Theater Reviews

Susan Granger’s review of “Diana: the Musical – on Broadway” (Longacre Theater)

 

Producers of “Diana: the Musical” were clever to have Netflix stream this new pop musical before it opened because I suspect – sooner rather than later – the ‘live’ performance will be only a memory.

By any theatrical standards, it’s not very good – certainly not as compelling as “The Crown,” as intriguing as Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” or as comprehensive as the recent CNN series. But there is still something fascinating about a tacky, campy musical interpretation of the Diana/Charles/Camilla scandal.

From the beginning, as she sings “Underestimated,” it’s obvious that Diana (Jeanna de Waal) is a hapless heroine, facing two formidable adversaries. There’s scheming adulteress Camilla Parker-Bowles (Erin Davie), encouraging her lover Charles (Roe Hartrampf) to marry this naïve, virginal 19 year-old to produce  Windsor heirs. Plus the omnipresent, trenchcoat-clad paparazzi, relentlessly hounding Diana.

Supporting players include the Queen and Diana’s step-grandmother/romance novelist Barbara Cartland (both played by Judy Kaye), along with Diana’s butler Paul Burrell (Bruce Dow), her older sister Sarah Spencer (Holly Butler) and hunky lover James Jewitt (Garth Keegan), emerging bare-chested like a Chippendale’s dancer, proclaiming: “You don’t need a messy divorce! All you need is a man on a horse!”

One of the more bizarre scenes is the fight-ring staging when the smirking Princess of Wales confronts her cheeky rival with lyrics heralding “the thrilla’ in Manila with Diana and Camilla.” It has more suds than a soap-opera.

With ironic book/lyrics by Joe DiPietro and simpering music/lyrics by Bon Jovi’s keyboardist David Bryan (Tony winners for “Memphis”), it’s inanely directed by Christopher Ashley (Tony winner for “Come From Away”) with couture costumes by William Ivey Long.

Years ago, producers would have shunned filming a musical, thinking that it would cannibalize theatrical sales but – in the case of “Chicago” – it only helped. Even poorly received film adaptations, like “Phantom of the Opera” and “Rent,” seemed to help lift their respective stage productions.

So, while “Diana the Musical” is embarrassingly abysmal and will inevitably be considered a Broadway flop, audiences will have the Netflix version to remember why.

 

Susan Granger’s review of “Lackawanna Blues” (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre – NYC)

 

After its introduction at the Public Theater back in 2001, playwright/actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson has finally brought his autobiographical one-man play to Broadway, produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Performing in front of a depiction of the Lackawanna house’s brick façade, Santiago-Hudson nostalgically recalls growing up in the titular upstate New York town, located near Buffalo, which – back in the 1950s – was flourishing because of its proximity to the steel industry.

In a series of loosely-connected vignettes, dynamic Santiago-Hudson deftly embodies 25 different characters, including the strong Black matriarch, Miss Rachel Crosby, known as Nanny, the protective proprietor of several boarding-houses, a savvy entrepreneur who raised young Ruben when she realized that his working single mother (a drug addict) left him alone all day.

“Nanny was like the government – if it really worked,” he notes.

Plus there are the “ramblers and drifters,” including Ol’ Po’ Carl, – a veteran of the Negro leagues, whose friend suffers from “roaches of the liver” –  Numb Finger Pete, Small Paul, Sweet Tooth Sam, and Bill, Miss Rachel’s perpetually unfaithful romantic partner. Not to forget the pampered resident raccoon who shows up every morning for a home-cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast.

Santiago-Hudson also plays the harmonica and sings, accompanied by Blues Hall of Fame Guitarist Junior Mack, utilizing music composed by the later Bill Sims Jr., who was Santiago-Hudson’s original collaborator on the show.

Kudos to scenic designer Michael Carnahan, costume designer Karen Perry, lighting designer Jen Schriever, and sound designer Darron L. West.

FYI: After its Off-Broadway premiere as a one-man memory play at the Public Theater in 2001, “Lackawanna Blues” was turned into a 2005 HBO made-for-TV movie, directed by George C. Wolfe and starring S. Epatha Merkerson, who won an Emmy, along with Hill Harper, Terrence Howard, and Rosie Perez; it’s still streaming on YouTube.

At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47^th Street, the one-act, 90-minute “Lackawanna Blues” has been extended through Sunday, November 7, 2021.

 

Susan Granger’s review of “The Lehman Trilogy” (Nederlander Theater on Broadway)

 

Broadway’s back – with Covid precautions firmly in place. Theatergoers are required not only to bring proof of vaccination but also a photo ID for verification. If you ‘forget’ any of these items, your ticket is promptly refunded and you’re urged to come back another time.

Having run that gauntlet (which, admittedly, does slow the entrance process), you’re reminded several times to keep your mask in place, covering both your nose and mouth.

Beginning with a brief prologue, set in a plexiglass office in a Manhattan skyscraper, “The Lehman Trilogy” chronicles the fascinating rise and fall of the Lehman brothers, who journeyed from Bavaria (Germany) to America to seek their fortune.

Arriving in New York Harbor in 1844, Heyum (Americanized to Henry) Lehmann (Simon Russell Beale), son of an Orthodox Jewish cattle merchant, settled in Montgomery, Alabama, opening a small general store, selling clothing and fabrics. His ambitious younger brothers Emanuel (Adrian Lester) and Mayer (Adam Godley) soon joined him and expanded the family business.

Before the Civil War, the Lehmans were cotton brokers. Afterwards, they opened a bank, financing Reconstruction. They capitalized railroads, the Panama Canal and survived the 1929 Depression. They invested in airlines and backed productions of films like “King Kong” and “Gone With the Wind.”

Gradually, over the decades, their descendants transformed their business – from selling cotton to selling financial services, like collateralized debt obligations.  At the same time, their assimilation into the American mainstream increased as their observance of Jewish traditions/customs declined.

Written in Italian by Stefano Massini, translated by Richard Dixon, and adapted by Ben Power, it’s classic Greek tragedy. Utilizing the ancient philosophy – ‘Hubris-Ate-Nemesis’ – it details how reckless enthusiasm, disregarding moral rules in an overestimation of one’s abilities and economic power, inevitably leads to punishment and destruction.

What’s extraordinarily brilliant in this storytelling tour-de-force is director Sam Mendes’ casting these three skillful actors in myriad roles, utilizing minimal costume changes and few props. In London, they were collectively nominated as Best Actor at the Olivier Awards, the British equivalent of the Tonys, as I suspect (and hope) they will be here.

Running 3 hours, 15 minutes with two intermissions, “The Lehman Trilogy” plays through January 2, 2022 at the Nederlander Theater at 208 West 41^st Street.

 

 

Susan Granger’s review of “Six” (Brooks Atkinson Theatre – Broadway)

 

There’s a good reason why audiences stand and cheer when the curtain goes up on this rollicking rock ‘n’ roll musical. Its original opening night occurred just as the Covid pandemic shut down the Great White Way.

Now, 19-months later, it’s back on Broadway, situated on a single, concert-style set, designed by Emma Bailey, with a “Ladies in Waiting” onstage band and performed without an intermission.

For those unfamiliar with the concept: six strutting women play the various wives of England’s King Henry VIII, appearing in historical order and each vying for approval as the most worthy Tudor Queen for having endured the most cruelly wretched spousal dismissal.

Their lyric – “Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived” – sums it up completely.

Adrianna Hicks starts off as Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, whose devout Catholic faith prevented divorce, causing Henry VIII to part from the Pope’s Church of Rome in order to marry Anne Boleyn, hilariously played by Andrea Macaset, who warns “Don’t Lose Ur Head.”

Then there’s Abby Mueller as Jane Seymour, belting the ballad describing Henry’s “Heart of Stone,” and Brittney Mack as Anna of Cleves, resentful because Henry VIII divorced her he felt she wasn’t as attractive as the portrait that preceded her arrival from Germany. Given a contemporary spin: “I didn’t match my profile picture…”

Courtney Mack follows as teenage Katherine Howard, executed on a fabricated charge of treason, and finally Anna Uzele concludes as Catherine Parr, who outlived feckless Henry by a year..

British lyricists/composers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss wrote this exuberant ‘girl power’ musical while taking their final exams at Cambridge. After five Olivier Award nominations during its West End run, it’s been touring ever since with Ms. Moss co-directing with her Cambridge classmate James Armitage, becoming – at 27 – the youngest-ever female Broadway director.

Choreographed by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille and costumed by Gabriella Slade, “Six” has an open-ended run at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. And for audiences concerned about Covid, masks must be worn and vaccination credentials, along with photo ID, are conscientiously matched/checke

Susan Granger’s review of “Tiny House” at the Westport Country Playhouse

The Westport Country Playhouse opens its 90^th season with a virtual production/regional premiere of “Tiny House,” a contemporary comedy by Michael Gotch, directed by Mark Lamos and edited by Dan Scully.

Set on the Fourth of July, it’s meant to be a house-warming gathering. Nick (Denver Milord), an architect, and Sam (Sara Bues), a social-media maven, have decided to leave urban life behind as they settle into the off-the-grid tiny house they’ve constructed for themselves on a woodsy hillside.

They’ve invited Sam’s mother Billie (Elizabeth Heflin) and Sam’s Uncle Larry (Lee E. Ernst), a high-school biology teacher who’s fascinated by the flora and fauna that surrounds them.

Unbeknownst to Sam, Nick has also included their unconventional neighbors, former Renaissance Faire hippies Win (Stephen Pelinski) and Carol (Kathleen Pirkl Tague), whose conversation includes frequent allusions to Shakespearean plays. Plus there’s a ‘surprise’ visit from Bernard (Hassan El-Amin), a quirky hunter/survivalist who warns them of impending doom.

As these five characters banter about downsizing, ecology, politics, and pregnancy, their respective backstories emerge.

Made during the Covid-19 pandemic, the actors filmed themselves in separate locations. Since there’s no physical interaction between them, their performances vary – from captivating, charismatic Elizabeth Heflin to savagely zealous Hassan El-Amin to static, expressionless Sara Bues.

Most jarring are the inconsistent eyelines, which affect the continuity. Eyelines determine where actors look while performing a scene. Matching eyelines is an editing technique that gives the illusion that two characters are looking at each other.

During close-ups, this best achieved by having the actor focus on a mark – like a red X – next to the camera lens. Without skilled eyeline matching, it’s difficult to follow who is interacting with whom.

The camera movement guideline called the 180-degree rule draws an imaginary axis between two characters. When the camera crosses that imaginary line, the characters switch places on the screen.

As a result, their eyelines no longer match up properly and they don’t appear to be looking at one another – which leads to a distracting disorientation, diluting the power of the dialogue and confusing the plot.

But if you miss theater, it’s an interesting hybrid. “Tiny House” streams through Sunday, July 18. For tickets and viewing information, go to westportplayhouse.org or call 203-227-4177.

Susan Granger’s review of “West Side Story” (Broadway Theater)

 

It feels bizarre to ‘review’ a show that’s been temporarily closed because of the Corona virus, but I suspect that it may re-open when permitted.

From the time it was announced that Belgian director Ivo van Hove (“Network,” “The Little Foxes,” “A View From the Bridge”) would stage a bold revival with avant-garde choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, who heads a dance school in Brussels, it sounded intriguing.

Discarding all traces of the 1950s, including Jerome Robbins’ iconic, finger-snapping ballet moves, this new version is set in a present-day urban jungle.  Retaining Leonard Bernstein’s syncopated score, Stephen Sondheim’s sardonic lyrics and Arthur Laurent’s tension-filled script, it re-tells Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” tale against the backdrop of gang conflict.

But now the Jets are no longer all white; they’re multiracial and their whirling, contemporary movements include hip-hop and martial arts. The Sharks are of Latino descent, their dances reflect Afro-Caribbean culture and there’s some Spanish patter between songs.

Many gang members carry iPhones, and one dancer in each gang captures on-stage action with a Steadicam, displaying the footage on a huge screen that covers the entire back of the stage.

Therein lies the problem. Luke Halls’ video projections – some ‘live,’ others prerecorded – completely overpower the performers onstage. That’s augmented by the complete lack of romantic chemistry between the hopeful young lovers, Maria (Shereen Pimentel) and Tony (Isaac Powell). And eliminating Maria’s “I Feel Pretty” solo dilutes the musical’s female energy.

Instead, Van Hove amps the testosterone brutality, particularly when the Jets try to gang-rape Anita (Yesenia Ayala) in the third act. Well, not really the third act, since there’s no intermission; the show runs, unbroken, for 105 minutes.

Adding to the confusion, the extended rainstorm soaks the performers, even drenching some of the pit musicians. One immediately becomes aware of how dangerously slippery the floor must be, drawing unnecessary attention to Jan Versweyveld’s set and An d’Huys costumes while minimizing the pivotal love story.

If and when it re-opens, be prepared for a gritty, totally reimagined version of “West Side Story.”

 

Susan Granger’s LIST OF BROADWAY MUSICALS YOU CAN SEE AT HOME:

 

C’m on, get happy…here’s a list of popular Broadway musicals you can see at home:

On Netflix:

CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND

HAIRSPRAY

JERSEY BOYS

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

SHREK

SWEENY TODD

On Amazon Prime:

BYE BYE BIRDIE (free with ads)

CAROUSEL

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

FUNNY GIRL (free with ads)

HAMILTON: ONE SHOT ON BROADWAY

HEATHERS

HOLIDAY INN

KISS ME, KATE

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

OLIVER TWIST

SWEENEY TODD

On Hulu:

CHICAGO

FAME

HELLO DOLLY

KISS ME, KATE

LES MISERABLES

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

MAMMA MIA

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

RENT

THE PRODUCERS

UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN

WEST SIDE STORY

WIZARD OF OZ

On Disney Prime:

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

NEWSIES

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

On Broadway HD:

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

DADDY LONG LEGS

FALSETTOS

HOLIDAY INN

INDECENT

PETER PAN

PRESENT LAUGHTER

ROMEO AND JULIET

SALOME

SHE LOVES MNE

SLEEPING BEAUTY

SWAN LAKE

And check out those listed on YouTube…

Susan Granger’s review of “My Name Is Lucy Barton” (Samuel J. Friedman Theater/Manhattan Theatre Club)

 

Told in monologue, this is a memory play, set at a time when Lucy Barton (Laura Linney) was seriously ill and confined for nine weeks in a New York hospital as complications arise after what was supposed to be a routine appendectomy.

When she awakens, middle-aged Lucy finds her long-estranged mother ensconced at her bedside, straight from rural Amgash, Illinois, relating gossipy stories in a flat Midwestern accent.

Seamlessly, Linney switches from Lucy, who is now married with two daughters of her own, to her embittered mother.

Lucy’s unhappy childhood was filled with deprivation and hardship; supper was often molasses on bread. Her father punished her by locking her in his pickup truck with “a really long brown snake.” The emotional scars of his abuse and her mother’s ineffectual response remain raw.

Lonely Lucy found refuge in books. She secretly thought that, if she could write, it would open the world to her: “I knew I was a writer.”

Now, Lucy has great empathy for victims, particularly the men suffering from AIDS who live in her West Village neighborhood and for her doctor’s relatives who were killed in the Holocaust.

Literally adapted for the stage by Rona Munro from Elizabeth Stout’s best-selling 2016 novel, it’s deftly directed by Richard Eyre with lighting and costumes by Bob Crowley, lighting by Peter Mumford and video projections of cornfields, a ramshackle farm house and the iconic Chrysler building that serve as backdrops by Luke Halls.

Often described as “luminous,” Laura Linney is a consummately controlled stage actress. Her embodiment of Lucy feels equally personal and universal in its searing intensity and its brilliant willingness to entertain.

Most recently, Linney was nominated for a Tony for her performance in the 2017 revival of “The Little Foxes.” Before that, she was nominated for her role in the 2002 Broadway revival of “The Crucible” and in two plays by Donald Margulies, “Sight Unseen” and “Time Stands Still.” And she’s currently starring in the new season of “Ozark” on Netflix.

If you cannot get into Manhattan to see this 90-minute solo production at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on West 47^th Street, it’s been recorded by Penguin Random House Audio.

Susan Granger’s review of “Harry Townsend’s Last Stand” (New York City Center, Stage II)

 

Theater can be provocative, even if it’s predictable, and nothing could be more timely and relevant than dealing with the vicissitudes of aging parent.

George Eastman’s new two-hander finds Harry (Len Cariou), a feisty, widowed octogenarian, living alone in the lakeside Vermont home he shared with his wife. Although he’s forgetful and falls too often, he’s still an active, gregarious member of the community where he was once known as “The Voice of the Valley” on local radio.

Harry is monitored by his daughter Sarah who lives nearby, but when she leaves for a weekend away with her husband, her twin brother Alan (Craig Bierko), a divorced real estate broker, arrives from San Diego, California, where he lives and works.

As this topical serio-comedy evolves and several glasses of whiskey are consumed, amid Harry’s randy recollections involving his late wife, Alan proposes the idea of his father’s moving into a retirement community, where he’d buy his own condo apartment and retain his independence but have the assurance of assisted living/health care available when needed.

Needless to say, that doesn’t go over well, even though Sarah has revealed that she’s planning to move to New York with her husband – her fourth, but who’s counting?  That would leave Harry alone.

Which brings up some perennial questions:  Can elderly parents realistically judge their own capabilities? Do children have the right to place an elderly parent in a facility without their consent?

Deftly directed by Karen Carpenter, both Len Cariou (“Sweeny Todd”) and Craig Bierko (“The Music Man”) are charming and convincing as father-and-son, pacing back and forth on Lauren Helpern’s cluttered living room/kitchen set. But this play is filled with sentimental clichés and runs far too long.

Jeff Davis’s lighting differentiates each of the four scenes, while John Gromada’s sound, using a piano rendition of “Autumn Leaves,” adds a bittersweet tone.

“Harry Townsend’s Last Stand” is Off-Broadway at City Center Stage II (131 W. 55^th St,) through Sunday, February 9, 2020.

 

Susan Granger’s review of “The Inheritance” (Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway)

 

Inspired by E.M. Forster’s 1910 novel “Howard’s End,” Matthew Lopez’s ambitious elegy of ancestry, directed by Stephen Daldry, relates a nearly seven-hour saga of contemporary gay men in Manhattan, a generation after the AIDS crisis.

It begins with a literary spiritual guide (Paul Hilton) encouraging men who are struggling with writing about their professional triumphs and tangled romantic lives. But, behind these interludes of friendship, love and loss is a debt this younger generation owes to the gay rights pioneers who came before them.

“I can’t imagine what those years were like,” says social activist Eric Glass (Kyle Soller), a 33 year-old Yale grad. “I can understand what it was. But I cannot possibly feel what it was.”

Much of the drama centers on Eric and his self-destructive playwright partner Toby Darling (Andrew Burnap), who live in Eric’s spacious, rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side that belonged to his grandmother, a refugee from Nazi Germany. But now Eric’s lease is being contested.

Then there’s elderly, ailing Walter Poole (also Paul Hilton), long-time partner of real estate developer Henry Wilcox (John Benjamin Hickey); Walter’s beloved country house became a rustic sanctuary where the dying could “leave this world with the kind of dignity they had long been denied while living in it.”

Walter wants Eric to inherit the house but Henry’s sons (Jonathan Burke, Kyle Harris) intervene. Plus, there’s a laundry list of LGBTQ issues, like the loss of gay bar culture in an age of hookup apps.

As the mother whose son who died of AIDS, Margaret’s (Lois Smith) lengthy monologue near the end of the play summarizes everything with E.M. Forster’s most famous line: “Only connect.”

 “New York felt like it was ground zero for the AIDS epidemic,” explains playwright Matthew Lopez. “There are so many ghosts here.”

Problem is: Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America” explored this subject matter, as have many other plays and movies. So why sit through this compassionate, yet indulgent marathon? The second half quickly becomes repetitive and the sentimentality feels manipulative.

“The Inheritance” opened on 11/17/2019 and is scheduled to close on 3/20/2020.