When the crisis began, then President Ronald Reagan didn't publicly say the word AIDS until seven years into his term.  The plague was allowed to ravage thousands before it began to be treated as the killer it is.  The Normal Heart documents Mr. Kramer’s cry of outrage and was first presented at the Public Theater in 1985.  It is the semi-autobiographical story of Mr. Kramer, his fight and the founding of the Gay Men's Health Crisis.  

Mr. Kramer's alter-ego is Ned Weeks, astonishingly played by Joe Mantello, better known to today's audiences as the director of the smash mega-hit Wicked.  Mr Mantello gives one of the season's best performances (for which he has received a Tony Award nomination.)  Ned's brother is a high-profile lawyer Ben, starchly played by Mark Harelik, who Ned convinces to take on his new fledgling organization as a pro-bono client.

This entire cast is sublime as they bring this crisis to horrifying life.  The talented Ellen Barkin, in her Broadway debut, is Dr. Emma Brookner.  Her character is based on Dr. Linda Laubenstein, a pioneer in the research and treatment of HIV/AIDS who fought passionately for funding for AIDS research.  Barkin gives an intense and passionate performance as the wheelchair-bound doctor who treated gay men with compassion when most folks wouldn't even go near them.  I don’t recall ever seeing an actor receive such sustained applause after a single monologue as Ms. Barkin did the night I saw The Normal Heart.  Barkin pours her guts out at a panel hearing in Washington when she learns she has lost her funding.  Her visceral response in this scene is raw and intense.

John Benjamin Hickey is New York Times style editor Felix Turner who Ned tries to convince to write about what's happening in the gay community.  They wind up lovers with Felix ultimately succumbing to the disease.  Hickey’s performance is marvelous as he goes from healthy, energetic and handsome to weak and sitting on the floor in self-pity.  Rounding out the other colorful and tragic figures in Mr. Kramer's world are Luke MacFarlane ("Brothers and Sisters"), Jim Parsons ("Big Bang Theory") and Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies").

Co-director’s Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe have stayed true to the simplicity of the original production.  Scenes wax and wane with energy and emotion like a finely crafted piece of music with all the dynamics that make it interesting.  The set by David Rockwell is a simple box set with quotes on the wall that Kramer also details in his notes at the beginning of the script.  These include references to the total number of cases of AIDS, the amounts spent on research by public officials like Mayor Koch and Diane Feinstein, and a quote from the “American Jewry During the Holocaust” report which was prepared for the American Jewish Commission on the Holocaust.  Kramer draws a parallel between the extermination of Jews in 1940s Germany to the crises that public officials in this country willingly let play out in the gay community in the 1980s.  

The Normal Heart can be very funny at times and will make you laugh even while it moves you to tears.  As the names of thousands of dead AIDS patients light up the walls of the set and the interior of the theatre, you could feel the emotion in the theatre as sniffles emanated from throughout the audience.  Do not miss this play, it only runs through July 10, 2011.

As we left the theatre, there stood Larry Kramer passing out a letter that he wrote.  It’s almost a post-script to the play. It's his way of saying, this really happened, these people are gone now, and this is still a plague.  He is fervid in his devotion to this cause.  I have attached a copy of Mr. Kramer’s letter to this review.  Read it and you will understand what I mean.

Read the entire production credits at IBDB.com.

The show got off to a rocky start with a bit of a sound problem.  The 59E59 Theatre is a terrific space, unfortunately the 8-piece combo was overpowering the singers and to accommodate, the sound board operator brought the volume up too far.  The sound from the speakers just overhead was distracting.  Eventually they found their balance and the rest of the performance blended better.

The whole cast opens the show with the title song “The Best is Yet To Come” and quickly gets down to business.  Sally Mayes gets the first solo of the evening with “Nobody Does It Like Me” from Seesaw, where she gets to show off her comedy chops.  Before the evening is over she gives a commanding performance of the gorgeous ballad “With Every Breath I Take,” from City of Angels which Zippel wrote with Coleman.

Lillias White would have to be considered worth the price of admission alone.  She starts with a sassy rendition of “Don’t Ask a Lady” from Little Me.  Before she’s done she gives Coleman’s “Never Met a Man I Didn’t Like” from Will Rogers Follies a whole new meaning.  She brings down the house with “The Oldest Profession,” from The Life and gets playful with musical director and fellow cast member Billy Stritch on “Little Me.”

Relative newcomer (though you wouldn’t know it from his performance) David Burnham grabs the spotlight with perhaps one of Coleman’s most famous songs, “Witchcraft.”  Burnham is so relaxed on-stage; when he came out for “Big Spender” he and Howard McGillin had to each flip a coin, when it came his turn to flip his coin, he completely missed it but had the best time playing off the audience.  On “Only the Rest of My Life” (a song making its professional debut) Burnham joins one-woman dynamo Rachel York in a stunning song.  York reels the audience in with “Come Summer” and “The Doodling Song” while former “Phantom” Howard McGillin is suave and poised on “You Fascinate Me So” and the never-before-presented “I’d Give the World.”

Stritch himself went solo on “It Amazes Me” and “Some Kind of Music,” both of which were relatively quiet compared to much of the rest of the show.  Both his singing and playing seem effortless and he has a bit of the Velvet Fog in his voice.   His band was also extremely well rehearsed and the members themselves were having fun on stage.  Stritch got to show off his dexterous fingers on “Those Hands” in which the cast joined him.  For this number, director Zippel, in a seeming homage to Tommy Tune, has the cast in white gloves sitting in a line down center during the number playing air-piano a la “Our Favorite Son.”  Poor Sally Mayes has to segue from this rollicking number into the more decidedly down-beat “It Started With a Dream,” a Coleman song never sung in a show before.  Poor Mayes was so out of breath that settling into “...Dream” required some serious heavy breaths between the two numbers.  That said, Zippel has beautifully stitched Mr. Coleman’s songs together into a coherent, flowing homage to a musical great and his contribution to the “songs of the heart” catalog.

The show sports a sparkly set by Douglas W. Schmidt, colorful costumes by a man who must need a vacation, William Ivey Long and colorfully-coordinated lighting by Michael Gilliam.

To describe Cy Coleman as prolific seems inadequate.  He won Tonys, Emmys and Grammys and his songs were recorded by Sinatra, Bennett, Streisand and others.  The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman beautifully presents Coleman’s varied and tuneful songs.  This is a big, brassy production (sometimes too much so for the small space) but one I encourage you not to miss.

They have tied this all together with a narrator, Jocko (Geno Henderson).  He slides out between scenes sitting at a desk like a late-night talk-show host who delivers individual facts to help place the events in an historical context.   This method of tying songs together with a few stated facts rather than organically working them into the story is not particularly original or engaging.

Leavel is perfect as Florence in a performance both emotionally moving and uplifting despite the limitations placed on it by the material.  She rightfully received a 2011 Tony Award nomination for the role.  Florence Greenberg was a remarkable woman who was one of the first female record company executives.  It seems only appropriate that she is being played by a first-rate musical theatre actress like Leavel.

The women playing the four Shirelles, Erica Ash, Kyra Da Costa, Crystal Starr and Christina Sajous, ably handle the music but their characters don’t have any character development at all.  They giggle about like the teenagers the Shirelles were when Greenberg’s daughter found the girl group at her school.

In addition to Jocko, Henderson suavely moved from role to role throughout the evening, including other period talent Chuck Jackson, Ronald Isley and “the Duke of Earl,” Gene Chandler.  Barry Pearl holds his own as Bernie Greenberg, Florence’s fed-up husband.  Allan Louis is Luther Dixon, the man who sweet-talked his way into Florence’s life as a business partner and into her personal life as her lover on the side.  Mr. Louis does a fine job.  

Baby It’s You was written by Floyd Mutrux and Colin Escott (the men who wrote last year’s Million Dollar Quartet).  I really should include quotes around “written.” Fact gathering might have been a better description.  We don’t learn much about any of these characters beyond their cutout silhouette.  We never find out what makes Florence tick; what motivates her to tackle such a tough business and approach it headlong with never a doubt as to the outcome?

Baby It’s You gets a first-class production with a creative and vibrant set by Anna Louizos and beautiful costumes by Lizz Wolf.   Louizo’s set includes suspended video screens that can be moved in and out and are used to show projections by Jason H. Thompson that set the tone of the 50s and 60s quite effectively.  Wolf’s costumes are smashing, particularly the Shirelles'.  

Baby It’s You was directed by Mutrux and Pasadena Playhouse’s artistic director, Sheldon Epps.  What they have assembled is a good looking, fine sounding,  cruise-ship production of a truly jukebox musical.

View complete production credits at IBDB.com.

Michael Feinstein is the curator for the Jazz and Popular Song series. This evening he was not only the curator and host but one of the performers.  The title of this evening's show was "More Than a Song: The Music That Integrated America."  It featured musical theatre songs that dealt with oppression and race going back to the early part of the last century when racial segregation was the norm.  

Mr. Feinstein opened the evening with "Without a Song," from the 1929 musical Great Day (see sidebar).  Feinstein seemed to be straining a bit at portions of the song that were in the lower regions of his range.  That was quickly forgotten as he took the song up-tempo and made it fly.  

Also on the bill, Quentin Earl Darrington.  Last seen on Broadway in the revival of Ragtime, Mr. Darrington sang the song that became synonymous with vaudeville comedian Bert Williams, “Nobody,” with sly sarcasm. Later he solidly nailed "Ol' Man River" from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s Showboat.  Even while doing the song without a mike Darrington amply filled up the Allen Room with his rich Baritone voice and added the requisite button to the end of the first act.  Later in the show he sings the song he sang in Ragtime, “Let Them Hear You.”  As Coalhouse Walker Jr. he roars of the fight “how justice was our battle and how justice was denied, let them hear you.”

One of my personal favorites, Karen Ziemba added some pizazz with a whoop-it-up version of the Charleston.  Later she did a one-eighty with an intense and disquieting performance of “You've Got to be Carefully Taught” from Rodger's and Hammerstein's South Pacific.  Ms. Ziemba won a Tony Award for the Lincoln Center production of Contact and has also been seen on Broadway in Curtains and Steel Pier.

Christiane Noll and Allan Harris rounded out the vocalists.  Ms. Noll was also in the recent revival of Ragtime and you might remember her from Jekyll & Hyde.  Mr. Harris's version of  “Black and Blue” from the 1930 musical Hot Chocolate, was done with clarity and resignation.  His rendition of “This is the Life” from the musical Golden Boy, had a velvety mellowness to it and would have made Sammy Davis Jr. smile.  Davis sang the song in Golden Boy on Broadway in 1964.  

Ms. Noll has a beautiful voice with a lovely tone to it.  She sang a moving version of “I Must Have That Man” to rip your heart out.  Pairing up with Mr. Darrington for “We Kiss in a Shadow” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I, the two eloquently interpret a song that has for so long been associated with forbidden love.

The four vocalists came together for “Supper Time” and nearly reach harmonic perfection.  The song is by Irving Berlin and was introduced by Ethel Waters in the 1933 musical As Thousands Cheer.  It tells of a wife’s reaction to learning of her husband’s lynching.   The four come together again for a less serious final number, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” by Fats Waller.  While most folks remember this as the title song of the 1978 musical review of Waller’s work, it also was originally written for Hot Chocolate.  

The entire evening was exceptionally well curated with many songs that you might recognize and many you might not.   Tedd Firth led a four-man combo that consisted of Warren Odze on drums, Tom Kennedy on bass and Andy Farber on woodwinds.  Firth was also responsible for the lively arrangements.

In his Playbill notes, Will Friedwald speaks to how music was ahead of its time, bringing races together long before other areas of society.  As witnessed by the songs chosen, music not only brought the races together but provided inspiration that crossed racial barriers and created some of American music’s most memorable, and oft-times moving, songs.  

The third and final concert in the Jazz and Popular Song series will be June 7 and 8 and will feature Michael Feinstein, Curtis Stigers and Leslie Uggams.  Titled “Sweet and Low Down: How Popular Standards Became Jazz Classics,” it will present classic songs from two viewpoints: as they were originally conceived for Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley, and then as they were re-invented by jazz performers to become classics in the jazz repertoire.  Click here for more details.  Feinstein will also host a family concert on Sunday, June 5 at 3:00PM I Got Rhythm: The Common Roots of Popular Song and Jazz that will also feature Feinstein, Stigers and Uggams. Click here for more details.

Edie Falco gives an understated, funny and poignant portrayal of Bananas. (earning herself a 2011 Tony Award nomination.) Jennifer Jason Leigh, is the obnoxious Bunny Flingus, the woman Artie is going to run away with. Ms. Leigh seemed to be pushing and her character became more of a caricature with a performance that felt super-sized.

Bunny believes once the Pope blesses Artie's music they will go live in Hollywood and he’ll become a success. Artie is planning on putting Bananas into an institution to free himself up. It's funny, at times, Bananas seems like the sane character in this play. The title of the play refers to the tree with blue leaves (they are really blue birds covering the branches) in front of the hospital... I mean a resting place.

Stiller plays Artie with a kinetic hyperactive mania. Under all the excitement about leaving for California is an appreciably confused man. He doesn’t seem happy with either option A (Bananas) or option B (Bunny) and he’s constantly worried “I'm too old to be a young talent.” Director David Cromer has Bunny and Artie at such a level of mania that Bananas frequently seems like the sane one.

Alison Pill, last seen in The Miracle Worker, is terrific as Corrinna Stroller, the girlfriend of long-time friend Billy, now a successful Hollywood director. Corrinna has no idea what anyone is saying (she is deaf but doesn’t like to wear her hearing aids). She responds to conversation in complete nonsequiturs.

Christopher Abbott is Artie and Bananas’ former alter-boy son, Ronnie. He’s just as crazy as his parents. He is intent on blowing up the Pope with a home-made bomb. Abbott’s performance as Ronnie feels flat and untextured.

Add to this nutty mix three nuns that have descended the fire escape. Mary Beth Hurt leads the superfluity of raucous nuns who seem to have lost any sense of decorum. They were trying to watch the Pope from the roof and got locked out in the freezing cold.

Scott Pask has designed a dingy small apartment that adds to Artie’s feeling of entrapment. Overhead is a roof-line with a large gauze sky which is lit to beautiful effect by Brian McDevitt. Broadway’s doyenne of theatrical couture, Jane Greenwood, is in top form here with some lovely 1960s dresses on the women.

The House of Blue Leaves was first produced off-Broadway at the Truck and Warehouse Theatre in 1971. The production starred Anne Meara. The play had a successful revival at Lincoln Center Theatre in 1986. That production was directed by Jerry Zaks and had a young Ben Stiller (Anne Meara’s son) in the role of the son, Ronnie Shaughnessy.

Ms. Falco’s performance is a treat. This production is worth seeing for her performance alone. The fact that Stiller is a solid Artie to her Bananas makes this engaging play one to add to your “must-see” list. You only have until July 23rd to see this outstanding production.

Born Yesterday was originally produced on Broadway in 1946 starring Ms. Holliday.  It ran until the end of 1950 and was made into a film by George Cukor which also starred Ms. Holliday.

Jim Belushi is Harry Brock, a junk tycoon.  He owns multiple junk yards and trades in steel.  He is in Washington to buy senators who will craft legislation that will be favorable to his business.  Billie Dawn, Ms. Arianda, is his ditsy, bubble-headed girlfriend, a former chorus-girl who once had four lines in Anything Goes.

Journalist, Paul Verrall (Robert Sean Leonard), who is living just down the hall in the same swanky DC Hotel, is poking around trying to get an interview with Brock.  Brock is so taken with him that he hires him to polish Billie Dawn; teach her about life in DC political circles and about life in general.

Jim Belushi, in his Broadway debut, holds his own and gives a credible performance as the oafish Brock.  Robert Sean Leonard is charming in the unassuming role of the reporter who is Henry Higgins to Ms. Arianda’s Eliza Doolittle.

It is such fun to watch Ms. Arianda go from giggling, heavy drinking, beaten-down Billie to the joyful, engaged and confident Billie.  Her comedic timing is impeccable as she plays the smartest dumb-blond you’ve ever seen.

This production is wonderful, even if it does take about a quarter of the play to fully engage you.  It isn’t until Mr. Leonard and Ms. Arianda have their first on-stage encounter that things really pick up, once they do this production is electric. Director Doug Hughes has treated this piece elegantly.  John Lee Beatty’s set beautifully recreates a high-class Washington hotel and Catherine Zuber’s costumes are simple, attractive and appropriate.

I know somewhere Judy Holliday is smiling down on this production.  And what’s not to smile about?  It’s a great production.

Based on the 1992 film of the same title starring Whoopi Goldberg (incidentally one of the producers behind this musical) the show quickly establishes the premise; Las Vegas lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier (Patina Miller) is on the lamb after seeing her mobster boy-friend ice somebody.  She is forced into seeking protection from the police who decide to hide her with the sisters at Queen of Angels Cathedral in south Philadelphia as Sister Mary Clarence.  While there she restores attendance and lifts spirit as the new choir leader.

Ms. Miller, in the Whoopi Goldberg role, has an amazing voice but she has a bad habit of delivering a comedy line as though a rim-shot will follow while she winks to the audience. Her performance could best be described as broad.  Her thug boyfriend Curtis, played suavely by Kingsley Leggs, is menacing and has one funny song "When I find My Baby" which he does a la Barry White.  The song has Curtis singing with his henchman about all the terrible things he is going to do to her when he finds her.  Tracy Morgan's doppelganger Demond Green is hilarious as TJ, Curtis’s dim-witted nephew.

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Officer Eddie Souther (Chester Gregory), in whom Deloris confides, went to high-school with her and always had a crush on her.  Unfortunately, she only ever knew him as sweaty Eddie (due to his propensity to perspire.)  He aspires to Vegas greatness himself.  He has a terrific number called “I Could Be That Guy.”  Choreographer Anthony Van Laast has utilized an inspired bit of stage-craft to affect a quick on-stage costume change by Eddie.  During the number they tear away his police officer’s uniform to reveal sequined white pants and a vest with a flashy red shirt.  What’s even more impressive is when they get him back into his police officer’s uniform at the end of the number.  Its actually just another rip-away.  As for Mr. Gregory’s performance, I was left cold by him and don’t feel that he kept up with the talent around him.  Though he has a good voice, his acting felt mechanical.

The lovely Victoria Clark is the Mother Superior.  This was the role played by Dame Maggie Smith in the movie.  Clark portrays the Mother Superior with a dry approach that would make Bob Newhart proud. She has an uncanny ability to take a beat or even two beats and make it funny by doing nothing.

Fred Applegate is Monsignor O’Hara.  This is a fun role and Mr. Applegate looks like he is having the time of his life on stage.  In fact, the whole cast does.  Sara Bolt is Sister Mary Patrick.  She maintains that wonderful air of exuberance, glass half-full, downright joyousness that Kathy Najimy brought to the same role in the movie.  Marla Mindelle is Sister Mary Robert, the novice who is not yet quite certain she wants to be a nun.  Ms. Mindelle’s singing has a nasality to it and when she reached for a couple of the higher notes on “The Life I Never Led”, pitch suffered.   Later in the second act, in one of the evening's few faults, they have Ms. Mindelle sing a reprise of the song that feels gratuitously placed. 

Director Jerry Zaks has pulled together a tight, fast-paced and funny show.  Klara Zieglerova creates a set that magically mixes the sacred and the profane, right down to the spinning mirror-ball Virgin Mary.  And not since Mother Theresa, has has anyone done more for the modern nun’s habit than costume designer Lez Brotherston.

Sister Act’s orchestra has a nice lush clean sound to it.  Kudos to sound designer John Shivers for his part in that.  I’ve been to the theatre recently where the orchestra sounded muffled and synthesized.

Sister Act is family friendly, funny and fast-paced with a hummable score by Alan Menken.  Douglas Carter Beane is credited with creating “additional book material” for the show that is very funny.    Perhaps my favorite line is when Deloris comes clean that she isn’t a nun, or even a Catholic, Sister Mary Lazarus dryly asks “You’re really a Negro though, right?”  Funny stuff.

So get thee to a nunnery at the Broadway Theatre on Broadway and take a vow of hilarity.  It’ll be good for your soul.  

The marvelous Mark Rylance is Johnny "Rooster" Byron. He's living in a rundown Airstream on property that might or might not actually belong to him.  He's lived on the property for 20+ years.  Juxtapose the idea of heaven on earth against Rooster’s world-view, everything on earth is shit and those that don’t fight are doomed to get edged out of the process, and you have Jerusalem.

Over time, the property surrounding Rooster’s has developed into fancy communities, his property is next but Rooster has dug in his heals.  Two constables tape a sixth eviction notice on his trailer door while he stays inside barking like a dog through a megaphone (maybe he and Edie Falco from House of Blue Leaves could get together).

Rooster rebels against the government and his well-off neighbors.  He's a drug dealer who throws wild parties with teenagers and drugs.  It’s hard to tell if Mr. Rylance's Rooster is just drunk and stoned throughout the whole show or if the character is just crazy. I suspect it's both.  Rylance’s ability to perfect and maintain his character’s physical disability is impressive.  Rooster is a former dare-devil who was injured in an accident.  One of his legs looks as though it was hit by a car; the leg bent in, somewhat limp and uncooperative.  Not surprisingly, thanks to Rylance’s three hours a night of self-mutilation (six-hours on matinee days), Rylance thanks his chiropractor in his bio.

More than the physical interpretation that Rylance gives to Rooster, it is his possession and understanding of his character that makes this an astounding performance. His stamina is to be admired.  His talent and reputation at handling bigger-than-life characters has now been sealed with multiple roles on Broadway in just the past few years. I have had the good-fortune to see all three of them: Robert in Boeing-Boeing; Valere in La Bête earlier this season; and now Rooster in Jeruslaem.  This man is truly one of the greats of our generation.

The group of drop-outs and miscreants that gather at Rooster’s trailer to while away the hours use him for his drugs and as a form of entertainment.  Mackenzie Crook is marvelous as Ginger, the most plugged-in of the group.  John Gallagher, Jr. is Lee, a slacker who is leaving the next day to slack-off on another continent, Australia.  Gallagher gives Lee an endless supply of exuberance.  Danny Kirrane is perfect as the dopey Davey, the slaughterhouse employee who is not exactly satisfied with his life but resigned to it.

Jerusalem was directed by Ian Rickson.  Not to take away from Mr. Rylance’s talent, but you don’t get a performance like his without a director like Rickson shaping it.  Rickson, Rylance, Crook and several other actors have been attached to Jerusalem since it first played the Royal Court in 2009.  There it played to accolades and major awards.  Rickson’s production is enhanced with a lush green forest set by Ultz which disappears up into the fly-space as actual plants and small live animals inhabit the space.

I just couldn’t get behind this play, it was one long diatribe and despite Rylance’s incredible performance, I found myself looking at my watch.  Fortunately for this production, most other critics have felt differently and the audience seemed to enjoy it the night I attended.  This is one of those plays I’m going to have to say may or may not appeal to you.  There is a lot of language to be absorbed in this play.  I found I didn’t have the patience for it.  Thankfully Rylance’s and Crook’s performances, kept me rapt.

View Jerusalem production credits at IBDB.com.

In the New York City Opera production, Myra Foster (Lauren Flanigan), is a small-time medium.  Under the guidance of her dead son, Arthur (Michael Kepler Meo), she holds séances in her Victorian home.  She talks her “Mr. Milk-Toast” of a husband, Bill (Kim Josephson), into abducting the daughter of a businessman and subsequently helping to solve the case, thus gaining fame for her clairvoyant skills. But then Myra begins to see young Adriana (Bailey Grey), almost as a daughter. She decides that rather than taking Adriana from her beloved Arthur, she must murder her so they can be together forever. At the final séance, with the dead girl’s parents present, Adriana’s ghost appears, to finger her murderers, but also to console her grieving mother. “I like it here,” she says of her shallow grave under a moss-covered rock. “Yes, mommy, I am happy.”

Mr. Schwartz’s music is lyrical and haunting, perfect for this piece.  It has tones of Bernard Herrmann’s music written for Hitchcock’s films.  The orchestrations by Schwartz and William David Brohn help heighten the tension with a lush sound

It is at this point that I have to point out, I am not an aficionado of opera.  It is not a medium (you’ll pardon the pun) I know a good deal about.  What I can tell you is that the pace of Séance for a Wet Afternoon felt very slow and dragging.  It plodded along.  I’m not sure who you blame here, Mr. Schwartz the composer or Mr. Schwartz the director (Steven Schwartz’s son Scott Schwartz is the show’s director).  I didn’t find Stephen Schwartz’s vocal writing as interesting as his orchestral writing.

Ms. Flanigan as Myra (a role that Mr. Schwartz had in mind for her as he was writing it) is excellent at carrying the character through but I found her singing slightly off pitch a number of times.  Mr. Josephson as Myra’s husband Bill sings the role beautifully.  You find yourself wondering how could this man have allowed himself to get so drawn into this situation without putting his foot down.  Mr. Josephson performance comes across as too together and confident to be portraying a man who has been hen-pecked into submission.

Melody Moore is Rita Clayton and Todd Wilander is Charles Clayton, the parents of the missing girl, both sing their roles beautifully with Ms. Moore giving a particularly strong performance.

The translucent set by Heidi Ettinger also adds to the heightened atmosphere of the piece.  The way that lighting designer David Lander has lit the set, the translucent walls allow for the presence of another singer onstage but in a way that is mysterious and spooky.  And when any spirit arrives, you see the house glow with purple neon placed inside the walls around the base of the house that light up the walls eerily.

This was an impressive first attempt from Mr. Schwartz as he seeks to push his boundaries.

What makes this musical’s blandness so surprising is its pedigree.   It comes from the musical geniuses behind "Southpark: Bigger, Longer, Uncut" (one of the best musicals of the 90s) and Hairspray (one of the best musicals of this decade), Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.  The book is by Terrence McNally and uses a 1960’s variety show motif to tell the story and hang the numbers on.  McNally’s book crafts a symbiotic relationship between Abagnale and Agent Hanratty, creating an almost father-son like parallel between the two characters.  It is ably and fleetly directed by none other than the director of the aforementioned Hairspray, Jack O'Brien.  The choreography by Jerry Mitchell is impressive; but man he makes this cast work.

This show relies heavily on exposition due to the large amount of information it has to convey to tell its story.  Aaron Tveit (last seen as the son in Next to Normal) is Frank Abagnale, Jr., a con man and forgery expert who impersonates a Pan Am pilot, a doctor and a lawyer while still barely out of his teens.  Tveit is a talented and charming leading man.  He does, however, feel a little wet behind the ears; his performance is charming, but not commanding.

Norbert Leo Butz is Agent Carl Hanratty, the agent obsessed with catching Frank Jr.  Butz has the best number in the show.  Perhaps I shouldn’t say he has the best number so much as he makes the most out of the number, “Don’t Break the Rules.”  Like he did with “Great Big Stuff” in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Butz owns the number.  Mr. Mitchell has Butz doing these marvelous round-house kicks and you sit there asking how he can possibly belt out that number and do these at the same time.

In the role of Frank Abagnale, Sr. is Broadway regular, Tom Wopat.  Mr. Wopat gives an outstanding and nuanced performance as the father who seems to be the model for his son’s bad behaviour.  We watch as Frank Sr. drinks himself into the grave.

Kerry Butler is Abagnale’s love interest Brenda Strong.  Except for one power-house song towards the end of the show, this role doesn’t showcase her talent.  In the song “Fly, Fly Away” Butler gets to show off her always unexpected vocal power.

The sleek set, designed by David Rockwell, recreates a 60’s looking airport terminal and television show set replete with onstage band.  The costumes by William Ivey Long are everything we have come to expect from Mr. Long, gorgeous and colorful.

This show has a good deal going for it.  Unfortunately, it just doesn’t engage like it needs to.

View full production credits at IBDB.com.

Cole Porter has written the songs that Reno sings for a different voice.  They unfortunately fall into an odd place in Ms. Foster’s vocal range so at times she seems slightly shrill.  That is the ONLY complaint I have about the entire show. Other than that, this show sparkles, pops, and spins with a glorious cast and great direction.

Originally produced on Broadway in the fall of 1934 with William Gaxton, Ethel Merman and Victor Moore in the roles of Billy Crocker, Reno Sweeney and Moonface Martin, respectively.  The original concept for the musical involved a shipwreck.  Two months prior to the show’s opening, the SS Morro Castle en route from Havana to New York caught fire.  137 crew members and passengers perished.  The concept for P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton’s original script was out. What they came up with seems nothing more than a skeleton on which to hang Cole Porter's delightful songs.  Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney sets sail on an ocean-liner.  Along with her are: an heiress, Hope Harcourt and her mother; Public Enemy #13, Moonface Martin; Billy Crocker, who’s in love with the heiress; Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, Ms. Harcourt’s fiance; and Elisha J. Whitney, Billy’s boss who thinks he’s back in New York selling shares of his company’s stock and making him millions.  There are also federal agents on-board who are hunting for Moonface.  

 

Colin Donnell is adorable and delightful as Billy Crocker.  He has a lovely singing voice with an effortless upper register.  Laura Osnes is charming as Hope and also has a lovely voice, on display in “All Through the Night.”  As her fiance, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, Adam Godley is wound tighter than a major league fast-ball with no direction, he’s wonderful.  In a bit of perfect casting, the legendary John McMartin is riotous as Elisha Whitney.

 

The show is directed and choreographed by the gifted Kathleen Marshall.  Ms. Marshall has no less than 15 Broadway shows to her credit and Tonys for Wonderful Town and The Pajama Game.  On first glimpsing Derek McLane’s bright ocean-liner deck set, it doesn’t appear terribly deep but Ms. Marshall uses the additional two levels of deck to brilliant effect as the dancers appear to climb the decks as the music modulates.  Her staging of “Be Like the Bluebird” is most original as she uses a small blue pin-spot which Joel Grey plays against facilely (kudos on the spot work whoever you are.)  It’s nice to see that time hasn’t seemed to effect Mr. Greys ability to move effortlessly.  (See this article about the new Museum of New York exhibit about, and currated by, Mr. Grey)

Martin Pakledinaz’s costumes are stunning and Peter Kaczorowski develops multiple gorgeous looks onstage with his lighting.

This show may actually have more hits in it than any other Broadway show ever: “You’re the Top,” “Anything Goes,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” and “It’s De-Lovely” (originally written for Red Hot and Blue) to name just a few.  The new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman is a perfect addition.  They have found a perfect balance between the old corny jokes and a more modern sensibility.  

Roundabout has just announced that Anything Goes has been extended until January of 2012, but don’t wait to get your tickets.  Couldn’t we all use a chance to smile for 2 hours and forty-five minutes?

In support groups for substance abuse you hear “people, places and things” over and over.  This means the addict needs to stay away from the people, places and things they formerly associated with their addiction if they are to be successful in their recovery.  Bobby Cannavale, in an amazing performance, is Jackie, a recovering addict fresh on parole and living with his still-using girlfriend Veronica, played by Elizabeth Rodriguez.  Obviously the above situation is not the best of ideas. Come to find out, all the characters in this play have a drifting sense of what “being clean” means.  

This marks Ms. Rodriguez’s Broadway debut and she gives a raging performance as the coked-up, crack-pipe smoking, angry addict.  She’s functional, but an addict none-the-less.  

Jackie arrives home early one day to surprise his girlfriend with flowers, pockets full of gifts and the news of a new job.  What he finds is a strange hat on his dining table.  He makes a mad dash to the bed.  And like an obsessed truffle pig, he sniffs the pillow and the bed, confronting Veronica with “the bed smells like Aqua Velva and dick.”  And the downward spiral begins for Jackie.

Chris Rock is Jackie’s sponsor, Ralph D.  He’s married to Victoria (Annabella Sciorra) a woman who obviously has had it with him.  When he asks her to bring a drink for his sponsee, Jackie, she responds with “fuck you.”  While Ralph D. seems to walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk, the lies eventually come out when we learn that he has slept with Jackie’s girlfriend.

Rock’s performance was good but in contrast with the talent he was facing on-stage, the difference was noticeable.  At times it looked like his feet had been nailed to the floor and only his arms moved.  His line delivery is done with a voice that is used to being miked.  It is slightly muffled and run together; at times he’s hard to understand.  Last evening I watched a Chris Rock special on the Comedy Channel and noticed that he is sometimes hard to understand WITH a mike.  But I’ll give him this, he is a brilliant comedian.

In a stand-out performance is Yul Vázquez, as Jackie’s cousin, Julio.  Jackie has gone to Julio to ask him to hide a gun for him.  He took the gun in question to the apartment of “the motherfucker with the hat,” threw the hat on the floor and fired shots into it.  He needs Julio to hide it for him because if he doesn’t, he will have a parole violation to concern himself with.  

Julio may or may not be gay, we never really find out, though he is married. Julio doesn’t mince words.  He lays it on the line; he doesn’t like Jackie very much.  He is only going to do this for his dead sister, Jackie’s mom.  But he makes it clear to Jackie, “the space between who you think you are and who you actually are is a pretty embarrassingly wide gap.”

I had one point of contention with Mr. Guirgis’s play, on more than one occasion, he has Jackie use words that just don’t seem like they would ever be a part of this man's vocabulary.  He is not a stupid man, but I doubt highly he would use words like “brevity” and “haberdashery.”  

The Motherf**ker with the Hat is directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member, Anna D. Shapiro, who won a Tony Award in 2008 for directing August: Osage County.  Here again she has brilliantly directed a play where substance abuse is a central issue.

The set by Todd Rosenthal is ingenious.  The scene shifts are, for the most part, completely automated with a turn-table turning and a couch flipping upside down to reveal another couch.  It’s fascinating to watch and facilitates a smooth transition from scene to scene.

There are some amazing performances in this play.  I bet we’ll see Bobby Cannavale on the aisle this June at the Tony Awards, and possibly even Yul Vázquez.  More importantly, the play is worth it.  Those who are intimately familiar with substance abuse will immediately identify with these characters.  If you’re not, you will have a much better sense of the costs of substance abuse.  You only have until June 26th to see this play.

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Williams is in scrappy clothing and has a ragged heavy beard and disheveled hair.  His sardonic delivery suits the role of the perplexed tiger brilliantly. "Why am I here? Why aren't I gone?" the tiger asks himself. He's caught between this world and the next. "To die in captivity in a Baghdad zoo. What a life." Despite what you might be expecting, Williams is always in complete control.  While the role wasn’t written for Williams it seems like it should have been.   

Kev, is a reckless American Marine hyped for action and dumb as a box of dirt.  His buddy Tom, also a Marine and only slightly brighter is the “greedy American.”  The men are charged with guarding the tiger's cage.  While tormenting the tiger with a Slim-Jim the tiger bites Tom's hand off.  Kev shoots it with Tom's gold semi-automatic pistol, stolen from Uday Hussein, the son of the dictator, in a stand-off.  Kev is slightly over-played by Brad Fleischer. His performance settles down though after his character dies and carries on as a ghost.  His character goes from utter moron to sharp as a tack know-it-all, even speaking fluent Arabic.  Glenn Davis as Tom is believable as the bitter marine who feels owed after losing his hand “in a war.”  He has only two things on his mind, his now-missing gold pistol, which Kev has taken from him in the scuffle of  him losing his hand; the other is a gold toilet seat which he won in a poker game with his sarge.

This is an ensemble piece and Robin Williams' role is not even the largest role in the cast.  That honor goes to Arian Moayed as Musa, an Iraqi Arabic translator for the American troops.  By trade he is a gardener.  His work is on display in the form of giant animal topiaries on the grounds of the zoo.  Moayed's performance is intense.  He is both an eager student of the casual English phrase, and a man broken after the rape and killing of his little sister Hadia (Sheila Vond) at the hands of the younger Hussein.  This war has destroyed his life as an artist and he is doing whatever is necessary to survive.  

Hrach Titizian as Uday Hussein is suave and commanding.  He carries with him the bloody head of his dead brother Qusay in a plastic bag.  This point was lost on me.  I thought perhaps something in the way Qusay died (was he beheaded?) might have called for this decision.  But it turns out they were both killed in a gun battle.  While it’s funny, I don’t necessarily understand why the playwright chose this.

This play is artfully directed by Moisés Kaufman.  He weaves together the living and the spirit world with ethereal alacrity.   The gardener’s topiaries have been distressed and loom large on Derek McLane’s eerie set.  His set, which includes ancient domineering walls, portions including lattice work, is strikingly lit by lighting designer David Lander.

This is a funny play despite its serious subject matter.  The playwright uses humor to make the after-effects of war palatable to an audience.  I suggest you see Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo before it’s too late.  The play is a limited run through July 3, 2011.

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I saw Radcliffe in the disturbing role of the horse-blinding troubled teen in Equus and was impressed with his performance. While you see his potential here, he is not as confident in this role. Considering his age and lack of experience with the musical form though, Radcliffe is actually outstanding.  There were times I could watch his hands and tell his mind was wondering what to do with them. Radcliffe deemed himself "not a dancer" in a recent Playbill article and yet he never seems more at ease than when he's dancing with the chorus. He is with them beat for beat.

Rose Hemingway, in her Broadway debut, is Ponty's love interest Rosemary Pillkington, a secretary at World Wide Wickets and a woman on the hunt for a husband.  In “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm” she pines for the man for whom she will sit patiently and wait while he comes "home from downtown."  This is one area where this show feels creaky.  Ms. Hemingway gave a lovely performance although I found it slightly bland.  In all honesty, the character itself isn't one of my favorites in musical theatre and much of my complaint could be attributed to that.

TV and film's John Larroquette makes an hilarious Broadway debut (“better late than never” as he says in his bio) as the big boss J.B. Biggley, the head of World Wide Wickets.   His comedic timing is brilliant.  At one point Mr. Larroquette tripped on a line. It broke his concentration and you could see him drop out of character ever so briefly before catching himself.  He recovered quickly and almost seamlessly.  

As Biggley’s nephew and Ponty’s nemesis , Christopher J. Hanke is delicious as the conniving and inept Bud Frump.  Tammy Blanchard is marvelous as Biggley’s hotsy-totsy mistress who worms her way into the steno pool thanks to nepotism. Ms. Blanchard can get a laugh simply by moving a single facial muscle.  Ellen Harvey is commanding as Biggley’s brassy secretary, Ms. Jones.

When How to Succeed in Business... premiered in 1961 it won the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Musical.  With music by Frank Loesser and a book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, the musical can, at times, feel dated (as in the aforementioned “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm”) but Rob Ashford and his team make this production feel like they just took the wrapper off it.  

Derek McLane has designed a magnificent honeycomb inspired set that sparkles, Catherine Zuber’s pastel-colored costumes are gorgeous and Doug Besterman’s orchestrations give the score a fresh new sound.  

The real star of this show though is Mr. Ashford’s regimented choreography.  The original 1961 production had musical staging by Bob Fosse.  Mr. Ashford has not recreated Mr. Fosse’s choreography but he is seemingly channeling him with every wrist-snap and hip pop.  “Coffee Break” and “Grand Old Ivy” are show-stoppers.    

While Daniel Radcliffe may not be able to match Robert Morse, the original J. Pierrepont Finch, he holds his own and shows the promise of having staying power on Broadway.  I look forward to watching the career of this talented young man.  

This musical is not for those who are squeamish about bodily excretory functions, uncomfortable with cavalier portrayals of Christ or are bothered by language that would make Mamet blush.  But it is the musical with the biggest heart on Broadway.  Messrs. Stone, Parker and Lopez have brought forth a tuneful, intelligent, outrages and old-fashioned style musical that seems like it could have been ripped right from the minds of some of America’s masters of the art-form.

Elders Price and Cunningham are two young Mormon missionaries paired together for their first missionary assignment.  Elder Cunningham is a slovenly goofball who has a habit of laughing like a hyena at inappropriate times.  Elder Price is the model Mormon missionary, perfect hair, perfectly behaved, and that perfect smile.  You know that sparkling tooth special-effect you've seen in the Orbit gum commercials?  Elder Cunningham stands on stage holding a copy of the book of Mormon eagerly telling us "this book will change your life" and I could swear I saw, gleaming off his perfect teeth, that very same sparkle effect.  The very pretty Andrew Rannels plays Price to squeaky clean perfection.  Josh Gad is over-the-top as Cunningham.  Hilarious, but over-the-top.  As he chews the scenery you have no choice but to laugh and to love him.

Elder Price dreams of being sent on his first mission to that most perfect of perfect places, Orlando, where everyone is happy.  But to his horror they are assigned to a mission in Uganda.  Upon arrival in Uganda, they are greeted by the local tribe with a cheery little song “Hasa Diga Eebowai.”  Pretty soon the two boys are pulled into the song and they too are singing “Hasa Diga Eebowai.”  Elder Price asks what the song means and is mortified when he learns it means “fuck you god.” This is their mantra, how they get through life.  Pretty soon the entire group is in full force singing “Hasa Diga Eebowai” while gesticulating wildly with their middle finger raised heavenward.  

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Upon arrival at the local mission the boys are greeted by the dis-spirited Mormon missionaries already there.  They haven’t had very much luck in getting any of the villagers to join their church.  The village is being oppressed by a local war-lord who goes by the charming name of General Butt-Fucking Naked.  He insists on the genital mutilation of all the females since he claims the clitoris is an evil thing.  He even shoots one of the villagers right in front of Elder Price causing blood to splatter all over him.

After returning shell-shocked to the mission, Price announces he is leaving.  He asks how could they possibly deal with all this violence.  Song cue.  “Turn it Off,” is an homage to religion’s favorite tool, repression.   Who better to lead the song than the repressed gay Elder McKinley,  wonderfully played by Rory O’Malley.

The authors have made an attempt at a relationship between Cunningham and the daughter of one of the local villagers, Nabulungi, played by beautifully by Nikki M. James, but this is handled as more of a pre-pubescent crush and never seems to evolve into much more than a comic foil for Cunningham. He can never seem to remember her name and is constantly referring to her as Noxima, Neosporine, Neutragena, Nordstroms, etc. in a gag that runs the length of the show.

The vacuum left in the wake of Price’s departure forces Cunningham to take on a leadership role.  He suddenly finds himself in a position to have to explain to one of the villager’s WHY he can’t go have sex with a baby to get rid of his AIDS (he believes that if you have sex with a virgin it will get rid of HIV).  Cunningham finds himself on a slippery slope as he is forced to make up teachings from the Book of Mormon.  In doing so, he mixes in elements from “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” and “Lord of the Rings.”  You see, he’s never read The Book of Mormon because “it’s so boring.”  This later comes back to haunt him as the local villagers decide to surprise visiting church Elders with a musical presentation of their version of the history of the Mormon Church with “Joseph Smith American Moses.”  This most hilarious musical number was no-doubt inspired by the narrated dance “Small House of Uncle Thomas” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I.  This number, along with “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” are two of the show’s best.  The latter is a vision of hell with such residents as Hitler, Genghis Khan, Jeffrey Dahmer and Johnny Cocron (complete with OJ glove).

Casey Nicholaw (Elf, Drowsy Chaperone) shares a co-direction credit with Parker and also is responsible for the vibrant choreography.  The two men keep this musical moving at a perfect clip.  Scott Pask’s set perfectly accommodates the tone of the show using drops and a simple village set that creates a depth to the stage that isn’t really there.  Ann Roth’s colorful costumes and Brian MacDevitt’s lighting work beautifully together to complete the picture.  

Religion is there to explain the unexplained.  No matter what message one chooses to take from it, what that message is isn’t as important as the ultimate effect it has on whomever is hearing it.  That is the message behind The Book of Mormon.

He is a masterful mimic (mostly). He mimics his mother, father, high-school teacher, every girlfriend he ever had, his best friend Rayray and his hilarious manager and his manager’s coke-sniffing son (Irving Resnick and Son, “Two for the price of one.”)  He also does his grandfather, who reminds him that “only white Latinos make it to Telemundo.”  His impersonations of Al Pacino, Brian Dipalma, and Robert De Niro are spot on.  His Foghorn Leghorn and Patrick Swayze on the other end, not so much.

His career got off to an auspicious start with breaking into a subway car booth to do his “act” on the train’s public address system.  It promptly got him arrested.  Nowhere to go but up, right?   Leguizamo's career has not been without its ups and downs.  He became the first Latino man on Broadway with a one-man show that got two Tony nominations.  Unfortunately, as he put it, he was up against the “Golden Girls,” Bea Arthur and Elaine Stritch (each up for their own respective one-woman show, he lost to Stritch.)  In 1995 he also had a short-lived television show for Fox "The House of Buggin'"  After ten episodes the network kept Leguizamo's writers and creative team only to throw out all the Latino faces out front of the camera and rename the show “Mad TV.”

Leguizamo details his love-life: there was Kat, the 6 foot 2 “Lexus of women” who he met in an acting class, they were “starving artists living on sardines”; his first wife Lissette, a poetess; and finally Teeny, a costumer on “Carlito’s Way,” who becomes his second and current wife.  

One of the appealing things about John Leguizamo is he is a macho, guy’s guy who has no hang-ups about revealing his more vulnerable, softer side (or dressing up as a woman for a movie for that matter).  After having sex with Teeny the first time, they share some intimate cuddling during which they each reveal personal feelings to one another.  She reveals she “never felt worthy of being loved” and he reveals that since he and his Pops have been on the outs, he has felt like “the sun had been extinguished.”  She falls asleep in his arms... and he leaves.    A bone-headed move.  The next day she quits the film and he has to go out of his way to win her back.  Most straight guys wouldn’t be caught dead talking about the lengths they had to degrade themselves to win back a woman after a stupid move like that.  Leguizamo acts it out eight times a week in front of nine-hundred plus people.  

With Ghetto Klown Leguizamo delves into his bouts with depression, a recurring theme that he says left him sleeping too much, drinking too much, disgusted with himself and then beating off too much, "I can't leave the house cause I repulse myself” says Leguizamo as video footage of him tossing around in bed, satisfying himself and staring hauntingly through a crack in the curtain of a picture window plays over-head.  He’s incredibly honest in this piece.  He admits that to him this is therapy.  And how could it not be?  He wears his relationships on his sleeve: his love for Teeny; his agony over his relationship with his father; and his admiration for Tweety (his first acting teacher, an elderly woman who he also mimics). Writing this down in the first place is probably the real therapy.

Actor and Academy Award winning director Fisher Stevens has directed Ghetto Klown, though directing John Leguizamo sounds something akin to herding kittens.

In his usual fashion, Leguizamo’s dialogue is rapid-fire and interlaced with Latin music that sets him dancing between sequences.  The energy that he expends during the two hours and ten minutes is exhausting to watch but damn impressive and he’s funny as hell.  

 

Based on the 1994 movie of the same title, this campy new musical is about three drag-queens who go on a road trip in the Outback of Australia. The mission, to unite Tick (aka Mitzi, played with immense heart by Will Swenson, a Tony nominee for Hair) with his young son Benji (Ashton Woerz at the performance I saw) for the first time.  He also gets talked-into taking along two other drag queens to perform at the casino that his wife (yes, his wife) runs.  Along for the ride are Adam (aka Felicia) played by Nick Adams and Bernadette (aka Ralph, much to her dismay). The role of Bernadette, played in the movie by Terrence Stamp, is played by Tony Sheldon who puts his own "stamp" on the role, he is simply wonderful.  I expect that he will receive a justly-deserved Tony nomination for his efforts.  He’s been with the show since its inception in Australia.

 

I should single out a couple of other actors for their marvelous efforts.  J. Elaine Marcos is hilarious as Cynthia, the “entertainer”/mail-order bride of Bob (a very laid-back C. David Johnson).  Her talent is shooting ping-pong-balls out of a certain orifice from the top of the local bar (very tastefully done, BTW).  The zaftig Keala Settle is Shirley the mannish bar keep, also a Swiss tourist in lederhosen and even a man in a trench coat complete with beard and pipe.  Thank heavens they gave this poor girl a sexy entrance during the encore at the end of the show. She worked hard for it.

The modern jukebox musical doesn’t necessarily dictate that the songs drive the plot.  In this case it works in some instances (“A Fine Romance”) and not-so-well in other instances (“I Say a Little Prayer” felt overly sentimental and “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” just felt out of place.)  While I would have much preferred to see original music, I understand why they went the direction they did.  The then-current pop music soundtrack of the original movie was such a large part of its mood.  They have replaced some of the songs used in the movie to give the musical a more contemporary feel.  New songs include songs from Madonna, Cindi Lauper, Tina Turner, Pat Benatar and more.

The musical is directed by Simon Phillips with a whimsical air and a fast tempo.  Ross Coleman’s choreography serves the piece well.  Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner have recreated some of their wildly colorful and sequined costumes from the original film while adding a whole slew of shiny new ones.  The piece de resistance is Priscilla (the bus).  It starts out as a bland gray generic bus until it gets some mean, hurtful epithets spray-painted on it as our trio travels to the Outback.  As they paint over the bus it lights up and continues to serve as the colorful central focus of the show’s set.  It spins, opens up and even includes elevators to raise actors through the top of the bus.  Brian Thomson is credited with the design of Priscilla and she’s a wonder to behold.  

The book by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott is filled with plenty of zinging one-liners but there isn't much "there" there.

The original movie is in the canon of movies that every self-respecting gay man must have seen if they are to keep their "gay card." I’m happy to say that Priscilla... the musical can also be considered to have met the criteria to be added to the canon of Broadway musicals.  The well deserved standing ovation at the end of the show was almost unanimous and instantaneous.  I loved this show and so did the audience.

Every year Coach (Brian Cox) and four of his championship team players get together at the house for a reunion of sorts.  He's living twenty years in the past; his entire persona revolves around his role as Coach of the team "that championship season." He continually pumps up his boys telling them “You guys are my real trophy.”  Brian Cox brings Coach to vibrant and disquieting life.

The rest of the cast hold their own in their respective roles. These are not nice men. These are the jocks you remember from high-school who have grown into morally questionable adults.  Give them enough liquor and watch their formerly chummy camaraderie devolve into unbridled venomous backstabbing.  

George (Jim Gaffigan) is the former mayor of the town of 54,000.  He is running for mayor again.  He's an oaf of an insurance salesman who talks himself into believing that he's God's gift to politics. But he’s just as much a schmuck as the rest of the guys.  Comedian Gaffigan impressively unravels the buffoonish exterior to reveal the inner life of George as he asks “You think the old clown doesn’t have deep feelings, huh?”

James (Keifer Sutherland) is a school vice-principal and he’s running George's campaign.  James harbors political aspirations but is a Mr. Milktoast, a man whose teeth fell out of his head due to nerves.  As James learns he is being replaced on the campaign, his emotions become unhinged. He becomes Michael Douglas in "Falling Down."  I even half expected him to break out into "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy as he talks about always being the responsible one and he demands “I want my share of the spoils.”  Mr. Sutherland shows great range in this character as he goes from the unassuming quiet man to a man ravaged by the indignity of getting less out of life than he thinks he’s owed.

Chris Noth is Phil, a lady’s man who has gotten through life on his good looks, and the lucrative strip mining operation his father left him.  He's married but sleeping with George's wife, a fact that is revealed to George during the course of the evening. Mr. Noth was adequate as Phil but seemed to lack a true emotional connection to the character.

James' brother Tom (Jason Patric, the son of the playwright) is the member of the group who hasn't shown up to several reunions due to his wanderlust and a problem with substance abuse.  The drunker he gets the more antagonistic he becomes. He stopped buying the Coach's load of crap a long time ago.  He’s the one that got out and saw the world as it truly is.  Mr. Patric believably delivers as his character starts the play sober but gets fall-down-drunk by the end.

Michael Yeargan’s set for the Coach’s living room perfectly matches the dated nature of this piece.  Gregory Mosher’s direction keeps the play moving with plenty of structure provided by the playwright.  I’m not sure that this would have been the first play I would have chosen to revive.  James says “we can’t sit around fingering the past,” yet that’s precisely all this play and these characters do.  The play showcases a macho mind-set with blatant racism that make it feel dated and uncomfortable.  

Memorable Lines:

You quit on the field, you'll quit in life.
--Coach

You can't kill a mountain. Mountains grow back.
--Strip Miner, Phil on his role in destroying the environment

The show has been written to tell the story using third-person narrative with characters taking turns doing the narration.  I barely noticed this potentially creaky theatrical device, which Rees and Timbers have used here to effortless effect.  Many in this superlative cast of 12 play multiple characters.  There is not one weak link among them.

Steven Hoggett is credited with movement in the playbill.  As you watch these characters transform from scene to scene Mr. Hoggett’s work is showcased as the characters morph from one character to the next the movement is so slick.   

Press materials for the show refer to it as a play despite the presence of several musical numbers. In fact, it could actually benefit from a few more numbers.  The musical numbers that are there are very entertaining, particularly the mermaid number that opens act two detailing precisely how they became mermaids.  The music by Wayne Barker is delightful.  There are also some very creative sound effects from percussionist Deane Prouty and sound designer Darron L. West.

At the beginning of the play, the other characters call Peter "No Name."  He's an orphan; no one ever cared enough about him to give him a name.  With him are two other "lost boys,"  Prentiss and Ted (Carson Elrod and David Rossmer, respectively).  Peter is played by Adam Chanler-Berat who brings a wide-eyed joyousness to the role. (Chanler-Berat was last seen as the stoner boyfriend in the recently shuttered Next to Normal.)  The three boys have been sold into slavery to the King of Rundoon.  

Two ships leave Portsmouth, the Wasp carrying a special cargo for Queen Victoria and the Neverland, a slower, safer ship carries the daughter of Lord Leonard Astor (played by Karl Kenzler, who is on the Wasp guarding the special cargo for the Queen) and her nanny  The daughter Molly is played by Celia Keenan-Bolger in a performance that's played with confidence and charm. She is our story's heroine and ultimately the mother of Wendy (yes, that Wendy).

The special cargo is none other than starstuff; you might know it as fairy dust.  Lord Astor is a starcatcher, someone whose job it is to reign in and keep an eye on this potentially dangerous material.  There are only “six and a half” starcatchers in the world according to Molly, with her being the half.)  

Chasing after the "stuff" is Black Stache, a suave, cultured pirate (who eventually becomes known as Captain Hook) played by the hilarious Tony Award nominee Christian Borle.  His malaprops and inability to articulate his own name make his the most fun performance in the show to watch.  He is chasing after the trunk holding the starstuff but a decoy has been put in place by Slank (Matt D'Amico) that was to be switched with the real one while the boys were loading the boat.  After continually running into the trunk filled with sand, Black Stache quips, in one of my favorite lines of the evening, that the trunk is "as elusive as the melody in a Phillip Glass opera."  

Ultimately the Neverland crashes into an island with its cargo dumped into the sea but not before Peter rides the trunk to shore all the while leaking its starstuff.  Due to his exposure to it, Peter gets a special ability that he has always desired, the ability to fly.  Starstuff “makes you what you want to be” says one of the shows characters.  In Peters case perhaps that’s flying, or perhaps its that he never has to grow up, or perhaps it’s both.

The scenic design by Donyale Werle is dark and dank in the first act and then transformed into a brightly back-lit plastic cyclorama for the second.  The lighting by Jeff Croiter is lovely and works well to help Rees and Timbers create many of the inventive theatrical devices used throughout the show.  

Peter and the Starcatcher will hold equal appeal for kids, young and old alike.  It could stand to be tightened up with perhaps 20-25 minutes trimmed off the running time. Clocking in at two hours and twenty-five minutes, the piece is a tad too long and perhaps a bit convoluted for very young children to follow.  But this child loved it. 

Lindsay-Abair, who received the Pulitzer Prize for his play Rabbit Hole (recently turned into a movie with Nicole Kidman) has crafted believable, grizzled characters.   They are resigned to their lot in life, seemingly the rule rather than the exception in our country's current state of affairs.  He has imbued these characters with a fluid sense of right and wrong that has been instilled in them as a coping mechanism for their hard-knock existence.

McDormand's Margie is stoic in the face of this adversity as she sets about looking for a new job.  Her landlady, played with usual caustic voraciousness by the marvelous Estelle Parsons, isn't above throwing her out if next month's rent isn't received.  Margie's friend Jean, in a nicely nuanced performance from Becky Ann Baker, offers Margie a few less-than-ethical solutions to her problems.  She encourages Margie to reach out to Mike (Tate Donovan in a confident performance), a former boyfriend who has escaped the outlying rough neighborhood of Boston known as Southie.  He is now a fertility doctor who lives in the upscale neighborhood of Chestnut Hill with his wife and daughter.  

Just when you think you have an idea who Margie is, out of desperation she takes one of Jean's suggestions and tries to railroad Mike into believing that her daughter might actually be his.  She confronts him in his comfortable home where she has gotten herself invited to a birthday party (subsequently cancelled after Mike's daughter gets sick, not believing him, she shows up anyway).  Mike and his wife Kate (appealingly played by Renée Elise Goldsbury) have a seemingly bucolic life. It becomes obvious that they have problems just like any other couple.  As Margie shows up for the party, Kate mistakes her for someone from the catering company who has come to pick up the rented glasses and tables.  Upon finding out that she is actually a childhood friend of Mike's, she insists that she stay for a glass of wine and tell her all about Mike as a child.  

What ensues is a marvelous scene where Margie's desperation propels her to use Jean's entrapment technique, implying that her daughter might actually be his.  Margie vacillates between her own good-cop, bad-cop routine after Mike poo-poos his wife's suggestion that they might offer her babysitting work occasionally.  

In his creation of these characters, Lindsay-Abair has held up a mirror to the desperation many in our society are experiencing with an unemployment rate that only this past week finally dipped below 9% for the first time in two years.  He has created believable characters in a tightly woven story that has been carefully directed by Daniel Sullivan, a man whose Broadway pedigree (The Merchant of Venice, Rabbit Hole) has firmly established him as one of the preeminent directors of our time.

John Lee Beatty has deftly created both the blue-collar tenement of Margie's apartment and Mike's upscale Chestnut Hills home. Set on a turntable, the scene changes are remarkably fast and keep the pace of the play unencumbered.  

One might not think a play with such a serious topic could be funny but Mr Lindsay-Abair has given all the characters their share of very funny lines even as they struggle for their existence.  Miss Parsons seems to get the best of these while costume designer David Zinn has given her a zany look like an aging Cindi Lauper.

David Lindsay-Abair’s central theme of not being able to escape your past or your present presents us with just such a gift, two hours of escape through the eyes of someone whose existence just might make us feel better about our own meager existence. Good People is good theatre.