News & Reviews from New York
       

June 12th, 2003

OUR HOUSE, by Tim Furth, now playing in LONDON, is an agressive working class musical built around the hard-hitting songs of the musical group MAD. The lively, bouncy songs are set in a contrived framework-- an old fashioned story right out of the crime movies of the 1930's ("Top o' the world, Ma!"): a young offender, no jobs, a split into a parallel universe for the leading young man who takes two diverging paths as he is led into a life of crime by the bad guy. The show is full of youthful energy and enthusiasm, and people familiar with the music particularly enjoyed all of it. Suggs, from the original band acts as a narrator, and that was a thrill for the fans. There is a high anguish and angst count in the melodrama wherein Mama may be
evicted, or even die in a fire, and will the young girl still love the boy? The two leads, Michael Jibson and Julia Gay are first class singer/actors,
and the entire cast does well. But for me, the revelation in the show is an actor named Matt Cross as the villain. He has the charisma, the style, the
presence, the acting prowess to be a star. Sort of a younger Allan Rickman. I hope some "Big Producer" finds him. Yes, I did indeed enjoy OUR HOUSE.

Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER, and lively-arts.com

       

June 10th, 2003

Walking in London, I saw, on a theatre Marquee: THE MADNESS OF GEORGE DUBBYA. I was interested in what the English satirical view of my country's president and world events might be. Most of it is quite funny-- broad jabs at Iraq policy, with the strange (to some) view that lives should be saved. It's quite incisive and entertaining, with mostly good performances as the actors portray Bush, generals (American and English), pilots with atom bombs, and there's a touch of "Dr. Strangelove." Writer/director Justin Butcher keeps the show timely by adding new comments, and Act 2 focusses on skewering Tony Blair, to the delight of the audience, who are familiar with his foibles (political and domestic). Then, for a spell the comedy disappears, and there's an Arab angrily spewing out the history of Iraq, the wrongs that have been done, and it's a polemic diatribe that could have conveyed the same, mostly interesting information in a gentler and more
communicative fashion. A political speech is inserted into a comedy, and while I might agree with what he said, his anger pushed me away, and it was a bit hard to get back to the satire. The audience, mostly young, loved the show, loved the antiestablishment tilt. The friend who came with me,
a middle-aged international captalist, liked it so much that he took me for drinks and dinner afterwards.

Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER, and lively-arts.com

       

May 29th, 2003

Bernadette Peters herself is a great theatrical experience, and in the current GYPSY on Broadway she brings a vulnerability as well as the strength and
power of Mama Rose to her performance. Directed by Sam Mendes, it's a very entertaining, imaginative production, a tuneful treat with strong dramatic
content, lively Sondheim lyrics, hummable music by Jules Styne, book by Arthur Laurents. The cast, including the sympathetic John Dossett and the scary Heather Tepe, is first rate, as is the set and hilarious costuming by Anthony Ward and lighting by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, and the
incomparable Bernadette holds the show together. It's a treat to be in her radiant presence.

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER, and lively-arts.com

THE LOOK OF LOVE: The Songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, is one of the most ill-conceived musicals I've ever seen. From an unimaginative start (how can you sing "Don't Ever Go" with an unending smile?) to
choreography from some long ago book of moves with some physical actions at inappropriate moments, crude costumes, meaningless scenery of cages and chain link fences, it's all tedious, with no humor, and is basically tasteless. They have the rhythm, but do not delve into the content of the songs. Directed by Scott Ellis, choreographed by Ann Reinking, set by Derek McLane, costumes by Martin Pakledinaz, it's a boring mish-mash.

* Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER, and lively-arts.com

       

May 20th, 2003

In his play RAIN DANCE, Lanford Wilson takes a shot at the development of the Atom Bomb at Los Alamos in 1945, and misses, as does the production at the Signature Theatre. It's slipshod in its casting, presentation and direction by Guy Sasnville. James van der Beek, as the young, supposedly brilliant, physicist, hasn't learned NOT to act. He's supposed to be nervous, and broadly indicates it, racing phrases, making many words difficult to understand. Randolph Mantooth as an Army Sergeant, a stolid, solemn Indian from New Mexico, actually called another character by his own character's name in the performance I saw. The acting is all stiff, all boring. There is a German couple, and the woman, Suzanne Regan, who has an older physicist husband, Harris Yulin, and is also having an affair with the
Indian, seemingly with her husband's knowledge and permission, was, in the early part of the play, basically incomprehensible. Boredom sets in with lots
of descriptions of the environment, a lot of exposition with little real interaction, long speeches and stories that have nothing to do with the present action--- talk, talk, talk, and not very interesting. Set on the eve of the first Atomic explosion, it should have had a bit of tension- there wasn't any, although there was an occasional amusing line. I nodded out, and was resting peacefully, when Mantooth went into an Indian chant and stomping dance. Then there were more stories divergent from the theme of the play, including a recap of Hitler's rise to power. A sense of importance is given to banalities and to lots of information that is common knowledge. The tension for me was not what'll happen with the bomb, but how soon the play would end. We all have hindsight--- we all know what happened, and the conflicts in these people isn't enough for a real moving drama.

* Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER, and lively-arts.com


I previously reviewed Part B of Alan Bennett's brilliant short plays TALKING HEADS at the Minetta Lane Theatre, and just saw two of the plays of Part A: "A Lady of Letters" with Christine Ebersole, about a lower middle class letter-writer who disturbs people with her missives, and her ultimate surprise
redemption, and the amazing Frances Sternhagen as a 95 year old stroke victim in "Waiting for the Telegram," a moving, soaring, humorous performance at the highest level of superb acting. Here I can only repeat my
comments on the work from my previous review: Each play is a polished gem shining with intelligence and wit. Valerie Mahaffey as a beautiful, naïve,
uneducated bit player of an actress, Daniel Davis as an ineffectual man in his fifties who takes care of his mother, and Lynn Redgrave as a woman of a certain age who has a relationship with her chiropodist, all give sterling nuanced performances under the sure sensitive hand of director Michael Engler. Each piece is a little masterpiece in all departments, including
costumes by Candice Donnelly and set by Rachel Hauck. These are "Don't Miss" evenings of terrific Theatre at its apogee.

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER, and lively-arts.com

       

May 14th, 2003

Paul Harris has fashioned an interesting play, LOST & FOUND, on the idea of an adopted man finding his birth mother and the effect on her and her husband of twenty years of the arrival of her now thirty-eight year old
son. The first encounter between the mother and son, the guilt in her, the anger in him, make for a strong flow of emotion. The conflicted mother, who never revealed her son's existence, is played with deep sensibility by Leila Martin, who moves us with the depth of her feelings. Stu Richel as the insecure husband and John Kevin Jones as the son are fine, convincing, and much of the interaction is engaging. Director Fred Barton's clear staging and good pacing bring to life a subject not often explored.
Bosakowski Theatre, 354 W. 45th St. 212/352-3101, thru May 25th.

*** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER


BILL MAHER is the Mort Sahl of today: a political commentator/comedian who tickles our anti-establishment sensibilities, and his VICTORY BEGINS AT HOME at the Virginia Theatre is a wonderfully entertaining slanted view of the contemporary world, full of laughs. Like Sahl, he's not vicious- he's incisive, insightful, may offend the far right, and it's a pleasure to be in the presence of an actual mind that works as he analyzes and skewers the outlandish world we live in, finding humor in events of the day. If political satire is your cup of rhetoric, don't miss Maher.

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER


The Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford, NY, is a bit north of Manhattan, but its new production of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is a musical romp with the flair of Broadway. It's a great MGM movie musical right out
of the '30's, with spectacular costumes by Gail Baldoni, a wonderful set by Peter Barbieri, Jr., real rain in the big number, and inspired direction and
choreography by Jim Corti. He has put together a Broadway caliber cast, including the delightful Riette Burdick, Bernie Yvon, Danette Holden, and the closest to Gene Kelly-Jim Raposa. It's a great dance show, and Corti's choreography flies, and so do the dancers, giving us the best tapping north of Forty-fifth Street. This show is a taste of Broadway and Hollywood at the same time, and is great fun from start to finish. 914/592-2222 thru July 5th.

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER

       

May 3rd, 2003

ENCHANTED APRIL by Matthew Barber is a fine English play done beautifully- a domestic drama that is a peek into a pre-feminist time as four women rent a chateau in Italy to get away from their London life. The entire cast, tastefully, imaginatively, directed by Michael Wilson, is of the highest level, with the delightful Jayne Atkinson leading the foray of classic
characters: a surprising Molly Ringwald as a rejected wife, Elizabeth Ashley in a Tallulah Bankhead role- perfectly cast in the whiskey/cigarette tone of a
Grande Damme (or Hamme), the beautiful Dagmara Domincyk as the haughty young beauty, and Patricia Conolly, speaking only Italian, almost steals the show. As for the men, Michael Cumpsty as the epitome of overbearing square husband who becomes the object of a farcical scene, Daniel Gerroll, who betrays his art for fame, and Michael Hayden as the sensitive chateau owner, all counterpoint nicely with the women. Drama, sentiment, farce-- I liked the show from the beginning. By Act Two, I loved it.

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER


Attending a performance of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL is a transcending fantastic adventure as we experience the beauty of the human body going so far beyond what we might imagine possible that we are transported to another world: a surreal world peopled with fairy creatures, lovers who fly (and we fly with them) music that lifts the audience onto another dimension and
costuming that floats colors and shapes newly arrived on this planet. Based on gymnastics, and using the best in the world, with some good clowning to space the acrobatic acts, this show, called VAREKAI, is a rich, unique, multi-sensual event not to be missed (except for small children- it's not really for them).

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER

       
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