SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON A THOUGHT

While I am not an expert on opera I found "SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON" to be a reasonably accomplished work. Stephen Schwartz has done the libretto and score for this adaptation of a 1961 novel by Mark McShane and the 1964 film by Brian Forbes, and while it is alittle slow getting underway it is an interesting and always engaging work.
It tells the tale of a phychic who plans an elaborate kidnapping scheme to insure a successful recovery and in this role Lauren Flanigan is exceptional, singing well and acting with passion. The rest of the cast is fine and Scott Schwartz[the composers son] directs the opera with spirit and knowhow, and Heidi Ettinger's set is well designed and playable.
I found "SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON" to be no classic but it is a worthy effort and was worth doing, and Iwould like to see Mr.Schwartz do another American Opera because he shows definite talent in that area.
AT THE DAVID H. KOCH THEATRE LINCOLN CENTER N.Y.C.

JERUSALEM A REVIEW

The collapse of English society is the theme of Jez Butterworth's spellbindingly brilliant play "JERUSALEM" and in it's central role Mark Rylance moves to the head of the class as one of the worlds great actors.
All you have to do is look at the virtuoso performance he gave earlier this season in "La Bete" and his award winning turn in "Boeing-Boeing" three years ago to figure out that this is an actor of extroadanary gifts and here he is nothing short of titanic as a fun loving man who is unemployed because of an injury and living in a broken down motor home in the English countryside. He is about to be evicted because of an incoming county fair and and real estate interests who want to develope the land his home is on. He is visited by a motley group of friends who want nothing more than a good time and a son who wants his attention.
It's a marathon role that keeps Mr. Rylance on stage 95% of the play's three hour running time and I have not seen an actor blend into a role so completly since Paul Scofield stunned Broadway 50 years ago when he came to town in" A Man For All Seasons"
He is surrounded by an extroadanary company of actors some of whom are [ like Mr.Rylance] reprising the roles they played in England last year, and the play is beautifully staged by Ian Rickson, a fine director repeating his London staging.
The sets and costumes by Ultz and the lighting by Mimi Jordan Sherin catch the mood of the play perfectly and Stephen Warbeck's background music is just right. By the way, the play's title comes from a hymn that is sung at the end of the Labor Party confrences every year as a tribute to the beauty of the land.
Anyway, 'JERUSALEM" is a stunning play and Mr. Rylance gives a performance that will be talked about forever. Don't miss it.
AT THE MUSIC BOX THEATRE 239 WEST45th STREET N.Y.C.

ARCADIA A REVIEW

Time travelling can be a tricky thing to pull off theatrically but British playwright Tom Stoppard manages to do it beautifully in "ARCADIA" ,his elegant and thought-provoking play now being given a beautifully conceived and artfully staged revival by director David Leveaux.
Mr. Stoppard's play moves back and forth between the year 1809 and the present at an estate owned by a promenant British family. The 1809 scenes reveal a household in transition while the present day scenes depict the family dedescendants and two scholars who are researching a possible scandal at the estate in 1809 involving Lord Byron.
As is the custom with all of Mr.Stoppards plays "ARCADIA" requires the utmost attention from the playgoer, but Mr. Stoppard is a master at storytelling and his use of the English language is nothing short of astonishing and his exploration of truth and time across the centuries is nothing short of genius.
Under David Leveaux's often brillant stage direction the cast works together like a well oiled machine and Billy Crudup, Raul Esparza, Margaret Colin nd all the rest give marvelously shaded performances of these most complex characters.
The elegence extends to Hilegard Bechtler's sets, Gregory Gale's costumes, and Donalde Holder's lighting, but everything about this production represents serious theatregoing at it's best.
I did not see the first New York production at Lincoln Center in 1995 so I can't compare it to this one. All I can say is that this production of "ARCADIA" is a flawless realization of a thought provoking and sometimes masterful play and any serious playgoer should put it at the top of their must see list.
AT THE ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATRE 243 WEST 47th STREET N.Y.C.

WONDERLAND A REVIEW

This is not the first time that someone has tried to adapt Lewis Caroll's "Alice in Wonderland" stories to the stage and once again the idea of hanging a big Broadway musical on the not too sturdy story of a young girl discovering her self-awarness does not really work. That is really too bad because this latest attempt, "WONDERLAND"has some very good things in it. It has some very plesant music by Frank Wildhorn, and while it is not particularly memo rable it does remind us that there are still some people who like to write simple, traditional theatre music, and the lyrics by Jack Murphy are workmanlike enough without being first rate. It is the book that is the main problem because it never makes up it's mind weather it wants to be comic or serious so the authors [lyricist Murphy and Gregory Boyd] try to have it both way s which splits the show in half and never lets it develop a style of it's own. Under Mr. Boyd's underwhelming stage direction the cast works hard and are for the most part well suited to their roles. Janet Dacal is a most attractive Alice and young Carly Rose Sonenclar is excellent as her daughter who takes a trip with Mom down the old rabit hole.[ Alice is now a grown school teacher]. The rest of the cast is fine and delightfully enthusiastic. While Marguerite Derrick's choreography is nothing special Neil Patel's sets are attractive, and Susan Hilferty's costumes and Paul Gallo's lighting are first rate. Kim Scharnberg's orchestrations complament the music well and Jason Howland conducts the show most ably. With stronger direction and a better idea of what it is "WONDERLAND" might have worked. Actually the material is no worse than the musical "Pippin", but "Pippin"had a genius named Fosse in charge. Still, there is enough in it to make it possibly worth seeing. AT THE MARQUIS THEATRE 220 WEST 46th STREET N.Y.C.

ANYTHING GOES A REVIEW

Anyone looking for an old fashioned good time should run [not walk] to the Roundabout Theatre Company's wonderfully high spirited production of "ANYTHING GOES", and if anything it re -establishes Kathleen Marshall's reputation as one of Broadway's top director/choreogaphers. In the past few years Ms. Marshall's career has had it's ups[ ThePajama Game revival] and downs[The underpowered "Grease" revival]. With this show it's all ups and this 1934 chestnut looks and sounds as fresh as a daisy. Of course it helps that it contains Cole Porters classic score [augmented with a couple of other classic Porter songs], and further help is provided by a wonderfully talented group of performers who look like they are having a wonderful time and their enthusiasim is totally infectious and the audience I saw it with was beside itself with pleasure. This show also establishes Sutton Foster an a first class Broadway star.Ms. Foster has given many fine performances in the past most notably in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Shrek" Here she is totally incandesent belting out one Porter classic after another and proves that she is perfectly capable of carrying a whole show. She is a knockout. Joel Grey [returning to Broadway after too long an absence] is teriffic as a lovable gangster and seems to be truly enjoying himself. As already mentioned, the rest of the cast is at the top of their game and Kathleen Marshall's staging is lively and inventive and her choreography is a total knockout, most notably in the show-stopping first act finale. The sets by Derek McLane and the costumes by Martin Pakledinaz are colorful and handsome and the orchestrations by Michael Gibson and Bill Elliot are lively and swinging and James Lowe conducts the excellent pit band expertly. I forgot to mention the book. It's too nonsensical to mention anyway, so let us forget about it and be cheered by the fact that this revival of 'ANYTHING GOES" is capitol fun and a total delight. Go and have a blast. AT THE STEPHEN SONDHEIM THEATRE 124 WEST 43rd STREET N.Y.C.

DRIVING MISS DAISY A REVIEW

I was lucky enough to see the original Off Broadway production of " DRIVING MISS DAISY" in 1987. With a cast consisting of Morgan Freeman,Judith Ivy and Ray Gill it was Off Broadway at it's best, ran 1,195 performances and deserved evrey one of them. Two years later it became an excellent movie winning Oscars for it's leading lady[a marvelous Jessica Tandy], best picture, and best adapted screenplay so I was looking forward to the first`Broadway production of this Pulitzer Prize winning play by Alfred Uhry, but as sometimes happens, dissapointment was not long in coming. For one thing this sweetly touching chronicle of a 25 year friendship between a southern elderly Jewish lady and her Black middleaged driver has not aged very well, and also it was a small play with a cast of three people, and it was perfect in a 300 seat theatre. However even in a reletivly small 800 seat Broadway house the play loses alot of the intimicy that was it's charm and director David Esbjornson has added to many realistic touches that spells out for the audience what they should be allowed to discover for themselves. Still, there are good things, most notably in the perfomances of the three actors. Vanessa Redgrave is achingly effective as the southern Belle forced to give up her independence after a minor auto mis-hap, James Earl Jones is magnificently dignified as the driver hired to squire Ms. Redgrave around, and Boyd Gains is fine as the son looking out for Moms best interest. The sets by John Lee Beatty and the projections by Wendall K. Harrington have an overdone look about them, but Peter Kaczorowski's lighting is just right. So while "DRIVING MISS DAISY" seems somewhat dated and the production is overdone any time spent with the magnificent Mister Jones, Mister Gaines, and Ms. Redgrave can hardly be called wasted. AT THE JOHN GOLDEN THEATRE 252 WEST 45th STREET N,Y.C. thru April 9th.