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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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