IF THE SHOE FITS… (The Shoebox Files) - Part 2

IF THE SHOE FITS…

(The Shoebox Files)

Part 2

More programs snugly stored away in shoeboxes. Let's see…what's on for today?

CLOUD 9 – Theatre de Lys (officially Lucille Lortel's Theatre de Lys)

Above and below, off-Broadway's famed Lucille Lortel Theatre, aka Theatre de Lys. 

July, 1981. Caryl Churchill's landmark comedy of sexual and societal mores in British colonial Africa in 1880 (Act One) and 1980 London (Act Two), though only twenty-five years had passed for the characters, was described by director Tommy Tune, in his straight play directorial debut, as a "simple family play" or "a frank exploration of the human sexual psyche." Call it what you will, Tommy, but your Cloud 9 was never dull, often very funny, sometimes confusing, and ultimately absolutely fascinating, warts and all. There's sex galore in this play from good, old-fashioned heterosexual adultery to gleeful homosexual outings to a suggestion of incest. A marketing campaign ad might have read "something for everyone!" Definitely not a Neil Simon romp, Cloud 9 was sophisticated, maddening, stylish, and unlike anything I'd seen. Directed with a sure and steady hand by Tommy Tune (is there anything this man can't do?) and played with skill by an ensemble cast of supremely talented actors (Don Amendolia, Veronica Casting, Željko Ivanek, Jeffrey Jones, E. Katherine Kerr, Nicolas Surovy, and Concetta Tomei), Cloud 9 was, and remains, a fascinating combination of parody, spoof, and farce that will have you talking about it long after the curtain comes down. – at the Theatre de Lys, New York

Sidebar: A few years ago, my nephew, Greg, was one of the lighting folks in a production of Cloud 9 during his senior year at Illinois State, so Bob and I went down to see it. Decades after it debuted, the play holds up remarkably well and the cast of university actors did a fine job navigating the sometimes murky Churchill waters.

Casting Tidbits: Post-Cloud 9, Jeffrey Jones went on to cinematic fame in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off  and Beetlejuice, among others, before being convicted in the early 2000s of possession of child pornography and soliciting a 14-year-old boy to pose for nude photographs. A registered sex offender, he continues to work, though infrequently. Željko Ivanek won a Drama Desk Award for Cloud 9 and has had a successful career in theatre, television, and films. Nicolas Surovy, who in 1981 was swooningly handsome, had a famous mom, opera star Risë Stevens. And at 78, Tommy Tune still works and has earned a crapload of Tony Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG – Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York

October, 1993. Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig holds the questionable distinction of being the only play or musical on Broadway that I have walked out on at the interval. Ms. Wasserstein has legions of fans. I'm not among them. I found Rosensweig to be whiny, obnoxious, and, inexcusable for a so-called comedy, just not terribly funny. And this in spite of some appealing work by Linda Lavin (in the part originally played by Madeline Kahn in a Tony-winning performance) and Michael Learned (in the part originally played by Jane Alexander). For me it just sat there and I kept waiting for things to happen. The deciding factor in the decision to leave at the earliest possible unobtrusive moment, however, was Hal Linden's odd, very odd, performance. I couldn't tell if he was ill or drunk or what the case was, but his performance was unfocused and just plain sloppy. Obvious dropped lines, huge pauses in the pacing, the performance was a mess. I couldn't wait for that first act curtain to drop. This was a last-minute choice, picked in favor of the first Roundabout revival of She Loves Me across the street at the Atkinson. That was my choice, but Steve had no opinion one way or the other and the people we were with hated the score to She Loves Me. (How was I ever friends with such unenlightened people? It'd be like counting Trump supporters among my closest, or even most distant, pals today.) Even today, I'm regretting I didn't drag Steve to the Atkinson and leave the other couple to fend for themselves at the Wasserstein thing. Sadly, the evening went downhill from there at an angst-packed dinner. (Details escape me, but the other couple were having relationship issues. They were always having relationship issues. Steve and I simply had more wine.) Not the most enjoyable trip to New York, but we did see Kiss of the Spider Woman that same trip, so there is that! – at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York

RIDE THE CYCLONE – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (Upstairs)

October, 2015. Who would have imagined that a musical which takes place in Uranium City, Saskatchewan (yes, there really is a place) could be so entertaining? Structurally, it reminded me a bit of Putnam County Spelling Bee, but with better music and more involving characters. I had wanted to see this since I first read about it and I wasn't disappointed. I thought it would be rather dark and depressing, but was delighted and hugely surprised to discover that it was often very funny, with some really lovely, touching moments interspersed among the fine musical numbers. The gifted cast of seven developed seven distinct characters and each stood out when it was their turn to shine, but then stepped back and became a seamless ensemble. Great production values, some bucks were spent here, and overall cohesive direction and choreography by Rachel Rockwell. Thanks to the Shakes for bringing this Canadian original to Chicago in its American premiere. It recently had a well-received limited engagement at New York's MCC. Absolutely terrific musical. Well done, all. - at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Upstairs), Chicago

SEASCAPE – Booth Theatre, New York

January, 2006. It's perhaps somewhat easy to dismiss Edward Albee's 1975 fantasy/comedy/allegory Seascape as a minor work. After all, it's starry Broadway premiere production had a unprofitable and short run and it took twenty years for the play to have its first major revival. And even though it may not have the raw, emotional power of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, A Delicate Balance, or The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, Seascape did win the 1975 Pulitzer for Drama, so its creds as a major Albee work are solid. Albee's story of two couples, one long-married and elderly and the other young, very evolved English-speaking lizards, had the requisite Albee explorations of marriage, love, death, and life, but also had an unexpected liberal sprinkling of tenderness and out-and-out comedy, and was infused throughout with warmth and elegance, and all of it supplied by the outstanding cast: George Grizzard, in his last stage appearance, and the simply divine Frances Sternhagen as the elderly couple, and Frederick Weller and Elizabeth Marvel as the lizards. There are no words to truly describe the magic Mr. Grizzard and Ms. Sternhagen brought to their roles. It was truly an honor to watch those two exemplary actors ply their trade. I'm a huge fan of both Mr. Weller and Ms. Marvel. They consistently deliver thoughtful, fully-realized performances and Seascape was no exception. This revival was courtesy of Lincoln Center Theater, so thanks LCT! Seascape had a short run the second time around as well. Perhaps it's simply just too delicate and gentle an Albee work to ever be fully appreciated. I was enchanted. – at the Booth Theatre, New York

RECKLESS – Biltmore Theatre (Manhattan Theatre Club), New York

September, 2004. I found Craig Lucas' parable about life as a series of soul-sucking disappointments and betrayals better in individual moments and performances than as a whole. Now we saw one of the first previews and the New York Times review when it opened a few weeks later was pretty laudatory, so perhaps pacing and characterizations solidified during previews. Now, don't get me wrong. Any play that stars Mary-Louise Parker and has Olga Merediz, Debra Monk, Michael O'Keefe, Rosie Perez, Thomas Sadoski, and Jeremy Shamos as a supporting cast is worth seeing, just for the sheer acting talent involved. And, yes, Reckless was often deliciously funny and sardonically wicked in its best moments. And I will go great distances to see anything Debra Monk is in. But, having said all that, and despite Ms. Parker's hard-working and finely-acted central character that anchored everything, I remember being ever so slightly bored throughout the entire evening. Reckless was first performed in 1983 and twenty years later, it seemed a bit, oh, 1980s, which was, face it, not the happiest of decades. Professional in every aspect, but it didn't send me. For the record, Bob has absolutely no recollection of seeing this. – at the Biltmore Theatre, New York

BARRICADES!

LES MISÉRABLES

I have a love/hate relationship with Les Misérables. On the one hand, at least in its original production, it can soar with an operatic grandeur, minus the need for supertitles, and at times its score has a breathtaking beauty (see "I Dreamed a Dream," "Stars," "Bring Him Home," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," and that killer first act close, "One Day More"). On the other hand, the parts that irritated me the first time around still irritate me and the years following its debut in 1985 have only coarsened some of the material. I know it's a Tony-winning part, but, frankly, Eponine has always annoyed the crap out of me and when she starts bleating "On My Own," I want to leap up onto the stage and slap her silly. Girl, get a freaking grip! And the Thénardiers have lost all their darkness and have become full-blown vaudevillian characters that now seem virtually extraneous to the show. Other than establishing the Eponine/Cosette links, they really serve no purpose and could be dealt with with a few lines here and there. "Master of the House" now just seems completely extraneous. And why, why, WHY did the powers-that-be reduce Gavroche's marvelous "Little People" to just a few lines? Totally gutted that part. When all is said and done, however, the creators obviously did something very right. It has run continuously in London's West End since 1985. That's a staggering thirty-two years! The original New York production ran nearly 6700 performances and Broadway has seen two full-blown revivals, one a "reimagined" production with new direction and design, and the show launched at least five national touring companies, including one currently (Fall, 2017) traipsing across the country. That's a lot of barricades!

 – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago

March, 1989. The First National Tour stopped off for six months at Chicago's stunning Auditorium Theatre and Steve and I were at one of the first Chicago performances.  An architectural gem, National Historic Landmark, and acoustically perfect, the Auditorium was a popular touring stop for shows for many years. With nearly 3900 seats and an upper balcony (rarely sold) that is steep and so high up one feels oxygen should be offered, it's, frankly, far too large for most shows. For big epic numbers like Les Misérables, however, it adds a grandeur to the event that adds to the show's enjoyment. (For the record, smaller shows, i.e. the average musical, tend to get lost at the Auditorium.) Craig Schulman and Charles Pistone played the adversarial pair of Jean Valjean and Javert, respectively. Hollis Resnick was a sensational Fantine. And, look! Victoria Clark as Madame Thénardier, before the part became obnoxiously overplayed. A first rate production all around. The audience loved it. – at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago

– Auditorium Theatre, Chicago

July, 1991. Cosette liked her first Chicago visit so much, she decided to come back to the Auditorium for another six-month stay. This time around Mark McKerracher and Richard Kinsey were playing Valjean and Javert, Anne Runolfsson was Fantine (good, but not Hollis!), and Chicago veteran Ray Frewen was part of the ensemble. The major difference on this return visit was the sound. The 1989 engagement had sound by the Broadway designer, Andrew Bruce. This engagement's sound was courtesy of the Broadway production's associate designer, Tony Meola, and Mr. Meola, apparently, was a big fan of echo effects and big booming sound, because both were overused throughout the evening. I called this production the "rock concert Les Mis." I don't think the audience noticed or, for that matter, cared, but it really, really bugged me. – at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago

– Cadillac Palace Theatre, Chicago

February, 2011. Here's how this was billed: "Cameron Mackintosh's New 25th Anniversary Production of Boubil & Schönberg's Les Misérables." How new? Same costumes, but new lighting, new directors, and, and this is the biggie, a new scenic design, which…GASP AND HORROR…did away with the iconic barricades. O.M.G.! What the hell? Les Mis lite? Answer: No. It's still Les Misérables, just a cleaner, more streamlined one. Much was made of the fact that an African-American actor was playing Valjean. Not sure what all the fuss was about. Lawrence Clayton was okay in the role, if not terribly vocally impressive. (Note: Clayton was out of the tour after only four months. Message boards state that either a) health issues were involved or b) attendance was not his friend.) Andrew Varela played Javert and really nailed the part. In a totally odd bit of casting, young Eponine was played by a white child actress while the adult Act Two Eponine was played by an African-American actress. Well, okay, then! By this time any attempt to make "On My Own" a character song had been discarded in favor of doing a belty, loud pop version. Chasten Harmon sang it in true pop diva form, loud and with little interpretation. To make matters worse, she was directed to be especially whiny and needy. In this new production, the Thénardiers seemed totally out of place and their scenes were borderline painful to watch. Top honors for this version go to Betsy Morgan, Bob's former student, who made Fantine's fifteen minutes memorable and gave the show one of its few genuine moments of emotion. This production was definitely a mixed bag. Things moved quicker without the barricades, but the epic quality was diminished and much of the emotional honesty that made Les Misérables the monster hit it is had been replaced with slick, deft, and professional show biz pizzazz. And it still packs 'em in! – at the Cadillac Palace, Chicago

And remember, if the shoe fits... Until next time.

© 2017 Jeffrey Geddes

WALKING IN A WEST END WONDERLAND

WALKING IN A WEST END WONDERLAND

PART 2

Today, let's return to the fabulous West End where I have spent many wonderful afternoons and evenings at the theatre. From the musical classic that ushered in the era of the modern musical to the worldwide sensation set amidst Parisian barricades to a play that celebrates in dialogue and music the life of one of the world's most evocative singers to a lesser effort by an accomplished playwright that achieved initial fame due to its somewhat unorthodox casting, there's something for everyone. 

January, 2001. Playwright and, in this case, director Richard Nelson is a Chicago native who achieved fame with his plays Some Americans Abroad, Two Shakespearean Actors, and The General from America, all initially produced by the RSC at their Stratford home. This memory play, with some "The Graduate" flavor, is not quite the slam dunk of success that the initial London reviews would lead you to believe. This is a story about a 15-year-old American student who finds himself alone in the Paris flat of one of his teachers, an attractive, single woman in her 30s. During the course of the play, they talk about art and music and literature and tumble into bed and the boy discovers sex and the next door neighbor comes in for some, actually, quite funny comic relief and it's all a bit messy and a bit creepy. The highly-regarded, and, based on her performance here, well-deserved regard, French actress Irène Jacobs, in her West End debut, played the teacher with a bracing authenticity and Madeline Potter was excellent as the neighbor. But the actor who put bums in seats was a twenty-year-old Macaulay Culkin making his stage debut as the young boy (and, framing the play on both ends, his older self). I kid you not. While I wouldn't call his performance riveting, he did a competent job and was able to hold his own on stage. I seem to remember a flash of naked Culkiness; Bob believes there was no nudity. Nudity or not, it was pleasant enough without being especially memorable. - at the Vaudeville Theatre, London

February, 1981. Australian Curly? Check. English Laurey? Check. Very English chorus? Check. How all-American can this all-American musical get? Okay, so the accents didn't exactly ring with middle America authenticity, this loving revival was wonderfully acted, beautifully sung (with one exception) and energetically danced with Agnes De Mille's groundbreaking choreography recreated by Gemze De Lappe. The one vocal exception was Rosamund Shelley's Laurey. Acting-wise she nailed the part, but it seemed, at least to my ears, that she was more mezzo than soprano and her songs didn't sound as effortless as they should have. John Diedrich was a handsome and sexy Curly (we'd see him years later as Billy Flynn in Chicago in Sydney). Featured as Ado Annie was Jillian Mack, a delightfully funny gamin who is now perhaps better known, despite a successful West End career, as Mrs. Tom Selleck. Also featured was a young Alfred Molina as Jud and a mighty fine Jud he was. Interestingly, the cast recording for this revival was recorded live during performances at the Palace Theatre. Highly theatrical. - at the Palace Theatre, London

May, 1980. Pam Gems' mesmerizing play with music about the life of Edith Piaf was, for me, one of those truly memorable evenings in the theatre. Jane Lapotaire's electrifying Piaf set the standard for all future portrayals of this complex person. (She would win the Tony for her performance when the play crossed the Pond.) Zoe Wanamaker was also memorable as Piaf's best friend, Toine. Songs were interspersed throughout the evening with a mini-concert near the end of the play. My friends and I were thrilled, along with the rest of the capacity audience. Everything was just right…the design, the direction, the music, the performances by a large and skillful cast. But in the end, it was Jane Lapotaire who flung this evening into the theatrical stratosphere. Brava, Mlle. Lapotaire, brava! - at the Piccadilly Theatre, London

March, 2006. The Donmar is one of London's most prestigious venues. An intimate space, it features top-name actors in challenging original works or stunning revivals. (The acclaimed Roundabout Theatre revival of Cabaret started here.) We didn't know anything about this play when we bought our tickets, but with Sir Ian McKellen heading the cast, what do you really need to know? As it turned out, this was a disturbing, quasi-political piece centered around a mysterious procedure called the Cut, which was presented in a way that offered multiple interpretations (I thought it was a super-lobotomy), administered against dissidents of a unnamed regime in an unnamed country and one of the leading administrators of the procedure (McKellen). Positively chilling, especially the second scene - a domestic scene between McKellen's character and his wife. Production values were spot-on perfect. Michael Grandage's direction was invisible. The acting was superlative from the entire company, but most especially from Sir Ian and Deborah Findlay as his wife. With the great divisiveness currently prevalent in the United States, this play is even more relevant than it was seven years ago. - at the Donmar Warehouse, London

October, 1987. True story. I bought the CD of the London original cast on a Thursday. One of Steve's days off was Friday. The next day he called me at work and exclaimed with great excitement, "You have to hear this!" and put the phone next to one of our stereo's speakers and played "I Dreamed a Dream," sung by the original Fantine, Patti LuPone. He then went on for the next several minutes about how wonderful the entire CD was. This may not seem like a big deal, but Steve, although he liked going to the theatre, wasn't nearly as devoted to it as I am, so this unexpected and unqualified rave was a bit out of the norm. (His other big favorite was Follies, showing his good taste.) So, when we planned our October trip to London (his first), Les Misérables and Follies were the two shows we saw. What we didn't plan on was the Great Storm of 1987 ravaging London and the surrounding area as our British Airways flight was enroute from Chicago. We were later told that our flight was one of the first to land after Heathrow Airport had been reopened. Mayfair was a mess, but the Savoy Hotel was open for business and, as everyone knows, the show must go on, so off we went to the Palace Theatre to see Fantine and her pals. Ms. LuPone had long gone, but this replacement cast was excellent, with Kathleen Rowe McAllen singing and acting the crap out of Fantine and solid performances by Craig Pinder (Valjean), Martin Smith (Marius) and Clive Carter (Javert). Steve, along with the entire audience except, apparently, me, sniffled and quietly sobbed through the more emotional moments. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t consider Les Misérables to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it has a great theatrical score and, at least in John Napier and David Hersey's original scenic and lighting design, a wow physical production. Worth noting… Broadway has seen both the original and revival productions come and go. The original London production is still running nearly 28 years after its opening night (as of this writing in August, 2013). Obviously the creators have done lots of things very, very right. - at the Palace Theatre, London

August, 1995. Alan Ayckbourn is, for lack of a better description, the UK answer to Neil Simon, though even more prolific than Mr. Simon with nearly 80 plays to his credit. Although several of his plays have been produced on Broadway, Ayckbourn has a distinctly British sensibility that makes his works far more accessible to UK audiences than to American audiences. (Likewise, Mr. Simon's works have an American flavor to them which is why he's more popular here than across the Pond.) The somewhat convoluted storyline concerns a dominatrix, two murdered wives, a crooked businessmen, his evil henchman and communicating doors in a London hotel suite that work as a time machine. People switch decades willy-nilly changing the course of the future as they do so and it all works itself out in the end. It was often quite funny and I enjoyed it, though not as much as the rest of the audience who howled to my titters. The reason for going was to see I-will-see-her-in-anything Julia McKenzie and she did not disappoint. Smartly acted, smartly designed and smartly directed, this was an agreeable enough way to spend the afternoon. - at the Gielgud Theatre, London

May, 1980. My friend Gordon and I picked the Thursday matinee performance because, for reasons that completely escape me now, we wanted to see Stephanie Lawrence, the alternate Eva, and logically thought, at least in our minds, the alternate would play the matinees. It never occurred to us to ask at the box office when we got our seats. We were, therefore, a bit disappointed to discover that the "regular" Eva, Marti Webb would play the role that afternoon. No need to be disappointed. Ms. Webb did a thoroughly fine job as did the rest of the cast. Evita is a show I have grown to like and admire. Before this performance, I saw Patti LuPone tear up the stage at the Broadway Theatre in the original NYC production a few months after it had opened. Ms. LuPone tends to be a rather intense performer, so the entire performance was played at a fevered, though very exciting, pitch. The characters were thrillingly portrayed, but the show itself got a bit lost. In London, Ms. Webb and her cohorts were a bit more subdued than their NYC counterparts which let me focus more on the production itself and allowed me to enjoy and truly appreciate Harold Prince's and Larry Fuller's remarkable direction and staging and fully appreciate the subtlety, focus and even complexity of Tim Rice's lyrics, the best of ALW's collaborators. The recent London-then-Broadway revival was very good in its own right, but for sheer theatricality and excitement, the original can't be beat. For the record, Ms. Webb continues to perform as I write this (August, 2013) and has had a very successful career in the UK. - at the Prince Edward Theatre, London.

May, 1994. This is the only show Andrew Lloyd Webber has written to date that can truly be called a star vehicle. Steve and I saw this a few weeks after Betty Buckley took over the role of Norma Desmond from its originator, Patti LuPone. She looked great and sounded terrific, but she was a bit too perky for a faded and forgotten movie queen and not imperious enough for a screen legend used to getting her way. (She would grow in her portrayal as evidenced by a superb performance Bob and I saw in New York after she had replaced Glenn Close.) This was a big show in all respects. It was sumptuously designed, lit and costumed. It had a big orchestra to play the big score. It had a big and talented cast. Yet for all that and despite the iconic pedigree of the Billy Wilder film, the musical adaptation seemed, well, flat and one-dimensional. Spectacle won out over depth of character and that's a shame. The story is terrific, but it's really quite an intimate one and with all the bells and whistles of this production, it sometimes simply faded into the background. John Barrowman, yes that John Barrowman, played Joe Gillis and he did a damn fine job of it, too. Face it, the man's talented. The gay lads sitting next to us were positively in a frenzy over the show and as the lights came up for the interval, one of them turned to me and breathlessly asked, "Oh, my God!! Can you believe this? What do you think?" To which I replied, "The house goes up; the house goes down." - at the Adelphi Theatre, London 

August, 1995. Despite my initial, uh, restrained opinion of Sunset Boulevard, I found the show strangely irresistible and returned for a repeat visit during my "Lick My Wounds" tour. The main impetus was the chance to see the much admired and loved Elaine Paige, who, at the time, arguably was the top musical theatre star in the UK. (I say arguably because, frankly, I think Julia McKenzie is more talented.) My friend, Rob, bless her heart, couldn't for the life of her figure out why I would spend good money to see, in her words, not mine, that "shrieking suburban midget." (Not PC, I realize, but those were the words used.) But then Rob doesn't get musicals, so it was rather pointless to try to explain it to her. This time around a very handsome Alexander Hanson (we would see him years later, still handsome, in the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury) played Joe Gillis in a nicely performed turn. The mechanics of the show continued to frequently dwarf the story, but it was still gorgeous to look at and listen to. As for Ms. Paige? Well, frankly, she was quite good, yet I wasn't all that impressed. She is very short and the costumes just looked far too big on her, almost like she was a little girl playing dress up. It was a bit disconcerting. She's noted for her big voice, yet I found it strangely subdued. The two main songs for Norma should have the audiences going crazy, but, though Paige got hearty applause for both and was note-perfect, she lacked an excitement. Maybe she was having an off performance. Maybe, because it was a matinee, she was saving her energy for the evening show. And it wasn't just me. The guy sitting next to me and I were chatting it up during the interval and he also felt Paige's performance was not at 100%. It happens, I guess. Over the years, Sunset has become a guilty pleasure and I would love to see what could be done with a more intimate version of the show. - at the Adelphi Theatre, London

Treat yourself to a play or musical this week!

Til later....