ALPHABET SOUP
EPISODE 15 (15):
EPISODE 15 (15):
TODAY'S LETTER:
"W"
A musical where pies are a plot point. Dueling cosmetic
queens. A child of Hollywood in a frank, hysterical discussion about life,
love, mental illness, and addiction. A beautiful and stunning play about a
horse named Joey. Joseph Fields, Jerome Chodorov, Betty Comden, Adolph Green,
and Leonard Bernstein's 1953 Tony-winning homage to mid-30s New York City.
Last, but certainly not least, an audience with Kate the Great. And they all begin with the letter "W."
Grab a cuppa. Let's begin.
Even the show curtain was pie-inspired. The smell of baking pies infused the theatre, and pie was on sale at the concessions stands. The folks in front of us, when asked, said the pie was decent, but not spectacular, especially for the price.
October, 2017. I'll be honest. "Waitress" never
especially appealed to me. I'd never seen the film the musical is based on, I
wasn't familiar with composer Sara Bareilles, the Tony Awards selection didn't
send me, and the brief Telecharge summary of the story didn't make me want to
run off and buy tickets. But, Playbill Club had a great offer PLUS the show
plays Sunday evenings, so we took the plunge. And we were pleasantly surprised.
No, it's not a great show. Diction was sometimes iffy, the band was frequently
over-amplified, the ensemble was often intrusive, the frequent 'celestial
choir' vocal arrangements were annoying, and Ms. Bareilles' eleven o' clock
number for her leading lady, the quite wonderful Betsy Wolfe, played out more
like a ten-fifteen number. But the slender story was warm, often very funny,
and, well, who doesn't like a happy, though improbably contrived, ending? The
best thing about "Waitress" was its uniformly excellent cast. In
addition to Betsy Wolfe, big kudos to Maia Nkenge Wilson and Caitlin Houlahan
as her sassy co-workers, Drew Gehling as the hot adulterous doctor, Will
Swenson as the hot abusive husband, Eric Anderson as an unbelievably easy boss,
Christopher Fitzgerald as Ogie, who was probably the most endearing character
in the show, and a true theatre icon, John Cullum, as Joe, who effortlessly
demonstrated why he's been a star for nearly six decades. This is a
"B" show, top to bottom. Everything is skillfully put together, but
nothing is exceptional. But, it's an entertaining "B" show, and, in
the end, one could do a lot worse. - at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York
July, 2016. Second preview. At one point during "War
Paint's" interminable opening number, Christine Ebersole appeared at the
top of a staircase like Mame, only without the costume or material. Co-star
Patti LuPone's accent was so thick and unintelligible, you almost believed she was
appearing in a Forbidden Broadway
parody of her sometimes questionable diction. The creative team of Grey Gardens put together this train
wreck of a musical, and it was a slog. The actors, bless their Equity
hearts, all tried. Lord knows Misses LuPone and Ebersole used every trick in
their considerable arsenals to make the weak material work, but except for the
final song in Act One and a couple of pretty ballads in Act Two there wasn't
much they could do. The final, fictional, scene where the two rivals meet was
excellent, and an indication of what the show could have been. A riveting duet capped that scene and the curtain should have come down then, but, no, there was a
coda that just dissipated the excitement of the previous scene. This had the
potential of being a tasty morsel of bitchiness, rivalry and fun, but instead
it was dull, uninvolving, and a waste of its talented cast, especially the
intrepid leading ladies and sinfully underused John Dossett and Douglas Sills,
who played the underwritten roles of the men in the ladies' lives. Back in the
day, if this show had opened as a tryout in Boston, it would have closed at the
end of the run. A major disappointment. - at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago
Chicago Critics: Surprisingly the Chicago critics and bloggers gave
the show relatively high marks. Show business "bible" Variety called the Goodman production a
"sophisticated and rewarding new musical." I'm wondering what show we
saw? It certainly wasn't the same show the Chicago press praised. (Ponder: was
the show by that point as good as they indicated or were the local critics and
bloggers just too enamored with Misses LuPone and Ebersole?
Cosmetic Changes?: Receiving mixed, though modestly favorable notices,
Marilyn Stasio's Variety review
neatly, and rather brilliantly, summed up War
Paint: "War Paint is a
musical about Catherine Zuber’s fabulous costumes and magnificent hats, as
modeled by the great Patti LuPone as Helena Rubenstein and her Highness, Christine
Ebersole as Elizabeth Arden. And if those hallowed names mean nothing to you,
this is not your show." It ran for only 236 performances, a relatively
short run, considering the names involved, and closed early to accommodate hip
surgery for LuPone. The show's box-office peaked early, then started a decline,
a decline that I'm sure was unexpected. Let's face it. LuPone and Ebersole are
musical theatre royalty in their own rights. Performing together, this should
have been a sold-out smash. The Nederlander Theatre is a bit out of the way on
41st Street and not in the middle of things. Could that have played a factor?
Or was it the show itself?
WISHFUL DRINKING –
Studio 54, New York
January, 2010. When you're the daughter of a beloved 50s
film star, Debbie Reynolds, and a popular pop singer, Eddie Fisher, and whose
step-mother for a time was one of the world's most famous and glamorous
actresses, Elizabeth Taylor, well, you're bound to have an interesting life. In
Carrie Fisher's case, "interesting" did not even scratch the surface.
Like all good storytellers, Fisher had the knack for making you feel as though
you were hanging out in her living room, enjoying some wine, and just having a
good old-fashioned chin-wag. She also made the carefully planned and rehearsed
material seem spontaneous, off-the-cuff. Toss in a wicked and sardonic sense of
humor, an appreciation of the ridiculous, and a bracing honesty about your
mental illnesses and addiction to drugs, and, you, lucky audience member, had a
grand old time. Of course she talked about Star
Wars and Princess Leia. Of course she talked about her family, even using a
helpful family tree graphic to illustrate the rather convoluted six degrees of
separation in the family. Of course she peppered the evening with some show biz
gossip and fun facts. But what she did best of all was just show us Carrie
Fisher, highs, lows, and in-betweens. Being bi-polar, a manic-depressive, and a
drug addict does not need to define who you are, no more than being an iconic
film character does, or being the child of famous parents does. Spending the
evening with Carrie Fisher was inspiring, uplifting, and just damn funny. A
tremendous talent gone far too soon. – at Studio 54, New York
Like Daughter, Like Mother or Vice Versa: Carrie Fisher wasn't the
only one in the family who was a terrific storyteller, as Bob and I found out
when we saw mom Debbie Reynolds in concert a few years after seeing Carrie's show. Reynolds
was around 80 at the time and her dancing and singing days were, for the most
part, behind her, but she could still tell a story, and, boy, did she ever! She
did the figurative letting-her-hair-down, got the claws out and let it rip.
Surprisingly gentle about Elizabeth Taylor, apparently they had made-up or
something, she reserved her sharpest barbs for her ex-husbands, especially
Eddie Fisher. According to Reynolds, Fisher was far from gifted in a certain
area, a tasty tidbit that the largely elderly female audience ate up like
candy. Who knew our Tammy had such a blue streak?
December, 2012. I've wanted to see this ever since Bob,
Colleen and I went on a tour of the National Theatre complex in London and saw
the cast of the National's production of "War Horse" warm up on the
stage of the Olivier Theatre. Based on an acclaimed English children's novel (I
had no idea until I did some "review" research upon its Chicago
opening), this truly remarkable production touched me on many levels. At
its most basic, it's a story about a boy and his horse. But though the story
may be basic, its thrust is not. Yes, at its core, War Horse tells the story of Albert, a Devon farm boy, and Joey,
his beloved horse. But there's much, much more. It's also the story of growing
up, the horrors of war, the treasures of friendship, and these stories were told
within the framework of a visually sumptuous production that was lit within an
inch of its life to magnificent effect. I didn't expect to be so moved by this
story, but curmudgeonly me actually got all misty-eyed at the show's conclusion
when Albert and Joey reunited and returned safely home. Sentimental? Yes.
Heartfelt? Most definitely. Deliberately tugging at the heartstrings?
Absolutely. Effective? You bet. Beautifully performed by a cast of first-rate
actors, singers, and at times, musicians, the 2.5 hours flew by. Kudos to the
wonderful folks who brought the animals to vivid life and gave them all such
distinct personalities. Some things that truly are worth mentioning: the
rapport between Albert and Joey that made you truly believe how much this boy
loved his horse; when Joey nuzzled his horse partner Topthorn in affection and
concern just before Topthorn's death; the vivid scenes of human and animal
carnage lit in stark white light contrasted with dark shadow; the comic relief
of the goose; the very disturbing image of vultures picking at a dead soldier's
eyes; the terror of the tank; the joyfulness of Albert and Joey's reunion. The
Palace is not an ideal venue for plays and some of the dialogue was lost, but
both are minor quibbles. This show was just pretty damn terrific. Full stop. –
at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, Chicago
WONDERFUL TOWN
– Al Hirschfeld
Theatre, New York
 |
| Sixteen. Was I ever that young? |
At This Performance…: Flu felled Donna Murphy during previews,
cancelling several and putting the entire project at risk. During the run, she
missed numerous performances, and then while on "vocal rest," with
the P.R. folks advertising her final weeks, she didn't show up at all. I read
somewhere that she missed over 100 performances. That's something like 13
weeks. That's a lot for a scheduled 10-month
contract. Articles were written excoriating her behavior and, by association, a
perceived lackadaisical worth ethic on Broadway. Murphy, perhaps wisely, never
addressed the situation until a few years later when she revealed she had
severely hemorrhaged a vocal cord, came back to the show too soon, eventually
reinjured it again, and was in danger of completely destroying her voice. Since
Wonderful Town, she's appeared in two
limited-run musicals and was an ecstatically-received Dolly Levi in the Bette
Midler-led Hello, Dolly!, where she
filled in for Midler on Tuesday evenings and when Midler was on vacation. I
feel she got a bad rap for Wonderful Town,
but I also feel the situation could have been handled with more honesty and
less speculation on everyone's part. Just my opinion.
September, 2016. Preview performance.The star of Goodman
Theatre's largely enjoyable "Wonderful Town" may well truly have been
the glorious 17-piece pit orchestra under the baton of Ben Johnson. Those
eighteen men and women make Leonard Bernstein's fabulous score sizzle. That
Overture! Sigh! Not far behind in the kudos department were Bri Sudia as a wry
Ruth, Lauren Molina as a sweet Eileen, and Karl Hamilton's somewhat thankless,
but beautifully sung, Robert Baker. Not all of it worked. As mentioned in
the previous entry, the show has its creaks and groans. The show curtain looked
unfinished (apparently it wasn't) and was butt-ugly. The scenic design, while
clever, often left far too much empty space on the Goodman stage, which gave
the show a cold, unwelcoming look. Lighting was meh. While the show for the
most part was competently directed by Mary Zimmerman (sorry, I just don't get
why everyone faints over her), there were parts that were muddy.
"Conversation Piece," which should be a comic delight, was a hot
mess. It just didn't work. The secondary characters were played more like
cartoons than real people. This was especially true of Jordan Brown's Wreck.
Mr. Brown apparently played Spike in Goodman's Vanya, etc and it felt like he was still playing that part. His
performance was so forced, it was almost painful, and, sadly, not helped by
going up on lyrics and melody in a big way during his solo number.
"Conga" could have used some heat. One the plus side, "One
Hundred Easy Ways" gave Sudia a chance to eat up the stage and stop the
show. "My Darlin' Eileen" and the entire scene before it were pure
charm and great fun. I'm personally a big fan of "Swing!" and Sudia
and the ensemble did it proud. Far better than "War Paint," the
previous occupant, this was a tonic for these crazy times. - at the Goodman
Theatre, Chicago
THE WEST SIDE WALTZ – Shubert Theatre, Chicago
And that's it for now. Until later….
© 2018 Jeffrey Geddes
