IF THE SHOE FITS… (The Shoebox Files) Part 4

IF THE SHOE FITS…

(The Shoebox Files)

Part 4

Tucked away in the bedroom closet was an ECCO shoe box filled with programs. Another random mixture of plays and musicals. What's on for today?

HAIR – Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Arlington Heights, IL

May, 2017. When Hair premiered in 1968, it revolutionized a somewhat moribund musical theatre scene. It was angry; it was sexy; it had a message; it had full-frontal nudity (!!!!!), albeit dimly lit; it had a sensational score that throbbed with a rock beat while, at the same time, being a traditional Broadway score. When I saw the sit-down in Chicago a year later, at the tender age of nineteen, I was enthralled. Twenty years later, original producer Michael Butler produced a local 20th anniversary production at Chicago's Vic Theatre that, while enjoyable, and let's face it, nothing can dim that score, came off as somewhat of a dusty museum piece. Jump ahead twenty-one years later, and once again Hair lit up Broadway in an exciting, sexy, angry revival by Diane Paulus. Looking more relevant than ever, it was hard to believe that Hair, at that time, was forty-one years old! And then along came Metropolis' production of Hair. (Metropolis is a well-funded performing arts center in suburban Chicago with a score of corporate sponsors.) Sigh. Where do I begin? The director, clearly out of her element, basically made short shrift of the anti-war anger and theme, and instead made the show pretty much just about sex. The choreography was unfocused and messy. The cast had talented young men and women in it, but they never really seemed connected to the material. (A notable exception was Alex Levy's charismatic Berger.) The low point in the evening came when the actor playing Sheila took the iconic "Easy to Be Hard" and turned it into a screeching vocal horror. Truly painful. Remember when I said earlier that nothing can dim that score? Well, I was wrong. This production managed to do the impossible. Argh. – at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Arlington Heights, IL

MAMMA MIA! – Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire, IL

April, 2017. Mamma Mia! is one of my great guilty pleasures. The plot...woman screws three different men and doesn't know which of the three fathered her daughter. And who hasn't done that? All show up at said daughter's wedding. Chaos and ABBA ensues. Wholesome family entertainment. Well, actually, it is. The plot line above might be a little risqué for the wee ones, but how can anyone hate a show with all those great ABBA tunes? This was one of the best shows I've seen at Marriott, and I've seen some really good ones over the decades. Directed with flair by Rachel Rockwell, who would tragically die a year later at 49 due to ovarian cancer, the show featured knockout performances by its trio of leading ladies, Meghan Murphy, Danni Smith, and Cassie Slater, terrific work by the hard-working ensemble, spot-on vocal work, and high-energy choreography by Ericka Mac, who would make a complete hash of the charming Bright Star two years later. (See later post.) I loved this production from start to finish. This show just makes me happy. – at the Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire, IL.

Critical Firestorm: In an otherwise favorable review of this production, the Chicago Sun-Times' long-time theatre critic Hedy Weiss made this comment when discussing the costumes: "Theresa Ham’s character-defining costumes make the most of the many “real women” figures on stage, just as the gold and silver spandex outfits outline the perfect bodies of the terrific chorus dancers." And, bam!, the internet lit up with cries of body shaming. A review of another show a few months later brought complaints about racial insensitivity. Weiss became persona non grata in Chicago's theatre community, even though many theatre companies continued to provide her and/or her publication with free tickets because, frankly, they wanted the review from Chicago's second major paper, the first arguably being the Chicago Tribune. In February, 2018, the Sun-Times dropped her, fired her, dismissed her, whatever you wish to call it, ending a 30+-year career at the paper. Cries of joy erupted on local social media. But guess what? Local PBS station WTTW quietly hired Weiss to review for them, and she's still on reviewer lists throughout the Chicago area.

But this isn't about Hedy Weiss and whether or not you agree with the complaints about her. Personally, I've not been a fan of hers for a very long time. I often questioned not only her judgment, but also her basic critical acuity. For my money, the best Sun-Times theatre critic was the late, great Glenna Syse. My question is this…Since Weiss' comments obviously hit a raw nerve in today's theatrical environment, how in the hell would these folks have survived back in the days when critics were actually critics, men and women who could discuss the merits of a show from the writing, to the physical design, to the direction, to the acting, and pretty much everything else in the production, and where, frankly, they didn't care much about creative egos, being politically correct, or current sensitivities . Their reviews could be valentines; they could be total slams; they could be anywhere in-between, but you knew where they stood, and you could judge with a fair amount of confidence if the show involved was any good.  In New York, there still is a critical community with folks who write critical notices, perhaps with a bit more sensitivity and political correctness than in the past, but critical nonetheless. In Chicago, however, we've become a community of, for lack of a better term, blogger summarizers, who spend 90% of their "review" on regurgitating the plot, followed by brief comments on everything else. If the summarizer doesn't like something, it's usually framed in words whose subtext is "That's okay, you did your best. Good job!" Sorry, if I want a summary, I'll read the Cliff's Notes. Actual press critics are few in number and actual critical reviews are equally few in number. Instead, it's largely bloggers, and they rarely say anything really negative about any show, and I'm convinced that's because they're afraid of losing their free tickets. So, if that's the case, what's the purpose of reviews today? Do they really serve a purpose if nobody is actually looking at a production with knowledgeable and critical eyes? Or are they around only to provide quotes for the shows' press folks?

NOTES FROM THE FIELD – Second Stage Theatre (Tony Kiser Theatre), New York

 

NOTES FROM THE FIELD – Second Stage Theatre (Tony Kiser Theatre), New York

November, 2016. The story goes like this... We got two seats for what passes for a balcony (upper level far stage right side of theatre) for $60. A steal. But since the tickets indicated something called "B Stool," Bob checked them out before the show. Turns out they're narrow bar stools BEHIND a row of regular theatre seats. They sold them as partial view, and we knew that, but Bob said the view was more obstructed than partial, so he went to the box office to see is they could do anything, and those lovely folks said we can change them for you and gave Bob two returned premium seats in the 4th row...no extra charge. Thank you, 2st box office!!

We waited over one hour while the folks at Second Stage figured out a wonky fire alarm, but the wait was so worth it! Discussing issues surrounding race, class and America's school-to-prison pipeline, Notes from the Field used interviews from over two hundred students, parents, teachers, and administrators to tell its story of a generation of American youth, most from poorer communities, who don't catch a break in our broken educational system. It was freaking awesome! Anna Deavere Smith, Notes' star and author, was even more freaking awesome. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. Powerful, sincere, and acted from the heart with compassion and integrity, Notes from the Field was a master class in the power of the theatre. – at Second Stage Theatre, New York

SWEET CHARITY

– The Pershing Square Signature Theatre, New York

November, 2016. Rather than the rather upbeat ending that has, frankly, haunted Sweet Charity since its 1966 premiere, the show ended with the poignant and despairing "Where Am I Going?" And that new ending was simply smashing. Sutton Foster took Gwen Verdon's iconic role and made it her own. Funny, vulnerable, yet worldly, with just the right amount of optimism blended with cold reality, she captivated our hearts. The crowning jewel in the show, however, remains the Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields score, full of brass and sass. The entire cast worked their collective asses off in, often, multiple roles, and this pared-down version was intimate and personal. Special props to Shuler Hensley's Oscar, Asmeret Ghebremichael's Nickie, and Emily Padgett's Helene. Leigh Silveerman's direction kept everything on point and moving along. Joshua Bergasse's choreography, for the most part, captured the essence of the show. I missed the ennui in "Rich Man's Frug," however, and "Rhythm of Life" was a miss, but that song's garbage anyhow and the one misfire in an otherwise wonderful score. Yes, Foster's costume was beyond hideous, but she, and her show, were just so good, you didn't care. – at the Perishing Square Signature Theatre, New York

– Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire, IL

"Dance hall hostesses." Yeah...right.

September, 2018. I find it hard to believe that, with Chicago's large and talented community of Equity actors, the folks at Marriott could not have found three Chicago-based actors to play Charity, Helene, and Nickie in Sweet Charity. Also find it hard to believe that the colorless Anne Horak was the best of the lot for the title role. Sure, she sang the notes, said the lines, and danced the steps, but it was all bland and unexciting. There was absolutely no camaraderie among Charity, Helene, and Nickie. Having said that, the ensemble was terrific, and the show lifted whenever they had a number. Terrific, perhaps, is too tame. They were simply astonishing. As in "WOW!" The "Rich Man's Frug" number was sensational, best thing in the show. Props go to Alex Goodrich, reliable and excellent as always, and Adam Jacobs, Broadway's original Aladdin, who sang the crap out of "Too Many Tomorrows" in the smallish role of Vittorio Vidal. Sitting in section 1, we saw lots of back and overall felt cheated. The usually excellent orchestra sounded thin at times, and the entire show, with the exceptions noted above, never really soared. Better than Writers' production from a few years back, but miles from the Sutton Foster production we saw recently in New York. Not a total miss, but not one of Marriott's better efforts. - at the Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire, IL.

Casting: In the not-so-distant past, most of Chicago's Equity first-tier, non-touring houses cast locally, using Chicago's large and diverse Equity community of actors. Over the last few years, that's been changing, and a perfect example is the casting of Sweet Charity at Marriott, where the three major female roles were all cast with non-Chicago-based Equity actors. Why? Certainly there must have been at least three Chicago-based actors who could do the roles justice. Now I could understand it if Marriott had cast actual stars, folks who would bring some added oomph to the box office, give the show a little extra pizzazz, but the three ladies cast weren't box office names and certainly brought no extra pizzazz with their lackluster performances. And this is not a rare exception. Marriott does it. So does Paramount, Drury Lane, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman, etc. They all do it now. So why doesn't Chicago's Equity office say anything? Well, I suspect, Equity's view on it, and probably rightly so, is an Equity actor is an Equity actor is an Equity actor. So the onus, really, is on the theatres themselves. And I rather doubt their casting policies will change. It's a shame that Chicago actors now often get the short end of the stick when it comes to star casting. Sigh.

NORTHANGER ABBEY – Lifeline Theatre, Chicago

August, 2016. Final performance. There was a character in Northanger Abbey called Mrs. Allen. The actress playing her reminded me a lot of Cloris Leachman as Phyllis in the old Mary Tyler Moore show. She was very funny. She was in a different show than the rest of the cast, mind you, but very funny, and the best thing in the show. And the wonderful Jeanine Tesori should get royalty payments since one of the songs sounded very much like This Is Our Story from Shrek. The Tesori song is better. The critics fainted over this. It wasn't awful, and I didn't hate it, but faint? Nah, don't think so.  – at Lifeline Theatre, Chicago

BRIGHT STAR 

– Cort Theatre, New York

 A gorgeous night view of the marquee and the front of the Cort.

June, 2016. In a Hamilton­-obsessed season, this lovely, unflashy musical didn't have a chance. A pity, too, because I fell in love with this show minutes into it. Full of laughter,life, and love with a gorgeous country/bluegrass score, Bright Star dared to be unapologetically sentimental, perhaps at times even corny, dared to tell its story without bells and whistles, but instead with honesty and emotion, and dared its audiences to feel and connect. Loaded with a cast of talented pros, including Paul Alexander Nolan, Michael Mulheren, A.J. Shively, Hannah Elless, Stephen Bogardus, Dee Hoty, Stephen Lee Anderson, Emily Padgett, and Jeff Blumenkrantz, Bright Star was blessed with a kick-ass Broadway debut by leading lady Carmen Cusack as Alice Murphy. Sensitively and creatively directed by Walter Bobbie, with choreography by Josh Rhode, and beautifully designed and lit, it's possible that the commercial juggernaut that is Broadway theatre wasn't an ideal home for this soft-spoken musical, and an off-Broadway venue could have been a better fit. No matter. We cheered and applauded like mad at the show's end, and stayed until the band, a terrific group of musicians one and all, played the last note of the exit music. The bright star that is Bright Star had a short life on Broadway, but it's memory shines bright, indeed. – at the Cort Theatre, New York

Sidebar: In a Facebook post I noted that Bright Star would have a long life on the regional circuit and wondered which Chicago theatre would produce it first, hoping that it would not be Porchlight Theatre. Well, it wasn't, but….(see below)

– BoHo Theatre at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, Chicago

Sadly, this poster was more interesting and better designed than the show itself.

Greenhouse really needs to get its act together re: opening houses, seating, etc. It was an inexcusable scrum.

April, 2019. Oh. My. Well, at least the band was good! And dinner was delicious! (Rickshaw Republic. Highly recommended.) – at BoHo Theatre at the Greenhouse Theater Center, Chicago

COME FROM AWAY

– Schoenfeld Theatre, New York

Don't be deceived. This set did lots and lots of VERY cool things!

March, 2017. Opening night was two days earlier. Quite possibly the best new musical I'd seen in a very long time. On a snowy, miserable day in New York, the talented actors and musicians of this remarkable show touched our hearts with their stories of hope, sadness, joy, compassion, and just plain kindness. Beautifully performed, played, and sung, with inventive staging, and a brilliant production design, there was not a single sloppy or ineffective moment and not a single weak performance. I simply cannot recommend it enough.This lovely show, like Bright Star the previous season, was caught in the hoopla surrounding the year's big flavor-of-the-season, the overrated, in my opinion, Dear Evan Hansen, and frankly was robbed at that year's Tony Awards. Unlike Bright Star, however, Come From Away found and continues to find its audiences, and remains at this writing (April, 2019), a sell-out, and profitable, hit. – at the Schoenfeld Theatre, New York

– Schoenfeld Theatre, New York

 

September, 2018. Welcome to the Rock! With many of the original cast still in the show, including the awesome Jenn Colella, this was, once again, a remarkable evening of theatre. This should have won the Tony for Best Musical instead of that show across the street that glorifies a liar. Essential viewing for anyone who cares about musical theatre. Well done, all! – at the Schoenfeld Theatre, New York

********************

And on that note, I'll stop for today. An American Tribal Love-Rock icon, ABBA tunes, an evening with a master storyteller and documentarian, dance hall hostesses, a musicalization of a Jane Austen novel, bluegrass music and a Southern story, and the true story of bravery and kindness in the wake of a world tragedy. That's quite a wide-ranging group of shows! Until later, and remember, if the show fits….

© 2019 Jeffrey Geddes

THIS IS THE DAWNING OF THE AGE OF....AQUARIUS AND MORE!

THIS IS THE DAWNING OF THE AGE OF....AQUARIUS AND MORE!

In the theatre, as in life, an esteemed pedigree does not always translate into magic. Likewise, in the theatre, as in life, an underrated or unknown pedigree can sometimes spin gold. Two of today's shows have impeccable credentials, yet delivered less than impeccable products.  One of today's playwrights has won two Tony Awards for plays that, at least in the case of the one profiled here, was more about a scintillating production than a scintillating play.  Another is a not-well-known play by one of our premier living playwrights.  Still another is a lesser effort by a prolific playwright who has yet to have true success on Broadway (and sadly, as it turns out, didn't do so well in television either, although I'm sure by the time the lawyers are through, she'll be able to dry her tears and heal her emotional wounds with a fair chunk of settlement money…just my thought). And, finally, two completely disparate plays that resonated long after their respective curtains came down. 

To start things off, however, I'd like to offer a work that, when it opened, had an unknown pedigree and became an instant and enduring part of our theatrical landscape.

"Let the sunshine in…"

"When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars…"

Hair: the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Make no mistake. Despite its scrappy-sounding description that implies something that was just sort of thrown together, this groundbreaking musical was anything but thrown together. Scenery by Robin Wagner, Lights by Jules Fisher, Costumes by Nancy Potts, Directed by Tom O'Horgan. No, this was definitely not a casual hippie hoe-down. What it was, and still is, was a remarkable piece of theatre that broadly, yet accurately, commented on the turbulent times of its inception, the late 1960s. This was the time of hippies, turning on and tuning out, free love, drugs, anti-establishmentarianism and the Vietnam war.  The show is both a playful and a searing indictment of the social and political climates of the day, especially critical of the Vietnam war.  (For the record, I was in college at the time and had a student deferment. My draft lottery number was 161. I don't remember when the lottery ended, but my number was never called.) Critically praised when it opened at the Biltmore Theatre in April, 1968, Hair ushered in the, as it turned out, rather short-lived spate of "rock" musicals, none of which achieved the fame and success of Hair. The score has its rock elements, but at its heart, it is a traditional theatre score, albeit with a more modern sound, with songs that comment and propel the storyline, character songs, and at least one drop-dead, knock-out ballad ("Easy to Be Hard"). (Do you need proof that at its heart, the score was a traditional one? Consider this: the Cowsills had huge hits with several of the show's songs.  The Cowsills, people!) Hair was fresh, it was exciting AND it had a NUDE scene at the end of Act One. Folks, that was huge. Musicals just didn't have nude scenes back then. It caused quite the stir. To show how much times have changed, when Bob and I saw the revival, I was so involved with the song and everything is so dimly lit anyway, I didn't notice for the longest time that this was the big nude moment and for all intents and purposes, I pretty much missed it.  Damn. It's both sad and a tribute to the talent of its creators that Hair is just as relevant today as it was 45 years ago.  Three programs, three separate productions, each approximately twenty years apart.

November, 1969. This touring production was locally-cast and had a long run at the Shubert. In keeping with its theme, the program states that this company is The Pottawatomie Tribe, Hair Confederacy. The bios tell us the astrological signs of the cast members (the Tribe).  I thought it was hokey then; I think it's hokey now.  Among the Tribe at the Shubert were Andre DeShields, who would later dazzle Broadway in The Wiz and other shows, and Joe Mantegna, before fame, film and "Criminal Minds." As a 19-year-old, this show made quite an impact. I was a somewhat naïve, sheltered college kid. It opened my eyes to a bigger, less-kind world. And I thought the physical production and the electrifying score rocked. Imagine, kids close to my age doing this for a living. I wanted to be one of them. - at the Shubert Theatre, Chicago

From the Shubert Playbill.  And ad for the Original Broadway Cast recording.  Yes, of course, it was a  LP!

November, 1988. This twentieth-anniversary production was mounted at the Vic Theatre in Lakeview in a rare use of this stunning venue as a legit playhouse.  Original producer Michael Butler produced this locally-cast and designed show. I remember enjoying this, but at 38, this just didn't have the same impact as it did when I was 19.  I felt that it was trying just too hard at times to be hip and/or shocking and at times seemed oddly quaint. This cast was called the Natoma Tribe. Yep, still doesn't work for me. If dim memory serves, this wasn't the huge smash Butler was hoping for and it had an unremarkable run. Notables in the cast included E. Faye Butler and a very young (a junior at Northwestern) Brian d'Arcy James (billed as Brian d. James) as Claude. Brian, of course, would become one of Broadway's leading men and one of the many wasted talents in the misguided TV series, "Smash." - at the Vic Theatre, Chicago

June, 2009.  No tribe names here, just The Company, in Diane Paulus' wonderful Tony-winning revival that made this 41-year-old show as fresh as the day it first premiered on Broadway.  Fresh and relevant. If the drugs, sex and rock-and-roll brought about more nostalgia than anything else, the anti-war message and the thumbing your collective nose at the Establishment seemed as timely as ever  With a cast that included Gavin Creel, Crissie Levy, Bryce Ryness and Will Swenson, the story was told and sung with great humor, terrific voices, and touching vulnerability.  We scored first row seats on the stage left side right in front of the stairs to the stage, which both delighted and terrified me. I'd never been a big fan of actor interaction with the audience, especially if touching was involved (all the fake "I love you" crap at Godspell a million years ago drove me up the wall) and I knew Hair was big on getting down with the audience. However, when Will Swenson wants to pay up-close and personal attention to you, well, you just gotta give in and share the love. (Sidebar: Will Swenson is one of the coolest straight men around.) Being so close to the stage stairs, we were among the first to join the cast onstage during the curtain call reprise of "Let the Sunshine In"  and danced (me dancing…alert the media!) and laughed and sang while the audience stood and sang with us.  Amazing. It was especially endearing to see Will Swenson dancing with his sons. And the best? Bob planted a great big kiss on me onstage at the Hirschfeld to the cheers of cast and audience!! Let the sunshine in, indeed! - at the Hirschfeld Theatre, New York 

March, 2012. Edward Albee certainly loves social gatherings. Witness Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Everything in the Garden and the quips and digs that occupy much of The Lady from Dubuque.  One of Albee's least-known plays, Dubuque received a critical spanking and a very short run when it first appeared on Broadway in 1980. This play about death and dying isn't the happiest show to see, and, frankly, it's not always the easiest show to follow, yet as performed by its fine cast, especially a superb Laila Robins, a cooly incandescent Jane Alexander, a wry and knowing Peter Francis James and a harrowing, gut-wrenching Michael Hayden, it had an undeniable hold over the capacity audience. I don't think it's among Albee's best, but opportunities to see Jane Alexander on stage are few and far between these days and that was the main reason we went to see this.  I'm glad we did. - at the Pershing Square Signature Center, New York

June, 2012.  Eugene O'Neill! Robert Falls! Nathan Lane! Brian Dennehy! Sold-out houses. Four hours and forty-five minutes. Three intermissions. I thought I was going die of boredom. I was ready to leave after the first act, but I couldn't convince Bob to jump ship. Characters I didn't care about accompanied by too many Pinter pauses and far too much screaming. Consistent acting, though none of the performances stood out. Dennehy mumbled and Lane tried and overall wasn't bad, but failed to inject any fire into his final act monologues. Production values were okay and it was all served up with the smug pretentiousness that sometimes creeps into Goodman shows. The critics may have loved it, but the people waiting for one of the last #36 buses of the evening certainly didn't, if overheard comments were any indication. Bleh. - at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago

January, 2012. While I wasn't surprised, I was still gratified that Matthew Rhys can do more than just "Brothers and Sisters." While the play was very well acted by Rhys, Adam Driver, Sarah Goldberg and Charlotte Parry, it left me cold and, frankly, quite bored. Lots of yelling and angst by very unpleasant characters. Yes, I know it's a classic and the cornerstone of "kitchen sink realism" that was the hallmark of trendy British theatre of the 1950s and I know I should have responded differently, but for me, it's a "why?" play. Why was it written? Why should I care about these whiny, self-absorbed people? When one of the most interesting things about the entire afternoon was watching Matthew Rhys change his shirt in half-light DL, that says something. And not just about Mr. Rhys' killer body. Sadly, because I really did admire the skill and professionalism of the four actors, I must give this a thumbs down. - at the Laura Pels Theatre, New York

June, 2009.  This is what I wrote shortly after seeing this Tony Award-winner for Best Play: "Tony, Emmy and Oscar winners among this exceptionally brilliant cast.  The ninety minutes flew by in this hysterical play that is much deeper than one thinks at first.  The ever-changing allegiances, the rapid fire change of emotions all make this play far more satisfying than Reza's "Art."  Beneath the laughter, there is great sadness in the marriages and lives of these four people.  But what laughs!  And what great lines.  I know I'm paraphrasing, but my two favorites?  "I don't drink and I deeply regret it."  "I don't have a sense of humor and I've no intention of acquiring one."  Priceless!" Jump forward a year or so. Bob and I are reading God of Carnage  as a possible directing project for him and both of us are thoroughly unimpressed with the script, which seems flat, uninteresting and not terribly funny. Is it possible that God of Carnage's awards and success were largely thanks to the flawless production by director Matthew Warchus, designers Mark Thompson and Hugh Vanstone, and actors Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden? Like Art, is this really more shadow than substance? Is my glowing, hot-off-the-press remarks the result of terrific acting and spot-on comic timing cleverly disguising a mediocre play? - at the Jacobs Theatre, New York

October, 2009. Like her later play, Seminar, I found this enjoyable while watching it, yet I couldn't tell you much about it as soon as the curtain fell.  The basic plot is this: an actor is hired to understudy a movie star in said movie star's Broadway debut. The harried stage manager is the understudy's ex-wife. Never seen or heard, but as much of a character as everyone else, is the pothead crew member who screws up light and set cues. The understudy hates the proliferation of movie stars in the theatre. The movie star is kind of pompous and full of himself. The ex-wife stage manager is frazzled and has several bones to pick with her ex. The pothead keeps screwing up. Everything is lively and fun and cute for a while, but then it gets old and then it just gets tiresome. Even at a short 90 minutes, this seemed long.  It would have seemed longer if it hadn't been for the talents of its three-person cast: Justin Kirk (the understudy), Mark-Paul Gosselaar (the move star) and the wonderful Julie White (the stage manager). I had the chance to chat with them briefly after the show as they were heading out to dinner. All of them were charming and Gosselaar is even better looking in person than onstage. - at the Laura Pels Theatre, New York

November, 2010. In the first few minutes of Arthur Kopit's Wings, aviator Emily Stilson suffers a stroke onstage. That's the catalyst. For the remainder of the short 70-minute play, we watch Emily as she struggles to recover. I read the play years ago and was lukewarm towards it.  As performed by the uber-talented Jan Maxwell and a superb supporting cast, I found it frightening, funny, moving, sad, happy and sometimes all of those emotions at the same time. I found myself getting deeply involved, yet, I was also strangely detached. I can't really describe it. A remarkable, emotional evening that I'll long remember. - at the Second Stage Theatre, New York

April, 2009. Wow! Who had any clue Schiller could be so vibrant and exciting?  Kudos to the adaptor, Peter Oswald!  Janet McTeer and Harriet Walker separately were stunning; together they were breathtaking.  After a bit of a slow start, I was hooked. As in totally.  Minimal in production; extravagant in acting talent, this was truly great theatre. Thrilling. - at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York

That's it for today.  Until next time....go see some live theatre!