‘CAMELOT’: Phillipa Soo & Andrew Burnap. Photo: Joan Marcus.

CAMELOT
Music by Frederick Loewe
Original book & lyrics by Alan Lerner
Book by Aaron Sorkin
Based on T. H. White’s The Once and Future King
Directed by Bartlett Sher
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
150 West 65th Street
(212-239-6200), https://camelotbway.com/

By David NouNou

Lord, save the musical theatre from heavy-handed “serious” writers who insert themselves into classic musicals in the name of reinventing them. Camelot was the next venture for Lerner and Loewe following their smash hit My Fair Lady. They tackled T. H. White’s fantasy novel The Once and Future King, which were short stories based about King Arthur based on the 1485 work Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory. They created this fantasy world for the theatre about King Arthur, meeting and marrying Guenevere, creating the round table with knights of the highest order and valor, and its most formidable knight Lancelot du Lac. Visually, Camelot was and may still be the most opulent, extravagant, lavish and colorful musical ever created. I know, I saw it and remember it vividly, thanks in large part to my parents taking me to the theatre at a very early age.

The book by Mr. Lerner wasn’t perfect; it contained too much plot and so many characters but it had an easy flow. The score was sublime especially the lilting music by Mr. Loewe. This is not an easily revivable musical in great part because of the complicated and overlong book and Aaron Sorkin hasn’t made it any better. Between him and Bartlett Sher—who is a formidable director of musicals: South Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady,  all under the banner of Lincoln Center—have stripped the fantasy, joy, glory, pomp, extravagance and whimsy and left us this dreary, vapid, monochromatic, joyless world that once was known as Camelot.

Starting with Arthur (Andrew Burnap) hiding from his arranged betrothal to Guenevere (Phillipa Soo), Princess of France, to end the wars and seal the relationship between England and France. Arthur and Guenevere, while escaping from her retinue, stumble upon each other in the wintry woods near the castle where Arthur explains the virtues of Camelot in the song “Camelot.” The two form a bond, which will lead to the creation of the round table. Arthur’s mentor and tutor, Merlin (Dakin Matthews), before dying, warns Arthur of impending doom but doesn’t tell him what it is. In walks Lancelot (Jordan Donica), the knight of the highest ideals singing his own virtues in “C’est Moi.”

Temptation does enter this magical kingdom of virtue, morals and standards where no one is above the law. Arthur’s illegitimate son, Mordred (Taylor Trensch), is the snake in the garden of Eden who tempts Lancelot and Guenevere to be caught together, and causes the undoing of Arthur and all of his idealistic dreams.

Again, although it wasn’t perfect, Lerner and Loewe attempted to create a beautiful world where one could hope for a better future. In Sorkin and Sher’s world, on the enormous Vivian Beaumont stage, their world starts out bleak, threadbare, and has no chance for any higher ideals, the illusion and fantasy are missing and there is no hint of it in Michael Yeargan’s nonexistent sets. Instead of armor, gossamer and brocade, the costumes by Jennifer Moeller are so drab, dreary and adorned with black leather that this Camelot lacks any illusion, mystique or charm.

Thankfully, what is kept intact is the beautiful and melodic score and that is in large part due to its musical director and conductor Kimberly Grigsby. One can just close one’s eyes and listen to Ms. Grigsby and her full glorious orchestra and I’ll quote “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.”

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 16, 2023
Reviewed at April 15, 2023 press performance.

‘CAMELOT’: Phillipa Soo, Andrew Burnap, Dakin Matthews & Jordan Donica. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Andrew Burnap. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Jordan Donica. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Andrew Burnap. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Jordan Donica & Phillipa Soo. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Phillipa Soo. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Taylor Trensch & Marilee Talkington. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Danny Wolohan, Anthony Michael Lopez, Fergie Philippe & Dakin Matthews. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Phillipa Soo & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘THE ICEMAN COMETH’: (left to right) Michael Potts, Denzel Washington & company. Julieta Cervantes

THE ICEMAN COMETH
Written by Eugene O’Neill
Directed by George C. Wolfe
Through July 1, 2018
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
242 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200),www.icemanonbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Eugene O’Neill’s classic has been and still is hailed as a classic. Clocking in at nearly four hours, you have to have the stamina of a bull elephant to sit through a repetitious, “slosh fest” babblethon of has-beens and “never weres” who sit all day and night boozing and bemoaning their pipe dreams and wallow in the lies they conjure for themselves to see life through another day.

Set in 1912 at Harry Hope’s bar in the Lower West Side of New York City, the denizens of this dive are awaiting the arrival of Theodore Hickman or “Hickey” (Denzel Washington). The audience in the theater must wait over an hour until Mr. Washington makes his entrance (so you have to endure all the wallowing as well). He is a traveling salesman, a drunkard like themselves, to come and cheer them up from their life of misery with his brand of humor and open pockets to buy the drinks. However, on this arrival Hickey doesn’t bring fun, but instead brings them sobriety to face the next day and get out and do something with their lives.

They all pull it together to go out in the world and face their fears, except for the disenchanted Socialist and resident cynic, Larry Slade (David Morse) who knows the reality of things. They all return more despondent because what they were hoping to find were only untruths and pipe dreams. Hickey’s mission wasn’t so much as to help them go out to find jobs or connect with the world; he wants to help them face their future without fear or living in pipe dreams.

Denzel Washington and David Morse provide solid performances and manage to make this ponderous evening bearable. Honestly speaking, spending eight hours at Angels in America, which deals with the advent of AIDS and Roy Cohn, is more uplifting and epic than this miserable evening of self-pitying and self-loathing, but if one is a Denzel Washington or Eugene O’Neill fan, it should not be missed.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 29, 2018

‘THE ICEMAN COMETH’: (left to right) David Morse, Denzel Washington & Colm Meaney in ‘The Iceman’. Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE ICEMAN COMETH’: Denzel Washington. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE ICEMAN COMETH’: Denzel Washington & David Morse. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE ICEMAN COMETH’: Denzel Washington & cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE ICEMAN COMETH’: Denzel Washington & cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE ICEMAN COMETH’: The company. Photo; Julieta Cervantes

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‘WAITRESS’: (left to right) Keala Settle, Jessie Mueller & Kimiko Glenn. Photo: Joan Marcus

WAITRESS
Book by Jessie Nelson
Music & lyrics by Sara Bareilles
Based on the motion picture by Adrienne Shelly
Choreography by Lorin Latarro
Directed by Diane Paulus
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
256 West 47th Street
(877-250-2929), www.WaitressTheMusical.com

By David NouNou

Formulated with flour, baked with butter and sprinkled and seasoned with sugar are not only the ingredients of the pies that are baked in Waitress. They are also the ingredients of the show itself and showered all over with love.

Based on the 2007 movie of the same name, Waitress easily translates to the musical formula and is hugely influenced from a female perspective because its creators, book, score and direction, are all women. If you recall the 1970s sitcom “Alice” with Linda Lavin, and Mel’s Diner, it had a feminist point of view that was refreshing for its day. Waitress has updated that version and the notion women can ultimately have and do it all.

The indefatigable Jessie Mueller is Jenna, working in a diner in the American South. She is in a loveless marriage with her abusive husband Earl (Nick Cordero). Her gift is making the pies her mother taught her. In this diner, instead of the gruff and lovable cook Mel and the two besties: loudmouthed Flo and dimwitted Vera, we now have the gruff and lovable cook Cal (Eric Anderson). The besties are loudmouthed Becky (Keala Seattle) and naïve Dawn (Kimiko Glenn), both of whom are there to support Jenna during her destructive marriage and her unplanned pregnancy.

Also on hand is the handsome and married gynecologist, Dr. Pomatter (Drew Gehling), with whom Jenna has an affair during her pregnancy. The ever lovable showstopper Christopher Fitzgerald as Ogie, pursuing Dawn, and the curmudgeonly Joe, owner of the restaurant, are the characters who round out this talented cast.

The book by Jessie Nelson is serviceable; the score by Sara Bareilles is not very compelling considering the best song in the show is given to a secondary character, the showstopper for Ogie entitled “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me.” The rest are interchangeable ballads. Diane Paulus keeps things moving, thanks in large part to the brilliant scenic designer Scott Pask. Although in this case the sets are not much to look at, but their seamless transitions keep the musical afloat and his backdrop landscape vistas are breathtaking.

Jessie Mueller is quickly rising in the ranks as a top, bona fide Broadway star. Having won the Tony Award for Beautiful just two years ago, she will be up again for best actress for the coveted role of Jenna. She is the magical sugar, butter and flour that makes this musical rise.

Keala Settle, as bestie Becky, is a delight and believable; she was one of two characters that made the musical Hands on a Hardbody bearable. Kimiko Glenn as Dawn gives more of a caricature than a performance.

The men run the gamut from dreamy to abusive bully. Drew Gehling as the gynecologist is a total dream; he is one of the good guys. Nick Cordero, who was brilliant in Bullets Over Broadway, here comes across as a Southern psycho bully; one really expected hisses from the audience at curtain call. There is the wonderful character actor Dakin Matthews as the curmudgeonly Joe and he makes his presence felt in every scene. The best for last is Christopher Fitzgerald as Ogie; there isn’t a thing this wonderful musical comic can’t do.

If you’re in the mood for a scrumptious piece of pie, why not try the big helpings you’ll get at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre? They will surely satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 27, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on April 26, 2016

‘WAITRESS’: Jessie Mueller. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Nick Cordero & Jessie Mueller. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Kimiko Glenn & Keala Settle. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Nick Cordero & Jessie Mueller. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Drew Gehling & Jessie Mueller. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: (Left to right) Ryan Vasquez, Charity Angél Dawson, Christopher Fitzgerald, Eric Anderson, Dakin Matthews & Molly Hager. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Christopher Fitzgerald, Kimiko Glenn & Aisha Jackson. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Kimiko Glenn & Christopher Fitzgerald. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Dakin Matthews & Jessie Mueller. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: (left to right) Jeffrey Morse, Christopher Fitzgerald, Kimiko Glenn & Aisha Jackson. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Drew Gehling & Jessie Mueller. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘WAITRESS’: Drew Gehling & Jessie Mueller. Photo: Joan Marcus

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GOOD SHOW: Helen Mirren brilliantly portrays Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Audience.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

THE AUDIENCE
Written by Peter Morgan
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
236 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.TheAudienceBroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

American theatergoers need not be experts on British history and politics to appreciate this engrossing saga of Queen Elizabeth II (portrayed by the always magnificent Helen Mirren) and 12 of her prime ministers throughout her 63-year reign. Her Majesty’s weekly “audiences” with prime ministers are cloaked in secrecy, so this gives playwright Peter Morgan (who also wrote the film The Queen, for which Ms. Mirren won the Best Actress Oscar) lots of artistic license to speculate on whatever he thinks the iconic sovereign and her PMs said. It is a fascinating evening of theater regardless of how accurate the conversations are, with Ms. Mirren giving the most richly textured performance of her illustrious career.

Even the most vehement anti-monarchy republican would have difficulty resisting Her Majesty as depicted by Ms. Mirren, with Mr. Morgan’s brilliant narrative, because she is never characterized as an anachronistic figurehead. Instead, Ms. Mirren and Mr. Morgan’s Queen Elizabeth II transcends her critics and emerges as a conscientious, intelligent woman who has been devoted in service to the United Kingdom and the entire British Commonwealth for more than six decades. Here, Her Majesty is consistently multifaceted and never comes across as a caricature because Ms. Mirren imbues her with a palpable dignity and vulnerability that makes us appreciate the sense of duty and the incredible weight, burden, and sacrifice involved with wearing the crown.

Some may think Ms. Mirren would simply rehash her role in The Queen, a film that portrayed the sovereign’s controversial reaction to Princess Diana’s death in 1997 and how the monarchy almost crumbled as a result. As illuminating as the script and Ms. Mirren both were in that film, Her Majesty is revealed as a far more complex woman here, and that’s why The Audience is such a masterpiece. Much of what Americans know about Queen Elizabeth II and her famous family is tabloid fodder, but here we learn that there is far more to her than her simply being the world’s most famous woman, a dowdy dowager with children and grandchildren that have been involved in scandals throughout the years. She is, after all, one of the longest serving heads of state anywhere.   Of course, all the famous aspects of Queen Elizabeth II are shown, from her poofy hairdos and pearls to real Corgis that run around the palaces at times.

All but one of the 12 prime ministers (Harold McMillan) that have served Queen Elizabeth II pay visits to Buckingham Palace in London and Balmoral in Scotland in The Audience, from Winston Churchill (Dakin Matthews) to Harold Wilson (Richard McCabe) to Margaret Thatcher (Judith Ivey) to John Major (Dylan Baker), Gordon Brown (Rod McLachlan) and Tony Blair and David Cameron (both played by Rufus Wright).

The most incredible thing about the show is how Ms. Mirren morphs flawlessly in scene after scene to show Her Majesty throughout the decades, with only minor costume changes and an arsenal of spot-on facial expressions to depict Elizabeth at different points in time. There is no need for excessive make-up to show the monarch aging, and Ms. Mirren never simply tries to impersonate the Queen. Ms. Mirren’s is an all-around, richly layered portrayal of the many roles of Elizabeth II: wife, mother, sovereign and, most all, a woman who has defined her era

This is no easy task considering that Elizabeth II, as a constitutional monarch, is expected to support her prime ministers at all times and remain objective, but we see the myriad critical points she has experienced in her reign, from the Suez Canal crisis under Anthony Eden (Michael Elwyn) in 1956 up to Tony Blair leading Britain, along with the United States, into the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.

Of all the “audiences,” the most fascinating in the drama is Judith Ivey’s incandescent performance as Margaret Thatcher. Ms. Ivey has the late Thatcher’s accent and mannerisms down to a science, and she almost steals the show here when discussing, with heated, volatile passion, why she opposes economic sanctions against South Africa during the apartheid era, when the United Kingdom was that nation’s largest trading partner. This was one time when the Queen allegedly disagreed with a prime minister—the row was chronicled in the Times of London—because the monarch respected the beliefs of the African leaders in Commonwealth nations. Live theater simply doesn’t get any better than watching Ms. Ivey and Ms. Mirren playing two of the political world’s strongest all-time leaders in a lively debate.

In addition, we also see present-day Elizabeth talking in certain scenes with Young Elizabeth (alternated by Sadie Sink and Elizabeth Teeter). In these sections, Elizabeth speaks to her younger self and at first these scenes appear strained and unnecessary, but by the show’s end—with young Princess Elizabeth giving her famous BBC radio address from Cape Town, South Africa, in which she vows to live her life in service to the people of the Commonwealth—they make sense and we realize the scale of the woman’s life, and how she has remained devoted in a role she never planned on taking. We see how, even as a young girl, she was uncomfortable being called “Ma’am” and had trouble adapting to the numerous formalities that became requisite parts of her everyday life and the internal trappings of being royalty.

Stephen Daldry directs everything with seamless precision, and what is outstanding is how a story that covers more than 60 years flows so effortlessly and is never confusing or stilted, making The Audience one of the best new dramas of 2015.

MARGARET THATCHER & HER MAJESTY: Judith Ivey (left) & Helen Mirren. Photo: Joan Marcus

TONY BLAIR & HER MAJESTY: Rufus Wright & Helen Mirren. Photo: Joan Marcus

QUEEN ELIZABETH II & YOUNG ELIZABETH: Helen Mirren & Elizabeth Teeter. Photo: Joan Marcus

HER MAJESTY AT WORK: Helen Mirren in ‘The Audience.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

PRIME MINISTER HAROLD WILSON & HER MAJESTY: Richard McCabe & Helen Mirren in ‘The Audience.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 8, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on March 7, 2015

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