THE GRAND MANNER A REVIEW

While the New York theatre is taking it's summer snooze, one new play has opened that is worth mentioning. It is A.R. Gurney's new and extravagantly enjoyable play THE GRAND MANNER. In it this eminent and prolific playwright goes back to his youth when he traveled from his New Hampshire boarding school to New York City in 1948 to attend a performance of Shakespeare,s "Antony and Cleopatra"starring the great actress Katharine Cornell and went backstage after the performance to meet her. She signed his program, gave him a farewell handshake and departed.
This play is a re-imagined account of that meeting as he would have liked it to be. A far more elaborate meeting involving the great actress, her husband, and her stage manager. It is told with the same humor and affection that Mr. Gurney has brought to his other plays including"The Dining Room", "Love Letters", and my favorite of all "Sylvia". Once again Mr. Gurney proves himself to be one of our finest American playwrights and his play is being given a first rate production.
Under the very able stage direction of Mark Lamos the cast of four work beautifully together. As the great Ms. Cornell Kate Burton is wonderful and Boyd Gaines and Brenda Wehle are just as good in support, but it Bobby Steggert as the playrights alter-ego who turns in the most winning performance and again reveals himself as a most accomplished young actor.
THE GRAND MANNER is not a big or major work, but it's a lively and amusing valentine to the theatre and a warm and winning look at a bygone Broadway era.
AT THE MITZI E. NEWHOUSE THEATRE LINCOLN CENTER N.Y.C. THRU AUG.1st.

THE 2010 TONY AWARDS AN OVERVIEW

As one who has been watching the Tony telecasts since they began I must say that the one last night was the most boring one I have come across in years. None of this years musical sequences came off well and some of host Sean Hayes's routines were tastless in the extreme. This was unfortunate because Mr. Hayes is a real talent and should have been presented to much better advantage.
Another problem was that the nominated musicals weren't very strong to begin with. "Memphis" won the best musical award and it was an entertaining, crowd pleasing show to be sure, but I suspect that the real reason it got the award was because it was the only nominee with an original score. The others used pre-existing songs to tell their stories and while "Fela"was a more solid entertainment, it still [along with the other nominees] came across as a jukebox musical.
There weren't many upset victorys and the winners were all deserving of their awards even though I did not agree with all the results. I will say that I was very pleased that "Red" won the best play award. It fully deserved to win because it was a splendid play and gave me the best evening on Broadway I had all season. Not far behind it was "Time Stands Still" which was another worthwhile play, and that one is returning to Broadway in September. Worth seeing.
So another awards season is over. My only wish is that the Tonys should become more about excellence in the theatre and less about glitz and commercialisim and not be the crashing bore it was this year.
I will be posting sporadically over the summer months. Otherwise, see you in the fall.

COME FLY AWAY A REVIEW

Being a lifelong fan of Frank Sinatra, I was looking forward to choreographer Twyla Tharp's latest Broadway dance show with fond anticipation even though I have never been much of a fan of her choreographic style or her way of presenting her concepts. In her previous Broadway outings "Moving Out" and "The Times They Are A Changing",she used the songs of Billy Joel and Bob Dylan respectivly to tell her rather flimsy stories and and the results [to me at any rate] were heavy and unsatisfying. In her new show COME FLY AWAY Ms. Tharp is combining the great voice of Frank Sinatra with an excellent 19 piece on stage band playing many of Mr. Sinatra's original charts, but the story she is telling [something about four couples falling in and out of love] is even flimsier then her other two shows and the result is musically exciting but visually monotonous.
The idea`of combining live musicians with a recorded voice is a good one and Ms. Tharp has assembeled a talented group of dancers but while some of her sequences are theatrically effective I have always felt that her work would be more at home with a major dance company then in a Broadway theatre.
The settings by James Youmans, Lighting by Donald Holder, and costumes by Katherine Roth are elegently effective and the onstage band sounds teriffic,but to one theatregoer of long standing COME FLY AWAY is as pretentious as artificial jewelry and just about as valuable.
AT THE MARQUIS THEATRE 210 WEST 46th STREET N.Y.C.
We now are at the end of another New York theatre season. I will be posting my impression of the Tony Awards on Monday

COLLECTED STORIES A REVIEW

Donald Margulies is one of the better home grown playwrights on the scene at the moment. In plays like "Dinner With Friends", "Sight Unseen" and this seasons' excellent "Time Stands Still" he has had an ability to look at the human condition thru the eyes of ordinary people,and has created a gallery of fine, lifelike characters. Now we have the first Broadway production of his twelve year old off-Broadway play COLLECTED STORIES, and while it may not be quite up to some of his later works it is still a fine play and it is being given an extrodanarily effective production by the Manhattan Theatre Club.
In it Mr. Margulies looks at the complex relationship of two female writers. One is a celebrated New York author and the other one her young protege, and the play deals with the path the relationship takes when the young author finds success on her own. Maybe this story seems a bit padded as a two act play,[I think it would have been more effective as a one act play] Mr. Margulies' talent is always evident and under the intelligently planned direction of Lynne Meadow the cast of two are giving astonishingly fine performances.
Linda Lavin is giving one of her finest performances as the experienced author and Sara Paulson is first rate as her young protege.
Santo Loquastos' scenic design and Natasha Katz' lighting serve their purpose capably and Jane Greenwoods' costumes are just right.
COLLECTED STORIES may not be a play for the ages, but it shows Mr. Margulies in fine form and helped by his two talented actresses, it provides a fine theatre evening.
AT THE SAMUEL J. FRIEDMAN THEATRE 261 WEST 47th STREET N.Y.C.

SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM A REVIEW

When it was announced that there was going to be another Broadway overview of Stephen Sondheims' work I wondered why there was a need for another Sondheim revue. The last one to come along [Putting It Together] was about ten years ago and it failed, and this year [in honor of his 80th birthday] there have been many tributes and concerts dealing with his remarkable body of work, so I couldn't see doing another one unless it brought something fresh and new to the material.
SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM tries to be different. It was conceived by his long time collaborator and friend James Lapine, and his idea was to use video interviews with the great man himself and mix them in with the live performers. This concept does work well most of the time,but it is really a rehash of the familiar and the interviews may be facinating to the layman, but to anyone that has been following Sondheims' career or has read his excellent biography, they offer nothing new.
The cast is headed by Vanessa Williams, Tom Wopat and the magnificent Barbara Cook and they are all in fine form,but it is Ms. Cook who makes the strongest impression. She is a teriffic Sondheim interpreter and her legendary singing of Send In The Clowns is one of the high points of the entire season.
Mr. Lapine has staged the show admribly and the sets and videos by Beowulf Boritt and Peter Flaherty are artistic and visual masterpieces, but beyond the magnificent Ms.Cook and the stunning physical production, SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM offers nothing new. Just the same old leftovers.
AT STUDIO 54 254 WEST 54th STREET N.Y.C.

EVERYDAY RAPTURE A FOLLOWUP THOUGHT

I didn't care much for EVERYDAY RAPTURE when I saw it off broadway last year and it's move to Broadway has not altered my opinion of it. It is still a flimsy sort of tru-ish story about a young woman's journey to semi-stardom built around the engaging personality of it's star and co-author [with Dick Scanlan] Sherie Rene Scott.
Trouble is that Ms. Scott is not telling a very interesting story, and as engaging as she is, she can't sustain it for the whole 90 minute running time.
The show uses songs associated with her career and an 5 peice band makes them sound teriffic in Tom Kitt's swinging orchestrations, but EVERYDAY RAPTURE runs out of steam long before it is over, and Ms. Scott has been used to better advantage in other shows. I am sure that Iam in the minority when I say this because most people seem to like it alot.
AT THE AMERICAN AIRLINES THEATRE 227 WEST 42 st. N.Y.C.

AMERICAN IDIOT A REVIEW

As one who is not familiar with the rock group"'Green Day" or their chart busting album "American Idiot" I did not know what to expect from the musical that has been made from it. I am not too hospitable to rock music in a theatrical setting. The music is generally too loud,the singing second rate and the plots mostly idiotic["Spring Awakening" one of the few exeptions"], so I am not a good customer for this sort of thing, so even though AMERICAN IDIOT has all the things I normally hate in musicals,I had a very good time at it. The songs[all from the album with afew additions] are not too ear peircing, the voices are mostly first rate and the plot which deals with three lifelong friends and the different life-paths they take is sturdy and sometimes honestly moving, which proves that most things can be appetizing enough if done right. and Michael Mayer has staged it with wit and snap.
The cast for the most part could not be better, and John Gallagher Jr, Stark Sands and Michael Esper are first rate as the three friends who are trying to survive in a post 9/11 world.
The show looks great with attractive and playable sets by Christine Jones and the music has been very well orchestrated by the talented Tom Kitt.
So while AMERICAN IDIOT is not the best show ever, the plot is better than most, the beat is infectious and the production is colorful. It adds up to a lively, colorful, and surprisingly moving show.
At THE ST. JAMES THEATRE 246 WEST 44th STREET N.Y.C.











































































































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