ENCORES! UPDATE!
After this summer's Encores revival of Damn Yankees (July 5-27, 2007) with Sean Hayes, Jane Krakowski, Cheyenne Jackson, and Ana Gasteyer, the series will continue with its 2008-2009 season: On the Town (November 19-23, 2008), Music in the Air (February 5-8, 2009), and Finian's Rainbow (March 26-29, 2009).
Still no High Spirits....
Showing posts with label City Center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label City Center. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
JUNO AT ENCORES!
The "musical" Juno opened and closed after a pitiably brief Broadway run in 1959 but gained in stature over subsequent years, largely due to the Columbia cast recording featuring Marc Blitzstein's score.
I put air quotes around the word musical because it isn't necessarily the best way to describe Juno—despite the way it was originally marketed. Based on the 1924 Sean O'Casey play Juno and the Paycock, the artful, fundamentally serious (yet still entertaining) Juno is certainly an example of musical theater, but it could also be viewed as a work of opera, perhaps as a piece of chamber opera, or as a chamber musical. However you might want to classify it, Juno can be seen and heard this weekend as the latest semi-staged revival in the Encores! series at City Center.
Set in strife-torn Dublin in the early 1920s, the Ibsenesque story revolves around the Boyle family, headed by Juno (Victoria Clark) and her strutting "paycock" of a husband Jack (Conrad John Schuck). We learn of their dreams of money and romance as well as their simmering grudges and shameful secrets, expressed in Joseph Stein's book as well as Blitzstein's lyrics and innovative music, well-informed by popular Irish dances and melodies. [Read more about Stein here.] Some of the highlights include the love song "One Kind Word" (sung by Michael Arden's Jerry Devine) to Celia Keenan-Bolger's Mary), the husband-and-wife parrying song "Old Sayin's," a simulation of gramophone music at a Boyle celebration, and just about any time that Clark and Keenan-Bolger show off their vocal skills, solo and duet. The original choreography was by Agnes de Mille; in this production, choreographer Warren Carlyle and the dancers evoke her style in a dream dance or two and enliven the proceedings elsewhere with some entertaining acrobatics.
The more I think about Juno, the more I admire it and suspect that its original run of 16 performances and subsequent obscurity (notwithstanding an occasional revival) might be one of the great injustices of Broadway. So credit is due to Encores! for programming what might turn out to be its most important revival so far. My only major criticism has to do with the staging, which doesn't play to the nosebleed section of the theater, where the sight lines were poor. Compounding the problem was the inaudibility of many lines, even with the unusually heavy amplification of the performances—this problem might have been due in part to Juno being less than ideal for a big house such as City Center (where I suggest choosing between an orchestra seat splurge or going for the cheap rear gallery seats—and then perhaps migrating into any empty front gallery seats). Putting aside such issues, I hope that the attention paid to this production of Juno leads to more fully realized revivals, perhaps in one of the smaller Broadway theaters and in other venues conducive to chamber opera or chamber musicals or whatever you want to call them.
The "musical" Juno opened and closed after a pitiably brief Broadway run in 1959 but gained in stature over subsequent years, largely due to the Columbia cast recording featuring Marc Blitzstein's score. I put air quotes around the word musical because it isn't necessarily the best way to describe Juno—despite the way it was originally marketed. Based on the 1924 Sean O'Casey play Juno and the Paycock, the artful, fundamentally serious (yet still entertaining) Juno is certainly an example of musical theater, but it could also be viewed as a work of opera, perhaps as a piece of chamber opera, or as a chamber musical. However you might want to classify it, Juno can be seen and heard this weekend as the latest semi-staged revival in the Encores! series at City Center.
Set in strife-torn Dublin in the early 1920s, the Ibsenesque story revolves around the Boyle family, headed by Juno (Victoria Clark) and her strutting "paycock" of a husband Jack (Conrad John Schuck). We learn of their dreams of money and romance as well as their simmering grudges and shameful secrets, expressed in Joseph Stein's book as well as Blitzstein's lyrics and innovative music, well-informed by popular Irish dances and melodies. [Read more about Stein here.] Some of the highlights include the love song "One Kind Word" (sung by Michael Arden's Jerry Devine) to Celia Keenan-Bolger's Mary), the husband-and-wife parrying song "Old Sayin's," a simulation of gramophone music at a Boyle celebration, and just about any time that Clark and Keenan-Bolger show off their vocal skills, solo and duet. The original choreography was by Agnes de Mille; in this production, choreographer Warren Carlyle and the dancers evoke her style in a dream dance or two and enliven the proceedings elsewhere with some entertaining acrobatics.
The more I think about Juno, the more I admire it and suspect that its original run of 16 performances and subsequent obscurity (notwithstanding an occasional revival) might be one of the great injustices of Broadway. So credit is due to Encores! for programming what might turn out to be its most important revival so far. My only major criticism has to do with the staging, which doesn't play to the nosebleed section of the theater, where the sight lines were poor. Compounding the problem was the inaudibility of many lines, even with the unusually heavy amplification of the performances—this problem might have been due in part to Juno being less than ideal for a big house such as City Center (where I suggest choosing between an orchestra seat splurge or going for the cheap rear gallery seats—and then perhaps migrating into any empty front gallery seats). Putting aside such issues, I hope that the attention paid to this production of Juno leads to more fully realized revivals, perhaps in one of the smaller Broadway theaters and in other venues conducive to chamber opera or chamber musicals or whatever you want to call them.
Friday, February 08, 2008
APPLAUSE
The Encores! series extends its winning streak with this weekend's revival of the 1970 hit musical Applause—but only by the skin of its teeth. Based on the movie All About Eve (itself based on a story by Mary Orr) with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and songs by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, the production offers a strong storyline with an eclectic score that often came across as technically and interpretatively problematic at yesterday's performance.
Artistic director Jack Viertel introduced the show by explaining that star Christine Ebersole would perform despite an illness that had kept her out of rehearsals. Even though she wasn't in top form, Ebersole did justice to her role as Margo Channing, a theater diva famous for not missing a performance. The rest of the talented leads—Erin Davie, Tom Hewitt, Michael Park, and Kate Burton—were good but also seemed to be a little rough around the edges, with Mario Cantone and Megan Sikora bringing zest to their featured roles. Highlights came from the clever trio "Inner Thoughts"/"Good Friends" as well as such production numbers as the groundbreaking gay bar set piece "But Alive," the mocking "She's No Longer a Gypsy," and a doctored version of "Applause" that's like a surprise Valentine for Encores! regulars. However, other numbers (some of which seemed very difficult to negotiate) just didn't crystallize, and the staging of "Fasten Your Seatbelts" just didn't do much with the song and its musical allusions to car honking. But ultimately the strength of the storyline, the professionalism of the performers, and the numerous comic elements prevailed in making this another worthwhile revival.
NOTE Something that nearly ruined the experience for my party were serious problems we had with City Center's ticketing wing (both the box office and CityTix). Things improved only after I managed to reach an administrator. I hope that no one will go through what we went through, but if you do run into problems and happen to read this, feel free to testify here.
The Encores! series extends its winning streak with this weekend's revival of the 1970 hit musical Applause—but only by the skin of its teeth. Based on the movie All About Eve (itself based on a story by Mary Orr) with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and songs by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, the production offers a strong storyline with an eclectic score that often came across as technically and interpretatively problematic at yesterday's performance. Artistic director Jack Viertel introduced the show by explaining that star Christine Ebersole would perform despite an illness that had kept her out of rehearsals. Even though she wasn't in top form, Ebersole did justice to her role as Margo Channing, a theater diva famous for not missing a performance. The rest of the talented leads—Erin Davie, Tom Hewitt, Michael Park, and Kate Burton—were good but also seemed to be a little rough around the edges, with Mario Cantone and Megan Sikora bringing zest to their featured roles. Highlights came from the clever trio "Inner Thoughts"/"Good Friends" as well as such production numbers as the groundbreaking gay bar set piece "But Alive," the mocking "She's No Longer a Gypsy," and a doctored version of "Applause" that's like a surprise Valentine for Encores! regulars. However, other numbers (some of which seemed very difficult to negotiate) just didn't crystallize, and the staging of "Fasten Your Seatbelts" just didn't do much with the song and its musical allusions to car honking. But ultimately the strength of the storyline, the professionalism of the performers, and the numerous comic elements prevailed in making this another worthwhile revival.
NOTE Something that nearly ruined the experience for my party were serious problems we had with City Center's ticketing wing (both the box office and CityTix). Things improved only after I managed to reach an administrator. I hope that no one will go through what we went through, but if you do run into problems and happen to read this, feel free to testify here.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
ENCORES: GYPSY
The Encores! series extends its winning streak with its summer production of Gypsy, which runs through July 29. Could it be more finely tuned, as suggested in Ben Brantley's dour-toned New York Times review? Sure, I think it could...but it's still very good in many ways. And I think Brantley is unfair to Patti Lupone's intriguing and intelligent take on the character of domineering Momma Rose.
One of the show's highlights comes in a kind of throwaway transitional scene that shows Momma Rose adding young boys to her troupe while traipsing over to California. Her pouncing posture is funny, a little scary, and very representative of her character. Later in the first act Lupone and Boyd Gaines (as Herbie) offer a great little duet that climaxes with the two singing as they practically tumble to the floor. It's a great routine for the two stage veterans.
In the second act there are at least three big numbers. The reliable routine in which strippers teach the basics to the future Gypsy Rose Lee is entertaining, but there's magic in the sequence showing her blossom in the trade. On the surface it might not come across as very demanding for an actor, but Benanti's performance is so polished (and her makeup and costuming so flattering) that it suddenly made the vast City Center seem very, very intimate and offered a strong case that the kind of "striptease" touted by Gypsy Rose Lee can still be erotic even in today's more jaded and openly sexualized world. (I think an adult actually escorted a child out of the theater during the episode.) And then there's the big—really big—number, "Rose's Turn," which Lupone performs with high drama without turning it into a maudlin, cringe-inducing psychodrama.
Once again Encores! offers a full orchestra with a rich and lively sound that (even with problematic violin intonation in early passages) cannot be equaled by today's small, electronically enhanced pit ensembles. And the reliably hardcore Encores! theater crowd is an attraction in itself, delighted to be entertained and very demonstrative to boot.
I do have a complaint about the venue. Due to budgetary concerns, I've been getting nosebleed seats for a while, but for Gypsy I accidentally wound up with tickets in the center of the rear mezzanine, which has to rank as one of the worst seating sections in all of New York City. The rake is too flat, which means that many heads can block views of the action. A friend and I craned this way and that to get good vantage points, but before the second act he migrated to seats in a less crowded section to one side of the rear mezzanine. I joined him there after the woman behind me pleaded for me to stop my swaying. I am pretty sure that the rake can be improved, so I think that City Center should fix it promptly and, in the meantime, find a way to label and price the seats as "obstructed" or something like that.
Here's Gypsy Rose Lee in Stage Door Canteen (which also featured original Momma Rose Ethel Merman). And is that William Burroughs at the very end?
Source (5:00)
And here's writer Arthur Laurents on the musical and the "real" Gypsy Rose Lee.
Source (1:27)
The Encores! series extends its winning streak with its summer production of Gypsy, which runs through July 29. Could it be more finely tuned, as suggested in Ben Brantley's dour-toned New York Times review? Sure, I think it could...but it's still very good in many ways. And I think Brantley is unfair to Patti Lupone's intriguing and intelligent take on the character of domineering Momma Rose.
One of the show's highlights comes in a kind of throwaway transitional scene that shows Momma Rose adding young boys to her troupe while traipsing over to California. Her pouncing posture is funny, a little scary, and very representative of her character. Later in the first act Lupone and Boyd Gaines (as Herbie) offer a great little duet that climaxes with the two singing as they practically tumble to the floor. It's a great routine for the two stage veterans.
In the second act there are at least three big numbers. The reliable routine in which strippers teach the basics to the future Gypsy Rose Lee is entertaining, but there's magic in the sequence showing her blossom in the trade. On the surface it might not come across as very demanding for an actor, but Benanti's performance is so polished (and her makeup and costuming so flattering) that it suddenly made the vast City Center seem very, very intimate and offered a strong case that the kind of "striptease" touted by Gypsy Rose Lee can still be erotic even in today's more jaded and openly sexualized world. (I think an adult actually escorted a child out of the theater during the episode.) And then there's the big—really big—number, "Rose's Turn," which Lupone performs with high drama without turning it into a maudlin, cringe-inducing psychodrama.
Once again Encores! offers a full orchestra with a rich and lively sound that (even with problematic violin intonation in early passages) cannot be equaled by today's small, electronically enhanced pit ensembles. And the reliably hardcore Encores! theater crowd is an attraction in itself, delighted to be entertained and very demonstrative to boot.
I do have a complaint about the venue. Due to budgetary concerns, I've been getting nosebleed seats for a while, but for Gypsy I accidentally wound up with tickets in the center of the rear mezzanine, which has to rank as one of the worst seating sections in all of New York City. The rake is too flat, which means that many heads can block views of the action. A friend and I craned this way and that to get good vantage points, but before the second act he migrated to seats in a less crowded section to one side of the rear mezzanine. I joined him there after the woman behind me pleaded for me to stop my swaying. I am pretty sure that the rake can be improved, so I think that City Center should fix it promptly and, in the meantime, find a way to label and price the seats as "obstructed" or something like that.
Here's Gypsy Rose Lee in Stage Door Canteen (which also featured original Momma Rose Ethel Merman). And is that William Burroughs at the very end?
Source (5:00)
And here's writer Arthur Laurents on the musical and the "real" Gypsy Rose Lee.
Source (1:27)
Monday, March 19, 2007
LUPONE SLOTTED FOR GYPSY IN JULY! Today's New York Times reports that Patti LuPone--said to be sensational in a 2006 production of Gypsy at Ravinia--will reprise her role as the driven Mama Rose at Encores! this summer, in a production directed by Gypsy author Arthur Laurents.
The run from July 9 to July 29 (opening on July 12) represents a change in direction for Encores! It's the first summer production for the series, it'll last longer than the usual weekend, and, like the recent production of Follies, it's a revival of a recently revived Sondheim musical. (He wrote the Gypsy lyrics.)
Follies originally marketed itself as a venue for rare revivals of Broadway's hidden treasures, but in recent years it seems to be more divided between rarities and more familiar (commercial?) fare.
Anyway, this is exciting news--just look at how psyched Steve on Broadway is!
It's certainly an opportunity for LuPone to put down her tuba and cut loose in a way that wouldn't have been appropriate in the recent Broadway revival Sweeney Todd.
Here is LuPone's "Some People" from Ravinia--not the same as actually being there, of course!
Source (2:54)
The run from July 9 to July 29 (opening on July 12) represents a change in direction for Encores! It's the first summer production for the series, it'll last longer than the usual weekend, and, like the recent production of Follies, it's a revival of a recently revived Sondheim musical. (He wrote the Gypsy lyrics.)
Follies originally marketed itself as a venue for rare revivals of Broadway's hidden treasures, but in recent years it seems to be more divided between rarities and more familiar (commercial?) fare.
Anyway, this is exciting news--just look at how psyched Steve on Broadway is!
It's certainly an opportunity for LuPone to put down her tuba and cut loose in a way that wouldn't have been appropriate in the recent Broadway revival Sweeney Todd.
Here is LuPone's "Some People" from Ravinia--not the same as actually being there, of course!
Source (2:54)
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