Monthly Archives: March 2012

And Eve was Weak

Posted by TheatreBear on

Performance Date – 5 February 2012Carrie at the Lucile Lortel

The newly revised production of the musicalization of the Carrie story is alive and well at the Lucile Lortel theatre this winter.  Due to the immortal failure of the original Broadway production (1988 – played 16 previews and only 5 performances ), questions about this telling of the tale of  Carrie White have been replayed in the minds of  theatrical types for years.  Can it be revived? Can it be re-worked? Why was it such an infamous flop? These questions and more are answered in the current production that brings to the forefront the thematic element of School Bullying.

The title character as played by Molly Ranson in the current show is less schizo-weirdo (created by Sissy Spacek in the film version, 1976) and more a hopeless child-abuse case that is trying her best to make her way through that awkward phase known as High School. We feel true compassion for this character throughout the piece and even though the majority of viewers already know how this tragedy is to play out, we are drawn to root for this character and hope that she can succeed in getting out unscathed. Molly Ranson is a joy to watch as she weaves her way through this truly tiresome and difficult life split between her off-the-wall mother and the cruelty that can be inflicted by one’s peers.

Marin Mazzie, playing the role of Margaret, Carrie’s estranged mother, is flawless! She has all the cool collectiveness of a woman in her daily struggle to do what’s right and trudge through her mundane life while at the same time releasing her manic fits of derangement with such precision-timing and skill that you will almost question the actresses’ sanity at points. Her vocals are truly glorious in both aural pleasure and speaking for the character. This is glorious casting at it’s best. Her songs are, easily some of the best moments in the show and the tug-of-war between mother and daughter is a good example of great theatre within this sometimes “hokey” script and sub-par lyrics.

The producers of this version have decided to update the setting of the story to take place in current times, which is neither here nor there. No compelling reason was established, apart from the obvious strengthening of the School Bullying theme, which really is the apparent driving force in this particular re-write.  Albeit the costuming would be more interesting if it were to be set in the period in which the story was written. Another noteworthy change from the original Broadway is the addition of a narrative structure by one one of the characters, Sue Snell. It has been added, apparently to bridge the gap between audience and tale and ends up lending a very didactic approach to story-telling. This stage convention attempts to show us that this tragedy was not brought about in vain.

Awkwardly, not all of the songs in this production ring true. The writers, Dean Pitchford (lyrics) & Lawrence Cohen (music) could have done a bit more work to contemporize the songs in this production (although the arrangements are truly great) considering the artistic choice to update the script. There are moments when one sits there thinking, “why are they singing about this”? which is clearly not a good sign in Musical. Truly only a few numbers need re-writing in order to provide a viable “new version” that would be marketable in the current times. The title song, “Carrie,” in particular is unfortunately very weak, and about 3 verse/choruses too long. Which might not be so bad if it weren’t the second song in the show. A fan-favorite, “Unsuspecting Hearts,” made memorable by it’s inclusion on the album of duets by Alice Ripley and  Emily Skinner in their post Side Show collaboration (1998) is a melodic show-stopper as sung by the character of the school gym teacher, Miss Gardner who is skillfully portrayed by Carmen Cusak(originally played in the film by Betty Buckley who went on to play Margaret in the original Broadway Production). This is the best song in the show and one that many an audience member wishes would have been worked into the fabric of the entire score a bit better. Particularly the last moment in the show when the ensemble reprises some other not-so-great tune as a reflection on the events… we just wanna hear the good song again!

And for readers interested in “hot things beary” there is a special treat for you, one of the characters that is playing against Carrie throughout, Billy Nolan (played by John Travolta in the film) is played by relative newcomer Ben Thompson @B_ThompsonNYC .  Woof. We will definitely be seeing more of this beefy, beardy, big guy in shows to come. His vocals are great, his dancing is great and he has impeccable presence on stage. (Worth the ticket price).

This one doesn’t come around all that often, kids… they have recently extended the run til the end of April 2012… get down there and see it! It’s a piece of musical theatre history that’s playing here right now!

Carryin’ da Banner!

Posted by TheatreBear on

Performance Date – 2 October 2011 (Papermill Playhouse)Newsies at Papermill Playhouse

     I’m very happy to report that the first “official” version of the stage adaptation (Harvey Firestein) of this highly discussed new work  is in good shape and was very much worth a trip out to Millburn, NJ and the well-respected Paper Mill Playhouse.

The inspirational tale of the child labor work force of New York City in the late 1800’s which had a film adaptation in the early 90’s (scored by Alan Menken at the height of his craft) is often discussed by musical theatre aficionados around the world and many have anticipated the arrival of this production.  The story has all the makings of great theatre, struggle, uprising, characters on an emotional brink, a rowdy ensemble of “rough-and-tumble” street rats and the ever present battle between Right and Wrong.  The creative team of this production have made a great effort to stick to the film source material only adding in plot elements, characters and songs that are intended to push the story along all the while giving fans of the original film all the great ensemble numbers and moments that they expect to be a part of the stage adaptation.  That being said, there are still some kinks to be worked out before a successful Broadway transfer.

Overall, a few key elements were misfires in this production.  The vocals throughout seemed very weak, it was as if so much attention was paid to the very physical movement and dancing and very little attention paid to the overall sound that was to be the end product.  I am not a fan of a vocal “click-track” being used in a live production, but the utilization of pit singers never hurt a good dance number or two.  This would have helped a great deal, especially since there were some obvious attempts to improve the already fantastic vocal arrangements that were written 20 years ago.  Secondly, Mr. Firestein saw fit to add some elements and characters to this production, mostly all were very effective tools within the storytelling, but a few key scenes seem to be placed in awkward positions throughout the arc of the story (very reminiscent of SpiderMan 1.0).

To begin with, the artistic team has decided to utilize Jack’s theme song (“Santa Fe”) as a prologue, which I feel is somewhat inappropriate.  Not only does it serve a better function as character development and a possible bonding moment later in the script, but it doesn’t really give the audience any information crucial to the telling of the story.  The actual opening of the film (“Carrying the Banner”) is just that; an opening, and I feel that it sets the mood and driving action of the piece rather nicely without too much adjustment.  Another flaw in scripting comes with the first musical addition to the piece being sung by the character of Joseph Pullitzer.  “The News is Getting Better” is not a strong song, by any definition and a rather uncomfortable character for the audience to hear break into song in the second scene of the show.  Although the scene is necessary for the plot and to introduce some key characters, I just didn’t feel that it was the right song to convey the information.  The following scene is also somewhat disappointing.  Understandably, there is no female ensemble, but to attempt a “vaudevillian showgirl” number with only three showgirls on a more or less bare stage just seemed to fall short of what is expected from a story set in a time period cresting on the height of vaudeville. Also, I would like to point out that the character of David makes a speech in the theatre scene that seems to be far above what his character should be comfortable with at the time that he makes it.  A better arc for his character has to be established.

The ensemble does a great job of keeping the piece moving forward and keeping the audience interested in what is going to happen next.  Some great vocal moments are to be heard from the leads, Jeremy Jordan is clearly a rising star and one to watch for years to come, I’m assuming.  Katherine Plumber is knocking her role out of the park and adding a great deal of “heart” to this already heart-felt story.

I’m very interested to see what has been adapted from this production to the upcoming Broadway opening.  From all of us kids that started out in musical theatre by the help of this story… we wish you the best of luck on Broadway, NEWSIES!!!!

Newsies

Superstar Timing

Posted by TheatreBear on

Performance Date – 1 March 2012 (First Preview)

Des McAnuff’s stellar new production of the rock opera classic “Jesus Christ Superstar” is all about timing. From the opening guitar riff, we are reminded, via elaborate supertitles, that this story takes place in the distant past. The director has made use of this theatrical convention to advise the audience to the timing of the piece, to remind us that this is all happening in the final week of Christ’s life, with an added bonus effect that hints that we are truly witnessing a night at the contemporary opera. With a static set and all-too-familiar costumes, we are gently shown that this timeless story is being presented for us in the rough economic times of the 21st century in the US. This production seems to strip down the story and simply present to us the final days of Christ in a humble and compelling manner, so that we are able to see the man behind this legend.

How times have changed. The voice types that we are now familiar with are a mere piece of the puzzle that makes up this “Superstar.” We have become accustomed to the rock tenor as well as the pop tenor, so much so that this version definitely challenges itself to represent each with a characteristically different example of the ‘norm’, and it is painfully evident that Jesus is rock and Judas is pop… perhaps an artistic comment on each, but, none-the-less the casting is fantastic if they are trying to prove that point. In fact, casting is a good deal of what make this production stand out from others that have come before. The artists that are playing for us are all, equally skilled in their respective vocal types and create a multi-layered canvas on which the director has painted this story.

With all the vocal agility to be witnessed here, one particular show-stopping number is brought about by a new-comer. Lee Siegel, in the role of Simon the Zealot. He has a moment in the middle of Act I where his vocals transcend the normal ‘this-is-the-story-telling-part-of-the-show’ and create a ‘holy-wow-did-he-just-do-that’ moment. This is his Broadway debut, and one he should be very proud of. This reviewer is SURE that he is here to stay (and I’m sure that his direction and writing credits will be put to good use in his new home-town).

Unfortunately, I will add that this production seemed to lack that special magic essence of “heart” that would seem to be inherent in a re-telling of Christian beginnings, and perhaps that’s what comes of attending a performance on the first preview, but, all-in-all I would highly recommend this version of “Superstar” to anyone who has yet to meet this classic piece of musical theatre history.

Lee Siegel

Hola…

Posted by TheatreBear on

The following posts represent some opinions and reviews of current theatre in NYC. With a focus on mostly things musical and other events related to entertainment from the perspective of a humble, mid-west, transplanted, new york bear. Hope they are viewed as enlightening and enjoyable and serve as a guide to navigating the waters of theatre in NYC.