MISFILES! or WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THAT BOX? (2)

 MISFILES! or WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THAT BOX? (2)

More misfiles. Let's see what today has to offer.

VANITIES – Drury Lane Theatre-Water Tower Place, Chicago

A post-"Cinderella," but pre-"Victor/Victoria" Lesley Ann Warren opened the show in Chicago, but was gone by the time I saw it. Pooh.

Trying to convey an atmosphere of elegance. 

July, 1977.  High school best friends and cheerleaders talk about boys and plan parties and shit. Scene one ends. Five years later, college best friends and sorority sisters talk about boys and plan parties and shit. Scene two ends. Six years later, bitter and disillusioned with life, and they go on and on about that, it's revealed that one of the B&Ds (Bitter and Disillusioned) has slept with another's husband. Big fight. Aggrieved B&D storms out. Remaining two decide to drink their troubles away. End of play. Wildly popular during its off-Broadway run, racking up nearly 1800 performances, and wildly popular for a time among every amateur theatre group in the country, and a fan favorite for competition cuttings and audition monologues, Vanities has its share of snappy dialogue, but it's also very much a product of its time (late 70s), and I can't imagine anyone doing it today except as a museum/curiosity piece. It's not badly written, mind you, it's just, well, late 70s, you know, that decade that gave the world Nixon, Nik Nik shirts, Qiana, disco, and really bad hair. The reason, the only reason, I went to see this was to see the quite marvelous Elizabeth Ashley in the role of the "bad" girl, the adulteress. She did not disappoint. Mary Ann Chinn and Barbara ("Laugh In") Sharma completed the cast and together the three ladies made for an entertaining, if inconsequential, afternoon. Chicago embraced this little show, and it ran much longer than its originally-announced eight weeks to end up with a multi-month run. As a dramatic piece, it's pretty slight, but audiences ate it up and audiences don't lie. – at the Drury Lane Theatre-Water Tower Place.

Sidebar: Open only a year when Vanities played, this playhouse, across the alley from Water Tower Place shopping mall, was a pleasant, in-the-round theatre, that over time was sporadically successful as a theatre, then became a multi-plex (saw E.T. and the controversial Making Love there), then became a proscenium house, décor-wise similar to the ugly Drury Lane-Oakbrook, then underwent an ownership change and became the Broadway Playhouse. Broadway in Chicago puts its smaller, less desirable shows there. It's a small theatre, but still remarkably unattractive. Playwright Jack Heifner would write many plays in his lifetime, but only Vanities reached any level of success. For reasons unknown to man, Vanities was turned into a musical in 2009. It  quickly faded from view.

NOISES OFF

 – Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York

(revised from an earlier post)

December, 1983. Arguably one of the funniest plays in existence, this madcap backstage farce by Michael Frayn was designed and directed with consummate skill and played to pitch-perfect hilarity by an incomparable cast that included Victor Garber, Paxton Whitehead, Deborah Rush, Brian Murray, and the one-and-only Dorothy Loudon, the anchor of the show. Many comedies, unless they are period pieces, don't age well. "Present-day" comedies are too often tied to the period in which they were written and tend to get stale over the years. Not so with Noises Off. The onstage/backstage nature of the show keeps it fresh and lively. But, it's a show that relies on exquisite, precise timing. And exquisite, precise timing was exactly what we got. Steve and I, along with 1000 other lucky patrons, laughed ourselves to the point of exhaustion.  Act Two literally left me with tears running down my face, I was laughing so hard. Dorothy Loudon was a true theatrical treasure. A trouper, an uninhibited creature of the stage with an impeccable ability to make us feel as though she is doing this just for us. Remarkable. She left us far too soon.  Even after over 33 years, this remains one of the best comic performances I have ever seen. "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats!" – at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York

Sidebar: Other comedies I consider among the funniest are Is He Dead?, The Little Dog Laughed, The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, and The Play That Goes Wrong. The late Dorothy Loudon was adept in drama as well as comedy and musicals. She gave Annie a welcome brace of wholesome nastiness; she was every bit Katharine Hepburn's equal in The West Side Waltz, and touched my heart in Driving Miss Daisy, even though the production as a whole left me a bit indifferent. To make your heart soar, watch her perform the song "Fifty Percent" from Ballroom on My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies. Flawless. You can keep your Idinas. Dorothy Loudon was the real deal.

- Paramount Arts Centre, Aurora

February, 1986. Back when many bus-and-truck tours were Equity, hell, back when most touring shows were Equity, and back when many tours, even the bus-and-trucks, had stars attached to them, Pace Theatricals brought Noises Off to Aurora's Paramount Arts Centre, now known as the Paramount Theatre. Starring Noel Harrison in the role of the exasperated director of Nothing On, the play-within-a-play, this delicious farce tasted somewhat less delicious in the Paramount, a gorgeous theatre, yet one with an enormous main floor and a balcony set back a considerable distance from the stage, making it feel like, well, a beautiful barn. An ex-movie house, the Paramount looks and feels like one, despite its role as a leading Chicagoland producer of musicals, and poor Noises Off just sort of got swallowed up in its vastness. Though bringing all the design and directorial elements that made it a New York hit, the hard-working cast just couldn't overcome the vastness of the facility. We were in row AA, the first row after the main floor's crossover aisle, dividing the massive main floor into two very large sections. It was like watching the play unfold from across the street. We had raved about the play to our friend Gerry, who was with us that night, but sadly that evening didn't live up to our praise, and Steve, Gerry, and I were all disappointed. – at the Paramount Arts Centre (Paramount Theatre), Aurora, IL

Sidebar: Noel Harrison was, as you might suspect, Rex Harrison's kid, and that, probably, was his biggest claim to fame, though you wouldn't know that by reading his, well, pretentious Playbill bio. And I quote: "A superb actor and entertainer, he is also a musician, composer, singer, director, builder, farmer and champion skier." Whew! His PR person must have worked overtime on that puppy!

- Quadracci Powerhouse (Milwaukee Rep), Milwaukee

December, 2013. Even the ever-reliable Milwaukee Rep can have a miss, and, surprisingly, their production of Noises Off was one of them. Oh, all the design excellence one expects from the Milwaukee Rep was there, if perhaps a bit more muted than normal, and, for the most part, the acting talent was there, a notable exception being the actor playing Selsdon Mowbray who just seemed miscast and lost, but something was missing…a delight in the ridiculousness of the whole thing, a lack of pacing and clarity that was especially missed in Act Two (Bob had trouble following it.), and in general a feeling of ennui that infected the production. It wasn't bad; it just wasn't up to Rep standards. The audience laughed a lot and seemed to enjoy it; our niece thought it was quite good. However, Bob and our friend Pat agreed with me that it misfired when it should have been a comic blaze. Disappointing, especially since I had high expectations for it. – at the Quadracci Powerhouse, Milwaukee

  

APPLICATION PENDING – Westside Theatre/Downstairs, New York

March, 2015. I have long been a huge fan of off-Broadway. Less flashy than its Broadway sibling, it often holds little treasures within its far-reaching borders. Application Pending was one of those treasures. The day was a nasty, crappy, snowy day in New York City, but where theatre is concerned, nasty, crappy, snowy weather doesn't scare us, even with a nasty fall on the ice for Bob on our way to The Audience earlier that day. We're old school.  And we were rewarded with a hysterical 90-minute romp with a true tour-de-force by its star and sole cast member, Christina Bianco. I know "tour-de-force" is probably overused, but in this cast, it's absolutely the only way to define Ms. Bianco's towering performance as the Pre-Primary Admissions officer at an elite private school in Manhattan, as well as a myriad of other characters, too many to count (I read somewhere she essayed forty-three (!!), characters and voices both changing at lightning speed. Breathlessly funny and on-point, Greg Edwards and Andy Sandberg's script poked delicious fun at the high-stakes school admission wars engaged by the rich and famous and the wannabe rich and famous for those coveted admission slots. This was not some cheapie production, either. With a full-on set, costumes, and lighting and tight direction, this was the perfect antidote to a dreary, cold Sunday evening in New York. Sadly, the performance was sparsely attended, but that just made Bianco's performance even more remarkable as she made us all feel as though we were her special and valued guests. Totally delightful. – at the Westside Theatre (Downstairs), New York

9 to 5

 – Marquis Theatre, New York

September, 2009. Had the exuberant and ecstatic audience reaction following 9 to 5's opening number, the smashingly good "9 to 5," been an indication of the show's future, 9 to 5 would still be running today. Unfortunately, though many good things happened during the next 2 ½ hours, this was the indisputable high point of the show, and 9 to 5 clocked a disappointing run of only 148 performances, not even six months. (Allison Janney's "One of the Boys," a production number that could easily pass for Woman of the Year's "One of the Boys," Stephanie J. Block's eleven o'clock emancipation power ballad "Get Out and Stay Out," and the call-to-battle "Change It"  elicited their share of hefty applause, but nothing like the opening number.) Though hewing closely to the beloved, iconic, and damn funny 1980 film, original screenwriter and now librettist for the musical incarnation Patricia Resnick, and original star, composer of the title tune, and country legend Dolly Parton muddied up the waters by adding a love interest for the Lily Tomlin role, eliminating the wonderful short segment in the film where Lily Tomlin's character solves a myriad of problems during a series of phone calls, which establishes quickly and succinctly just how indispensible she is, and expanding the role of Roz to a full supporting character, which gave too much importance to a wonderful minor role. Parton's score was overall pleasant and tuneful and often reminiscent of other composers (see note about "One of the Boys"), but it wasn't particularly memorable. The show's biggest asset was the divine Allison Janney in the Lily Tomlin role. Regal, commanding, and just plain fun, she looked like she was having a blast on the Marquis stage. Megan Hilty, all boobs and country frills in the Dolly Parton role, and Stephanie J. Block, all uptight in the Jane Fonda role, brought skilled professionalism to their parts, though Hilty's much-praised "Backwoods Barbie" was a garbled miss at the performance I saw, and Block's "Get Out and Stay Out" was more American Idol belting than singing with interpretation. Marc Kudisch was wonderful as the oversexed, misogynistic boss (the Dabney Coleman role). Andy Karl did what he could as the awkwardly added love interest for Ms. Janney. Kathy Fitzgerald beat Roz within an inch of the character's life, and I found her interpretation both cloying and over-indulgent. This was the penultimate performance, but you would never know it from the enthusiasm and opening-night freshness of the performance. It could have been better, but having said that, I enjoyed it a lot. – at the Marquis Theatre, New York

Sidebar: During the interval, I was reminded that, by the same time the next day, 9 to 5 would be over, the strike most likely already underway, when I walked past the merchandise stand and saw everything at least 75% off. Everything must go. I bought a sparkly "Dolly" pin that now resides in our china cabinet.

– Bank of America Theatre, Chicago

January, 2011. With a new, leaner, more tour-friendly physical production than its Broadway original, a revised book, tweaked score, and new direction and choreography by Jeff Calhoun, 9 to 5 hit the road with the wonderful Dee Hoty, whom I will see in just about anything, in the lead role of Violet. And as an added "bonus" for the hinterlands, Dolly Parton made a guest appearance. Not in person, of course, but instead in a video that bookended the show and introduced the leading ladies. It was a gimmick, not really necessary, but the audience liked it and actually gave Dolly "entrance" applause. The major missteps that I thought worked against the New York production, Violet's unnecessary love interest and the expansion of the character of Roz, were still there and still worked against the show. But the show's general good will and eagerness to please made this trimmer 9 to 5 a thoroughly delightful way to spend a wintry Sunday afternoon. Dee Hoty, delicious as always, made Violet her own. Mamie Parris, as Judy, gave "Get Out and Stay Out" the requisite belt, but she also made the lyrics shine, which made it more powerful than at the Marquis. Diana DeGarmo played Doralee, and she was quite good, even if "Backwoods Barbie" still didn't impress. While 9 to 5 will never be an "A" musical, it's a good, solid "B" musical that has become popular on the regional and amateur circuits. – at the Bank of America Theatre, Chicago

That's it for now. Up next….more misfiles!

© 2017 Jeffrey Geddes