LET'S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING – Episode 2
(a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet Soup)
"Let's start at the very beginning/A very good place to start/When
you read you begin with A-B-C…"
I grabbed a lot from the "A" pile, so here's some
more "A"-level memories. Today's theatrical recollections include: a
rarely done Paul Zindel play, a much-anticipated musical that should have been
better than it was, a Cole Porter classic, Margo Channing and Eve Harrington
together at last onstage, and a storefront production of one of my favorite
musicals. Let's start.
Different program covers and different publisher.
January, 1972; March, 1972. Paul Zindel's and Miss Reardon drinks a little (letter
case as indicated on the program), while a financial hit in its 1971 Broadway
run despite a short run of 108 performances, is one of those plays that didn't age
well. It's a play about three sisters, all educators: one an alcoholic, one mentally
unstable and accused of molesting a male student, and one a cold,
calculating ice queen who drops in on her family after years of no contact when the family matriarch dies . Pretty grim and hardly the stuff comedies are made
of, yet Zindel packed his play with enough zingers to rival Neil Simon.
(Interestingly, Neil Simon's seriously-flawed, yet fascinating, The Gingerbread Lady, also about an
alcoholic lady, opened in the same season on Broadway. It, however, did not make
its money back.) I reread the play a few years back to see if it might be
suitable for the theatre company that Bob works with. It still had the laugh
lines, but Zindel never successfully married the kitchen-sink type drama with
the comedy, and it read a bit like a hot mess. In fact my 21st century opinion
of the play is in line with what the Chicago
Tribune's William Leonard wrote, and I quote, "Slapstick and tragedy
work at cross purposes in And Miss
Reardon Drinks a Little…But if Paul Zindel…thought he could make the
customers both laugh and cry, it doesn't seem to have worked out that
way." Having said that, though, the 21-year-old Jeff thought the play was
quite dandy, and the performances of Sandy Dennis, Betty Garrett, and DeAnn
Mears were powerful. I mean, seriously, Sandy Dennis and Betty Garrett? C'mon!! I liked it so much I saw it twice.
Apparently Chicago audiences liked it despite the lukewarm reviews, for the
show, originally scheduled for a four-week run, extended and closed after an
eight-week run. Zindel's plays, including his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon
Marigolds, are rarely done today.
– at the Civic Theatre, Chicago
Full-page ad.
December, 2009. Preview. Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth above
the title. A trio of Broadway stalwarts sharing "starring" status
(Terrence Mann, Carolee Carmello, Kevin Chamberlain). A comic favorite (Jackie
Hoffman). Two up-and-rising youngsters (Krysta Rodriguez, Wesley Taylor). Beloved
characters from cartoons, TV, and film as the source material. The anticipation
was high; so were the expectations. How could it miss? And yet, and yet, it
did. Oh, it wasn't a disaster by any means. That actually may have been
preferable. Instead it was, well, mediocre. Professional and glitzy, with enough
Addams family references to make us boomers happy (finger snaps, iconic poses,
etc.), the show overall lacked the wicked and subversive wit of the cartoons,
the TV series, and the two films. Stars Lane and Neuwirth brought their star
charisma, but neither seemed like they were having much fun with these
deliciously over-the-top roles made famous by John Astin and Carolyn Jones on
TV and especially Raul Julia and Angelica Huston on film. And someone please
explain to me why you would cast a dancer with Neuwirth's creds, and then give
her sinfully little to dance? The plot was contrived, but it gave Carolee
Carmello a chance to blast the show skyward for its only real moment during the
evening with her "Waiting" during the excellent "Full
Disclosure" segment which closed Act One. Terrence Mann, poor guy, had an
unfortunate and perplexing encounter that bordered on sexual with a tentacled
creature that went on for far too long. Kevin Chamberlain's Uncle Fester wanted
to talk about love, and he did...endlessly. Even the ever reliable Jackie
Hoffman was pushing too hard, trying her best to put across the meh material.
No one was terrible; nothing was poorly executed. It just sat there.
Considering the talent involved, that was as surprising as it was sad. – at the
Oriental Theatre, Chicago
Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh (snap, snap): The Chicago critics and bloggers were
a mixed bag, but, if theatreinchicago.com is to be believed (6 Highly
Recommended; 6 Recommended; 2 Somewhat Recommended) mainly positive in their
assessment of the musical. Changes were made, the original directors were
replaced by Jerry Zaks, but kept their directorial credit, and the show opened
on Broadway to almost unanimous pans. (Link to the Variety review….https://variety.com/2010/legit/reviews/the-addams-family-1117942554/)
As in Chicago, the show did seriously good box office, largely, I assume, on
the bring-in-the-money power of Nathan Lane and, to a lesser extent, Bebe
Neuwirth. Without those two leads, the show's finances faltered and it closed
in the red after a respectable run of 35 previews and 722 performances. Since
then, The Addams Family has been
extensively reworked, went on a successful 15-month tour, and has been a
popular choice for amateur/school groups. Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh (snap, snap)!
ANYTHING GOES
– Stephen Sondheim Theatre, New York
August, 2011. Ethel Merman is said to have quipped that Anything Goes is about "a girl on
a boat." Short, sweet, and in this case, absolutely correct. The
triple-threat talents of the delicious Sutton Foster were on ample display in
this mostly-satisfying version of this Cole Porter classic. When the show stuck
to its, frankly, ridiculous plot and sang and danced, it worked. When it tried
to be a "book" musical, it was not as successful. The cast was loaded
with Grade-A talent: John McMartin, who should have been declared a National
Theatre Treasure years ago; Joel Grey, impishly delightful as Moonface Martin;
Kelly Bishop, the original Tony-winning Sheila of A Chorus Line; Walter Charles, a terrific Albin in the tour of La Cage aux Folles when it played
Chicago; Adam Godley, Laura Osnes, Jessica Stone, and a polished Josh Franklin
filling in for Colin Donnell as Billy Crocker. Not to diminish the talents of any
of these folks, Sutton Foster was the reason to see this. Her huge, warm smile with an effervescence that would challenge the best champagne anchored the
proceedings. No surprise when she won the Tony for Leading Actress in a Musical
at the 2011 Tonys. And big applause to those fabulous men and women in the pit!
– at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, Chicago
August, 2018. And then there was this version. Erica Evans,
the singular Equity member in the cast, played Reno Sweeney and blared
everything out with no attempt at subtlety or variance in delivery. It was just
loud. When she wasn't singing, loudly, she was doing her damnedest, and loudly
so, to channel Ethel Merman, all volume and brass and no interpretation, instead
of giving us her take on the role. I
blame director Rudy Hogenmiller for that. The production's costumes were fine,
but the scenic elements looked cheap. Low point of the afternoon was during the
second act when the wagon representing the brig failed to roll down to its spot
and both actors in the scene stayed where
they were!! No apparent realization that they weren't where they were
supposed to be and adjust accordingly, so the whole scene was played upstage.
Amateur stuff. The orchestra was excellent, as always with Music Theater Works.
Glad we had a Goldstar comp for this. – at the Cahn Auditorium, Evanston, IL
– Cahn Auditorium (Music Theater Works), Evanston, IL
And then there was this
production: In the spring of 2019, a colleague of Bob's was the musical
director of a production of Anything Goes
at the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and
invited us to the closing performance. We were blown away! The exuberance and
talent on display were amazing. The dance numbers were superb. If you didn't
notice how young the actors were, you'd've thought you were at a professional
Equity production. This beat the socks off of the Evanston production.
May, 2019. Director Ivo van Hove pulled many A View from the Bridge and Network staging tricks out of his
toolbox, which resulted in a "Been there, seen it, Ivo" production.
Actually, I found van Hove's staging overall on the unimpressive side. And
seriously, Ivo, was it absolutely necessary to see Margo puke in the toilet via
video screen during the party scene? What did you promise Gillian Anderson for
her to agree to this? This was a slavish homage to the film, though
interestingly the program stated source material also included Mary Orr's
excellent play version, The Wisdom of
Eve. Gillian Anderson, as Margo, apparently was directed to imitate Bette
Davis' vocal cadences and attitude, resulting in a professional, competent
performance, but not an exciting or fresh one, and I love Gillian Anderson, so
this was disappointing. Lily James fared better as Eve, but for my money, the
best thing in this high-priced and, frankly, over-priced show was Monica
Dolan's engaging and spirited Karen Richards. Enjoyed it; didn't faint over it.
Rent the film. - at the Noel Coward Theatre, London
BONUS SHOW (because
it was mistakenly filed under "A")
110 IN THE SHADE –
Theater Wit (BoHo Theatre), Chicago
November, 2018. 110 in
the Shade is one of my top ten favorite musicals. The book sometimes
creaks, but the score by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt is one of the musical
theatre's glories. Unfortunately, BoHo Theatre's production was a somewhat
indifferent affair and was at its best with the performances of the Curry men,
which, frankly, shouldn't be the case. The vocals were serviceable throughout,
but never soared. "Rain Song" should thrill; it didn't. "Old
Maid" should be the act one emotional peak; it was mostly screeching with
a soupçon of interpretation. File was underplayed and on the dull side.
Starbuck was not very charismatic and lacked the sexual energy
essential to the role. Lizzie was either loud or angry, often both, which made
her not very likeable. In fact, I wanted to shout at her to stop her whining. The direction was often aimless, and the limited
choreography was just sad. This was the second local production of a musical in
my top ten that I'd seen that disappointed. (Porchlight's overrated Gypsy was the previous week.) The
bloggers all seemed to faint over the leading lady's vocals. Guess they like
their songs loud and unfocused. Wish I'd skipped this. - at Theater Wit,
Chicago
And with that, I'll close another edition of Remembrances of Performances Past.
Social distancing! Do it. Stay at home!
© 2020 Jeffrey Geddes
