SIMPLY "S" – Part 3

 SIMPLY "S" – Part 3
(a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet Soup)

Concluding the series of shows beginning with the letter "S"… Part 2 ended with a revue of early Sondheim. Part 3 starts with the return to Broadway for one of its iconic stars in a hybrid musical/revue covering the entire Sondheim oeuvre. Also in Part 3 are: two of Christopher Durang's early one-acts; a sentimental, very traditional musical buoyed up by its magnetic star; the problematic musical version of Billy Wilder's masterpiece about the fleeting nature of fame; John Guare's fascinating, yet dated, study of "liberal" society; and lastly, an absolutely ridiculous, totally delightful musical spoof. Let's jump right in, shall we?

 SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM – Studio 54, New York

March, 2010. First preview. Picture Side by Side by Sondheim updated to cover all of Sondheim's works. Picture Side by Side by Sondheim on steroids, with the Master himself commenting on his life and works via artistically placed onstage screens, courtesy of designer Beowulf Boritt, instead of the tart and always genial commentary of a Ned Sherrin or Burr Tillstrom. Then mark the occasion with the return to Broadway of legendary theatre icon Barbara Cook, with castmates the caliber of Vanessa Williams (classy, classy, classy), Tom Wopat, Leslie Kritzer, Norm Lewis, Euan Morton, Erin Mackey, and Matthew Scott. Heady stuff. And yet, for all that, the show lacked warmth, fun, the feeling of joy at performing this music. It was all done well, mind you, just remote and, frankly, impersonal. For a first preview, the show was remarkably assured and nothing outwardly seemed to go wrong. I wanted more Gypsy and less Passion; more Do I Hear a Waltz? and less Merrily We Roll Along; more Pacific Overtures full stop. The critics were divided with a couple of raves, a couple of pans, but most were mixed. (For the record, I was in the "mixed" category.) Highlight of the evening, hands down, was the juxtaposition of Vanessa Williams' "Losing My Mind" with Barbara Cook's "Not a Day Goes By." Thrilling. And one of the few moments of genuine excitement. Ms. Cook, overall, fared the best of all the performers with material that was carefully chosen to show off her magnificent skill set, closely followed by the wonderful Vanessa Williams and the endearing Euan Morton.  I enjoyed it, but, for my money, the more modest SxSxS is the better show. Sue me. – at Studio 54, New York.

About Ms. Cook: We went with our friend, Michael, who had never before seen Barbara Cook live. Prior to the show, he said he was eager to see it because he wanted to see what all the fuss was about re: Ms. Cook. At the interval, he said with awe and admiration, "Oh. Now I get it!" She was a marvel.
 

SISTER MARY IGNATIUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU/THE ACTOR'S NIGHTMARE – Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Chicago

May, 1982. Playwright Christopher Durang is very much an angry, bitter Catholic, or, if you will, ex-Catholic, recovering Catholic. Take your pick. Sister Mary Ignatius, etc., his diatribe about everything Catholic, decided to switch course midway through from being hysterically funny and dead-on pointed, especially to Catholics, ex-, recovering or otherwise, of which I am one, to being pointlessly violent and unfocused, and, well, that rather doomed the evening for me. The evening's opener, The Actor's Nightmare, fared better, but its premise got old quickly. This was the Midwest premiere of both plays, headed by acclaimed Chicago actor, Mary Ann Thebus, who did what she could with the material and how she was directed, but her performance, like Ignatius itself, became tiresomely one-note. Both plays have been popular with theatre companies and Durang's reputation grew as a playwright who could be counted on to never play it safe. I found the evening disappointing. Steve hated every minute of it. – at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Chicago

Tidbits: Christopher Durang would finally achieve mainstream success with his Tony Award-winning Best Play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a lovely play which is a far cry from the unrelenting anger of Sister Mary Ignatius. Wisdom Bridge Theatre, an Equity company and one of Chicago's premiere companies for many years, closed in the mid-1990s.  

SHENANDOAH – Arie Crown Theatre, Chicago

October, 1977. When Shenandoah opened at Broadway's Alvin Theatre on January 7, 1975, it was greeted with both love and dismissal. Fortunately for the show, one of the critics who gave Shenandoah some love, a rave-level love at that, was the New York Times's powerful Walter Kerr, one of the premiere and most astute critics of his time. (There are collections of his reviews. Read them. Fascinating stuff.) Although it never was anyone's first choice, in a lackluster season of musicals, the love it got was enough to propel it to a run of over 2 ½ years and a modest profit. Plus it won two Tony Awards that season, for Best Book, and more importantly, for John Cullum for Best Actor in a Musical. Based on the 1965 James Stewart-starrer film of the same name, Shenandoah wrapped its pacifist, anti-war message in a earnest, let's-leave-no-sentimental-trope-unturned package and brought it to Chicago with John Cullum leading a company of generically talented actors, each doing their assigned tasks competently, but without particular distinction. Thankfully, the show's darkest moment, when Cullum's son and daughter-in-law are murdered, took place offstage, which made it creepily effective. (Think The Diary of Anne Frank when you hear the Nazis coming up the stairs, but never actually see them. Brrrr!) The score by Gary Geld and Peter Udell was pleasant and tuneful, but, again, not especially remarkable, but had the great good sense to give Mr. Cullum opportunites to wow us with his vocal chops. In the end, it was John Cullum's compassionate and powerful performance that was the reason to see Shenandoah. Even in the inhospitable environs of Arie Crown, he gave the show a warmth and intimacy that, in that "theatre," and I use that term loosely, was often impossible to achieve. Was it the best show I've ever seen? Not by a long shot. But Cullum's performance was not to be missed. Like many "B" shows of the era, Shenandoah has more or less faded away.– at the Arie Crown Theatre, Chicago

Shenandoah bits: Two of Shenandoah's songs, "Freedom" and "We Make a Beautiful Pair," made their way into many of the musical programs that BFF Pat and I did for social clubs and organizations in the late 70s. Both good songs, and, bonus!, both utilized harmony, always a big crowd-pleaser at these events.

  - Shenandoah's lyricist and composer team of Peter Udell and Gary Geld had their longest Broadway run with Shenandoah, but probably their biggest success with the superior-in-every-aspect Purlie in 1970. Their third and final entry on Broadway was an ill-fated musical version of Look Homeward Angel, entitled Angel. It ran for five performances in 1978.

  - John Cullum would win his second Tony award in 1978's On the Twentieth Century, where he gave co-stars Madeline Kahn, Imogene Coca, and Kevin Kline a run for their money in a sensational over-the-top performance as Oscar Jaffee.  In his long and illustrious career spanning over sixty years (!!), he has consistently turned in remarkable and memorable performances that seemed effortless in their execution. This was made abundantly clear a few years back when Bob and I saw the pleasantly middling Waitress, where Cullum played the secondary role of Joe. His performance was quiet, gruffly gentle, and, frankly, the highlight of the evening. In a theatre world of flavors-of-the-month "stars," John Cullum is a theatrical treasure.

 

SUNSET BOULEVARD

 – Minskoff Theatre, New York

March, 1996. First NYC show with Bob! When I saw Betty Buckley in London in May, 1994, shortly after she'd assumed the part of Norma Desmond from originator Patti LuPone, I thought her performance, though vocally assured, was a little too suburban housewife and not enough grand dame. What a difference two years made! Oozing star presence and glamour, Buckley was every inch the "greatest star of all." Utilizing her arsenal of stage savvy, Buckley knew that her two "wow" moments musically were her two arias, "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye," and she wisely saved the power pipes for those two numbers. After the first number, Bob whispered to me, "Okay, how does she top that?” After the second, he simply said with awe, "Oh!" She was magnificent. Her supporting cast of Alan Campbell (Joe Gillis), Alice Ripley (Betty Schaefer), and 1995 Tony-winner for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, George Hearn, as Max Von Mayerling, were all excellent in their roles. But, here's the thing: as in London, the physical production tended to overwhelm the characters, the story, and the uneven score. It's hard to compete with a house that goes up and down on cue. And also as in London, as directed by the estimable Trevor Nunn, the characters were all somewhat odious creatures. I just didn't care about them. Norma's vain and delusional, Max is enabling both, Joe is a gigolo, and Betty's an adulterous opportunist. Not nice folks. Having said all that, though, one simply cannot deny the musical, thanks to its classic film roots, its considerable power and appeal. We in the audience roared our approval. Buckley for the win! – at the Minskoff Theatre, New York

 – Palace Theatre, New York

      

April, 2017. Remarkably, without all the design bells and whistles of the original, this "reduced" version, and "reduced" is a relative term since it was beautifully designed and lit to death, the focus was now strictly on the story without a levitating house to distract you. And somehow in the process, as directed by Lonny Price, who knows a thing or two about staging, uh, "concert" versions of musicals, all four of the principal characters became people you had empathy for. Sunset is still a flawed show, and some of the lyrics are just painfully awful, but it was now a more accessible show. Norma drives this bus, and Glenn Close still had what it takes, at 70, to whip that audience into an idolizing frenzy. Proud and vulnerable, she had us from her entrance. She was wonderful. Applause to Siobhan Dillon, Fred Johanson, and especially Michael Xavier, whose Joe Gillis was the best I've seen. He was also very hot in a skimpy blue swimming suit. Bonus!! Kudos to the talented ensemble and especially that divine 40-piece (!!!) onstage orchestra. Swoon! Bravo/Brava all!  - at the Palace Theatre, New York

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION – Barrymore Theatre, New York

Spare, stunning scenic design for Act 1.

April, 2017. John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation is widely considered to be one of the signature plays of the 1990s. The somewhat rambling story of a young black con artist claiming to be Sidney Poitier's son, offering the gullible upscale New Yorkers who are his victims to have his father cast them in a film version of Cats (Yes, I know, been done and we all know how that turned out!), was frequently very, very funny, but also, at times, maddeningly obtuse and verbose. The whole endeavor left one with a sour taste in one's mouth. That's the play itself. The production on display at the Barrymore was stunning to look at, directed with a dynamic flair, and cast pretty much to perfection. The kids alone were worth the price of admission. I'm a firm believer that one should never knowingly miss an opportunity to see Allison Janney onstage and she did not disappoint here. She was  the glue that held the show together in a welcome return to Broadway. If you're a Guare fan, this would have been your cup of tea. If, like me, you're not, it was still worth a visit. - at the Barrymore Theatre, New York

SOMETHING ROTTEN!

 – St. James Theatre, New York

August, 2015. First cousin to the superior Spamalot, this was both wildly derivative and wildly entertaining with two, not one, but two, flat-out showstopping numbers, one led by the scenery-chewing Brad Oscar and the other by the show's multitalented star, Brian d'Arcy James. How many shows can claim that? The second act faltered a bit, but the energy never flagged, and we laughed a lot, relished the musical theatre references, and overall had a great time. With nary a dud in the bunch, the absolutely top-notch cast, including a hysterically pompous and vain Christian Borle, John Cariani, the aforementioned Messrs. James and Oscar, Heidi Blickenstaff, Kate Reinders, Brooks Ashmanskas, Peter Bartlett, Gerry Vichi, Michael James Scott and an ensemble of talented folks, made the material soar. They all seemed to be having a blast doing the show, and their fun was infectious. The house at the St. James was on the smallish side (the mezzanine was less than half full), but we were a mighty vocal one. This show will make a killing on the regional/am-dram circuit. Terrific fun. - at the St. James Theatre, New York

 – Oriental Theatre, Chicago

July, 2017. I liked this show when I saw it in New York...a lot, but I LOVED it here in this top-grade Equity tour with an insanely terrific cast lead by Rob McClure. In a word, Mr. McClure was stupendous, and the reason this played better here than at the St. James. Funny and adorably dorky, he was so damn charming, he had the very enthusiastic audience in the palm of his hand from his entrance. He was a marvel. Adam Pascal was a preening, sexy Shakespeare. Special kudos to Kyle Nicholas Anderson, the cover for Nigel Bottom. He was great. Packed house. Great fun. - at the Oriental Theatre, Chicago

 – Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire, IL

September, 2019. One of Marriott's most consistently excellent elements in its shows is the ensemble, and in the sparkling production of Something Rotten!, the ensemble once again did not disappoint. Crisply staged and choreographed, with nary a weak performance among its excellent cast filled with Chicago stalwarts, including Alex Goodrich, Adam Jacobs, Ross Lehman, Terry Hamilton, and Gene Weygandt, with special kudos to Cassie Slater's top-drawer Bea, this was the perfect antidote to the stress of a Trump-infected world. Marriott spends money, and it shows - show after show after show. Silly and tuneful, we had a grand time. - at the Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire

And that ends the "Simply S" series. Stay healthy, stay safe, VOTE, and social distance!! Cheers!

© 2020 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....