‘HERE LIES LOVE’: Arielle Jacobs & cast. Photo: Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman (2023).

HERE LIES LOVE
Concept, music & lyrics by David Byrne
Music by Fatboy Slim
Developed & directed by Alex Timbers
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway at 53rd Street
(212-239-6200), www.HereLiesLoveBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Sitting through Here Lies Love, one cannot help but see the parallel lives of Eva Peron in Evita—which coincidentally also played at this same theatre—and Imelda Marcos (Arielle Jacobs) in this musical. They both started with poor origins, became working women, married men who sought power, and they both were the women who stood behind their men and got them to the top. And yes, they were both corrupt and landed their countries into poverty while they both enriched themselves through greed. Imelda did to the Philippines what Eva did to Argentina, and both were “High Flying Adored” by their countrymen—to quote a great song title from Evita.

The similarities end here. Whereas Evita was a cohesive musical with a brilliant, straightforward narrative and score, Here Lies Love is literally all over the place. I mean it; it plays all around and through the Broadway Theatre. The orchestra section has been gutted out, and you have an empty dance floor with a runway jutting out through the middle of the theatre. The runway has a life of its own and revolves all around the floor, thus making the audience move around the theatre with it. For some strange reason, the creators of Here Lies Love felt it should be an interactive musical. If you have a bad back or can’t stand for 90 minutes, I suggest you sit in the front mezzanine. Even the people who are in the mezzanine or balcony are not immune to all this interaction; they are brought in to join in the revelry and made to stand up and participate in some dance moves on two separate occasions.

After all, this is a David Byrne musical, and like his Broadway concert mega-hit American Utopia, he wants the audience to participate and be part of the experience. Truth be told, he has captured the essence of Imelda Marcos and added a layer of theatricality to her. This layer is in large part due to the direction of Alex Timbers who made it possible to have Imelda presented as a theatrical extravaganza. All you have to do is remember Mr. Timbers’ Moulin Rouge and Beetlejuice and you know the excesses that he can present.

When so much is going on all around you, through sound effects, projections, a giant disco ball, glowing neon lights, a DJ, even helicopter sounds airlifting the Marcos, it is difficult to concentrate on the performances. Arielle Jacobs does a valiant and admirable job of capturing Imelda’s essence, and her voice is powerful. Jose Llana as Marcos isn’t given much to make him interesting amidst all the goings on. However, Conrad Ricamora as Ninoy Aquino manages to break from all the noise around him and give an excellent performance as Imelda’s first love and her political rival. Alas, Lea Salonga has a very small part near the end, as Aurora Aquino, Ninoy’s mother, singing the haunting “Just Ask the Flowers.” Ms. Salonga is still in splendid form and voice.

Here Lies Love is one of those musicals that one cannot just label as “gimmicky.” It all depends on whether you’re into the gimmick of audience participation or not.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 27, 2023
Reviewed at July 26, 2023 press performance.

‘HERE LIES LOVE’ Lea Salonga & cast. Photo: Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman (2023).

‘HERE LIES LOVE’: Conrad Ricamora. Photo: Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman (2023).

‘HERE LIES LOVE’: Conrad Ricamora (left) & Arielle Jacobs (right) & cast. Photo: Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman (2023).

‘HERE LIES LOVE’: Arielle Jacobs, Jose Llana & cast. Photo: Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman (2023).

‘HERE LIES LOVE’: The cast. Photo: Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman (2023).

The post ‘Here Lies Love’: Interactive Marcos muscial appeared first on StageZine.

‘WEST SIDE STORY’: Shereen Pimentel, Isaac Powell & cast. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

WEST SIDE STORY
Based on a conception by Jerome Robbins
Originally directed & choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Ivo van Hove
Choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway & 53rd Street
(212) 238-6200, www.westsidestorybway.com

By David NouNou

Where and how does one begin to disseminate this preposterous “reimagination” of a once-revolutionary Broadway classic that reinvented musical theatre, now reduced to an abstract Eurotrash mess? Credit for this abomination must certainly go to Belgian director Ivo van Hove. His definition of directing is having a downpour of rain on stage in anything he directs. Remember his production of A View From the Bridge from 2015? Well, there are two downpours here: one in the rumble scene and the second is in Tony’s death scene and finale. Mr. van Hove takes American classics and injects them with European pretentiousness.

That is just one of the absurd insertions in this revival. I’ll name you a few more just so you will know what you are paying for. The stage is totally bare, making the Broadway Theatre stage seem cavernous. What you get instead is a videographer on stage taking pictures of cast members and imposing them on the back wall of the theatre; that’s how the show starts. The hardest thing to explain to you is also the dumbest: Why are cast members in different scenes being videotaped behind a makeshift set obstructed from audience view and shown on the back wall as if watching a movie? As if that isn’t enough, some of the cast members in some scenes are actually photographed on real streets and then splashed on the wall.

Naturally every song has a videotape with various images on that infamous wall. One example is “America”, sung by Anita, Bernardo and the Sharks. When Anita sings “I like to be in America,” you see pictures set in America. However, when Bernardo sings about Puerto Rico, you get the images of downtrodden people and hovels. With all these images bombarding our line of vision, it is counterproductive to what is actually going on stage. The actors are so dwarfed by the images that you hardly notice them but are preoccupied with all the photographed visuals.

Here is another one: Remember the brilliantly conceived balcony scene where Tony climbs a fire escape to meet Maria in her apartment complex, ultimately confessing their love for each other and then sing “Tonight”? What once was a lovely, touching and romantic scene has now been reduced to the two of them chasing each other around on a bare stage singing, then writhing on the dirty streets of New York in each other’s arms—and all this is superimposed on the giant back wall.

Jerome Robbins conceived a brilliant musical adaption of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and moved the setting to 1957 in modern-day New York City. He changed the Capulets and Montagues to the Jets being the American gang and the Sharks being the Puerto Rican gang. He gave them distinct looks and mannerisms that fit each group. Each gang was fighting for their turf and trying to eliminate the other. Well, that wasn’t good enough for Mr. Van Hove, so he decided to make them all tattooed ’hood rats hip-hopping their way on the stage and making them indistinguishable from one another. Whether it is the opening scene where you meet the two gangs, or the dance at the gym, or the rumble, the cast members have so melded and morphed into one another that you have no idea who is fighting whom, and by this point you don’t care because it has become a big, aimless mess on stage.

As for the leads Tony (Isaac Powell), Maria (Shereen Pimentel), Anita (Yesenia Ayala), Bernardo (Amar Ramasar) or Riff (Dharon E.Jones), there is nothing that makes them stand out in any form. For those unforgettable characters have been reduced to memories of what we know of them either from previous revivals or from the classic iconic (though dated) 1961 movie.

Back to Jerome Robbins. Not only did he conceive this masterpiece, he also directed and choreographed the show. The choreography was innovative and electrifying, it changed dance forever on the musical stage. The staging was concise and synchronized with razor-sharp movements. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has scraped all that genius precision and come up with a mash-up of dance styles with the usual back flips and the one-arm stand kick with nothing visually pleasing or exciting. I guess she didn’t hear the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I’ll give you another dilly for the road. This is just for laughs: Who wears gold-sequined capri pants to a rumble? This sparkly gem comes from costume designer, An D’Huys–another ridiculous idea gone bad.

There is really nothing more one can say about a masterpiece that once was throbbing with excitement being reduced to a cliché of tedium in the name of “reimagination.” Of all the recent musical revivals of West Side Story, Oklahoma, Carousel, The King and I or Kiss Me Kate, this has to be the saddest and most pitiful, because it had the most sublime heart-pounding score of any show. The score by Leonard Bernstein is one of the most memorable and exciting pieces ever composed, thus making West Side Story one of the most vibrant and legendary musicals of our time. West Side Story deserved a better fate than this abysmal Eurotrash version.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published February 20, 2020

‘WEST SIDE STORY’: The cast. Photo: Jan Versweyveld.

‘WEST SIDE STORY’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

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‘KING KONG’: King Kong & Christiani Pitts. Photo: Joan Marcus

KING KONG
Written by Jack Thorne
Score comped & produced by Marius de Vries
Songs by Eddie Perfect
Directed & choreographed by Drew McOnie
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway at 53rd Street
(212-239-6200), https://kingkongbroadway.com/

By David NouNou

Can’t act, can’t sing, and can’t dance—and this statement applies to the live people and not the animatronic gorilla on stage. Not because they don’t have the capabilities; they just don’t have the material.

Throughout the evening while watching this $35 million “disastravaganza” import from Australia, one keeps wondering if this was an intentional musical or something concocted as an Australian version of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom (lead producers of Mel Brooks’ The Producers) to create one of the worst musicals ever conceived and bilk old lady investors of millions of dollars?

Anyone who has seen the original 1933 movie with Fay Wray, the 1976 version with Jessica Lange or the 2005 Peter Jackson version with Naomi Watts or even last year’s Kong: Skull Island would have the intelligence to know there is no way to adapt this genre into a musical format for the stage. Not even if you were on the most powerful hallucinogenic drug conceived “ever” can one visualize this even as a camp piece.

In a nutshell, this version has a poor girl from the South, Ann Darrow (Christiani Pitts), coming to Broadway to become a star in 1931. All reject her. One starving, cold night in a hash house, smarmy film director Carl Denham (Eric William Morris) “discovers” her. He convinces her to sign up with him and he’ll make her a star. And off they go by steamship to Skull Island and you know the rest.

What you don’t know is all the hubris that went into this musical. The book is hackneyed, the score is bland and unmemorable, the acting—let’s just skip that one—the choreography is 2018 supposedly set in 1931 and in every scene, it is basically the same steps in different tempo. However, the worst crime is yet to come. Act II has the gang back in New York along with Kong and the director, Carl Denham recreates their entire journey as a musical set to the stage. Even Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom couldn’t have created such a mess as hard as they would have tried. Where is “Springtime for Hitler and Germany” when you need it?

I give the show one star not because anything in it merited that high a score but for those soulful eyes of Kong himself. He is amazingly constructed and the best thing about the show, and he understands his part and displays more heart, soul and character than anyone else on that stage. He has suffered enough; this show is his ultimate humiliation.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 14, 2018
Reviewed at November 13, 2018 press performance.

‘KING KONG’: King Kong terrorizing the stage. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘KING KONG’: The beast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘KING KONG’: Christiani Pitts (center) & company. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘KING KONG”: Christiani Pitts & Kong. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘KING KONG’: Christiani Pitts & Eric William Morris. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘KING KONG’: Christiani Pitts with Kong. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘KING KONG’: Christiani Pitts & Kong. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘KING KONG’: Christiani Pitts. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘KING KONG’: Eric William Morris. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘KING KONG’: Christiani Pitts & Erik Lochtefeld. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘KING KONG’: The company. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘KING KONG’: Christiani Pitts & Kong. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post ‘King Kong’: Stage adaptation goes ape appeared first on StageZine.

‘ROCKTOPIA’: Pat Monahan. Photo: Matthew Murphy

ROCKTOPIA: A CLASSICAL REVOLUTION
Performances by various artists
Concept by Rob Evan & Maestro Randall Craig Fleischer
Conducted by Maestro Randall Craig Fleischer
The New York Contemporary Symphony Orchestra with the New York Contemporary Choir
Through April 29, 2018
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway
https://rocktopia.com/

By Scott Harrah

Rocktopia is a traveling concert that features covers of old rock songs fused with classical music and opera, with a full live 20-piece orchestra, a choir of 40, a five-piece rock band and splendid vocalists. Immensely popular in both Europe and on the road in the USA, with a broadcast on PBS stations, the show has landed on Broadway for a limited run. While much of the evening is basically like watching an enormously talented cover band performing classic rock oldies, it is nonetheless consistently entertaining. However, although most of the mash-ups are melodic and innovative, not everything works.

The show is inspired by the idea that Beethoven and Mozart would be rock stars if they were alive in the 21st century. Act One starts out with singers Rob Evan (co-creator of Rocktopia) and rocker Tony Vincent fusing Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra” with The Who’s “Baby O’Riley,” followed by Mr. Evan, Chloe Lowery, Kimberly Nichole and Mr. Vincent singing Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusic” along with Styx’s 1970s standard “Come Sail Away.”

Chloe Lowery, a petite blonde who has performed as a featured vocalist with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, has some of the most powerful pipes of the ensemble. Sounding like a cross between young Mariah Carey and early Whitney Houston, Ms. Lowery’s multi-octave range is full of emotion on Heart’s 1987 power-pop classic “Alone,” blended with Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor,” a perfect combination because the original Ann and Nancy Wilson song also contained a stirring piano introduction.

Pat Monahan of the rock group Train sings Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” blended with Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7: Allegretto.” Mr. Monahan’s high-tenored voice is a nice match for the vintage rock staple. Beethoven is a great complement for the song, known for its three sections, each increasing in tempo and volume.

Kimberly Nichole is equally impressive on a haunting cover of Patti Smith’s 1977 hit “Because the Night,” along with Tchaikovsky’s “Overture from Romeo and Juliet.” It’s a beautiful pairing, and Ms. Nichole’s rich vocals add the requisite lush texture to Bruce Springsteen’s poetic lyrics about night and desire (though the on-screen projections of adult X-rated cinemas and seedy street scenes are silly and unnecessary).

Along with these many fine numbers, a few fall flat. “The Rise of Spring” by Stravinsky done in tandem with Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze,” sung by Tony Vincent, comes off as a pointless Hendrix impersonation (even though Mr. Vincent does a nice job singing in the Hendrix style). Music director Tony Bruno, who has worked with everyone from Rihanna to Enrique Iglesias, is an awe-inspiring rock guitarist and is in fine form here, but the “rock star” posing and posturing of Mr. Vincent—with his arms around Mr. Bruno and others like someone impersonating Mick Jagger or David Bowie back in the day—on this and other songs is both pretentious and preposterous.

In addition, Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” with “Uprising” by Muse, performed by Mr. Evan, Ms. Lowery, Ms. Nichole and Mr. Vincent, is also less effective than other songs.

One of the show’s major assets is the golden-throated opera soprano Alyson Cambridge. Ms. Cambridge’s beautiful coloratura vocals are soaring in the Act One finale, Puccini’s heartbreaking “Nessun Dorma” paired with Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” with grand vocals by Mr. Monahan, Mr. Evan, Ms. Lowery and Mr. Vincent.

Highlights of Act Two include Mr. Monahan and Ms. Nichole singing a duet of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” with Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.” Reaching the stratospheric octave range of Steven Tyler is no easy task, but the two singers manage to do so here with aplomb.

Chloe Lowery literally brings down the house with a mind-blowing cover of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is,” backed up by the New York Contemporary Choir. Ms. Lowery belts out every lyric with passion, full of all the emotions of this soulful rock ballad.

Granted, there is a certain “schlock” and “cheesy” factor to doing covers of any songs, particularly Journey’s infectious guilty pleasure “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” coupled with Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9: Ode to Joy.” Regardless, the vocalists here, from Ms. Cambridge and Mr. Evan to Ms. Lowery, Mr. Monahan, Ms. Nichole and Mr. Vincent harmonize so perfectly on this one, and the audience of baby boomers and Generation X members loved reliving their youth on this number at the performance this reviewer attended.

Fans of the late Freddie Mercury may or may not feel that Tony Vincent can match the unparalleled four full octaves of the Queen singer’s inimitable voice (although Mr. Vincent found success on London’s West End in the Queen jukebox musical We Will Rock You, paying tribute to the icon). Mercury’s vibrato was almost operatic, after all, but Mr. Vincent certainly tries to replicate the British rock phenomenon (with the help of Ms. Cambridge, Mr. Evan, Ms. Lowery and Ms. Nichole) in the encore finale of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with Queen’s signature song “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

In addition to the gifted singers, the New York Contemporary Symphony Orchestra and New York Contemporary Choir are outstanding. Finally, Grammy and Emmy-nominated Irish violinist Máiréad Nesbitt (of Celtic Woman fame) is a sheer delight whenever she is on stage.

Some of the songs, like “Pictures at an Exhibition: Gate of Kiev” by Mussorgsky with “Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2, just seem mismatched as classical and rock mash-ups. Michael Stiller and Austin Switser’s video designs and nonstop projections bring color and visual verve to the concert, even when some of the video choices make little sense.

Rocktopia is not really a Broadway show. It’s also nothing like a traditional rock concert or a classical recital at Carnegie Hall. Whatever it is, it’s certainly unique and that must be why the show has such a following worldwide.

Note: Pat Monahan from Train appears through April 8; Robin Zander from Cheap Trick will perform April 23 to 29, 2018.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 27, 2018
Reviewed at March 24, 2018 press preview performance.

‘ROCKTOPIA’: Chloe Lowery. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘ROCKTOPIA’: Kimberly Nichole. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘ROCKTOPIA’: Mairead Nesbitt & choir. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘ROCKTOPIA’: Tony Vincent & Alyson Cambridge. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘ROCKTOPIA’: Rob Evan. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘ROCKTOPIA’: Guitarist Tony Bruno. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘ROCKTOPIA’: Maestro Randall Craig Fleischer. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘ROCKTOPIA’: The company. Photo: Matthew Murphy

The post ‘Rocktopia’ fuses rock, opera & classical appeared first on StageZine.

‘MISS SAIGON’: Eva Noblezada & Devin Ilaw. Photo: Matthew Murphy

MISS SAIGON
Adapted from the original French text by Alain Boublil
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. & Alain Boublil
Directed by Laurence Conner
Musical Staging by Bob Avian
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway at 53rd Street
212-238-6200, wwwSaigonBroadway.com

By David NouNou

In the 1960s, America had the British rock invasion: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc. In the 1980s and 1990s we had the Cameron Mackintosh invasion: Cats, Starlight Express, Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. Damn, that’s impressive, and Broadway deservedly welcomed him with open arms. He singlehandedly turned a dying Broadway into a booming, bustling Broadway with the aid of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Schönberg and Boublil.

That being said, I must now specifically concentrate on Miss Saigon. In 1991 it came to Broadway with the largest advance in history to date, the tale that a helicopter lands on stage (Americans love special effects) and a lot of controversy regarding casting. I salute Mr. Mackintosh in his stand to bring Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga in their roles that they originated in London, for which they ultimately won Tony Awards for best actor and actress, because without them the show would not have been as powerful and impactful.

Fast forward to 2017: Seeing Miss Saigon again might seem awesome at first thought but sadly for me (and I’m sure for most Americans who see it), it’s a shameful reminder of our past history and the atrocities that took place during the Vietnam War. Unlike the epic grandeur of Les Misérables with its glorious and memorable score and beautifully etched-out characters, Miss Saigon is epic visually but very thin on story line. It is basically Madame Butterfly set during the Vietnam War.

Chris (Alistair Brammer), an American G.I. stationed in Vietnam, falls in love with the 17-year- old Vietnamese bar girl, Kim (Eva Noblezada) who is under the thumbs and controlled by the Engineer (Jon Jon Briones), a man who has big dreams of coming to the USA and using his entrepreneurial skills to make it big in America. You know the rest.

The score by Boublil and Schönberg never lives up to the magnificence of Les Misérables. With the exception of “The Last Night of the World” a sweet ballad sung by Kim and Chris, the haunting “I’d Give My Life For You,” sung by Kim, and the Engineer’s rousing delusional tribute “The American Dream,” the rest of the score is undistinguished. The sensation of the show back then was the helicopter scene; now the best thing about that is the landing in which wind machines blast air onto the orchestra to simulate a helicopter landing with lots of people clamoring to get on and the taking off is like watching the headlights and front of a Volkswagen Beetle ascending.

For Mr. Mackintosh, casting is most essential. He brought Mr. Pryce as the Engineer, a role that is sinister, evil, calculating and a lowlife. He’d do anything and sacrifice anyone just to save his hide. Mr. Pryce played that part to perfection, and at the end you were cheering for him. As for Jon Jon Briones as the Engineer, I honestly have no idea what he is conveying. The closet character I could think of was a sleazy version of the parrot, Jose Carioca, in the 1943 Disney animated movie Saludos Amigos; totally lacking in personality, charisma and style, nothing that would suggest sinister, just plain smarmy and weasely.

Ms. Noblezada is enchanting as Kim, but Mr. Brammer lacks the passion that tortures Chris for having left Kim behind. Honorable mention must be made to Katie Rose Clark as Ellen, Chris’ wife, and Nicholas Christopher as John, Chris’ war buddy and friend. Another standout is Rachelle Ann Go as the prostitute Gigi, with her lush, haunting voice.

From a visual standpoint, this version of Miss Saigon is grimy and gritty.  Its direction by Laurence Connor is listless and aimless, no real vision or structure to it. It is so dimly lit that it is hard to distinguish if there ever was any daylight in Saigon. I saw this production in London in 2015 at the Prince Edward Theatre and there were talks back then that Miss Saigon would be transferring to Broadway. I knew that to make this move, better choices had to be made in direction and casting, especially for the Engineer.  The Engineer has to be able to hold up this giant behemoth of a musical. It wasn’t Mr. Briones then in the U.K. production and time has not improved him. Smarmy and pandering to the audience is not a real interpretation for the Engineer. Certainly better, tighter and more disciplined direction is needed than what Mr. Connor has provided.

It is not impossible to sell a historical musical that once lived for the helicopter gimmick; however, it is harder to sell when you have a musical with unfamiliar names, especially this season when there are stars in many of the shows currently playing. You can still sell a historical musical with no names if it is brilliantly conceived, directed and acted. Case in point: Come From Away—highly recommended.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 29, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on March 28, 2017

‘MISS SAIGON’: Jon Jon Briones. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Katie Rose Clarke & Alistair Brammer. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Rachelle Ann Go. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Alistair Brammer & Eva Noblezada. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Jon Jon Briones & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Eva Noblezada. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Devin Ilaw. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Jon Jon Briones. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Eva Noblezada. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Jon Jon Briones. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Nicholas Christopher. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Alistair Brammer. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘MISS SAIGON’: Alistair Brammer & Eva Noblezada. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Eva Noblezada & Samuel Li Weintraub. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘MISS SAIGON’: Jon Jon Briones & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

The post ‘Miss Saigon’ returns to Broadway via London appeared first on StageZine.

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Danny Burstein as Tevye. Photo: Joan Marcus

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Book by Joseph Stein
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Based on the Sholem Aleichem stories by special permission of Arnold Pert
Directed by Bartlett Sher
Choreographed by Hofesh Shechter
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway at 53rd Street
(212-239-6200), http://fiddlermusical.com

By David NouNou

If you are one of the lucky people (still around to talk about it) who saw the original version in September 1964 when it opened at the Imperial Theatre with the one and only Zero Mostel, you knew there was a masterpiece for the ages unfolding in front of your very eyes. Over the years, there have been numerous revivals, and some versions, as well as some Tevyes, were better than others. However, in the case of Fiddler on the Roof, what stands the test of time is its eternal and universal story and the sublime score that is joyously giddy, and absolutely heart wrenching and always memorable. I maintain that it is one of the two most outstanding scores ever written for a musical.

Tevye (Danny Burstein) is a poor milkman who lives in Anatevka, a village in Czarist Russia. He has five unmarried daughters, a shrewish wife, Golde (Jessica Hecht), a lame horse, and has a penchant to talking to God about his misfortunes. The one thing that has kept Anatevka going for all those years is tradition and Tevye has to watch each tradition that he holds sacred unravel. Therein lies the beauty and texture of the family dynamics and Tevye’s turmoil of upholding his covenant with God and his religious beliefs, especially when his third daughter Chava (Melanie Moore) marries the Russian Christian soldier, Fyedka (Nick Rehberger).

When you watch Fiddler on the Roof, you must really forget about past revivals, who starred in them and especially the movie version. Any Fiddler revival has to be strong enough to sustain itself for the new generation who may be seeing it for the first time. I was so pleased that so many young people who were attending the same press performance as me seemed genuinely intrigued and heartily enjoying the proceedings. Not one of them was texting or had his cellphone on. They were actually engrossed. Mazel tov.

With Danny Burstein, we do not get a bombastic, bigger-than-life, argumentative Tevye. We get a sweet interpretation of a man who speaks to God in a gentle manner and gingerly admonishes God about why couldn’t He just once throw a little extra his way as in the song “If I Were a Rich Man”? Incidentally, Mr. Burstein is in phenomenal voice. What he lacks in “bigger than life,” he makes up for with his rendition of his songs.

Jessica Hecht as Golde is the weak link; her accent comes and goes, and she’s not really a singer and turns in a one-note shrew performance with no shadings. The rest of the townspeople are portrayed more as caricatures than real human beings. Tevye’s Daughters: Tzeitel, (Alexandra Silber), Hodel (Samantha Massell) and Chava (Melanie Moore) are a constant delight with angelic voices.

Bartlett Sher for his part has done magnificent revivals of South Pacific and earlier this year the sublime The King and I. However, the brilliance that is usually associated with Mr. Sher seems to be lacking here. The direction is uneven with both the actors and the events taking place on the stage.

When you see Fiddler, you don’t sweat the small stuff; you go and marvel at its universality and how it has been embraced all over the world. At one time there was even a Japanese version. We never tire of its wonderful, timeless themes.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 6, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on January 5, 2016

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: (left to right) Lori Wilner, Jessica Hecht & Danny Burstein. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: (left to right) Adam Kantor, Alexandra Silber, Jennifer Zetlan (arm), Lori Wilner, Jacob Guzman, Adam Grupper, Reed Luplau, Jeffrey Schecter, Mitch Greenberg & Michael Bernardi. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: (left to right) Marla Phelan, Alexandra Silber, Jenny Rose Baker, Melanie Moore, Hayley Feinstein, Samantha Massell & Sarah Parker. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: (left to right) Alexandra Silber, Samantha Massell, Melanie Moore, Danny Burstein, Jessica Hecht, Jenny Rose Baker & Hayley Feinstein. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: (left to right) Tess Primack, Reed Luplau, Jennifer Zetlan, Lori Wilner, Eric Bourne, Jessica Vosk, Alix Korey, George Psomas, Jeffrey Schecter, Adam Grupper, Jacob
Guzman, Marla Phelan & Jesse Kovarsky. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Melanie Moore, Alexandra Silber & Samantha Massell. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Jesse Kovarsky (center) & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: (from top) Jessica Vosk, Danny Burstein, Jessica Hecht & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Jessica Hecht & Alix Korey. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Jessica Hecht. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Melanie Moore. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Melanie Moore & Nick Rehberger. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Melanie Moore & Danny Burstein. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Stephen Carrasco, Nick Rehberger, Aaron Young, Reed Luplau, Mitch Greenberg, Sarah Parker, Jesse Kovarsky, George Psomas, Eric Bourne & Marla Phelan. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Danny Burstein. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

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