Barbara
Blumenthal-Ehrlich’s
Double Vision
Fringe Encore Series
Saturday, September 8 @ 2:30pm
Sunday, September 9 @ 9:15pm
Wednesday, September 12 @ 9:30pm
Thursday, September 13 @ 7pm
Saturday, September 15 @ 5pm
Sunday, September 16 @ 7pm
Bleecker Street Theatre
Double
Vision Gives Insight into Modern Relationships
Reviewed by William S. Gooch during the
2007 New York International Fringe Festival
In a time when some groups
are fighting for the right to have their
relationships honored, the dark comedy Double
Vision demonstrates that sometimes
the grass is not greener on the other side.
Playing to a sold-out house at the 2007
Fringe Festival, it is easy to understand
why this play about strained relationships
would resonate with New Yorkers who struggle
to balance career and love life against
the backdrop of a city filled with temptations.
Indecisiveness, infidelity,
and illusion characterize the six characters
in Double Vision. Although they
all yearn for meaningful connections, past
experiences and current baggage inhibit
their ability to make good choices. Playwright
Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich brilliantly constructs
probing dialogue that gives illumination
to the struggles of modern-day urban couples.
Dave (Shane Jacobsen),
the main character, lacks the guts or fortitude
to commit to his girlfriend, Mary (Rebecca
Henderson). On the other hand, Mary must
decide whether to accept a lucrative job
offer in San Francisco or stay with indecisive
Dave. Dave’s roommates, Mark and Ben,
also have relationship issues; Mark (Quinn
Mattfeld) only dates married women, and
middle-aged roommate Ben (Christopher McCann)
knowingly pursues relationships that are
doomed to fail. Lastly, next-door neighbor,
Celia (Linda Jones), a night nurse in a
cancer and AIDS ward, suffers from boredom
in a predictable, lackluster relationship.
All the actors in this
production deliver noteworthy performances,
but special mention goes to Sarah Silk in
the smaller, supporting role of Michelle,
Ben’s French girlfriend. As the young
soubrette in love with an older man, Silk
embodies all the qualities of a young girl
foolishly in love for the first time. She
beams as Ben pontificates about love and
life, and their loud, orgasmic lovemaking
to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture
is only fitting for the uninhibited and
newly in love. Silk also carries off Michelle’s
accent with natural aplomb.
As Dave, Shane Jacobsen
is convincing as a man whose relationship
phobia causes him to identify closely with
a naked man in the subway. Feeling unworthy
of love and believing his relationship with
Mary is doomed, Dave goes into lengthy diatribes
about courtship and commitment. He concludes
by saying, “It takes just as long
to get over a relationship as it takes to
be in one.”
Mary, aptly portrayed
by Rebecca Henderson, is emotionally torn
by Dave’s reticence and her own fear
of abandonment. Longing for Dave to move
with her to San Francisco, but fearing he
won’t go, she says, “It’s
a lot of moving and responsibility, but
somehow it makes me sad.”
Christopher McCann portrays
Ben as a man who takes great joy in analyzing
the world, but doesn’t want to take
responsibility for his life choices. “When
I was married, I wasn’t faithful,
I felt it was my duty to make women feel
less empty.”
Next-door neighbor Celia
loves the stability of her lackluster union,
but keeps her options open for excitement
and escape by keeping her car handy. “Cars
give you the power to get away…“
As Celia, Linda Jones gives a nuanced performance
that demonstrates that although commitment
and monogamy can be a good thing, variety
is the spice of life.
If there are blind spots
in Double Vision they come from
a script that gets heavy with psychoanalytical
jargon, reducing the pace of the play on
occasion to a slow crawl. Still, Double
Vision is successful in getting audiences
to look through that dark glass of urban
relationships to the other bright side for
truth and reconciliation.
Tickets $18.00 By
Phone 212-691-1555 http://www.fringenyc-encoreseries.com/
Bleecker Street
Theatre |
45 Bleecker Street
Karen DiConcetto
and Rochelle Zimmerman's
I Dig Doug
Friday September 7 @ 11:30PM
Saturday September 15th @ 7:30PM
Sunday September 16th @ 5:30PM
Bleeker Street Theater
Reviewed by Katharine
Heller at the
2007 New York International Fringe Festival
In this age where everything
political is so depressing sometimes all
you can do is laugh, it is refreshing to
see that a show like I Dig Doug.
This one act comedy, currently playing at
the New York International Fringe Festival
Encore Series, takes a stab at our apathetic
culture more obsessed with reality TV than
a real war, all the while exploring the
definition of honesty and the meaning of
truth.
Written by and starring
the delightful team of Karen DiConcetto
and Rochelle Zimmerman, this play introduces
us to a young woman (DiConcetto) whose world
is turned upside down when it is revealed
that her favorite reality star is actually
a big phony. This realization causes her
to boycott any news organization that is
covering her fallen idol only to find that
there is none. Except for what must be a
"new channel", C-Span. This is
where she finds the man that will change
her life- presidential candidate Douglass
Ward.
Accompanied by her reluctant
friend, (Zimmerman) the two go on a road
trip to Iowa to meet Doug. Along the way,
they meet an interesting cast of characters,
all played with incredible range and wit
by the talented Zimmerman. The ending is
a bit of a surprise but suffice to say the
two women learn a lot about truth, politics
and the American way. Funny, touching and
overall entertaining, this show is a wonderful
accomplishment on the part of DiConcetto
and Zimmerman.
Directed by Bert V. Royal,
this show might at times come off as a campy
extended sketch, but the witty writing,
relevant story and intriguing characters
leaves you feeling extremely satisfied.
For more information,
log onto: http://fringenyc-encoreseries.com
Bleecker
Street Theatre |
45 Bleecker Street
Legally Blonde
- The Musical
Wednesday
2:00pm & 8:00pm
Thursday 8:00PM
Friday 8:00PM
Saturday 2:00PM & 8:00PM
Sunday 2:00PM, 7:00PM & 8:00PM
The Palace Theatre
Reviewed
by Katharine Heller
katharineheller.com
To compare Legally Blonde the Musical
to great theater would be like putting
a Twinkie up against the Miso Black Cod
at Nobu. But goddamn it, sometimes, nothing
beats a good Twinkie.
Based on
the box office hit of the same title,
Legally Blonde rarely strays
from the original script. For the five
of you who are not familiar with the premise
of the story, I'll sum it up. Beautiful
Delta Nu sorority sister Elle Woods is
crushed when her beau Warner dumps her
before leaving for Harvard Law. Elle applies
and gets
accepted to Harvard (even though I would
assume the application deadline had passed-
I never quite got that part, although
the rest of the story is perfectly plausible)
in hopes to win back her man. Long story
short she realizes she doesn't need Warner,
makes some new friends and solves a murder
case in court along the way.
The stage
translation is exactly what you would
expect, complete with spunky dance numbers,
an energetic young cast and tunes so catchy
I might consider quarantine for a good
few hours after the show. I still cannot
get the opening number, aptly called "Omigod,
You Guys!" out of my head. No, seriously,
it's pretty frustrating.
The fresh
faced and immensely talented Laura Bell
Bundy as Elle carries the show with grace
and confidence. Right behind her are Richard
H. Blake as the arrogantly hilarious Warner
and Christian Borle as her sweet love
interest, Emmett. The obvious cast standouts
however are Chico as her faithful Chihuahua,
Bruiser, and Chloe the Bulldog as Rufus.
(Rufus is the dog of Elle's friend Paulette
played
by the singly named human, Orfeh.)
The amusing
book, written by Heather Hach with music
and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell
Benjamin, includes other engaging numbers
such as the infamous, "Bend and Snap!"
and "Gay or European". With
crisp direction and choreography by Jerry
Mitchell, this family friendly show is
a lot of fun. Just make sure those you
see it with have a sweet tooth.
Tickets
$40.00-$110.00 212-307-4747 www.ticketmaster.com
Palace Theatre
|
1554 Broadway
BILLY
THE MIME in
AMERICA LOVESEXDEATH
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00PM
Thursday through Saturday at 7 PM and
10 PM
August 23rd – September 29th
Opens September the 6th
The Flea Theater
Never a Mumblin’
Word
Reviewed
by William S. Gooch
In America’s
short history, three overarching themes
dominate the cultural landscape: love,
sex and death. We love sex, we love violence,
and we are in love with what we love,
even if it is bad for us.
In AMERICA
LOVESEXDEATH, Billy the Mime has
created a mélange of vignettes
that illustrate the lives of famous and
infamous Americans. Using very few props
and, of course, no dialogue, Billy the
Mime has formulated a production style
that gives the audience an insider’s
view into a particular cultural event
or phenomenon.
The standouts
in the 12-plus vignettes performed on
September 5 at the Flea Theater were,
“The Abortion,” “The
Sixties,” “Thomas & Sally–A
Night at Monticello,” “A Night
with Jeffrey Dahmer,” “ A
Night in San Francisco: 1979,” and
“The Clown & The Beautiful Woman”.
Although each vignette lasts no more than
five minutes, Billy the Mime expertly
conjures up images that remind us how
much these cultural events and icons have
informed our lives.
In “The
Sixties,” Billy the Mime helps the
audience experience such cultural images
and icons as Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix,
Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, and the
Summer of Love. With an arched back, puckered
lips and defiant strut, Billy puts an
ageless rock star front and center. Folded
arms and the peace sign bring to mind
the 37th President, and mimed scenes of
protest and police brutality evoke anti-war
demonstrations.
“Thomas
& Sally–A Night at Monticello”
is perhaps the most racially sensitive
subject of the evening. Billy the Mime
comically presents Thomas Jefferson as
a man of the southern gentry with a dirty
little secret. Between minuets with folks
of his social class and standing, Jefferson
surreptitiously sneaks out for a little
hanky panky with sweet Sally Hemmings.
With each clandestine rendezvous, Jefferson’s
lust for his café au lait mistress
grows stronger. Jefferson’s lustful
urges are so powerful that he can barely
resist the smell of Sally’s sexual
sweetness on his fingers while dancing
the minuet.
The most
macabre vignette on the program was that
of “A Night with Jeffrey Dahmer.”
Billy the Mime acts out Dahmer meeting
his victims, drugging them, killing them,
cannibalizing them, and storing their
heads in the refrigerator. Again, using
only mime and movement, Billy takes the
audience on this psychopathic journey
without missing a beat. He unapologetically
and eerily becomes Jeffrey Dahmer.
If there
is one drawback to AMERICA LOVESEXDEATH,
it may be that some of the vignettes are
cultural and age specific. Case in point,
in “ A Night in San Francisco: 1979,”
anyone under the age of 30 may not have
understood the reference to gay night
clubs, multiple sex partners, and the
beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Still
AMERICA LOVESEXDEATH does what good performance
art should do: educate, entertain and
inspire. And all accomplished without
a word mumbled.
Marcel Marceau
eat your heart out!
Tickets
for AMERICA LOVESEXDEATH are
$35 Tuesday through Thursday, $40 Friday
and Saturday. For tickets, visit www.theflea.org
or call 212-352-3101.
Flea Theater|
41 White Street
Between Church and Broadway
Margaret Garner:
Medea in Sepia Tones
September 29th @ 8PM
New York City Opera
Reviewed
by William S. Gooch
Most great
stories in grand opera have tragic heroines.
There is Flavia Tosca in Tosca,
Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly,
and Lucia in Lucia Di Lammermoor,
just to name a few. These operatic heroines
usually kill themselves, someone else
or go insane while singing gloriously
about lost love, lost innocence or betrayal.
No shrinking violets or dutiful wives
and daughters here, only fully fleshed
out, passionate women fit the bill.
In Margaret
Garner, America has its first African
American tragic heroine. Based on the
true story of fugitive slave, Margaret
Garner, who murdered her own daughter
rather than have her return to a life
of chattel slavery, the opera details
the horrors of American slavery while
showing one woman’s determined fight
for freedom and human dignity.
With music
by Grammy Award winning composer Richard
Danielpour and libretto by Nobel and Pulitzer
Prize Award winning author Toni Morrison,
Margaret Garner combines rich atonal sounds
with the revelatory expediency of Morrison’s
words. “No more, no more”
cry the slaves and their progeny in the
opening scene of the opera. With this
defiant affirmation, Morrison sets the
tone for Margaret Garner. Unlike
the passive, morally questionable characters
found in Porgy and Bess, Morrison
imbues each slave character with vision
and righteous fervor. She also employs
language that magnifies the indignities
of chattel slavery. “How much, how
much, for a mammy, pickaninny and a buck.”
Danielpour’s
mixture of haunting melodies and dissonant
chords illuminate the humanity of the
slaves and their hopeless situation. By
weaving gospel rhythms and the conviction
found in Negro spirituals into the music,
Danielpour accomplishes the difficult
task of bringing authenticity without
sacrificing dramatic urgency. If there
is one flaw in the score, it’s evident
in the second act where the music fails
to dramatically support several climatic
scenes. However, Danielpour is effective
in the choral scenes, particularly the
courtroom scene where the whites menacingly
chant, “She is not like us.”
As Margaret
Garner, Tracie Luck brings a rich, mahogany
mezzo-soprano voice to her debut at New
York City Opera. Her voice is utilized
best in the aria before her rape where
she convincingly sings, “Love is
the only master my heart obeys.”
Unfortunately, Luck’s lack of rage
and desperation renders a milquetoast
portrayal of Garner. The historical Margaret
Garner was a defiant slave who not only
killed her daughter to prevent her from
being returned to bondage, but also courageously
stood on trial for her crimes. This resolute
defiance never quite comes across in Luck’s
performance.
On the
other hand, Lisa Daltrius gives a vocally
powerful performance as Cilla, Margaret’s
mother-in-law. With a transcendent voice
that rings with celestial vibrancy, Daltrius
creates a character that believes that
freedom is just and ordained by God.
Gregg Baker
in his New York City Opera debut as Robert
Garner—Margaret’s husband—brings
his deep, resonant baritone—familiar
to many New Yorkers from his Metropolitan
Opera performances—back to the New
York stage. Baker portrays Robert Garner
as a man on a mission. His bittersweet
love duet, “ You are my shoulder,
you are my spine,” with Tracie Luck
is absolutely gorgeous.
Although
Margaret Garner lacks dramatic
cohesion and falls flat musically at times,
it does expand the American operatic repertoire
of tragic heroines. Finally, we have an
American Medea. And she comes draped in
rich, sepia tones.
Margaret
Garner will be performed at New York
City Opera through September 29.
See nycopera.com
for more details.
Photo Credit Raquel
Davis
Corey Dargel's
Removable Parts
Through September 15, 2007
HERE Arts Center
Reviewed
by Sharyn Jackson
Amputation
has been thrust into the spotlight lately,
with the body-chopping serial killer on
Showtime's critically acclaimed Dexter
on one end of the spectrum, and Lindsay
Lohan's questionable career choice aka
summer film I Know Who Killed Me
on the other. Adding a truly original
perspective to the mix is composer Corey
Dargel's Removable Parts, now
at HERE Arts Center. Inspired by studies
of psychiatric patients who voluntarily
amputate limbs for sexual or emotional
purposes, Dargel created an unlikely musical
exploring the history of the compulsion—and
of those who take love to shocking levels.
Dargel's
gorgeous experimental score is the perfect
method with which to address the fascinating,
creepy topic of voluntary amputation.
In one standout number, Dargel samples
a harpsichord through speakers atop the
piano his accompanist Kathleen Supové
pounds at zealously with metal finger
cuffs. At other times, the brilliant Supové
pecks away at a tinny toy piano. The music,
whether soothing or riling, is brought
to life by clever lyrics about various
body parts ( i.e. "Hands," "Toes,"
"Fingers", "Brain")
and their relationship to love for "devotees,
wannabees, and amputees." In the
opening number, Dargel sings a love song
for a voluntary amputee, admitting that
"caressing your skin-tone plastic
was nothing short of divine/It was fantastic
holding your phantom hand in mine."
Dargel
and Supové's awkward banter and
mechanical "dance" numbers also
accent the strangeness of the topic. However,
the sentiments they express are relatable
regardless of one's desire to remove a
body part. Body image issues plague relationships
and lead to intimacy fears that most people
face in life. It's opting for the hemispherectomy
that makes you different.
Written
and performed by Corey Dargel with pianist
Kathleen Supové. Directed by Emma
Griffin.
Tickets
$20 / $15 at www.here.org and 212-352-3101.
For more information: www.here.org.
HERE Arts
Center | 145 Sixth Avenue
Steve
Sater & Duncan Sheik’s
Spring Awakening
Monday 8:00pm
Wednesday 8:00pm
Thursday 8:00pm
Friday 8:00pm
Saturday 2:00pm & 8:00pm
Sunday 2:00pm & 7:00pm
Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Reviewed by Frank J.
Avella
When I first heard that
Spring Awakening was moving to
Broadway, I was a bit concerned. Would such
an intimate show lose all potency and urgency
in a big Broadway house?
Well the answer, thank
the theatre gods, is a resounding no!
I am elated to report
that this exciting, enthralling and oddly-enchanting
production thrives at the Eugene O’Neill
Theatre. And it’s improved greatly
from the version I saw this past summer.
It’s still audacious
and ambitious but it now has a wonderful
sense of humor as well. The original production
took itself a wee too seriously. But the
gifted director Michael Mayer has found
the perfect blend of comedy and pathos here.
And it doesn’t hurt to have the extraordinary
Christine Estabrook on board.
Based on Frank Wedekind’s
highly controversial 1891 play The Awakening
of Spring (not produced until 1906),
and adapted by Steven Sater (book &
lyrics) and rock star Duncan Sheik (music),
the ‘play with songs’ (quoted
by Sheik) focuses on adolescent schoolboys
and girls at the age of sexual and spiritual
awakening. The central figures being the
good looking, wave-making Melchior (Jonathan
Groff), his sweet, naive girlfriend Wendla
(Lea Michele) and his troubled, oddball
friend Moritz (John Gallagher, Jr.) as well
as a slew of other angst-ridden, sexually-stirred,
hormonally-bonkers characters.
Spring Awakening is
mesmerizing to the eye--and ears. It’s
a deliberately hard-edged visual and aural
cacophony of the evils of repression--religious
and societal (usually one begets the other).
The richly-rewarding anachronistic
nature of the work adds to its originality
and freshness. Although the piece is set
at the turn of the last century, the actors
whip out mikes and perform raw, intensely-modern
rock songs. The device achieves a Brechtian
break in the ‘period’ action.
It’s as if the audience has warp-sped
a century to a modern day rock concert.
But the songs are the inner monologues and
emotional mind states of Everykid. And that
is why it works so well.
Sheik’s music is
extraordinary, whether it be a heart-wrenching
ballad (”The Song of Purple Summer”)
or an angry rant (the fantastically fun
“Totally Fucked”) and are matched
by Sater’s intelligent lyrics and
by the extraordinary ensemble’s vitality
and conviction in song as well as performance.
These guys were great last summer. They’re
even better and seem more assured now.
“The Bitch of Living”,
in particular, raises the levels through
the rafters!
Melchior is that perfect
blend of youth: a walking sack of sexual
energy mixed with smarts and savvy and Jonathan
Groff brilliantly brings him to life...and
to despair as is necessary. Groff has a
command now that is dazzling to behold.
Moritz is a tad more difficult
since, as written he goes from frustration
and confusion to doom very quickly, yet
Gallagher, Jr. transcends the trappings
and let’s us inside the loopy/scared
mind of this tragic hero (especially in
Act Two’s Don’t Do Sadness”).
Michele’s Wendla
still feels too tentative as Wendla but
she conveys naiveté much better and
has an amazing voice. Lauren Pritchard’s
Ilse still brims with sex appeal and evoked
the perfect combo of tumult and rebellion.
And king of smarm and charm, Jonathan B.
Wright nails his role down perfectly as
the gay survivor about to feast on his prey.
His self-pleasure moment is a riotous combo
of delight and embarrassment. Special mention
to Gideon Glick as the adorable Ernst.
Newly added cast members
Stephen Spinella, and especially, Christine
Estabrook give the show a great lift as
well.
Beyond the masterful score,
near-perfect performances and deft direction,
I had
a problem last time with feeling emotionally
caught up in the lives of the characters.
This, too, has changed. I DID feel passionately
drawn into their worlds and I did care about
their fates.
Spring Awakening
is a triumph that should be seen by anyone
who cares about the future of musical theatre.
Tickets $66.25-$111.25
at www.telecharge.com
Eugene O'Neill
Theatre | 230 West 49th Street | New York,
NY 10036
Xanadu
Tuesday @ 8PM
Wednesday @ 2PM & 8PM
Thursday @ 8PM
Friday @ 8PM
Saturday @ 2PM & 8PM
Sunday @ 3PM
Opened July 10, 2007
Helen Hayes Theater
Reviewed by Frank
J. Avella
Okay, how bloody tiresome
has it become for the Broadway theatregoer
to have to withstand yet another screen-to-stage
translation? In recent years, we’ve
had to suffer through the abysmally bad
(Saturday Night Fever, Footloose)
and the not-so-bad-but-why-the-frig-bother
(The Wedding Singer, Legally
Blonde). And then there’s Disney,
in the ‘ you own the world so just
stop it already’ category. All this
appropriation has shown a complete lack
of originality and proven producers have
no faith in the audience.
Of course, no one has
tackled the bad Hollywood movie musical
adaptation yet. Then again, exactly how
many bad Hollywood movie musicals can actually
boast having a terrific score? Not that
many. Certainly very few in the last thirty
years. Actually one. A notorious debacle
from 1980 known as Xanadu.
Now, I have to admit to
having my own personal love/hate relationship
with the screen mess known as Xanadu.
Every time I watch it (and yes, I have watched
it many times) I keep waiting for it to
be different. I keep wanting the performances
to improve and I keep praying someone will
come along and actually DIRECT and CHOREOGRAPH
those great songs (written by Jeff Lynne
and John Farrar) in some way that isn’t
catastrophically impossible to watch. Alas,
I am always disappointed.
Yet I keep revisiting
Xanadu. Why? I have never quite
figured it out. It isn’t even a very
campy film--the kind that’s so bad
it’s good. But it does feature Olivia
Newton-John and Gene Kelly...and a tiny
spark of a good idea...and have I mentioned
the fantastic score?
When I read about plans
to bring it to Broadway, I thought: “well,
it couldn’t possibly be as bad as
the film.” Then I read that Douglas
Carter Beane, thanks to the dogged persistence
of producer Robert Ahrens, had been cajoled
into writing the book. At that point, I
knew it would have some merit. And I knew
that if anyone could tap into the reason
why so many folks are Xanadu-obsessed,
it was Beane. After all he was responsible
for the brilliantly biting and insightful
play, The Little Dog Laughed, the
funniest work to hit Broadway in the last
few years. (and of course it closed prematurely!)
My hopes were high.
Then casting problems
followed as well as the leading male (James
Carpinello, the only good thing in Saturday
Night Fever) being injured while skating
and having to be replaced. Was all this
a sign?
I am elated to report
that--Spring Awakening notwithstanding--Xanadu
is the best musical currently running on
Broadway! Actually, it’s the smartest
and most entertaining musical to open in
quite a long time!
How could this be, you
ask?
It’s fairly simple.
Assemble the best creative team possible.
Cast actors who are working at the top of
their game. Shake. Stir. Shimmy. Skate!
Part of the heavenly ‘magic’
on display at the Helen Hayes Theatre has
everything to do with a keen awareness of
the tongue-in-cheeky satire at play. But
no one ever condescends to the audience.
Quite the contrary, they invite the audience
in on all the jokes (and they are legion).
Beane has written an intelligent,
witty and clever script and manages to work
several miracles in the process. Firsty,
he remains faithful to the original film
while drastically improving the story, making
spendid script alterations and adding much-needed
character dimensions. He creates a believable,
old-fashioned love story where the audience
roots for Kira and Sonny--even though she’s
a Greek daughter-of-Zeus pretending to be
an Australian and he’s a mere mortal
AND struggling artist.
Beane also does justice
to each and every one of his cast of characters,
so rare in a musical, especially one that
clocks in at ninety minutes! Finally, he
has penned a ton of ovation-inspiring one-liners
that will have you howling with laughter.
The tremendously talented
director, Christopher Ashley (along with
choreographer Dan Knechtges), ingeniously
finds enormously entertaining ways to stage
those wonderful ditties mentioned earlier
(so poorly rendered onscreen). From the
delightful opening number, “I’m
Alive” to the sensational title tune
at the end, Xanadu explodes with
an exuberant and euphoric energy and life,
most musicals would kill for.
A new Broadway star is
born in Kerry Butler. She is absolutely
remarkable as Kira/Clio. Having seen her
shine in Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors
and the devilishly delightful Bat Boy,
I was still wholly unprepared for her performance
here. She has perfect comic-timing and displays
so much verve and charisma, you will truly
have a tough time taking your eyes off of
her. She also happens to be quite stunning.
Her Kira is a rich parody of Newton-John
infused with some daffy Nicole Kidman, yet
she creates a loveable, complicated and
quite memorable character that is ultimately
her own. She also happens to have a powerhouse
voice and is particularly divine singing
“Magic” and “Suspended
in Time.” Butler fascinates right
up until the curtain call.
When you are able to look
away from Butler, Cheyenne Jackson (All
Shook Up) provides delicious eye-candy,
but so much more than that. From his very
first bit of dialogue, he seduces the audience
and endears himself as a loveable lump of
a hunk, wide-eyed and earnest. It’s
a fabulous performance, filled with comedic
gem moments. Jackson is also an excellent
songman, tearing the roof off with the showstopping
“Don’t Walk Away.” And,
boy, does he look good in those denim shorts.
Yikes!
Tearing through the production
like two hungry tigresses are stage vets
Mary Testa (as Melpomene, muse of Tragedy)
and Jackie Hoffman (as Calliope, muse of
Epics). These two scenery-chewing vamps
have a bloody blast with their parts. The
duo’s rendition of “Evil Woman”
is rousing and ‘nasty’, in the
best sense of that word. Testa’s turn
is particularly Tony-courting.
The rest of the ensemble
seem to be having the time of their lives
as well with Curtis Holbrook providing a
killer tap dance during “Whenever
You’re Away from Me”. Veteran
stage actor, Tony Roberts has his own fun
in the Gene Kelly role and really impresses
as Zeus. One of the oh-so-may highlights
involves both the song “Have You Never
Been Mellow” and the Harryhausen film
Clash of the Titans. I can’t
say more, lest I spoil a classic musical
theatre moment.
So, what is it that Beane
and the Xanadu team are able to do what
the original filmmakers couldn’t?
Because...they have found the magic in Xanadu
as well as the irony and the joy. They tell
a simple love story in a complex and interesting
way. They comment on art and the creative
gifts that are given to us. And they show
us a damn good time while doing it. What
more could we ask for? Okay, maybe just
ninety minutes more, because once you see
this show, you will want to see it again...
Xanadu
Tickets $51.25-$111.25 Buy tickets
online www.telecharge.com
- Phone 212-239-6200 & 800-432-7250
Helen Hayes |240
W. 44th Street
