"T" FOR TWO (OR MORE…)
A WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF ALPHABET SOUP
The first blog post of 2017, after the tumultuous year known
as 2016, chats about a 70s comedy that had its moment in the spotlight, but
then faded away to Samuel French limbo; a frothy musical based on a frothy
film; a film legend's Broadway debut in a fascinating, but flawed play; a
well-acted play that oddly left me less moved than I felt I should have been;
and finally, a stunning, stunning one-man
show about survival. They all start with the letter "T," so come get
comfy and join our very own "T" party. ("T" party. Get it?
Okay, I'll stop.)
TWIGS
– Broadhurst Theatre, New York
"Twigs" stayed at the Broadhurst for only a couple of months. It played most of its run at the Plymouth.
November, 1971. I thought Twigs playwright George Furth's book for the landmark musical Company was brilliant, still do in fact,
so I was excited to see what he would do with his follow-up show. The result
was an evening of four interconnected one-acts that was often very funny, but
which completely left your memory the moment each playlet was done. Would it be
unjust of me to say it felt like really well-written sitcom episodes for
someone like Carol Burnett (see Sidebar)? Produced with class by Frederick
Brisson, better known as Rosalind Russell's husband, Twigs was skillfully designed by Peter Larkin (scenic), Sara Brook
(costumes), and David F. Segal (lighting), with assured direction, in a rare
departure from musicals, by Michael Bennett, hot off of his back-to-back
triumphs with Company and Follies. Stephen Sondheim even provided
the incidental music for his Company colleague.
It featured a cast of pros, including A. Larry Haines, Conrad Bain, and Simon
Oakland. But what ultimately elevated Twigs
from being just another competent, yet inconsequential comedy, was its leading
lady, Sada Thompson, in a performance, as the woman in each of the playlets
(three sisters and their mother), that had the critics falling over themselves
in praise. It was her performance, and make no mistake, Ms. Thompson was
definitely driving this bus, that took the play to profitability and earned her
a well-deserved Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, Twigs' only Tony nomination. It wasn't the best comedy
ever written, but in the assured hands of Sada Thompson, it glittered like a
polished diamond. It has since become one of those forgotten 70s comedies. – at
the Broadhurst Theatre, New York
Sidebar: Ironically, in 1975, CBS aired
a televised version of Twigs starring
Carol Burnett, rather than its originator Sada Thompson. In 1975, Burnett was a
huge television name and her eponymous The
Carol Burnett Show was one of television's biggest hits. Thompson would gain
television stardom a year later as the wise and loving matriarch in Family. She'd also win an Emmy Award in
the process. Although widely considered one of our finest actresses both on
stage and on television, Twigs was
Thompson's biggest success, running nearly 300 performances. She appeared on
Broadway only twice after Twigs, both
shows quick-closing failures. She died in 2011 at the age of 83.
– Blackstone Theatre,
Chicago
October, 1972. Following its successful and profitable
Broadway run, producer Frederick Brisson loaded up the sets and costumes, hired
some skilled actors, retained his Tony-winning star and embarked on a six-month
national tour. Sada Thompson was still dazzling and provided a tour-de-force;
her vehicle seemed even less accomplished on a second viewing. Oh, it was still
quite funny and very professional, but now firmly felt like sitcom on a legit
stage. As a play, eminently forgettable. As a showcase for Sada Thompson,
totally memorable. – at the Blackstone Theatre, Chicago
THOROUGHLY MODERN
MILLIE – Marquis Theatre, New York
May,
2002. A few years back, I watched, for the first time in 30+ years, Thoroughly Modern Millie, the film on
which this frothy treat of a musical is based upon. The film, although equally
frothy and light as air, doesn't quite hold up to the stage incarnation. Oh,
sure, the film stars Julie Andrews at her effervescent best as Millie, in a
performance that gave a tantalizing glimpse at how wonderful her stage
performance in The Boy Friend must
have been; and it featured a delightful, if sinfully underused, Mary Tyler
Moore; and charming performances by James Fox and John Gavin; and had some
great numbers. But, it also featured an odd performance by Beatrice Lillie,
and, yes, I'm probably the only person on the planet who didn't faint over her,
and an even odder and jarringly over-the-top performance by Carol Channing, who
would, for reasons known only to the Academy Awards nominating committee, get an
Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. (I assume this was her
consolation prize for the egregious casting of the horribly miscast Barbra
Streisand instead of Channing in the, ultimately, terrible film version of Hello, Dolly!) All my misgivings about
the film, however, vanished seconds after the curtain rose as Sutton Foster,
all delicious charm and talent, started singing her first number. Cheerfully
old-fashioned and without a care in the world, Millie was a wide smile from start to finish. The book by Richard
Morris and Dick Scanlan kept the somewhat convoluted plot clipping along, but
it was the new score, courtesy of the always wonderful Jeanine Tesori, and the
new lyrics by the aforementioned Mr. Scanlan that gave the musical a verve and
sass that was missing from the film. Expensively designed, smartly directed,
with terrific choreography, Millie
featured a raft of great performances from Marc Kudisch's pompous Mr. Trevor
Graydon to Gavin Creel's sweetly romantic Jimmy Smith to Angela Christian's
cluelessly naïve Miss Dorothy to Anne L. Nathan's drill sergeant office manager
(a great small part) to Ken Leung and Francis Jue's hysterically evil Chinese
henchman to Sheryl Lee Ralph's glamorous Muzzy Van Hossmere. But it was Harriet
Harris' diabolical and diabolically funny Mrs. Meers and Sutton Foster's
powerhouse performance as Millie which left the most lasting impressions. Both
would win Tony Awards (Best Actress for Foster and Best Supporting Actress for
Harris) and both would go on to gift the theatre with other memorable
performances. My only minor quibble was Foster's eleven o'clock number,
"Gimme Gimme." Though technically faultless, this was the one
instance where I could see Foster working. The smile was a bit strained, the
energy a bit mechanical. All this, however, became academic as she brought the
number to a sensational finish. Strained and mechanical or not, when that
number ended, you knew you were witnessing the birth of a new star. – at the
Marquis Theatre, New York.
Sidebar: Despite reviews which ranged from
full-out raves to complete pans, with much of the negative press citing a lack
of freshness and sincerity, Thoroughly
Modern Millie won six Tony Awards, including the all-important Best Musical
beating out Urinetown, the
Tony-winner for both book and score. There were many raised eyebrows over Millie's win. Urinetown is, in my opinion, the better show, the more inventive
one, but many believe people didn't want another satiric musical to win the
year after The Producers famously
swept the 2001 Tonys. With three big Tony wins, Millie went on to a run of just over 900 performances and a long
national tour.
Casting Tidbits: In a classic "you're
going out a youngster but you've got to come back a star!" piece of 42nd Street life-imitates-art, Sutton
Foster stepped up from the ensemble when the original Millie. Erin Dilly,
didn't meet expectations during the La Jolla Playhouse tryouts, took the show
to Broadway and became an "overnight" sensation. (Foster had been in
four Broadway productions prior to Millie.)
She's one of my favorites and I'm pretty much convinced there's nothing she
can't do. (Miscellaneous fun tidbits: Kristin Chenoweth played Millie during
workshops, but left the production to work on a sitcom that was cancelled after
six episodes. Oops! In La Jolla, Pat Carroll played Mrs. Meers and Tonya Pinkins was Muzzy. Now that would have been worth seeing!) Although Sutton Foster is the lead, she's billed as
"and introducing SUTTON FOSTER as Millie." (She's a veteran of four
Broadway shows and you're "introducing" her? A bit of PR embellishment?), This is prominent
billing, and since she won the Best Actress Tony, apparently qualified as
above-title billing, but the first actor billed is Sheryl Lee Ralph, who played
the somewhat extraneous role of Muzzy. She was very, very good, mind you, but
first billing? I guess when you're an original Dreamgirl and making your first
Broadway appearance in nearly twenty years, you wield that kind of billing
power. And in the ensemble, a flock of names that I would see in other shows in
bigger roles: Kate Baldwin (!!), Jessica Grové, Casey Nicholaw (future
Tony-winning director and noted choreographer), Noah Racey, and Megan Sikora.
Never, ever underestimate the phenomenal men and women who work in the ensemble!
THREE DAYS OF RAIN – Jacobs
Theatre, New York
April,
2006. Playwright Richard Greenberg is a writer I have admired since I read his
early play, Eastern Standard. He won
a well-deserved Tony in 2003 for his magnificent play, Take Me Out, which is on my Top Ten list of favorite plays. His
2013 play, The Assembled Parties, was
a bracing and exciting play about family and social standings. His 1998 play, Three Days of Rain, was a finalist for
the Pulitzer Prize. His credentials are impeccable. But impeccable credentials
were not the draw for the 2006 production of this time-hopping, somewhat
disjointed, somewhat confusing play about truth vs. perceived truth about
certain events in a brother, sister, and childhood friend's lives. Nope. No one
bit. This was all about Julia Roberts' Broadway debut. Yes, that Julia Roberts. As in uber-popular,
Oscar-winning, movie megastar Julia Roberts. It was her name that caused a
frenzy at the Jacobs box-office. It was her name that made the limited
twelve-week run a sell-out smash. It was her name that put the press and
paparazzi into overdrive. So, let's get to the stuff that really matters. How was she?
Well, I rather irreverently call it "The Julia Roberts Thing," but
what was on view at the Jacobs was actually better than that tart little title
would imply. The stage is definitely not her medium. She was frequently
tentative, as though she didn't quite trust her instincts as an actor, and more
than a bit wooden, as though she didn't feel confident in handling the simultaneously
more intimate and bigger acting techniques of the theatre. Having said that,
however, her charisma was undeniable. You literally couldn't take your eyes off
of her when she was onstage. That isn't to say she stole focus. Far from it.
She proved to be every inch the ensemble player and, when not actively
participating in a scene, you could sense her really listening and reacting to
what was going on. And perhaps this is shallow of me, but when she smiled that
luminous Julia Roberts smile, all was right in the world. I'm not quite sure
why she picked this particular play to make her Broadway debut in, but she
deserves props for choosing a difficult, small, ensemble piece as opposed to a
showier role in, say, a comedy where she could show off her comic chops and be
dressed in fabulous clothes. (Thought: wouldn't she be terrific in The Little Dog Laughed?) Her costars,
Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, in his Broadway debut, were more successful in
the acting department, but I suspect that's more due to better-written roles than
anything else. It was evident that the three actors respected and enjoyed
working with each other and that helped the play enormously. Joe Mantello's
direction was serviceable, but the unsung star of the day was Santo Loquasto's
fabulous set. One final thought… After the performance, folks, not
surprisingly, mobbed the stage door. Roberts was the first one out. Though
with, I assume, bodyguards to help ease her way to her waiting car, she took
her time, smiling to the waiting fans, sharing a word or two with a few, and
signing some programs. The smile was at full tilt. She was gracious, at ease,
and just plain classy. It wasn't great theatre, but it was unforgettable. – at
the Jacobs Theatre, New York
Sidebar: I was on a layover in New York and
stood on the cancel line and was rewarded with an 11th row seat. Not bad, not
bad at all.
TIME STANDS STILL – Jacobs
Theatre, New York
April,
2006. Although the Friedman Theatre is an intimate venue, sitting in the
second-to-last row of the mezzanine, we lost a lot of the carefully-directed
nuance that Daniel Sullivan brought to the piece. It was there, I could tell it
was there, but we felt distant from the characters in Donald Margulies' drama
about relationships that want to live in the past, but can't, and want to move
forward, but are hesitant to do so, and that distance made for a theatre-going
experience that did not land as powerfully as I suspect it would have had we
been closer to the action. Perhaps Laura Linney and Brian d'Arcy James, both
exquisite actors, were a tad too subtle, where a bit more oomph, for lack of a
better word, in their performances could have generated more audience
involvement with their characters. And in Ms. Linney's case, I had no idea her
face was made up to look scarred until I saw pictures. It just didn't register
up in the rafters. Although Linney and d'Arcy James and their characters' ying
and yang were the play's focus, it was the broader, more comic, and, ultimately,
more affecting performances of Eric Bogosian, as the couple's oldest friend,
and, in a surprisingly refreshing performance, Alicia Silverstone, as his
much-younger and much less complicated girlfriend, that gave the play, for me,
at least, its heart. With beautiful production values and four talented actors,
it was a worthy way to spend the afternoon, just not the "wow" the
critical reaction would have led one to believe. – at the Friedman Theatre, New
York.
THE TRICKY PART –
Signature Theatre (the ARK), Arlington, VA
February,
2008. When author Martin Moran was twelve, he was sexually abused by Bob, a
retired Vietnam vet and counselor at a Catholic boys' camp. This abuse
continued until Moran was fifteen. Horrific by any standards, Moran treated this
all with candor and, surprisingly, a great deal of humor in his one-man
adaptation of his shattering book of the same name. A gifted storyteller and
actor, Moran made his characters come alive with vivid detail, especially Bob.
Far from being the stereotypical villain, Moran imbued his abuser with a
wide-range of conflicting traits, from downright creepy to unexpected
generosity. By making Bob a living, breathing person, it made Moran's abuse
even more horrifying. Moran's story of survival following the end of his abuse
was compelling and when he finally confronted Bob years later, a wizened old
man in a wheelchair, the scene that followed and the grace that Moran gave it,
concluded an unforgettable evening that I will long cherish. The warmth and
genuineness Moran portrayed onstage is real. After the performance, he took the
time to talk to each and every person waiting after the show to thank him for
his performance, us included. An absolutely stunning experience. – at the
Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA.
And that's
it for the first blog of 2017! Until later.
©
2017 Jeffrey Geddes
