VIAGARA FALLS by Joao Machado and Lou Cutell is a hilarious sit-com about being an old man performed by a great combo, two genuinely funny old men: Bernie Kopell and Cutell. Being an old man myself, I laughed at joke after joke as these two veterans, with perfect comic timing, directed with proper zip and pauses by Don Crichton, decide to invite a hooker over as a birthday present for Cutell. Enter Teresa Ganzel, who is a great comedy star— up there with Katie Finneran, who is the funniest woman on Broadway. Ganzel’s shtick and timing, her physical and vocal responses, are amazing, and if you miss her performance, you’re missing a turn by one of the great comediennes of our time. Bob Mackie’s costumes are creative and imaginatively appropriate, and his outfit for Ganzel reveals while it doesn’t reveal. Living room set by Sydney Z. Litwack and lighting by Joshua Scherr are just right. If you’re looking for Important Political Theatre or to be depressed by world conditions, don’t go to VIAGARA FALLS. It’s nothing but laughs from start to finish, plus a tad of reality at the end. I hope someone makes a movie of this show-- it's funnier than most of today's film comedies.

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

A.R.Gurney’a autobiographical play THE GRAND MANNER, based on a visit he made as a young man to the Green Room of mega-actress Katherine Cornell when she is playing Cleopatra in 1948, is a lovely evening of theatre, especially for those of us who remember the many actual theatrical personalities referred to in the play. Kate Burton is Cornell, and I believe it is the best work I have seen her do. Director Mark Lamos has brought out a range of emotion in her that is exciting as she gives us an antic performance-- a mixture of a real person and an impression of a star as she is interviewed by Bobby Steggert as the young Gurney. Boyd Gaines is strong as her gay husband, the Broadway producer Guthrie McClintic, and Brenda Wehle as Cornell’s diesel companion is a bit too strong, but certainly vivid. The play is very funny, and I responded to the familiarity of a star actress being interviewed. Set by John Arnone and lighting by Russell H. Champa are appropriately done, and costume designer Ann Hould-Ward gives us fine period clothing, and gets a chance to shine with Cornell’s delicious Cleopatra costume. This is a light-mannered play, particularly enjoyable to we Theatre Buffs.

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

Just back from England.

Now in London:

LOVE NEVER DIES— Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to ”Phantom of the Opera” is a mixture of brilliant and unengaging. Bob Crowley gives us a new dimension of design in his sets and costumes which are nothing less than breath-taking. The story is simple: it’s ten years later, Raoul, who married Christine, has become a drunkard and a gambler; they are in Coney Island, and Christine will have to take a job singing to support her husband and child. The Phantom is there, and is still pursuing Christine. The songs (music by Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater) are not memorable, and it starts with a mournful tone. But setting the action in Coney Island gives them (book by Webber and Ben Elton) the opportunity to create some theatricality by incorporating the flashy acts, Cirque style, that might have been there a hundred years ago: dancing girls, acrobatics. These tangents from the story are exciting, entertaining. Of course all of the performers sing and act well (Sierra Boggess as Christine has a beautiful voice), this is, after all, an A L W musical. Crowley’s pier design is thrilling, his horse and carriage is magic. The Phantom was a singing teacher, and now he becomes a kind of Frankenstein. Director Jack O’Brien does his best to keep it all flowing, Jerry Mitchell’s choreography is lively, and lighting by Paule Constable is super. But the show has plateaus. Without the “numbers,” like a group beach scene with bathing beauties and the spectacle of the brilliant design the show would be rather boring, as in a slow ballad that is all exposition. Unfortunately, the actor playing the Phantom, Ramin Karimloo, is not a sympathetic enough character for the show’s ending: he plays it tight and cold, and we can’t identify with him or have sympathy for him. So, as we say in Showbusiness— “I walked out whistling the scenery.”

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

There is a wonderful production of Lionel Bart’s OLIVER running at the Theatre Royal- Drury Lane based on Sam Mendes original production. With a warm, twinkle-in-the-eye performance by Russ Abbot as Fagin, a great, imaginative flexible design by Anthony Ward which segues from brilliant set to brilliant set each with great specificity (and his super costumes can move when danced in), lively direction by Rupert Goold (aided and abetted by Mathew Bourne’s choreography and co-direction), an energetic cast of enthusiastic kids and top-level professional grownups, and tunes like “As Long as He Needs Me” and “Consider Yourself” that stick in the head, this is a terrific entertainment for everybody. Bourne has chosen a lively street-tough vocabulary for the dances, and it works perfectly. Gwion Wyri Jones is a dynamite little Oliver, and Kerry Ellis is a lovely Nancy. Steven Hartley is a Bill Sykes with a Lee Marvin negative strength and no voice—just a growl. This show is a musical, an extravaganza, and is even more exciting in Act 2. The great old beautiful theatre is a privilege to be in, and this OLIVER is a total pleasure. Bravo to Lionel Bart for his timeless creation.

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

ENRON, a play by Lucy Prebble about the ballooning and collapsing of the energy giant’s thirty-billion dollar fraudulent fiasco opened and closed quickly in New York. It’s been running successfully in London for some time. I guess it was more fun for the British to see that debacle than the Americans. I found it uninteresting early on, but director Rupert Goold and choreographer Scott Ambler then give us an exciting number with lights, projections and song. The leads, Corey Johnson as the chief villain Jeffrey Skilling, Paul Chahidi as his “grand vizier” Andy Fastow, Sara Stewart as mover and shaker Claudia Roe and Clive Francis as the patriarch Ken Lay are all first rate, but although I did learn a lot about the machinations that went on, I found a lot of the talk boring. The whoop-de-do of the ensemble, for me, saves the show-- in Act 2 the greedy become raptors, and there is an exciting number with light sabers. Design by Anthony Ward is terrific, lighting by Mark Henderson is clear and excellent. So I was engaged by the theatrical elements, which increased in Act Two and my friend who came with me, who is a painter and a writer about baseball, loved the whole show, thought it is important that everyone see it to understand what went on, and hoped it would have a long long run. I’m glad I saw it (as a totality is was theatrical fun), I’m glad the perpetrators are in jail, and I’m glad I’m poor and have no investments to lose.

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