M-PHATICALLY "M"
(a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet Soup)
We're emphatic about the letter "M" today. Emphatic. Get it? Yes, well, moving on…
Today's shows include a breathlessly-hyped musical where the parts were better
than the whole; a charming "B" musical based on an equally charming
"B" movie; Tina Fey's much-anticipated Broadway debut as a writer; a
play about the gay porn industry that wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds; a
classic musical about windmills and dreamers; and, finally, one of the greatest
musicals ever written. 3-2-1…Go!
August, 2018. Amid the admittedly spectacular and very
expensive bells and whistles, there actually lurks a story in Moulin Rouge! (yes, there is an
exclamation point). Not that it matters, but it's there. Short version. Studly
American Boy (the hot, yet surprisingly innocuous Aaron Tveit) arrives in Paris
to write music. He immediately goes to Montmatre where he meets
Toulouse-Lautrec (the incredible Sahr Ngaujah...his "Nature Boy" is a
highlight) and Santiago, the best tango dancer in Paris (a breezy Ricky
Royas...his number with Robyn Hurder which opens Act Two is totally superfluous
and totally wonderful). Within five minutes, they become BFFs and head over to
the Moulin Rouge, a louche showroom run by Harold Zindler, who, as portrayed
here, is first cousin to Cabaret's
Emcee (played by Danny Burstein in a sensational performance). There Studly
American Boy meets Moulin Rouge Headliner (the incandescent Karen Olivo) and
instantly falls in love with her. But wait! There's a villain in the wings (the
handsome Tam Mutu in a sadly underwritten part) and complications ensue. SPOILER
ALERT! Moulin Rouge Headliner gets consumption. Cough, cough. She dies. Show
ends. Wild applause.
With a
nod to Cabaret, a touch of Mamma Mia!, and even a pinch of the Joseph megamix, Moulin Rouge! was a feast for the eyes and the ears. My relative
lack of enthusiasm for Mr. Tveit wasn't his fault. He was good, very good in
fact, at what he was asked to do. His character just wasn't as interesting as
the others. Much was made of Karen Olivo's performance. Believe the hype. She
was simply magnificent. Her entrance with "Diamonds Are Forever/Diamonds
Are a Girl's Best Friend/Material Girl/etc." was so brilliant, you wished
she'd just climbed back onto her swing and started it all over again. But it
was Danny Burstein's brilliant performance that provided the glue to the often
breathlessly hectic goings-on. You very often felt dangerously close to sensory
overload, but the creators had the good sense to let things slow down a bit on
occasion, but, frankly, not enough. One odd thing...the pre-show tease of male
sensuality hinted at a bawdier show that never materialized. For all its talk
of wicked Paris, love, illicit and otherwise, and sex, Moulin Rouge! was pretty PG-13. Not really a complaint. Just don't
tease us that things will get down and dirty later on. The show could lose some
second act fat and perhaps more time could be spent developing the evil Duke's
part, if for no other reason than Tam Matu's general sexiness. For a
pre-Broadway tryout, it was in solid shape and always entertaining. Set in the
insanely gorgeous, newly-renovated and newly-reopened Colonial Theatre, a star
in its own right, you tended to overlook the flaws and instead focused on the
sheer theatrical wonder of it all. - at the (Emerson) Colonial Theatre, Boston
The view from our seat.
The Colonial: I love the Colonial. Prior to Rouge, I saw That
Championship Season (from the balcony) and a tour of Mamma Mia! there. One of
the nation's most legendary theatres, in the heyday of pre-Broadway tryouts,
the Colonial was a favored stop on the tryout circuit. In 2006, Boston's Emerson College bought the
Colonial Theatre with the intention of converting the building's upper floors
into dormitories. Various entertainment entities continued to use the Colonial
for theatrical productions until 2015 when the last of the leases expired and
Emerson closed the Colonial. At first, Emerson planned to convert the theatre
into a dining hall (sacrilege!!!), but after a deluge of bad press,
petitions, and pleas by show business luminaries, historians, and pretty much everyone who cared about the arts in
Boston, Emerson did a 180 and announced plans to renovate the theatre and
return it to its rightful place as a treasure of the Boston, and national,
theatre scene. After a costly and splendid renovation, and under the management
of London's Ambassador Theatre Group, the Colonial, now the Emerson Colonial
Theatre, reopened its doors with Moulin
Rouge! and rightly received as much praise as its pre-Broadway occupant.
(For the record, the ATG group has absurdly high fees and charges when
purchasing tickets online. Shameful what they tacked onto our online ticket
order for Rouge.)
The Noel Coward Theatre. Across the alley is the Salisbury Pub, which at one time was a bit of a gay hangout in the left-hand side of the pub, as you entered it. Now it seems to be overloaded with tourists.
Tracie Bennett and Ensemble
May, 2016. There is a reason, well, lots of them, actually,
why Tracie Bennett is one of the UK's biggest stars. Oozing star charisma,
talent, and warmth, she portrayed a larger-than-life, yet very human Mrs.
Henderson in this delightful and very British musical adaptation of the popular
movie of the same name. Loaded with talent, including nifty turns by a
rock-solid Ian Bartholomew and an enchanting Emma Williams, this was a solidly
entertaining show with a score by Don Black, George Fenton, and Simon Chamberlain
that included bouncy period-flavored numbers and some stunning ballads, all of
it beautifully sung. Terry Johnson provided the witty book and some unobtrusive
direction, and Andrew Wright choreographed some pretty tasty numbers. Mrs Henderson wasn't the greatest
musical I've seen by a long shot, but it was so lovingly and professionally
done, and it was so obvious that the cast loved performing it, that I fell in
love with it. A lovely bit of period charm that sadly would never work in the
United States. It received mixed reviews and closed after its advertised
four-month season – at the Noël Coward Theatre, London
Sidebar: The British have a knack for making charming, low-key
films. Among them Calendar Girls, The
Lady in the Van, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Mrs. Henderson Presents. Devoid of the bells and whistles of a
typical American blockbuster, these films feature some of the UK's top talents
and provide gentle stories with characters to enchant us for a couple of hours.
One of the best men's room signs ever!
Scaffolding. Well, it is New York after all!
May,
2018. Slick, commercial, and wildly entertaining. And instantly forgettable.
The excellent projections may have been the best things in the show. The mainly
young cast was fine, if unremarkable, with two nice turns by Tony-nominated
Grey Henson and Barrett Wilbert Weed as your "hosts" of sorts and
reigning school outcasts. The score was completely unremarkable, but
functional. Tina Fey's book was often very funny, but not worthy of the huge
buildup. BIG FLAW....Supposedly takes place on Chicago's suburban North Shore,
but Regina, her mother (an odd performance by the usually spot-on Kerry Butler),
and Karen all sounded like Valley girls and not at all North Shore. Considering
Fey lived in Chicago for a spell and at one time worked at Evanston's YMCA, I
found this weird accent thing unexplainable and jarring. Casey Nicholaw
directed and choreographed the show at a breakneck speed which glossed over the
indifferent material and resulted in a surprisingly fun afternoon. The
millennial audience in the mezzanine at the performance we attended were
clearly grooving on the show. Nominated for twelve 2018 Tonys, it won none. I
think Mean Girls will be very popular
for a few years when amateur rights are released, but I can't see it being done
twenty, or even ten years from now. Not great, but one could do a lot worse. –
at the August Wilson Theatre, New York
July, 1997. Straight guy tries his hand at gay porn in order
to make some money and, what do you know?, he becomes a gay porn star. Hilarious
situations ensue.The surprise here is that the show was actually entertaining
with lots of laughs and a few minutes of easy-on-the-eyes nudity. The show
attempted a bit of a message, but it didn't come through. The actors all
performed their roles with gusto, if not exactly character-driven, and it was
all silly fun. Productions of Making Porn
have been done everywhere it seems. There was even a 25th anniversary
production down in Florida. The show debuted in Chicago in 1995; this was a
return engagement. This is Larsen's best-known play. – at the Theatre Building,
Chicago
Porn Outtakes: Gay porn
legend Ryan Idol was the box-office draw when the show opened in Chicago. He
was out by the end of the weekend. (see below)
Another stunning physical production at the Rep.
September, 2016. It's unfortunate, but probably inevitable,
that Man of La Mancha would become
known in ads for touring productions as "'The Impossible Dream'
Musical." Inevitable because that's what audiences come to hear.
Unfortunate because it relegates a gloriously emotionally manipulative musical
to a single song, and not even the best song in the show. Stop it. You know I'm
right. Oh, "The Impossible Dream" is a dandy song. A zillion covers
of it have been recorded in the fifty-five years since Man of La Mancha debuted in 1965, and what high school choir hasn't
sung a SATB version of the song? Back in the dark ages when I was in high
school and college, the song was practically a requirement at graduations
and/or baccalaureate services. But in my opinion, the better songs in a really
good score are "To Each His Dulcinea," "What Does He Want of
Me?," and "Dulcinea." The show itself skillfully tells its story
and shamelessly tugs at the heartstrings in the final scene. It became an
instant classic and deservedly will be done for decades to come. I'm a big fan
of the show and knew the Milwaukee Rep would do the show justice. And, for the
most part, I was right. However, there was a big hole in the Rep's overall
well-done production of The Impossible
Dream, I mean Man of La Mancha.
That hole was a wildly miscast Aldonza, who played the role as though she'd
just nipped in from Naperville to do the part. The notes were there, but not
the passion, and the throwaway interpretation just didn't work. And there were
other issues. The rape scene lacked any real sense of violence, physical or
sexual. The costumes and actors all looked too clean and would have benefited
from some distressing and dirt. And the red KKK-inspired robes for the
Inquisition folks were glaringly inappropriate. Having said all that, however,
the singing was superb, the orchestra vibrant, the physical production
gorgeous, and the supporting roles played with gusto. Full-voiced Bethany
Thomas, who played the Housekeeper, should have been Aldonza. Just saying.
Nathaniel Stampley's powerful Cervantes/Don Quixote anchored the show with
talent and class, and positively nailed the big hit tune...you know what it is.
This was a preview. The production was highly praised by the critics, Aldonza
included. An off night, perhaps? - at the Quadracci Powerhouse, Milwaukee
MY FAIR LADY
– Uihlein Hall,
Milwaukee
An ad for the Arie Crown engagement. Finding Milwaukee newspaper archives is oddly hard to do. Mulhare may have taken over as Higgins during MFL's long original tenure at the Shubert, but the original Higgins was a much-praised Brian Aherne.
October, 1977. Breezing into Milwaukee's Uihlein Hall for a
week as the second stop on a 7 ½ month tour of the recently-closed Broadway
20th anniversary production, this Fair
Lady featured the original Chicago Eliza, Anne Rogers, and a
Broadway-replacement Higgins, Edward Mulhare, as its above-title stars. Also in
the cast were many My Fair Lady
veterans of various national tours, including Marie Paxton, the show's Mrs.
Higgins, who, at the start of this tour, had played over 3,000 performances of
the show. Recreating Oliver Smith's original scenic design and Cecil Beaton's
original costumes, Robert Russell Bennett and Phil Lang's original
orchestrations, Trude Rittman's original dance music arrangements, and Jerry
Adler, director, and Crandall Diehl, choreographer, using Moss Hart's original
staging and Hanya Holm's original choreography, this tour gave 1977 audiences
the chance to see a good approximation of what the 1956 original looked and
sounded like. As a musical, My Fair Lady
is one of the finest musicals ever written. It's tight with nary a wasted word
and is blessed with that Lerner and Loewe score. I'm more of an admirer of the
show than a fan. I loathe the Alfred Doolittle role, and cringe during
Doolittle's two numbers, the only exception being when we saw the show at the
Guthrie. For whatever reason, the Doolittle there and his numbers actually
worked. Go figure. The main reason I went to see this production, my first
time seeing a professional production of it, was to see Anne Rogers recreate
her Eliza. I was a huge fan of Anne Rogers, and was happily not disappointed by
her performance. She was effortless in the role and hit that final high note in
"I Could Have Danced All Night" with ease. At this juncture probably
known more for TV's The Ghost and Mrs.
Muir than his impressive theatre credits, Edward Mulhare was equally at
home as Higgins. Both Rogers and Mulhare, at 44 and 54 respectively, were at
least two decades too old for their roles, but their experience shone through,
and I had a perfectly loverly time. – at Uihlein Hall, Milwaukee
Anne and Julie: Anne Rogers was the original star of The Boy Friend when it premiered in
London in 1954 and made her an instant star. Enmeshed in her London run, Rogers
didn't go to New York to appear in the Broadway production later that year.
Nineteen-year-old Julie Andrews would cross The Pond instead, make her Broadway
debut to great reviews, and eighteen months later, become a Broadway star as
the original Eliza Doolittle. In the First National Tour, Anne Rogers would
conquer Chicago as Eliza and win that year's coveted Sarah Siddons Award.
After a long run in New York, Andrews recreated her Eliza in the London
production of My Fair Lady. When she
finished her run there, Anne Rogers took over her spot in the Drury Lane
production. And the Rogers-Andrews circle was complete.
– Vivian Beaumont Theatre, New York
May, 2018. What the bleeding hell was up with that ending,
Bartlett Sher? Did Eliza leave? I assume she did, and if she did, why did she exit
through the house? Was there an entrance/exit to the Higgins abode that we weren't
aware of? Seriously, dude, wtf? Sumptuous to look at and with a glorious
string-laden orchestra, which made an onstage appearance during the ball
sequence prompting loud and extended applause, this My Fair Lady was lacking its promised fresh, new approach, and that
kept it firmly in the 1950s when the show was written. Treated with great
reverence, it sometimes felt like a museum piece. Harry Haddon-Paton was a
handsome Henry Higgins and Lauren Ambrose was a believable Eliza and sang the
part beautifully. Fine performances from both of them, but neither offered any
new insights. Diana Rigg was out (see sidebar), and her cover did fine, but
lacked Dame Diana's regalness. Norbert Leo Butz's Doolittle was nothing special,
and once again I hated his part and his songs. (This was after the Guthrie
production…see Milwaukee post.) I really liked Jordan Donica's Freddy, Allan
Cordunner's Pickering, and Linda Mugleston's warm, but weary, Mrs. Pearce. Some
negatives: the constantly revolving set during "Quit, Professor
Higgins" was unnecessary and distracting. From our seats in the mezzanine,
we saw and heard everything, but we just seemed far away. Part of that was
because the set was upstage and not much happened more downstage. Don't get me
wrong. I enjoyed myself, but that ending!!!!! ARGH! - at the Vivian Beaumont
Theatre, New York.
About that ending: Although I could sense our audience wasn't
really buying the ending, and overheard snippets of exit conversation
verified that, there were some critics who thought the entire production was a
#MeToo My Fair Lady, praising
Ambrose's fiery Eliza as a new and vibrant interpretation and going gaga over
Sher's ending. And I had to wonder: For these reviewers was their exposure to My Fair Lady limited to the film version
and some community theatre productions? I say this because both the 1977 tour
and the Guthrie production featured strong Elizas, able to hold their own and
speak their minds. I've yet to see a wallflower Eliza. The role as written
doesn't allow for a meek little thing. Ambrose was a first-rate Eliza in a
classy, expensive production, but this MFL
was hardly a radical departure from what audiences have come to expect. Yes,
okay, the original left everyone with the impression that Eliza returned to
Higgins, but the original original,
GBS' Pygmalion, ended with Liza
(Eliza) telling off Higgins and walking out. Far more satisfying than the 50s
romantic happy ending Lerner and Loewe attached to their musical. (But then,
Lerner and Loewe made adultery romantic in Camelot,
so there is that.) Face it, folks, Higgins is a twat. Dream role for an actor,
perhaps, but absolutely nothing redeeming about him. The 1977 tour had the
"Eliza Returns" ending, but the Guthrie's production implied that
Eliza was done with Higgins, though that was also perplexingly staged with
Eliza in a dim special upstage in her ball gown. Was she really in the room? If
so, why was she dressed in formal duds? Or was she in Higgins' imagination?
Whatever. The point I'm trying to make is that this was not the first time a
different ending was done. And the material as written supports the
Eliza-Leaves-Higgins option. Personally, I would have Eliza leave Higgins, too.
But, Bartlett, couldn't she have left via the front door?
Dame Diana vs. Lauren Ambrose: After a few months of eight shows a
week, Lauren Ambrose decided to cut out the Sunday matinee. She claimed the
role was too taxing, plus she wanted to spend time with her family. This was
not unprecedented. In Chicago in the 60s, there was a matinee Aldonza in Man of La Mancha. During the run of I Do!
I Do! there was an actual matinee cast. Well, Dame Diana didn't take to that at
all and had a major much-publicized hissy fit. For one, apparently Ambrose didn't inform her
cast in advance. And for another, and for Dame Diana this was the biggie, in her day (Dame Diana's), actors didn't
miss a performance unless they were on death's doorstep, and perhaps not even
then. That's all well and good, Dame Diana, but, uh, how can I say this?, you were out at the performance we saw. Enough
said. For the record, Ambrose's replacement, Laura Benanti, also played only
seven performances a week, and later in the run Michael Halling went on for
Harry Hadden-Paton on Wednesday nights. And in both cases, nobody said a word.
Higgins: This cannot possibly be the first time this has come up, but I'll ask it
anyway. Is Higgins gay? Discuss.
And on that note… Stay safe and healthy! And social
distance!!!
© 2020 Jeffrey Geddes
