn Armstrong, who is dying of anal cancer. Mulgrew is Rosemary Rappaport, a long-lost friend she runs into on Madison Avenue. Rosemary' estranged son Benjamin (Greg Keller, recently of "Belleville") was a childhood friend of Evelyn's daughter Beatrice (Brooke Bloom), who lost her face to a Dalmatian. Rosemary's real estate client Cecilia (Mary Shulz) is a widow looking for love on the internet. Richard Bekins is T, Evelyn's emotionally distant husband. Maria Elena Ramirez is Lolita, her health care aide. Griffin Birney and Makenna Ballard appear as the young Benjamin and Bernice. Schwartz's clever word play grew tedious after a while. I would have left happy if the play ended after the first act, but my good feelings had evaporated long before the play finally ended. Marsha Ginsberg's set is simple and uncluttered and Jessica Pabst's costumes are fine. I don't know what more director Anne Kauffman could have done to whip the play into a coherent whole. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes, including two short intermissions.