‘MORNING’S AT SEVEN’: Patty McCormack. Photo: Maria Baranova.

By David NouNou

I recently had the good fortune to interview the delightful and charming Patty McCormack. The reason for jubilation is this is her first return to the New York stage since her 1955 triumph when she starred in The Bad Seed. She opens on November 15 in Paul Osborn’s classic Morning’s At Seven at the Theatre at St. Clements, 423 West 46^th Street in NYC.  She is part of an ensemble that includes Lindsay Crouse, Alma Cuervo, Dan Luria, Alley Mills, Tony Roberts, John Rubenstein, Keri Safran and Jonathan Spivey—a dream cast if ever there was one.

Most people know Ms. McCormack, thanks to Turner Classic Movies and its constant showings of the 1956 classic The Bad Seed in which she played the diabolical Rhoda Penmark. In the 1950s, Ms. McCormack was an original, when most kids played the saccharine sweet kids in movies and TV, she only looked like the other kids, replete with blond braids, bangs, pinafore dresses. In actuality in the film, she was the child from hell. She channeled an iconic and indelible performance that is still frightening and holds up to this day. She was one of the first child actresses to get an Oscar and a Golden Globe nomination in those competitive adult races.

What makes her career such an enigma? She had such an outstanding first outing but hasn’t played on the New York stage for 66 years and instead devoted herself to numerous TV characters. One might think that she might have grown up to be an older version of Rhoda, but instead she is an interesting and a lovable grandma that every child can dream of having. In fact, she is a mother of two, a grandmother of four, and then an actress. The following Q & A shows what a warm, upbeat, interesting and unpretentious woman she is.

StageZine: I want to thank you so much for doing this interview. I want to officially welcome you back to the New York stage in one of my favorite plays, Morning’s At Seven. What was it about this play that made you want to come back to New York?

Patty McCormack: Well, I think the fact that it was, first of all, the opportunity for so many older actors to be working in a project. It was unheard of, and also that it has been a while since the last production happened. I know that there’s been many.

There have been two, in 1980 and 2002.

Okay, 2002. Well, and I think what it was really was the fact that you get to a certain age and the Covid experience. I just wanted to take a chance and be brave because it has been a long time. I have done theater in Los Angeles, and on the road, and various places, but the New York stage is special. It was a scary thought to be working with all these wonderful actors, and pulling my own weight, and all of that. Boy, I have to tell you something does kick back in. Sort of a magical feeling does kick back in. I feel like we really have a good show.

You play the part of Esther or as she’s more commonly known, Esty. I find her to be the most complicated of the characters. What made you want to play her?

Well, actually, truth be known, that was the part that was offered. Alma Cuervo is Ida, and then we have the wonderful Lindsay Crouse. Esty was offered. I find her fascinating because they describe her or the father described all the girls a certain way in the play, and remember Esty was the smartest. I thought that makes sense why she and David came together in a funny way long ago. Although, he obviously changed somewhat during the years they were married because he seems to have gotten more curmudgeonly as time went by. Esther is very family-oriented, and yet lives apart because the husband. You know the storyline, but to talk about this psychology of her, I feel like she is the peacemaker in the family and is sort of the one they all go to for common sense. I feel like she has a good sense of humor, and she knows her sisters so well. She’s not neurotic. She’s quite grounded, and I think has a lot of joy in her in a funny way when she’s with her sisters. Yeah. I don’t know. I could go on and on.

Oh, you can go on as long as you want. Believe me. I’m so thrilled just to listen to you.

The longer we have the opportunity to do the show because I realized I think it’s five weeks ago that we had the meet-and-greet where we just met each other, and that we’re actually running now in previews is a miracle, first of all. Then secondly, the fact that each performance, you really do learn things. You learn more things about where the person is, and who the other people are, and the colors of the other people, and they find things. That’s the joy of doing theater. It never stops developing, I feel like. Yeah, and you get that from the audiences. They tell you-.

Yeah, how they respond to you.

Yeah, they tell you plenty. I’ve worked, but I’ve spent a lot of time with my family, my grandkids, like that. So at this point in time to be in New York, I think my grandsons are probably proud that I’m doing this. To be in New York doing this is just like a dream come true.

I’d love to be your grandson.

They’re so great. There’s four of them. My son had two sons, and my daughter has two sons. My oldest is 21, and the youngest is 13, and in the middle are the rest. It would have been very cool if they could come at some point, but they all have such commitments sports-wise and life-wise that I don’t know. We only get a day off. We get Thanksgiving off, and we get Christmas off, so it doesn’t leave a lot of time for playing. Anyway, maybe they’ll film it or something or maybe it’ll… something crazy, like it’ll go to Broadway.

Oh, believe me. That would be great.

Wouldn’t that be cool?

I know you’re rehearsing, and you’re performing, and God knows we need entertainment in the worst way in these times. What is it like really for you now, coming to New York to be on the stage in these very difficult times of the pandemic?

Well, there are a lot of rules that Equity has in place. Equity, the union, puts a lot of safety rules in place. When we’re not on stage, part of the routine is to wear a mask and unless you’re eating or working. They’re hanging all over in the back with our names on them. Most of the people who could got their boosters already, but everybody else has their shots.  The audience has to have their shots, have proof of shots, and so there are safety measures-

Thank God for that. Believe me.

Last year was like scary and for everybody. It was before we had the shots that people were really frightened, so slowly, slowly, it’s like we’re all adjusting to the fact that this isn’t going away so fast, but we’re finding a way to work through it. It’s coming to an end. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re still in it.  You have to be careful.

What is it like for you, especially being a grandmother in these difficult times? Can’t be easy for you. I’m sure you didn’t see your children or your grandchildren in such a long time.

That absolutely happened. I mean people lost people in that time, and they couldn’t go to the hospital and be with them or go. It was a nightmare. What we’re doing now is to be a part of bringing a little joy and normalcy back. It’s really nice.

That’s wonderful.

It’s really nice. I can see all the masks in the audience. They actually sit through a whole thing with masks, and so the fact that they’re laughing at all is terrific.

The cast of ‘Morning’s at Seven’ with (far right) Patty McCormack. Photo: Maria Baranova.

Morning’s at Seven is one of the best ensemble pieces written, and you are performing with the most incredible of cast members. You’re with Lindsay Crouse, Alma Cuervo, Judith Ivey, Dan Lauria, John Rubinstein, Tony Roberts,  Keri Safran, Jonathan Spivey, and Tony actually plays your husband, David. What is that like to be in such a cast?

Oh, it’s wonderful. Anyway, David. You mean what’s it like to be married to Tony Roberts?

No. I know you’re not married to Tony Roberts. I mean Tony Roberts is literally one of Broadway’s pillars, but he plays the part of David, who is your husband in the show. With that whole mix of people from Lindsay, Alma, Judith, they’re all your sisters, and Tony plays your husband. That is a heady cast.

I know. I know. I know. It could make someone shrink in insecurity. I swear the bigger the people, the better the talent, and the bigger the people, the nicer they are and more helpful. They’re into sharing information and just helping each other. They’re just great. That’s all.

By the way, were you close to any of the cast members before you got into Morning’s at Seven that prompted you to come back to the New York stage?

Well, Tony and I shared a dinner for a mutual friend, Larry Guittard. I don’t know if you know him from the Broadway musical.

Yes, the Tony nominee from A Little Night Music.

Well, he’s been my friend for years, and years, and years. And he and Tony go way back. At Larry’s birthday a couple years ago, Tony was up there, and we sat next to each other. Dan Lauria and I go way back in time with, and he was the one that actually talked to Julian, the producer, about my being in it. He threw my name in. He knows so many people. He knows so many actors. He threw a few of us in there too as possibilities, and they decided that I was going to be Esty.

Excellent. By the way, who was the mastermind who brought this incredible cast together?

I guess it had to be Julian Schlossberg and [casting director] Pat McCorkle. Pat McCorkle, who nobody is mentioning, is the casting woman. I know she and Dan go back a long time, and I’m sure she’s worked with Julian many times, I’m guessing. I would say a combination of Julian engaged with Pat, and then I think that’s how it all came about or usually does anyway.

Being that you’ve been absent for so long from the stage, did you ever feel that you missed out on certain roles or you would have liked to have played a certain role that you missed out on?

It’s funny. As a young person in that transition period going from child actor to whatever, to being 13, whatever I was, 14, something like that, I remember auditioning for Enter Laughing in New York. You know how kid actors go through things? It’s not necessarily the same things, but there’s a difficulty in transitioning for whatever reason, insecurity or you don’t look like you used to or you feel like you’re ugly or whatever. Kids do that anyway, and kid actors….It’s probably a little more technicolor because it’s sort of how leaving a career early on and moving into another career. Then you don’t realize that, that happens periodically because the longer your work life is, the more transitions you make. You go from childhood to teenage to young mothers to older women to ancient women.

It’s a progression.

Yeah, it’s a progression. I auditioned for that, I remember, and then I had what they call a callback to come back again. That was Carl Reiner, right?

Yeah, he was the writer.

Carl Reiner, yeah. He was there. I chickened out. I didn’t go back. That was something that I did do. I mean other people go through other things. To avoid certain things, they use substances and whatever. Mine was an absolute sort of backing away and so, I didn’t.

This is where the enigma in your career comes. Now, this part of the interview is the real Patty McCormack that I’m going to get at. You were born in Brooklyn. You started your career as a child model, and in 1953, you were in a TV show, Mama with Peggy Wood.  You debuted in a Broadway show called Touchstone, which unfortunately only lasted a week-

Correct.

Patty McCormack as Rhoda Penmark in the classic film ‘The Bad Seed.’ Photo: Studio publicity shot.

Then came the great role of a lifetime, Rhoda Penmark in The Bad Seed. How did that come about?

Just auditioning with the rest of the kids that were around at that time. I remember it was an audition at the theater with Nancy Kelly and the director. It’s vague because it’s so long ago. Then I think it took a while that I found out that I really did have the job because I think something got released. Some publicity came out and said somebody else had gotten it. I remember being sad about that, which is interesting. It means that I liked working and that it was something I wanted to do.

Now, how did you juggle these two roles at such a young age in two different mediums? I mean you were on the stage at night. You were doing a TV show. You were only about eight or nine. How did you do that?

I have no idea. No. There wasn’t a lot of stress around it, like you have when you’re older. When you’re a kid, you’re really more in the present moment in a funny way. With that, it’s a lot easier. You just sort of do what’s in front of you. It didn’t seem hard to me. I was Ingeborg on the Mama show, which wasn’t a character in the book. It was a TV character, and they wrote it in as mama’s aunt. I was mama’s aunt, although I was eight and a half or nine.

Yeah, how did that work?

By some strange marriage that took place somewhere. We were Norwegians living in San Francisco, and so many good people were on that. Dick Van Patten was the brother and a sweet friend of mine as a kid and later was Kevin Coughlin, who played TR, also a part that was written for the TV show. We worked together into our early 20s, but sadly, he passed away young. Anyway, you go back, you can find a kinescope for any of this. It would probably be fun to see all the wonderful actors. Peggy Wood was the mom. Judson Laire, Rosemary Rice.  I’m mentioning people, I think, nobody knows anymore.

I mean it’s wonderful that you can remember them all.

Yeah, I really do. Dagmar was Robin Morgan, who became a big feminist writer. She was always so smart as a little girl, and she grew into a wonderful writer. Yeah, I’m reminiscing now. I’m sorry.

Don’t be, it’s great to bring up good memories. Parents are helicoptering their children these days. How did your parents feel about your playing this evil child for eight performances a week?

It’s strange. Well, I didn’t come from a show business family, and so it wasn’t planned that, that was going to be the journey. They didn’t sit around and say anything about my being in show business. I think it was a learning thing for everybody as we went along.

They didn’t realize how bad Rhoda was?

No, I think they did, but I had been working for a little while before that in other things, and I can’t really answer that question because I have no idea. It seems odd.

I mean Rhoda is sinister. She lies. She steals. She sets fire and commits murder. You were eight or nine years old. How did you tap into such feelings? How did these wrongdoings play inside your head? Were you able to distinguish Rhoda’s wrongdoing, and were you ever tempted to play on those feelings?

I know. I always go back to this. The director, who was Reginald Denham, was so good with me because he made what I did seem fun.

But did you understand what Rhoda was doing? You say it was fun, but what she was doing was really horrible.

Yeah, I don’t have the vocabulary to explain what’s in my head really precisely, but the director approached what I did by saying, “Rhoda is always right.” If you watch the film, which is pretty much the same performance, you can see that she has no qualms about going after what she wants, and she thinks anybody around her that doesn’t agree with her is questionable. You know what I mean?

Oh, for sure.

So I thought, “Wow, that was really a good thing to say.” But you want to know did I understand? You want to know did I focus on killing people?

No, no, no. I don’t want to say you went that far or set people on fire. I meant psychologically.

Don’t laugh, but I was an actress. I was an actress playing a part and so it would be like asking. Oh, let’s see. I don’t want to say it like this because it sounds like I’m comparing myself to her, but it would be like asking Meryl Streep if she ever thought that she should run England. Did she ever get confused in her mind about whether or not she was Margaret Thatcher?

But that’s Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher [in The Iron Lady]. We’re talking about a young girl who’s eight years old.

Well, that’s the principle. I was never tempted to confuse my psychology with the psychology of Rhoda Penmark.

Excellent. Really, thank you for setting me straight on that.

And to add something else too. If you realize who I was and how I went to that point of not showing up for the callback of Enter Laughing, it makes sense that I… You would have thought a different result would have happened. You know what I mean?

Yeah, but Rhoda would have definitely have gone for that interview and would have made sure she got the part.

Correct. She probably would have poisoned the other people who were up for it.

Did you have any schoolmates at this time that were scared of you?

No, no, because they knew me. I went to a few schools. One was a professional school called Willard Mace, and I also went to Professional Children’s School for… I think it was kindergarten. A lot of kids went there, but I actually switched over to a smaller school. All the kids who went there were actors, so nobody was impressed, and then later on, when we moved to California, I went to Saint Victor’s Catholic School. I guess it was sixth grade when I went there. I don’t think the school is in existence anymore. I think the church is still there, but not the school. All the kids in Los Angeles, I mean Loretta Young’s son went there, so nobody batted an eye when I was there. Loretta Young was there dropping off her son or picking him up or coming to an event. That was Hollywood, and Hollywood was not impressed. I didn’t have difficulty, but when we moved and I went back to school in Brooklyn in my teenage years, that was a little rough.

What made it rough? Because you were a celebrity?

Yeah, because they thought I was a celebrity, so they thought I was someone that wasn’t one of them, that kind of thing.

By the way, with what you know about Rhoda, would you have let your daughter play her in a revival?

In general, I didn’t want my kids to be in a grown-up career. I didn’t want them to be kid actors. I just thought it was one less thing for little people who aren’t developed yet to deal with. What I’m saying is not in relation to Rhoda. It’s in relation to being in a workforce. Because it’s a grown-up field, and you are treated and you’re expected to do things that are really mature. People lose money if you don’t come to the party, and so I just think it’s a thing that little people shouldn’t have to deal with. That’s my own personal opinion, but a lot of kid actors don’t feel that way. I always think little kids, they dream about different things they want to be, and one day, they want to be a baseball player, and the next day, they want to be [someone else].

It robs them of their childhood.

I always think just because your child says, “I want to be a doctor,” you don’t send them off to medical school. You know what I mean? You just let them ride that one out until you see where their leanings really are. It seems just premature, and some people get saved by it, so that’s not fair totally. I understand. I’m only talking about myself, but some people…

Now, in 1956, you did the movie version, and I thank Mervyn LeRoy for casting you in it because you really created, and he preserved what I consider one of the most shocking children in cinema. He immortalized this performance that is ageless. Your performance is impeccable from your pigtails to your bangs to crinoline dresses and the white socks, I mean that girl is scary. You did a performance for the ages.  What was that like in the ’50s when all the kids were portrayed as saccharine sweet to break the mold and be this demon child? You were the original and paved the road for bad behavior.

I have to say when you’re in it and doing it, you’re not really reviewing it. That’s your job. I can’t. I have no idea. I mean as I said, I actually enjoyed the journey like that. I did. I had fun doing that, and then I had fun doing Helen Keller. I had fun doing all the Playhouse 90s that went on. “Climax” was a show back then, “Kraft Theatre,” all of those different roles playing different children. It was really, really fun.

How did the stage version differ from the screen? I know in the screen version, they had to do certain things to Rhoda, but how did the experience differ from the stage to the screen?

Yes, correct. They had to abide by whatever the law was about murderers.

The Hays Code.

Yes, the Hays Code. Yeah. Murderers had to be punished for their deeds. Today, I guess they wouldn’t have to do that.

Which ending did you prefer more, the stage version or the movie version?

Oh, the stage. The stage version was so much fun. Yeah, because no one knew, and the mom dies because she shot herself. Then you hear the piano playing. You know, huh? Then out comes Rhoda and says that thing to her daddy who has no idea what’s been going on, and no one else does, only the audience. It was a chilling revelation because nobody knew in that scene, that last scene whether Rhoda had died from the overdose that her mom gave her. They talked about Christine’s death, and then I know Evelyn Varden, who played Monica, had a wonderful line. In that last scene, Monica wound up saying something like, “But you…” I can remember her melody in her line reading. Yeah, she said, “But you still have Rhoda,” like a kind of nice melody. Out, I come from playing the piano, and the audience sort of just was horrified. They did not like that.

Wow. Now, for your performance, you’re one of the youngest child actors to get an actual Oscar nomination. You were nominated. It’s an indelible performance. Now, just what did that Oscar nomination mean to you at the time? Did it have any significance? I’m assuming you were at the ceremonies.

Yes, my mother was there. My mother told me that this was a grown-up award, and I was in a grown-ups category, and I wouldn’t have to go up and get it because they weren’t going to call my name.

Wow.

I was relieved that I didn’t have to go up and get anything, but she did that, I think, to protect me in case I would have been sad or whatever.  I know that I was most thrilled with seeing Elizabeth Taylor at the rehearsal for being there because I had to do a thing with Jerry Lewis. I had a-

Really?

I think the clip can be found somewhere on YouTube.  We did a little routine. Take a look for it. It’s funny. He pretends he’s afraid of me, and I just am very serious.

So, did the loss affect you? I know if Rhoda would have lost, she would have pulverized Dorothy Malone in one way or another.

No. I didn’t really understand the honor. I didn’t really understand the level of importance because I was told it was a very special thing, but I couldn’t relate to it as an adult as I would now.

Honestly, that was a smart thing. Your mom gave you good advice.

Yeah, isn’t that funny? I did see Elizabeth Taylor as we were going into the….It was then done at a little theater. The awards were done at a little theater in Hollywood.

Pantages?

Yes, Pantages. That’s where it was. Yeah, also on Hollywood Boulevard, but she was coming out of the door, and we were going in. I thought of her as my favorite movie star… Yeah, anyway, and there she was like a princess. She was just so beautiful. Kind of thrilling.

Now, this is a toughie. I want you to concentrate, Ms. McCormack. What would you say if I said “what would you give me if I gave you a basket of kisses?”

Let’s see. I think I’d say “I’d give you a basket of hugs.”

Oh, wow. Oh, you made my day. You made my week. You made my month. I can’t believe I had a line reading with Patty McCormack from The Bad Seed. Wow. You gave me an early birthday present, and I can’t thank you enough. Thank you so much for that.

Thanks, David. My goodness. Thank you.

I know you did “Playhouse 90,” The Miracle Worker, and you played Helen Keller. How did that part come around?

Oh, boy. I was in Los Angeles, and I guess I don’t know. I think I used to get offers to do things. I think it was just basically that. It was an offer.

Were you ever considered for the part or did you audition for it?

No. No, I wasn’t. You mean for Miracle Worker?  No, because I was 11 when I did the TV show, and then I believe it was about a year, two years later that it came to Broadway.

Yes, in ’59.

Yeah, I believe ours was around ’57. So, in the two years that happened, I was 13 years old, and everything had been changing. I was too developed to play Helen Keller as a child anymore.  In other words, you asked why I didn’t go to Broadway? It was because I looked like a young woman by then. Isn’t that funny? I wasn’t a child actor anymore. I grew out of it. Well, Patty [Duke] was tinier. In life, she was tinier, and she played younger longer. Let’s put it that way. She played younger longer. We knew of each other, and then we knew each other, meeting later.

You worked with top headers. At a young age, you were played opposite Peggy Wood, Nancy Kelly, Eileen Heckart. I mean the list goes on, and on, and on.

Yes. It’s nice, huh?

Now, I know that you went back in ’59 on TV in “Peck’s Bad Girl.”

Yes.

Now, that didn’t last very long, and the movies that you made, like Kathy O‘, The New Breed, and The Explosive Years, they really didn’t break box-office records when the sitcom ”Peck’s Bad Girl” went off the air, weren’t you able to get, let’s say, Broadway roles that were more age-appropriate for you, not necessarily children’s parts?

Well, I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that honestly. We lived in Los Angeles and I went to school there, and life was then there, so Broadway wasn’t on the calendar.

I know you mentioned you have a family, children, and grandchildren, did having a family alter the trajectory of your having a broader movie career?

Yeah, well, it limited my wanting.

Did that affect your trajectory?

Yeah, I think probably choices. You make choices as you go along. Yeah, and my choice was such that I know the first time I went away on a tour theater-wise was after my kids were, don’t laugh, about 18. They were older because we weren’t apart during their growing up. It doesn’t mean I was glued to them, but I mean we weren’t living different lives. I was their mom.

Excellent.

Yeah. It was nice. Although, I was still me and did television, and they had babysitters for the times I worked and all that, but I didn’t go for stretches of time. I didn’t want to do that. I wasn’t able to. They probably would have been fine.

Your TV credits. My God. You started with “Rawhide,” “Route 66,” “Wagon Train,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Dallas,” “The Ropers,” “Scandal,” “Desperate Housewives,” “The Sopranos.” Were any of these parts more memorable to you than other parts? Any of these stood out for you more than others?

I can tell you briefly that usually… I mean this sounds like bologna, but usually the job you’re in and the one you’re doing is the one that you’re invested in. When you ask, I mean there hasn’t been a person that I’ve worked with that hasn’t been exciting to work with.

That’s so generous of you to say. I can’t thank you enough for doing this interview. I want to wish you and your entire cast members the best of luck in Morning’s At Seven.

Thank you. Thanks for your interest too because that’s terrific. Thank you.

Morning’s At Seven will play a strictly limited run till January 9, 2022 and is a must-see show for this or any other season.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 30, 2021.

Patty McCormack. Photo: Maria Baranova.

‘PECK’S BAD GIRL’: (Left to right) Wendell Corey, Patty McCormack, Ray Farrell & Marsha Hunt in the TV show, circa 1959. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The post Q&A with Patty McCormack, star of ‘Morning’s At Seven’ appeared first on StageZine.

JERRY SPRINGER—THE OPERA
Music & lyrics by Richard Thomas
Book & additional lyrics by Stewart Lee & Richard Thomas
Choreography by Chris Bailey
Directed by John Rando
The New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center
The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
480 West 42nd Street, (212) 279-4200
www.thenewgroup.org

By Scott Harrah

Jerry Springer—The Opera was originally produced in Britain back in 2003 and received an Olivier for Best Musical. Other than a two-day concert staging at Carnegie Hall a decade ago, this profane, sung-through parody of the infamous tabloid TV talk has been absent from the New York stage until now. It’s certainly been worth the wait because this off-Broadway production is original and marvelously entertaining.

Some of the subject matter—from tap-dancing Ku Klux Klansmen to strippers, a transgender tramp and a man with a diaper fetish—was probably shocking 15 years ago, but not in modern-day America, with the wackiness of Washington and our reality TV star president giving us a daily dose of surrealistic news that is more bizarre than anything on Jerry Springer’s show.

Theater veterans Terrence Mann as Jerry Springer, and Will Swenson as his Warm-Up Man, play the leads with comic precision. Act I is basically a musical version of over-the-top staples from Springer’s show: a man, Dwight (Luke Grooms) cheating on his fiancé, Peaches (Florrie Bagel) with her best friend, Zandra (Beth Kirkpatrick) and a midriff-bearing transsexual, Tremont (Sean Patrick Doyle). There’s also a redneck, Chucky (Nathaniel Hackmann) and his wife Shawntel (Tiffany Mann), a woman with dreams of becoming a pole dancer. Plus, a man in a diaper and his girlfriend, a character called Baby Jane (Jill Paice), and more.

F-bombs abound in the numerous hilarious songs written and composed by Richard Thomas, from “Talk to the Hand” and “Mama Gimme Smack” to “Put Your F***in’ Clothes On.” Act I breezes by with scatological glory, but just like watching an episode of Springer’s show, the shock value eventually wears thin by Acts II and III. These later acts of the musical are set in Purgatory and Hell, with Mr. Swenson doubling as Satan himself. Of course, there are characters poking fun at Jesus and the Virgin Mary with blasphemous zeal. After the seamless first act, the show unravels a bit and makes little sense, but it’s all so much fun that one doesn’t mind. Just enjoy the insane ride.

Why did it take so long for Jerry Springer—The Opera to arrive on this side of the Atlantic? Who knows. The British invented the tabloid press and nurtured the concept of reality TV long before us, so perhaps one could say the U.K. has a bigger appetite and appreciation for “schlock” than America.

Theater purists and the easily offended may argue that Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee’s creation simply wasn’t good enough for a mainstream U.S. production, but it must be noted they wrote this foul-mouthed “opera” eight years before the derisive, impudent Book of Mormon became a phenomenon. For this fact alone, the show was ahead of its proverbial time.

There are numerous standouts, especially Terrence Mann as Jerry Springer and Will Swenson as Warm-Up Man/Satan. The cast is uniformly superb, with strong and melodic voices. In particular, Tiffany Mann as Shawntel is in especially fine voice doing her show-stopper “I Just Wanna Dance.” Tony winner John Rando directs all the insanity with amazing precision, and that’s no easy task in a small venue with a 17-member cast in a production as ambitious as this, with performances that are consistently and beautifully outrageous in all the right places.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published February 25, 2018
Reviewed at February 24, 2018 performance.

‘JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA’: Will Swenson & Terrence Mann. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA’: Tiffany Mann. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER-THE OPERA’: (left to right) Terrence Mann & Jill Paice & cast. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER-THE MUSICAL’: Terrence Mann (far left) & cast. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER-THE OPERA’: Nathaniel Hackmann, Tiffany Mann & (top right) Billy Hepfinger. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER-THE OPERA’: (left to right) Florrie Bagel, Luke Grooms & Terrence Mann. Photo: Monique Carboni

“JERRY SPRINGER-THE OPERA’: Jill Paice (center) & cast. Photo: Monique Carboni

The post ‘Jerry Springer—The Opera’: Lowbrow meets high art appeared first on StageZine.

‘THE HUMANS’: (left to right) Sarah Steele, Arian Moayed, Jayne Houdyshell & Lauren Klein. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE HUMANS
Written by Steven Karam
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through December 27, 2015
Laura Pels Theatre
111 West 46th Street
(212-719-1300), www.Roundabouttheatre.org

By David NouNou

Stephen Karam is one of the most promising and exciting new playwrights to have emerged in the last 10 years. So I was most anxious to see what his follow-up to the exquisite 2011 production of Sons of the Prophet would be, and true to form, he has lived up to his early promise with The Humans.

For The Humans, he has created a puzzle in which all the pieces should fit together seamlessly but amazingly all the pieces have imperceptible jagged edges where nothing fits. The puzzle might as well have the setting of a “The Twilight Zone” episode and the outer parameter of the puzzle is centered on one of the most iconic American holidays, Thanksgiving. The Blake family has driven all the way from Scranton, Pennsylvania to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with their younger daughter in her new basement duplex apartment in lower Manhattan, NYC.

As in Sons of the Prophet, everyone here carries a heavy burden and each person carries their burden in silence…until that fateful moment. Eric (Reed Bierney) and Deidre (Jayne Houdyshell) Blake have come with their older daughter, Aimee (Cassie Beck), and Momo (Lauren Klein), their Alzheimer-riddled mother, in what appears to be celebrating Thanksgiving with their younger daughter, Brigid (Sarah Steele) and her boyfriend Richard Saad (Arian Moayed) in what most any family would deem as a happy get-together and that’s all you’re going to get out of me.

I say this because I truly believe that each viewer has to formulate his or her own opinion when first viewing a new piece of such magnitude. It is unfair both to the playwright and the audience to divulge more information because it hinders the experience and the layers that the writer has imbued in this piece.

As directed by Joe Mantello, he extracts excellent performances from each of his cast members; however the veterans Reed Bierney and Jayne Houdyshell are standouts. In the wrong hands, this could have been a maudlin evening, but in Mr. Mantello’s hands, he keeps his cast and things moving at a fast-pace. I have to add that David Zinn’s set is a visual treat. His duplex anchors the show and all that is about to unfold.

This is a theatrical experience that is most enjoyable in a small, almost claustrophobic venue, so I urge you to see it at the Laura Pels Theatre. For this particular Thanksgiving dinner, you have to be a guest and not an audience member.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 29, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on October 28, 2015

‘THE HUMANS’: (left to right) Cassie Beck, Arian Moayed, Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Lauren Klein & Sarah Steele. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE HUMANS’: (clockwise from top) Sarah Steele, Cassie Beck, Arian Moayed, Jayne Houdyshell & Reed Birney. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘THE SPOILS’: Jesse Eisenberg & Kunal Nayyar. Photo: Monique Carboni

THE SPOILS
Written by Jesse Eisenberg
Directed by Scott Elliott
Through June 28, 2015
The New Group
The Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
(212-279-4200), http://www.TheNewGroup.org

By David NouNou

To what ends would one go through to annihilate the ones closest to them? How low would privileged, shiftless millennials sink to, in order to douse the happiness of those hard workers, contributors to society, and people who are just happy to be themselves? How disliked and repellant do you have to be in order to get some recognition from those closest to you? These are just some of the demons that playwright Jesse Eisenberg tries to exorcise here, and he deals with them in a Machiavellian way, with hysterical humor and of course the drama at the core.

Ben (Jesse Eisenberg) is over privileged, living in a fantastic high-rise apartment that his father bought him, and was kicked out of NYU graduate film school. Ben’s never done a day’s work in his life. He’s a pot-smoking, aimless guy who berates everyone close to him. In addition, he’s a bigot, and can’t stand anyone’s happiness, ethics or ambitions. On good days, Ben is sarcastic and spews venom. Ben has a Nepalese roommate, Kalyan (Kunal Nayyar), a hard worker and a finance major. Kalyan loves being in America, and genuinely cares for and likes Ben. He feels obligated to him because Ben lets him live there for free.

Kalyan has a girlfriend, Reshma (Annapurna Sriram), who is medical student on clinical rotations and is very fond of Kalyan, admires his ambitions but has her misgivings about him. She feels free to come and go in Ben’s apartment, and she has contempt for Ben.

On this auspicious day, Ben runs into a former grade-school acquaintance, Ted (Michael Zegen), a likeable Wall Street douche. Ted is marrying Sarah (Erin Darke), a former grade school crush of Ben’s who is now a public school teacher. Now the circle of characters is complete and Eisenberg’s Machiavellian mind shifts the action into high gear. How does a self-hating, childish bully vanquish anyone who is happy, to some degree self-absorbed, has a modicum of success and looks forward to a brighter future?

The ensemble of five is terrific. Eisenberg, the actor, an Oscar nominee and best known for The Social Network, plays the self-destructive Ben to perfection; as both playwright and actor he plays him sincerely and asks for no pity. Like everyone else in life, Ben has to find his own way through his maze.

Kunal Nayyar, best known as TV’s Raj Koothrappalli in the TV series “The Big Bang Theory,” has left such an indelible mark as Raj, that it is almost impossible to separate him from his TV character. Let’s say that Kalyan is the New York cousin of Raj: an optimistic, serious, hard-working immigrant who longs for a better life and Mr. Nayyar delivers splendidly.

Erin Darke, Annapurna Sriram, and Michael Zegen complete the cast and each one stands out well as their character. Scott Elliott, Artistic Director of The New Group and director of The Spoils, should have given Mr. Eisenberg, the playwright, a bit more focus, especially in Act II, because Mr. Eisenberg is proving himself not only as a successful young actor but is distinguishing himself as a new voice and an interesting, up-and-coming playwright.

Jesse Eisenberg & Kunal Nayyar. Photo: Monique Carboni

Jesse Eisenberg & Kunal Nayyar. Photo: Monique Carboni

Annapurna Sriram & Jesse Eisenberg. Photo: Monique Carboni

(Left to right) Michael Zegen, Jesse Eisenberg & Erin Darke. Photo: Monique Carboni

Jesse Eisenberg & Erin Darke. Photo: Monique Carboni

The cast of ‘The Spoils.’ Photo: Monique Carboni

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 2, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on May 31, 2015

The post ‘The Spoils’: Millennials Behaving Badly appeared first on StageZine.

ESTRANGED EX-SPOUSES: Ulysses (Nick Offerman) & ex-wife Emma (Megan Mullally) in Sharr White’s ‘Annapurna.’ Photo: Monique Carboni

ANNAPURNA
Written by Sharr White
Directed by Bart DeLorenzo
Through June 1, 2014
The New Group at Theatre Row
Acorn Theatre
410 West 42nd Street, www.newgroup.org

By Scott Harrah

Just how much are we willing to forgive someone who has damaged us, either emotionally or physically, when we learn he or she is dying?  Or confront a person, face to face, so he/she understands the complexity and magnitude of an unspeakable act of violence years later? These heavy questions are posed in Sharr White’s dark, provocative new one act, starring real-life husband and wife Megan Mullally (“Will & Grace”) and Nick Offerman (of “Parks and Recreation” fame).

Annapurna is something of a departure for playwright Sharr White, author of such recent Broadway dramas as The Snow Geese and The Other Place, two tales set in upper-class surroundings. The narrative and structure are also superior to his earlier efforts, and the characters and dialogue more emotionally formidable and true to life. Here, everything takes place in a ramshackle, one-room trailer (brilliantly designed by Thomas A. Walsh) in rural Paonia, Colorado, with a view of the Rockies.  Ulysses (Mr. Offerman) is a not-so-successful poet and former college professor, hooked up to an oxygen tank because he’s suffering from emphysema and lung cancer, living his final days in squalor with a smelly old dog. His ex-wife, Emma (Ms. Mullally) returns, suitcase and money in hand, for a visit 20 years after she and their son left him. It is the reason why she’s back that is the mystery for the rest of the show, as Emma cleans her ex-husband’s filthy trailer, buys groceries and talks vaguely about the wreckage of their failed marriage and what happened to their son (now in his 20s) when he was five years old.

Anyone expecting to see Ms. Mullally do a variation of her Karen Walker character from “Will & Grace” will be disappointed because, although she maintains some of that iconic TV character’s whiny intonations, nothing here is amusing enough to call this a comedy. Granted, Emma and Ulysses indulge in some awkward repartee in the opening scenes of the play, when Ulysses walks around nearly naked and asks his ex-wife what she’s doing in Paonia, the “ass-crack of the Rockies”. In the first third of the play, even when Ms. Mullally’s character shouts, there are traces of the high-pitched, lilting “Karen Walker” voice, but it soon fades.  As the story progresses and the twists get bleaker and more solemn, the acting from both Ms. Mullally and Mr. Offerman is consistently first rate.

Annapurna is a somewhat depressing 95 minutes, but it is thoroughly engrossing and there is dynamic raillery and tension between Emma and Ulysses.  There are shades of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in the many excoriating arguments and banter between the two exes, and the volatile love-hate relationship they still have, but Mr. White’s dialogue is never rhythmic or symbolic. After all, Ulysses is supposed to be a cowboy at heart, and Emma has been living humbly after a bad marriage back East.

Mr. White’s script is full of talk about love, death and hate, but the dialogue and revelations never delve into the maudlin.  Director Bart DeLorenzo has little to do here, because the onstage chemistry between Mr. Offerman and Ms. Mullally is so natural and palpable.  Since both portrayals are so solid, we easily overlook any shortcomings in the narrative.  There is an especially haunting sincerity in Mr. Offerman’s understated but powerful performance, perhaps due to the fact that the two are married in real life, thus enhancing the energy they share here.

CLEANING THE DEBRIS OF A FAILED MARRIAGE: Nick Offerman as Ulysses & Megan Mullally as Emma in Sharr White’s ‘Annapurna.’ Photo: Monique Carboni

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 21, 2014
Reviewed at press performance April 20, 2014

The post ‘Annapurna’: Scenes from a long-ago marriage appeared first on StageZine.

SUGAR & SPICE & NOT AT ALL NICE: The ‘Heathers’ girls. Photo: Chad Batka

By Scott Harrah

The shoulder-padded original teenage “Mean Girls” from the 1988 cult classic Heathers are back in an irreverent Off-Broadway musical adaptation. Anyone familiar with that film, with Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, may not think its darkly humorous themes of teenage peer pressure and murder/suicide would translate into gleeful musical comedy, in light of all the real-life tragedies that made news in the past two decades.  The fact that creators Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy somehow pull off such grim subject matter in this day and age makes the show particularly noteworthy and proves that the original Heathers wasn’t simply avant-garde or “ahead of its time.”  It was a literal omen of things to come in the 1990s and 2000s.

Yet here it is as a musical.  However, don’t think this is another mindless stage adaptation of fluffy Hollywood cotton candy like Bring It On, with silly songs and music-video-style choreography.   Olivier Award winner Mr. O’Keefe was nominated for a Tony Award in 2007 for the score of Legally Blonde: The Musical, an adaptation of a film with a far more palatable plot.  Mr. O’Keefe and Emmy Award winner Kevin Murphy (“Desperate Housewives”) have written a fast-paced, entertaining show that covers all the unpleasant twists and turns of the movie, showing just how cruel and vicious high-school students can be to anyone who doesn’t conform.

Mr. O’Keefe and Mr. Murphy have adapted a movie that bared all the psychological trauma of adolescent Americans, long before anti-bullying campaigns and gay-straight alliances, when teachers looked the other way as kids bandied about such words as “faggot”.  All the nefarious elements of 1980s teenage life exposed in the movie are intact here.

Barrett Wilbert Weed marvelously portrays Veronica, an outcast in an Ohio high school.  When her handwriting forgery skills prove to be valuable, Veronica is invited to join the most popular clique in school, the Heathers (three catty, croquet-playing, blazer-wearing airheads, all of whom have the same first name), with Heather Chandler (Jessica Keenan Wynn) as the leader.

Things heat up when Veronica meets the enigmatic sociopath Jason “J.D”. Reed (a wonderfully sinister Ryan McCartan).  One of the most outstanding numbers is J.D.’s “Freeze Your Brain,” a paean to Slurpees and Corn Nuts that sends up these lowbrow staples of Americana.  However, it is the plot-propelling songs like “Dead Girl Walking” that truly shine.  Without giving too much storyline away, Heathers is essentially a tale of murder hiding behind the guise of teenage suicide, particularly the killing of Heather Chandler (portrayed beautifully with bitchy brilliance by Jessica Keenan Wynn) by making her unwittingly chug down household drain cleaner, and how the perpetrators try to get away with this and other grisly acts.  The twist for the stage, however, is that Heather Chandler is reborn as a posthumous, ghostly presence throughout the remainder of the show, adding the vivacity necessary to bring color to this “so very” jet-black saga.

In the second act, it is no easy task to reconstruct vital plot elements of the film like the murder of two jocks, Kurt Kelly (Evan Todd) and Ram Sweeney (Jon Edison), framed as gay, and the pro-gay funeral that follows.  Although there’s quite a lot of cheap humor in the song “I Love My Dead Gay Son”, sung by the boys’ fathers (Anthony Crivello and Daniel Cooney), it is still a showstopper.

Director Andy Fickman extracts many outstanding performances from the cast.  The energetic choreography by Marguerite Derricks gives levity to the sometimes macabre and disagreeable subject matter. As many have noted, Heathers was the first movie about juvenile delinquents with a female protagonist.  It was also a movie about high school that depicted reality without any cloying sentimentality, unlike the John Hughes “Brat Pack” teen vehicles of the era. Rather than portraying female aggression as camp (like so many B movies before it), Heathers was the first to shed light on how teenage girls need more than just “fitting in” or getting a makeover to be happy.

Fortunately for true Heathers aficionados, all the great lines from “Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?” to “Dear Diary, my teen angst bullshit has a body count” to “f**k me with a chainsaw” are included.  The famous question “Are we going to prom or hell?” is even turned into a rousing opening song for act two, “Prom or Hell?”

A musical based on a movie about kids killing other kids could come across as tasteless or inappropriate in 2014. The movie might not even get made today, but the truly remarkable thing is how everything “so very” works as a musical comedy. Be it on or off Broadway, Heathers is the best musical of the season.

SING OUT, SISTERS: The cast of ‘Heathers The Musical.’ Photo: Chad Batka

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 31, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on March 29, 2014

The post ‘Heathers The Musical’ is ‘so very’ brilliant appeared first on StageZine.

MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY: (Left to right): Austin Cauldwell, Ella Dershowitz & Daniel Gerroll. Photo: Monique Carboni.

INTIMACY
Written by Thomas Bradshaw
Directed by Scott Elliott
The New Group at Theatre Row
Acorn Theatre
410 West 42nd Street
(212-239-6200), www.thenewgroup.org

By Scott Harrah

Shock value is nothing new and can be a glorious thing for those who appreciate the intentionally lowbrow.  Film icon John Waters, the “Pope of Trash,” and best-selling “raunchy moralist” novelist Jackie Collins have made fortunes and become legends selling campy, over-the-top, sex-filled tales to the masses.  To the average suburban parent, Thomas Bradshaw’s Intimacy might seem like morally reprehensible filth, but to most jaded New Yorkers or anyone who isn’t offended by pornography, it is tame, entertaining stuff indeed. If you are easily shocked by anything sexual, it’s best not to read this review any further as this show is all about laughing at the lurid.

Mr. Bradshaw, the Northwestern University professor and playwright known for such controversial dramas as Burning, has made a name for himself pushing the proverbial envelope on the New York stage, and his latest might be his most outrageous yet.  As fans and critics of the playwright can attest, walkouts are common in Mr. Bradshaw’s plays, and this one is no exception.

Stereotypes, crazy fantasies and taboo topics are the titillating staples of the average porn film, and Mr. Bradshaw tosses in all the clichés and more in our face in Intimacy, a tawdry comic potboiler set in upper-middle-class suburbia that has many moments of gleeful gross-outs and scatological humor as it purports to explore affluence, parental expectations, class, social mores, racism and just how far people will go when it comes to sex.

The plot centers on a group of suburban families that live in a modern-day version of Peyton Place, but with prurient secrets that would even make that book’s author, the late Grace Metalious, blush.  James (Daniel Gerroll) is a British former Wall Street magnate and widower still grieving the death of his wife as son Matthew (Austin Cauldwell) prepares to apply to colleges.  Much to his father’s surprise, Matthew doesn’t want to go to university and instead dreams of making avant-garde indie films as he idolizes Lars von Trier, Quentin Tarantino and Andy Warhol.

Meanwhile, academics Pat (Laura Esterman), a feminist-theory professor, and her queer-studies professor husband, Jerry (Keith Randolph Smith), are grappling with the inexplicable behavior of their increasingly rebellious teenage daughter, the blonde “harlot” Janet (Ella Dershowitz). Pat, an aging hippie chick, must have overdosed on too many Nancy Friday paperbacks about housewives pursuing great orgasms back in the 1970s because she is more than willing to discuss the joys of cunnilingus with her daughter.

Fred (David Anzeulo) is a stocky Latino contractor working to remodel James’ home for little profit because he is grateful to the man’s late wife, a top-notch oncologist who helped cure his teenage daughter Sarah (Déa Julien) of leukemia.  Sarah is distraught that her mother (who is never seen onstage) is forced to work at Wal-Mart and the kids at school ridicule her about it.

As liberal and well-educated as the families in this upscale community might be, they harbor horribly racist feelings, particularly about Fred’s Mexican workers, many of whom are described as “lazy” and would rather “play the banjo” than finish a day’s work.  Ay yi yi.

The narrative is loaded with hokey homilies and intentionally tasteless jokes about race and sexuality, plus numerous gratuitous scenes of literal toilet humor.  Jerry is convinced he might have colon cancer because he has dark stools, and makes his wife look at them, followed by a scene of him taking a steamy dump on the toilet, complete with sound effects of flatulence. Is it silly enough to evoke snickering from the audience?  Yes, but is any of this necessary or actually funny?

When Matthew insists he doesn’t want to go to college, his father offers him $40,000 to make two short films within a specified time period.  One can guess what happens next as the plot descends into predictable territory that contains every half-baked twist from John Waters films, “sexploitation” flicks and trashy novels from the past 40 years.  It’s a good deal for Matthew, who isn’t exactly college material and spends his days secretly masturbating in his bedroom and trying to hide this fact from his pious papa.  If you’re a male of a certain age, it’s impossible not to laugh at this because we all have painful memories of those awkward teenage years, trying to cover up our raging hormones and dirty magazines from our parents’ prying eyes.  However, anyone who loves Waters’ Serial Mom knows Mr. Bradshaw literally lifted the idea from that classic.

We soon learn the truth about young Janet when James finds her nubile body spread-eagled in an X-rated pictorial in Barely Legal magazine.  James doesn’t want anything to do with Jerry, Pat and slutty little Janet. Of course, hypocritical James is the one who bought the skin mag because the only way he can overcome the grief of his wife’s death is devouring porn depicting 18-year-old jailbait.

It is easy to go along with the story and all the preposterous subplots in act one, but things just unravel by the second act as the whole play becomes like watching one of the implausible, poorly written and downright stupid porno films Mr. Brawshaw is lampooning. Perhaps it’s a spoiler to note, but no surprise when we learn that macho Fred is a closet case and secretly masturbates to online gay porn and, like his daughter, has the hots for Matthew and gets so aroused for the fledgling filmmaker that he strips down to a thong for the guy.

Derek McLane’s clever set anchors the story beautifully.  From the pastiche of the suburban street to TV sets showing raunchy old Ron Jeremy and Linda Lovelace videos, the play is a rich, visual feast.  There are also some fine performances from the cast, particularly stage veteran Daniel Gerroll. However, as ambitious as Scott Elliott’s direction might be, it is impossible for him to make the actors transcend Mr. Bradshaw’s amateurish, paper-thin script, a hodgepodge of everything we ever wanted to know about sex that we’ve seen before.

From incest and homosexuality to “double anal” and “frottage,” the smorgasbord of sexual proclivities here might have been truly shocking had Intimacy been produced half a century ago, but in the 21st century, the show is merely a theatrical stage version of one of the puerile softcore “titty” films shown on late-night cable TV.  In fact, everything would work better as a film because it could be even more sensationalistic and graphic.  Thomas Bradshaw fans certainly will not be disappointed as there is enough fake squirting semen, prosthetic penises, full-frontal male and female nudity and juvenile jokes to keep any lover of “smut” from being bored.

THY NEIGHBOR’S PORN STAR: (Left to right) David Anzuelo, Laura Esterman, Keith Randolph Smith & Ella Dershowitz. Photo: Monique Carboni.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 29, 2014
Reviewed at  press performance on January 22, 2014

The post ‘Intimacy’: Tales of taboo & the family bone appeared first on StageZine.

BUYER & CELLAR
Performed by Michael Urie
Written by Jonathan Tolins
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Barrow Street Theatre
27 Barrow Street
(212-868-4444), www.buyerandcellar.com

By Scott Harrah

As I was pondering the show and the various characters portrayed and mentioned in Jonathan Tolins’ Buyer & Cellar, what I found most remarkable about this solo work is Michael Urie (of “Ugly Betty” fame). Not only does he portray the struggling L.A. actor Alex More, but also his famous employer, Barbra Streisand.

Ms. Streisand has been mined for laughs before, but no one has ever satirized and simultaneously celebrated “Babs” quite like playwright Jonathan Tolins and Mr. Urie in Buyer & Cellar, which just re-opened in a new space, Barrow Street Theatre, after winning raves and a Drama Desk award at Rattlestick Theatre.

Renowned for her gorgeous voice and legendary Broadway and Hollywood roles, La Streisand wrote and took photos for a self-indulgent coffee-table book in 2010, My Passion for Design, chronicling how she had an underground shopping mall built beneath her Malibu estate, complete with stores for antiques, dolls, costumes, frozen yogurt and tchotchkes galore. The only customer at the mall is Babs herself, and this unbelievable real-life fact forms the basis for this hysterical show.

Mr. Urie’s Alex More has just been let go from a job at Disneyland and lands a gig working in Barbra’s basement mall.  Of course, the story is complete fiction, and mostly an excuse for the engaging actor to keep us entertained for 95 minutes with laugh-out-loud jokes about everything from the megastar’s perfectly manicured fingernails to her coming to terms with her feelings about growing up as an “ugly duckling” in Brooklyn.

The first half of the show is spot-on, particularly a scene in which Ms. Streisand haggles with her employee over an item she already owns.  One doesn’t even need to be a Babs fan to find Mr. Urie’s descriptions of plot details of the star’s less-than-stellar films (like The Mirror Has Two Faces) amusing.

However, as expected, the humor (a barrage of Barbra tales and gay and Jewish witticisms) wears thin towards the end of the show, and a subplot about Alex’s boyfriend often seems like filler.

Buyer & Cellar is, first and foremost, an excuse to marvel at the effervescent stage presence and theatrical gifts of Michael Urie.  Stephen Brackett’s direction is mostly focused and well-paced, even when Mr. Tolins’ script seems to wander.  Mr. Urie is so riveting as a performer that one easily overlooks the small holes in the story.

TOUR DE FARCE: Michael Urie is brilliant portraying a struggling actor, a megastar & more in ‘Buyer & Cellar.’ Photo: © Sandra Couder

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 24, 2013
Reviewed at press preview on June 23, 2013

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