The Lyons and why you might want to leave at intermission

Typically, one leaves a play at intermission if it's terrible. The last show I left at intermission was Baby It's You, because reading my book on the F train was highly preferable to Act Two. However, I would argue that you might want to buy a ticket for Vineyard Theatre's The Lyons and then leave at intermission.

I saw The Lyons on a Saturday night, with a surprisingly old audience. Act One takes place in a hospital room. Ben Lyons is dying of cancer and his wife waits with him, reading magazines. Ben, played by Dick Latessa, has comes to terms with dying and is using the opportunity to share his opinions of his wife, their children and everything else. I've never seen such an elderly audience laughing so hard at cursing. Ben swears up a storm; he is dying and if he sees a motherfucker, he's calling him a motherfucker (to all of our delight).

Linda Lavin as his wife, Rita, is worth the price of admission. Her character has great lines and entirely great monologues. She is funny and caustic, and so very New York. Lavin gives stellar, entertaining performance.

And then there's our boy Michael Esper. I knew only the basic plot, so I was shocked when his character was announced as gay before he even entered the scene. And then he entered, like a freaking chameleon, with facial hair and an old man cardigan. I was expecting Eli from iHo, but what a difference a costume can make at depicting a sad, lonely, unstable man. His character, Curtis, is incredibly unappealing. It was surely a draining, emotional role to play (he cried big, fat tears three or four times, got all red and blotchy). His posture, affect and voice were so unlike anything else I had seen him do. But I guess that's why they call it acting.

Act One remained in the hospital room as the family argued and yelled at each other. It was hysterical, a real pleasure. Nice flow, good chemistry, everything perfect. I was thinking about all of the people I was going to recommend this show to, and who I should bring with me to see it a second time.

Then post intermission there were three shorter scenes. The first is the daughter, Lisa, delivering a monologue at an AA meeting. The second is this bizarre, uncomfortable scene with Curtis and a real estate agent, that made me want to cover my ears and close my eyes. The final scene was back in the hospital room for a surprising twist. The whole second act was choppy and unpleasant. I went from really enjoying myself, to disliking the characters and wanting to go home.

The Lyons would do well as a one-act. Just give Rita a few more superb monologues, another family argument and a conclusion. Voila - 90 minute one act comedy! And happier people leaving the theater, who might recommend it to a friend.

Oh, RENT, there's something different about you, but so much the same.

I was going to say that I've seen RENT more than I've seen any other show, but I think that's a lie. I think I obsessively inhaled Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson for a total of nine months and probably saw it more times than I have seen Rent over the years.

This new RENT at New World Stages kind of bugged me out. Okay, New World Stages alone kind of bugs me out. But RENT, a show which I know backwards and forwards, whether I saw it in San Francisco or Washington DC or New York was consistently the same. This version felt like visiting an old friend to learn and seeing that of course she's changed over the years, but struggling to put my finger on exactly what feels differnt. I know this is supposed to be a re-conceived, new off-Broadway version, so I can't complain about it being different. But it wasn't different enough for me.

The set was different. It had a boxy scaffold feel. Hmm, there was scaffold in the original, right? Maybe there are just more ladders now. And there are big windows in Roger and Mark's apartment, reminiscent of those in the RENT movie.

The costumes were interestingly different. Costume designer Angela Wendt created costumes for the original RENT and the new off-Broadway version. A New York Times article points out subtle changes that evoke the original costumes (like Mark's new flannel shirt which resembles Mark's plaid jacket in the original). But then Collins was wearing a Papi shirt, just like he always has. The biggest costume change was in Angel's Christmas outfit. The same New York Times article quotes director Michael Greif saying, "I wanted our new Angel to be a bit more of a club kid and to be dressed more male, so it would be very clear to audiences that Angel and his lover, Tom Collins, are two men in a relationship" I get it, but we were never confused about Angel and Collins being two men in a relationship. And during the funeral scene Angel is referred to using female pronouns and as a drag queen, so the real novelty of their relationship is not that it's two men, but rather that it's a gay man and a drag queen/cross dresser/transperson. You can play any of those angles, but the Angel I know and love wouldn't want to be portrayed as your average gay man. She's anything but average.

And jeez, Roger is a hard role to cast. You can find these stories about how they had a hard time casting the original Roger and were so happy to find Adam Pascal, even if he needed some breaking in. Oy, I almost always leave a rendition of Rent dissatisfied with the Roger. But I'll tell you one thing about Adam Chanler-Berat; unlike most Mark's I've seen, he is not doing an Anthony Rapp impersonation. Three cheers for that.

I imagine there were things over the years that drove Michael Greif crazy and he is happy to have an opportunity to improve them. Examples:
*When Collins and Angel meet - "My body provides a comfortable home, for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome." "As does mine." "(SQUEAL) We'll get along fine." Well the squeal really got out of control in the later years of Rent and on the final tour (I think I'm looking at you, Justin Johnson) and now the squeal is no longer. Well done.
*During "Light My Candle" Roger's struggle was more evident than I've ever seen. He was so tempted by Mimi, but so imprisoned within himself. That scene had very good directing and acting.
*Angel's death scene felt a little less weird and sexual (though same thing with the white sheet and all) and the funeral was a lot more powerful than I remember.
*Maureen's "Over the Moon" is always my least favorite part of the show, but Annaleigh Ashford's take on the scene was my favorite version thus far.

But then some things seemed entirely unchanged -  the staging and choreography of "La Vie Boheme" and "Take Me Out Tonight" for example. I'll be back to see RENT, my old friend, again. There's just something weird about seeing something so familiar with minor changes. I wish the cast and crew the best of luck.

July Theater Wrap-Up

All school year when I dream of summer vacation, I plan to attend heaps of theater and all of those Sunday/Monday evening events that I can't get to while working. I haven't seen much this summer. Maybe it's because summer is slow - there are no new Broadway shows and off-Broadway seems to be on vacation.

I spent the first week of July in San Francisco, which of course impacted my NYC theater schedule, but I caught three local shows in SF. You can read about them here.

As soon as I got back from San Francisco I headed to the Berkshire Theater Festival to see The Who's Tommy. Tommy is one of the first musicals I remember seeing as a child and really enjoying (along with Blood Brothers). I once proclaimed on this very blog my deep appreciation of all things James Barry. Well, he was playing Captain Walker to Randy Harrison's Tommy, so I was there, twice. I was going to love this production, no matter what. Both nights had audio problems (and this was not a preview), and the choreography was way overdone, but I loved every second of it. Can we please get these Brooklyn boys back on the New York stage?

The other major shows I saw were special visits with old favorites - Rent and Hair. Last time I saw Hair was in  March on tour in Boston with my whole family. This time I went alone. Let me tell you, the best Broadway seats I've ever had have been at the St James. The last time I saw American Idiot and this trip to Hair, I was sitting center orchestra in row F or G. I'm shocked they're not premium seats. And this amazing seat to Hair cost me only $55. Why? Because the Public Theater rocks. Usually when you receive a discount code for a Broadway show the orchestra seats available to you are in the side orchestra or rear orchestra. Not for Hair - front and center. Anyways, the show is still great. The cast created a great energy with the audience on a sparse Tuesday night.

And then there was Rent. I think I would need to see it again with a notepad to tell you all of my thoughts. It felt bizarre. It was the same old, familiar Rent, but something was different. Mostly the set. I'll give you more thoughts later in the week post-opening.

Lastly, I saw a great movie called One Night Stand, part of New Fest, NYC's LGBT film festival. It is about the making of the 24 Hour Musicals. I went because I thought I would be interesting, but I was pleasantly surprised by how great it was. It was a documentary showing all of the actors, writers and composers coming together to write and produce a fifteen minute musical in 24 hours. The book writers and composer had from midnight until 6:00 am to write the musical. They became totally hysterical in the wee hours of the morning and still managed to come up with good stories and songs. Then the actors had the day to learn their lines, songs and choreography. Apparently it takes more than a day to learn to sing a song well, so it was also hysterical watching the music directors and the actors work through kinks. And it was deeply satisfying to watch it all come together, musicals on stage for an audience that same night. I've never been to the 24 Hour Musicals, but now I'm really looking for to the event next spring.

A Week in San Francisco Theater

I spent this week in San Francisco, because my tenants moved out and I needed to rent out our San Francisco apartment. I stayed in the mostly empty apartment by myself. I could entertain myself by day with coffee trips, hilly runs and delicious food, but I knew the nights would be lonely, so I booked some theater tickets. Obviously I had to see Tales of the City, but it took some searching to find some regional plays to fill the other nights. I found the website Bay Area Theater, which saved me from sucombing to the various one man/woman shows in  my Mission neighborhood.

Tales of the City
I had read the Tales of the City books by Armistead Maupin well before moving to San Francisco. I have continued to read them as he has published more years later. The stories speak for themselves, a love of the city, but also striking out on your own, building family around you and overcoming life's obstacles. I was so excited when I heard that a Tales of the City musical was in the works, but I wasn't sure if I would get to see it. Suddenly our tenants gave notice, the show's run was extended and kismet worked in my favor.

The songs written by Jake Shears and John Gordon were the highlight of the musical (as they should be, right?). There were big self-affirming ballads, that I can just imagine the kids on Glee covering, campy disco numbers and a really sweet, slow number when Michael sings the infamous coming out letter. Those Scissor Sisters guys transitioned to musical theater nicely.

Maupin's Tales of the City is a quick read, but it's 400 pages and introduces you to a dozen complicated characters with their own overlapping storylines. It's a lot to get done on stage and it took exactly three hours. Maupin's stories always have a mystery subplot (which I always thought he could do without), and it was well into the second act when it occurred to me that the mystery had be left out of the musical. But then it showed up, with 45 minutes to go. Mary Ann dates a creepy Barbary Lane neighbor who tries to blackmail Edgar Halcyon and Mrs. Madrigal. He's also into child porn. With a book that was a little too long and complicated, they could have cut this part of the story. When your show is too long, it's always safe to cut the child pornography subplot.

Judy Kaye as Anna was excellent. She had some big belty songs and really delivered them. Wesley Taylor as Michael was sweet and lovable. I wasn't convinced of his singing, but I was convinced of his Michael. Betsy Wolfe as Mary Ann has a great voice, but failed to deliver the necessary naivete of the character. Mary Ann will always be Laura Linney in my heart, but if this show comes to New York I hope to see someone more innocent in the role. Her affect could be aided by less tight costumes and not such a bleach blond wig. However, Wolfe has been with the show through readings and workshops, so she might stick with it for a New York production. I'll just send the producers my hair and costume notes.

The Book of Liz
As a fan of David Sedaris's books, I have wanted to see the play he wrote with his sister Amy Sedaris, The Book of Liz. I think it was produced in Brooklyn last summer, somewhere small, but I missed the run. Lucky for me it was playing this month in San Francisco at the Custom Made Theatre Company. Marie O'Donnell played the sweaty, cheese ball making main character, Liz, and a team of three actors covered the remainder of the roles. It was a cute 90 minute story about when a woman leaves her cloistered community (the Squeamish) and encounters modern culture. This set up makes for lots of mix ups, along the lines on Amelia Bedelia. It was a silly story, but had some good jokes thrown in, as you would expect for the Sedaris duo.

The Pride
New Conservatory Theatre Center's The Pride is about three characters in 1958 and 2008. In both years the three characters are named Oliver, Philip and Sylvia, played by the same three actors, but they are not the same people or scenarios. In 1958 Philip and Sylvia are married, and Philip has an affair with Oliver. Phillip ends up rejected Oliver and turning to aversion therapy. The psychiatrist's description of the aversion therapy was by far the most haunting scene - Philip was to be locked in a windowless room over night. He would be encouraged to masturbate to gay pornography in the room. Each hour a nurse would come in a give him a shot that would make him vomit. He wouldn't have a toilet or bucket to vomit in, just the floor. So he would remain with the vomit and return to the porn until the nurse came back an hour later with another shot. And repeat until morning. Aversion created. Man cured. Bleh.

In 2008 Oliver and Philip are a couple just breaking up and Sylvia is their close friend. The most memorable scene from 2008 is Oliver's boss talking about how he wants more articles written about gay people and he goes on to talk about his uncle who died of AIDS when he was younger. He didn't meet his uncle's partner until the hospital and that never made sense to him.

The main point was to make an obvious contrast of gay people's lives fifty years apart in London. The point was made with memorable characters and stories. The year switched back and forth and it was sometimes hard to know which year it was, as the characters had the same names and looked the same. Sometimes the only change was the presence or absence of laptop. More dramatic period costumes would have helped - surely London fashion hasn't changed only slightly in fifty years.

June Theater Wrap-Up

The highlights of my June theater schedule were Measure for Measure in Central Park and Unnatural Acts at Classic Stage Company. I attended opening night of Measure for Measure and was excited to spot the likes of Alec Baldwin, Heath Calvert and Tony Kushner (all three are major celebrities in my mind). I found the performance to be more engaging than most productions on Shakespeare. Of course a town outlawing sex outside of marriage (reminded me a lot of Footloose) and a classic bedtrick make for a good story. Carson Elrod stole the show for me. He was my favorite lost boy in Peter and the Starcatcher and he was excellent in a totally different role in Measure for Measure. The park raccoon made an appearance, as did a dildo, so all in all it was a great night at Shakespeare in the Park.

Unnatural Acts is about the secret court at Harvard that expelled a number of students and one faculty member who were thought to be gay. The story is true and is a blemish on Harvard's liberal history. It's a very compelling story. Each man in the play had their own explanation for their association with the "gay" dorm room on campus. The explanations were not so much the cause of being closeted, but trying to save their hides, and their diplomas. The acting was great - the actors did their own 1920's version of camp with success. At the end of the play we heard of what happened in life to each of the character's and many were sad, but predictable.

In  June I also made a return trip to see The Normal Heart before it ended its Broadway run. We are all so lucky that this play was produced this spring (thank you Darryl Roth) and that Joe Mantello and John Benjamin Hickey signed on for it. A new generation of theater goers got to be affected by Larry Kramer's rage. Let us remember it.

The lowlights of June - The Shaggs at Playwright's Horizon, The House of Blue Leaves on Broadway and The Illusion at Signature Theatre.

May Theater Wrap-Up

What did I see in May? How about The Book of Mormon? Finally. And let me tell you, we bought full priced tickets ($137.50) that were partial view seats. How is that even legal? Remember the stink earlier this winter about previews not being advertised as previews and not being appropriately discounted? Well, I think the same should be said about full priced partial view tickets. I get it, though. The Book of Mormon is hot and I should be thanking them for letting me in the door. Honestly. But I also bought tickets to House of Blue Leaves this week, and out of curiosity I asked how much the partial view seats are. Full priced! Now House of Blue Leaves is not hot enough to get away with that! They have full priced, full view seats available; why would you opt for partial view? Anyhoo, we sat in row C of the front mezzanine of the far left and could see just fine. You've read enough about the show. I adored the missionaries. I am surprised that there is not more uproar about the portrayal of the Ugandans; it felt a little xenophobic to me. But the songs/acting/singing/direction were excellent. It was, of course, really funny. You can probably get tickets for September now. Or ask for them for a Christmas gift. Just do it soon.

The Normal Heart had extra meaning to me after reading Free For All: Joe Papp, The Public and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told. First of all, the book is fabulous and if you haven't read it you should. Readers learn that Gail Merrifield Papp was the head of the Public Theater's literary department, working with playwrights before their plays were produced. She worked for about a year with Larry Kramer on The Normal Heart. The Public Theater was always producing relevant, timely, edgy material and The Normal Heart fell into that criteria. The Public helped give birth to this huge play and now it is being revived on Broadway. Joe Mantello is beautiful as Ned Weeks, anger just oozing from his pores. I loved seeing Luke MacFarlane on stage, even though he just had a bit part. The play is serious and sad and hugely important. Ned Weeks argues that if gay marriage were legal there would be fewer cases of AIDS, and I can't believe that was in the early 80's and we still don't have marriage equality! And there is still not a cure for HIV/AIDS! This play is just as relevant, timely and edgy as when it premiered at the Public.

I took my younger brother to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, about two months after everyone else saw it. The best part of the experience was in taking my brother, but there is something to be said for an old school Broadway revival with a big cast and cheesy numbers. I particularlly enjoyed the songs "Coffee Break" and "Grand Old Ivey", both of which bordered on campy. And I am not above enjoying seeing Daniel Radcliffe perform live.

I attended opening night of Knickerbocker at The Public Theater. I brought my school's drama teacher with me, which just seemed so poetic. She had never been to the Public! Ga! An expectant father sits at the Knickerbocker diner over the months while his wife gestates sharing meals with various important people from his life - his father, his two best friends, his wife, his exgirlfriend. The conversations were predictable - cirucmsision, baby names, how this will change his life, reflecting on his relationship with his parents etc. But many lines drew good belly laughs from the audience.

A similar lab experience was had at Dream of the Burning Boy at Roundabout Underground. It's closed now so I won't make you too jealous, but it was a sweet play about a high school in the weeks following a death of one of its students. The main characters were the dead student's sister, best friend, girlfriend and teacher. I hadn't missed such stories, but it made me realize that we don't see many plays about teenagers, especially contemporary teenagers. High school provides so much material! I am really looking forward to seeing more Roundabout Underground productions next year.

I really enjoyed Cradle And All. What an excellent season Manhattan Theatre Club has given us! I am still traumatized by The Whipping Man. Not to mention the success of The Pitmen Painters and Good People on Broadway. Their 2011-12 season looks just as promising.

I honestly went to see WTC View at 59E59 after Michael Urie tweeted about it (he was in the original Fringe Festival production of the play, and then starred in a movie version of it). The plot is about a man who had posted an ad for a new roommate on September 10, 2001. Then September 11th happens and he still needs someone to help pay the rent, so he continues searching for a roommate. All of the candidates come and share their experience of where they were when the towers were attacked. Playwright Brian Sloan pulls off a good surprise in the middle of the play, that I didn't anticipate at all - I love when that happens. I have read a few very good novels about those early days in September (The Good Life by Jay McInerney comes to mind), but I haven't seen any plays on the subject. WTC View is running through June 5 and is definitely worth a trip up town.

And I went back to iHo for a third, and final, time. My main observation is that when Michael Esper is not wearing only his underwear, he is wearing some tight, tight jeans, that just may have been left in the costume room for the off-Broadway run of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

What's June look like for you? I am most excited about a couple of dates I have at Joe's Pub. June 10 to see The Civilians and June 29 for Our Hit Parade. You know the Pub will be on hiatus this summer while they renovate, so get in the shows while you can.

MTC's Cradle And All Is Really Good Ya'll

With Cradle And All Manhattan Theatre Club continues with an excellent season. This play tells the stories of two couples in adjacent Brooklyn apartments. One couple is dealing with an infant who won't sleep. The other is at a turning point in their relationship, and their future may or may not involve babies.

The catch going in, is that both of the couples are played by the same pair of actors: Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller. How well the actors and director pull this off can make or break such a show. I imagined that the script would go back and forth between the couples, with a minor costume change and accent switch. This was not the case. The entire first act told the story of  Claire and Luke who are deciding about their relationship. Then the second act was Annie and Nate with their sleepless baby.

Of course, actors are always acting on stage, but to see them play entirely different characters (and play them well) with only a fifteen minute intermission is impressive. Dizzia and Keller were outstanding. I thought they were good after the first act, but I was really convinced of their talent after the dramatic character changes for act two. Their entire affect, speech pattern and posture were different. There was nothing lazy about the transition. Nothing lazy about them at all, in fact - just the two of them in heavy dialogue for over two hours. Cheers to director Sam Buntrock. Credit must also be given to the costumes, hair, makeup and set designers all of whom helped make the two acts seem entirely different.

Daniel Goldfarb's script was fast moving and funny, especially the second act when you need it to be faster and funnier. The elderly man using a listening device and sitting next to me said loudly to his wife, "This play is really funny." And it is. Excellent writing, acting, directing. Another winner from Manhattan Theatre Club.