Another Season Come and Gone...

As I've said before, this is my first full theatre season here in New York and it was one packed full of exciting shows. The jump from off-Broadway to Broadway of In The Heights and Passing Strange is reason enough to celebrate. Finally, Broadway is starting to nurture talent that is a little more in touch with today's pop culture. And while I'm still not entirely convinced to drink the Kool-Aid and join the throng of Spring Awakening fans, the show coupled with Heights and Strange, offer hope for my ipod. (It is a little embarrassing to be bumping "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" on the C train.)

And as for my Tony predictions this year, while not any where accurate, I feel I had a respectable score; 16/26. Which seems like a lot. But it is more then half. I credit my inaccuracy to the fact that I didn't see the juggernaut, South Pacific in action and also, my unfamiliarity with some of the design aspects.

And while I was sad that Passing Strange didn't win more awards (it's single win was for Best Book of a Musical? The spoken dialogue is hardly the selling point of the show) nothing was terribly upsetting.

Here is to seeing every Broadway show in the next season. [title of show], the first show of the 2008-2009 Broadway season, starts previews July 5th.

RSVP ASAP

Harvey Fierstein and John Bucchino's new musical, A Catered Affair, playing on Broadway is one of the best acted, simple, and beautiful new musicals to open in a while.

The show centers around Aggie, wonderfully played by Faith Prince, and her husband Tom, (Tom Wopat) and their decision to use a bereavement check from the government for their son, for a stake in Tom's cab company or a lavish wedding for their daughter.

The show is sort of a white middle class A Raisin in the Sun meets "The Gift of the Magi." Every solution that is available is complicated by an equally complex one on the other end. And it's impossible to find a balance. Or rather, the play is about finding that balance, if it can be found at all.

The show is acted very naturally and understated, as musicals are almost never played. It's as if the show was approached as a play, rather then a musical. The characters are fully fleshed out people who are as flawed as they are they are idealistic.

That quality may be the shows downfall. The show is so beautifully understated, if you're not 100% invested in it from the beginning, I can imagine how the 90 intermission-less minutes can feel as if you were invited to a traditional Catholic wedding mass in Latin.

But it's flaw, is also it's strength. You will not find more nuanced performances this season in a musical.




The fact that the show only received three Tony nominations is very upsetting, as it's book and the overall production should have been nominated, especially over the asinine Cry-Baby. But the nominations it did receive are very well deserved. Tom Wopat in Best Supporting Actor in a musical, Faith Prince in Best Actress in a musical, and Jonathon Tunick for orchestrations.

2008 Tony Award Predictions

After the Tony's last year, I was dead set on seeing every show the next year so I can have an "informed" opinion when I watch the next years broadcast.

And while I didn't see every show, I was able to see a vast majority, and have a pretty good sense of the season as a whole. So below are my predictions for the 2008 Tony Awards as well as those who I think should win, but maybe won't. Well... come June 15th we'll see how right or wrong I was.


Choreography

• Andy Blankenbuehler - In The Heights will win...
• Rob Ashford - Cry-Baby should win...

Orchestrations

• Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman - In The Heights will win..
• Jonathan Tunick - A Catered Affair should win...

Book of a Musical

• Xanadu, Douglas Carter Beane should and will win...
• A Catered Affair should have been nominated...

Original Score

• In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda will win...
• Passing Strange, Stew and Heidi Rodewld should win...
• A Catered Affair should have been nominated over The Little Mermaid.

Scenic Design (Play)

• Anthony Ward, Macbeth will win...
• Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County should win...

Scenic Design (Musical)

• David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park with George should and will win...

Costume Design (Play)

• Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses will win...
• Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps should win...

Costume Design (Musical)

• Catherine Zuber, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific will win...
• David Farley, Sunday in the Park with George should win...

Lighting Design (Play)

• Kevin Adams - Macbeth should and will win...

Lighting Design (Musical)

• Donald Holder, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific will win...
• Howell Binkley, In The Heights should win...

Sound Design (Play)*

• Adam Cork, Macbeth should and will win...

Sound Design (Musical)*

• Acme Sound Partners, In The Heights will win...
• Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park with George should win...

Direction (Play)

• Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County will win...
• Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps should win...

Direction (Musical)

• Arthur Laurents, Gypsy will win...
• Sam Buntrock, Sunday in the Park with George should win...

Featured Actor (Play)

• Raul Esparza, The Homecoming will win...
• David Pittu, Is He Dead? should win...

Featured Actress (Play)

• Rondi Reed, August: Osage County will win...
• Sinead Cusack, Rock 'n' Roll should win...

Featured Actor (Musical)

• Boyd Gaines, Gypsy will win...
• Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange should win...

Featured Actress (Musical)

• Laura Benanti, Gypsy will win...
• Andrea Martin, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein should win...

Actor (Play)

• Patrick Stewart, Macbeth should and will win...

Actress (Play)

• Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County will win...
• Amy Morton, August: Osage County or Kate Fleetwood, Macbeth should win...

Actor (Musical)

• Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights will win...
• Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair should win...

Actress (Musical)

• Patti Lupone, Gypsy will win...
• Faith Prince, A Catered Affair should win...

Play Revival

• Boeing-Boeing will win...
• Macbeth should win...

Musical Revival

• Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific and Gypsy should both win... it's too close to say...

Play

• August: Osage County by Tracy Letts should and will win...

Musical

• In The Heights will win...
• Passing Strange should win...
• A Catered Affair should have been nominated in place of Cry-Baby.

*first year award is being given out.

Anyone out there agree or disagree?

2008 Tony Nominations

The nominations for the 2008 Tony Awards were announced yesterday. I had planned on waking up early and watching them, but alas, the night before I was out late with friends and was in no mood to wake up for a 8:30am anything!

To see a complete list of nominations, click here.

As I expected, In the Heights and August: Osage County both received lots of nominations, 13 and 7 (a sizeable amount for a play.) The revivals of South Pacific and Sunday in the Park with George also received a lot of nominations, 11 and 9, both including Best Revival of a Musical.

For some, the shows that didn't get nominated are always more interesting then the shows that did. The Little Mermaid, Catered Affair, and Young Frankenstein were only nominated for design or supporting actor awards (Little Mermaid did pick up a best score nod, but I doubt it will win, half it's score is from the movie.)

Also, I'm sad that Is He Dead? only received one nomination and only for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Play (David Pittu). The show was extremely funny and there is no reason why it shouldn't still be running today.

I really hope In The Heights and Passing Strange win big. Since moving to New York, these are the only two shows that I've been really passionate about and hope that even if they don't win big, that the broadcast will be enough of an advertisement for them to run for a long time. August: Osage County is doing well after it's Pulitzer win and is a shoo in for Best New Play.

As it gets closer to June, I'll post a Tony awards predictions list.

Glory Days, come and gone

So without my knowing it, I was witness to some Broadway history. A week or so ago, I saw a preview of Glory Days at Circle in the Square. And no sooner then it opened, did it close.

That's right. The opening night performance turned out to also be the closing night performance. This isn't the first time a show has opened and closed in one night there have been quite a few actually, but this is the first one since I've been here, and it's especially sad, since it wasn't completely awful and without any merit.

But it's interesting because it'll be a quiet flop. It's not bad enough to be laughed at and used as a cautionary tale, but not campy enough to have some kind of posthumous following like Carrie the musical. Maybe one day someone brave enough will rework it and it will have some extra ordinary revival and run for years. Or not.

But like most of the reviews out there, I agree with the sentiment that I hope the writers aren't too discouraged by this experience and can bring something else to life on stage one day.

Below is a list of Broadway musicals that have opened and closed in one night (I stole this from UglyBetty on the broadwayworld.com message boards. I don't have the patience to do this much research.)

1 Kelly (Feb 6, 1965 - Feb 6, 1965)
2 Here's Where I Belong (Mar 3, 1968 - Mar 3, 196
3 Billy (Mar 22, 1969 - Mar 22, 1969)
4 La Strada (Dec 14, 1969 - Dec 14, 1969)
5 Gantry (Feb 14, 1970 - Feb 14, 1970)
6 Blood Red Roses (Mar 22, 1970 - Mar 22, 1970)
7 Frank Merriwell (Apr 24, 1971 - Apr 24, 1971)
8 Wild and Wonderful(Dec 7, 1971 - Dec 7, 1971)
9 Heathen! (May 21, 1972 - May 21, 1972)
10 Rainbow Jones (Feb 13, 1974 - Feb 13, 1974)
11 Home Sweet Homer (Jan 4, 1976 - Jan 4, 1976)
12 A Broadway Musical (Dec 21, 1978 - Dec 21, 197
13 The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall (May 13, 1979 - May 13, 1979)
14 Onward Victoria(Dec 14, 1980 - Dec 14, 1980)
15 Broadway Follies (Mar 15, 1981 - Mar 15, 1981)
16 The Moony Shapiro Songbook (May 3, 1981 - May 3, 1981)
17 Little Johnny Jones (Mar 21, 1982 - Mar 21, 1982)
18 Cleavage (Jun 23, 1982 - Jun 23, 1982)
19 Play Me a Country Song (Jun 27, 1982 - Jun 27, 1982)
20 Dance a Little Closer (May 11, 1983 - May 11, 1983)
21 Take Me Along (Apr 14, 1985 - Apr 14, 1985)
22 Glory Days(May 6, 2008 - May 6, 2008)

UPDATE: So as if to rub salt into a wound, the Tony Nominating Committee has ruled that Glory Days will NOT be eligible for any Tony's. No offical word on why.

Glory Days in the wink of young boys' eyes...

Glory Days is the new musical that is currently in previews at Circle in the Square. It revolves around four guys, all best friends in high school, who after completing their freshman year of college, reunite after a year and reflect on their glory days of high school and come to terms with the inevitable changes that have occurred during that time apart from each other.

The show opened in January at The Signature Theatre to much acclaim and has been set on the fast track to get to Broadway. Previews started last week. It opens May 6th. Just barely in time for the Tony eligibility cut off date, May 7th.

But I wonder if it'll stay open long enough to find out if it'll be nominated.

Okay, that's harsh. But really I do wonder. And not because it's a bad show. It's actually quite competent. But I wonder if Broadway audiences will come out for this type of show.

In the show we meet Will who serves as our narrator of sorts, and are introduced to his best friends from high school. Will, played by Steven Booth with a sort of Michael Cera style charm, has planned to pull a prank on the grounds of their high school and enlists his friends to help on the night of their reunion. Through the course of the evening we find out exactly how far apart these friends have grown the past year and the boundaries of their friendships.

The show can be a bit patronizing in it's attempts to speak for it's generation (the show is subtitled "a new American musical") There is a scene about use of the word "totes" that is at once amusing to me as a twenty something and disgusting to me as a twenty something. There is even a myspace joke. But the fact that the show is written by 23 year olds is what makes it tolerable. I would much rather have a peer be writing this kind of stuff then say, Jerry Herman.

But it does have it's highlights. The song "Generation Apathy" talks about, well, the general apathy that seems to be so prevalent in the current youth of America in an interesting way. And the show is at it's best during "The Good Old Glory Type Days" where the boys all reflect on their great high school moments.

What's odd though all this, is that the deep personal reflection is happening after only a years time, and maybe it's appropriate for a generation that can reflect on last week like it was eons ago, but towards the end of the play when I look at the boys on stage, I still see boys, not men. They just finished their freshmen year of college. They are going to continue to change and grow and hopefully realize that all the drama that they just put themselves through on this one night was not worth it in the larger scheme of things.

The show has a great pop/rock score by 23 year old new comer Nick Blaemire. And it is performed with great energy and enthusiasm by the four person male cast, with Andrew C Call as Andy and Booth as stand outs.

But as much as it pains me to say it, I don't think it's going to make it. Not on Broadway. And as much as I'm all for breaking down the barriers of commercial theatre, you have to ask yourself, is it better to try to make it and fail, or to maybe take the show off-Broadway and have a much longer run and have more people see it. The show seems too small in scope. The audience for it is too small. There are only so many young people who have recently gone through a transitional phase in their lives. Why the show didn't open off-Broadway where I know it would find a very welcoming long run, I don't know.

That said, a personal favorite of mine, Passing Strange, currently playing at the Belasco, is an example of the kind of show that doesn't seem like it belongs on Broadway, and while it's not selling out, it's hanging in there (probably for the Tony's. Which it will win multiple I'm sure) so what do I know?!

I feel like Glory Days is a show that could speak to a lot of people. It certainly resonated with me. Being a recent college grad I know how weird and wonderful it can be to reconnect with people from high school or college, and it seems like suddenly they're not the same person anymore (or is it you that changed?) It's a really interesting idea to try and capture and musicalize. I just feel like it doesn't transfer to larger then life-ness of a Broadway house. I wish it luck though. I hope it's able to run for a long time. I hope it makes a recording. I hope it lasts long enough to look back on it's own glory years on Broadway, and not just days. But like the characters in the show realize, glory days aren't meant to last.

Speech & Debate and Next To Normal

GROWING up in California, Broadway was a far away place... literally. So I would see every touring show that came through town, and try as much as I could to coax my family into seeing shows that came to San Francisco or LA.

After moving here and seeing so much theatre, it was a small milestone for me to sit down and watch the Tony's and have seen virtually every show!!! I was finally in a place where I could do that!

(Cleaning out my house for the new year, I went through all my playbills, and in 2007 I had seen over 40 shows!)

So, I've been trying to start this year off right. On the 8th I saw Speech and Debate at Roundabout's Underground Black Box Theatre and last night I saw the final dress of Next to Normal at Second Stage.

The fact that I saw Speech and Debate in January is laughable, because it's been extended like 20 times, and I've never gotten around to seeing it, despite hearing great things, and with HipTix being able to get in cheap! But I finally got around to it, and was more then happy that I did.

Speech and Debate follows three high school seniors, all outcasts in their own right, who through a series of events involving alleged student/teacher sexual relationship and the formation of a Speech and Debate club on campus, become unlikely friends.

The play featured some hilarious scenes that revolved around IMs (where there was no speaking, only IMs projected on screens behind the actors.) Also of note are some very funny musical sequences that were part of the speech and debate performance given by the seniors, played by Jason Fuchs, Gideon Glick and Sarah Steele.

Susan Blackwell ([title of show]) is hilarious in her supporting roles as a teacher and a NPR author.

Unfortunately before I saw the show, I read a piece of promotional material that quoted a review saying this a "play for the facebook generation."

That bothered me for a number of reasons.

1) I prefer myspace to facebook.
b. It's patronizing to say something like that.
Third - I prefer myspace to facebook. And feel very strongly about it! :)

The play was so much fun, and quirky, and spoke to me directly which I loved. But I couldn't help but hear that quote in the back of my head throughout the show, and was mad at myself for laughing at jokes about what ROFL means...

I wish I had seen it in previews so I wouldn't have had that annoying tag line in the back of my head nagging at me whenever something contempory came up... That said this was a play for people my age and younger (the fact that I have a myspace vs. facebook argument unfortunately proves the quote!) And while the older gentleman who sat next to me, did not laugh or even crack a smile once, I do think anyone could enjoy it.



NEXT to Normal, which begins previews tonight and opens February 15th, is a play that is also trying to speak to a younger generation.

I saw the final dress rehearsal, so I'm more then sure that what I saw will change and continue to grow into something stronger as rewrites are applied and things tighten.

But from what I saw, I liked it. I don't know if it will be the "next big thing" as talk on the boards (and it's own advertising) claim it to be, but it is a nice addition to the contemporary musical theatre canon.

Next to Normal revolves around a suburban family who is far from normal (or "next to?") but wants to have the Leave it to Beaver "normal" life.

The matriarch of the family (Alice Ripley) is bi-polar and possibly schizophrenic. (Despite some painfully clinical dialogue and songs we are never actually told what is wrong.) We also meet her husband, played by Brian D'Arcy James, who is loving and cares, but unable to keep up with his wife and increasingly distant daughter (Jennifer Damiano.)

We find out the family has a deep secret that haunts them, and they all try medicating the problem away with everything from pot, to Valium to electric shock therapy. If this all sounds bleak and bizarre, it is. But it's very interesting and I hope it continues to evolve into something beautifully tragic.

I don't want to give away too much, as there are some M. Night Shyamalan style surprises, but this is definitely a show you want to catch. Although I do feel the stories of suburban kids who have everything yet hate their parents, husbands who aren't there, and wives with a pharmacopoeia of self destruction in their purse are a little played out, the music saves it and makes it a story that you can sit through.

Word on the street is that it's vying for the Great White Way, and will more then likely play the Circle in the Square Theatre where Spelling Bee is closing this month. (Spelling Bee also debuted at Second Stage then moved to Broadway.)

I'm glad that I was able to start 2008 with two shows that were fresh and appealed to people my age (or at least marketed that way.) I just wonder what all the blue haired season subscribers (who are a main source of revenue for both non-profits Roundabout and Second Stage) think of them...