‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Hugh Jackman, Sutton Foster & cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

THE MUSIC MAN
Book, music & lyrics by Meredith Willson
Based on a story by Meredith Willson & Franklin Lacey
Directed by Jerry Zaks
Choreographed by Warren Carlyle
Winter Garden Theatre
1634 Broadway at 50th Street
(212-239-6200), www.MusicManOnBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Americana at its very best.

I have been called a traditionalist, and I am proud of it. Being one of the few remaining dinosaurs who saw the original version of The Music Man in 1959 at the Majestic Theatre, starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, I can’t say I was overwhelmed by it. I was only a little boy, I thought it was too long and I didn’t understand the lingo being spoken on stage.  The things that excited me most were so many people dancing, singing and having a good time on stage. I was dazzled by the sets and costumes. I actually wanted to learn to play a musical instrument so I could be a part of the show and play in Professor Harold Hill’s band.

This brings us to 2022. I never learned to play a musical instrument, but over the years I’ve come to appreciate the complexities of what it takes to write a musical. This is a period piece for sure and for modern audiences it may seem stilted. However, one must see it from the context of when it was written and about the times in which it was written. Meredith Willson, being a native of Iowa, wrote a beautifully complex and textured tale about the people he knew best at the turn of the 20^th century in the small town of River City, Iowa. He also wrote the entire score which defines all the characters and their attitudes in the score.

Into this small, sleepy, and unfriendly town storms Professor Harold Hill (Hugh Jackman), trying to sell these cold and gullible folks musical instruments and band uniforms for their children. Once he fleeces his sheep, he usually runs out of town with the money and leaves them with no band. In this instance, there is a little hitch by the name of Marian the librarian (Sutton Foster) who is on to Professor Hill’s antics. In turn, one gets to meet all the colorful townspeople and their quirks.

Once you get accustomed to the lingo used—the likes of jokes from Captain Billy’s whiz bag, Sen-Sen, “so’s your old man,” dime novels, libertine men, “scarlet women and shameless music”—and get in step with the proceedings, it becomes a joyride from start to finish.

This revival brings back to life the magic that was Broadway. A musical that has an orchestra pit, an actual visible conductor, and an orchestra playing real instruments that you can hear and feel the music with no prerecorded and overmiked tracks. An actual live orchestra and a stageful of marvelous performers acting, singing, hoofing and giving it their all. What a joy to finally see a revival or any musical with a cast of 42 people filling the stage and each playing their designated role and not have to watch 20 people going in and out of different characters and play chorus members as well.

Hugh Jackman may not be Harold Hill of 1912, but he is certainly Professor Hill for 2022 and hopefully for years to come. His charm and energy are boundless, he sings sublimely, looks divine, and he is a hoofing Harold Hill. What more can you ask of the man?

Sutton Foster gives us a different interpretation of Marian Paroo, the librarian. Unlike any of her predecessors who came off as sweet and ladylike, this young lady takes no guff from any one, stands her ground, and isn’t waiting for a white knight to rescue her. She is in complete control.

The townsfolk are priceless: Marie Mullen as wise Mrs. Paroo is an Irish charmer; Jayne Houdyshell as Mrs. Shin, the Mayor’s wife, is a showstopper with every move and glance. Jefferson Mays as Mayor Shin is perfect at getting flummoxed easily. The quartet of Phillip Boykin, Eddie Korbich, Nicholas Ward and Daniel Torres is impressive, and their harmonizing is a constant delight throughout the show. One will especially fall in love with Benjamin Pajak as Winthrop Paroo; that was the role I was willing to learn an instrument for when I was a kid and wanted to be in the show to play Winthrop.

To my glee, Warren Carlyle has kept the infectious period dances and his excellent dancers of all ages keep in step. Jerry Zaks, usually an expert director on extravaganzas, could have decluttered the sets a bit and instructed Santo Loquasto, the designer, a more realistic vision than just a side of a barn or painted backdrops. These are mere trifles for an evening that explodes with joy and heart; the musical theatre’s cup has runneth over.

Please indulge me in being able to thank my parents for taking me to the theatre at an early age and introducing me to the magic that was Broadway to such an extravaganza as The Music Man. Watching Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster and the rest of the glorious cast took me back decades to being a small child who wanted to learn the cornet so he could be in a show. I urge parents to take their children to see this glorious version of The Music Man and know what magic Broadway can create if done well, and who knows— maybe someday your kids will thank you, too.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published February 16, 2022
Reviewed at February 15, 2022 press performance.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Hugh Jackman, Sutton Foster & cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Hugh Jackman (center) & cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Jefferson Mays (center) & cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: (left to right) Phillip Boykin, Nicholas Ward, Hugh Jackman, Daniel-Torres & Eddie Korbich. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Shuler Hensley. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Benjamin Pajak & Marie Mullen. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Sutton Foster. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Jayne Houdyshell. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE MUSIC MAN’: Hugh Jackman & Sutton Foster. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

The post ‘The Music Man’: A joyride from start to finish appeared first on StageZine.

DOWN BY ‘THE RIVER’: Hugh Jackman as The Man & Laura Donnelly as The Other Woman. Photo: Richard Termine

THE RIVER
Written by Jez Butterworth
Directed by Ian Rickson
Through February 8, 2015
Circle in the Square Theatre
1633 Broadway
(212-239-6200), http://www.theriveronbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

You’ve never seen Hugh Jackman like this.   Some fans of the Aussie superstar—famous for everything from “Wolverine” movies to such stage credits as The Boy from Oz, A Steady Rain and his one-man show Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway—might not know quite what to think of Mr. Jackman here, in his most austere role to date, playing a man who doesn’t sing and isn’t exactly charismatic. Jez Butterworth’s The River is a follow-up to the transatlantic sensation Jerusalem and was produced in London at the Royal Court in 2012, with Dominic West in the lead.

Jerusalem won star Mark Rylance a Tony Award, but it was full of English folklore, symbolism, esotericisms and colloquialisms and, therefore, not an easy show for American audiences to comprehend. The same could be said about The River, but the difference is it is only 85 minutes long.

On the surface, this is a bare-bones show, set in a rustic log cabin on a cliff above the eponymous river. Mr. Jackman plays The Man, a brooding fly-fisherman who likes to wax poetic about sea trout, which can only be caught once a year on a night when the moon cannot be seen. In the opening scenes, Cush Jumbo is The Woman, apparently his girlfriend. She’s the type of woman who demands that he watch a sunset with her, and when she asks him to describe it, he spouts florid gibberish in a derisive tone, “Trails of apricot, feathering out through blue, dark blue, and aquamarine to an iris ring of obsidian and above the Evening Star.”

In no time, this seemingly simplistic play gets confusing.   After a nighttime fishing trip, we see The Man on the phone to the police, reporting a woman gone missing. The Other Woman (Laura Donnelly) walks through the door, and The Man quickly hangs up the phone. Is his girlfriend back? Or is this someone else entirely? This is the first of many twists that tell the convoluted back story of the reclusive man and his troubled love life. We get the sense that these two women, exchanging places in certain scenes, are part of a string of many lady loves, all of whom The Man brings to the cabin each year.

The River is both a thriller and a parable, depending on how one interprets it. It’s highbrow, heady stuff, complete with references to William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Song of the Wandering Aegus” (an entire copy is included as an insert in the Playbill, just in case you forgot each stanza from your 19^th Century British and Irish Poetry course in college).

When this show opened two years ago in London, the British critics showered it with superlatives. Hype seems to follow any British production when it “crosses the Pond” to Broadway, but without Hugh Jackman as the headliner, it is unlikely The River would be the American blockbuster it has already become.

The River lacks the quirkiness of Jerusalem, and isn’t nearly as compelling, but that will not matter to the people that have paid top dollar for tickets just to see Mr. Jackman. He immerses himself into the character with conviction, and volumes could likely be written about the symbolism of him cleaning and gutting a fish. It is the sort of hyper masculine lyricism that was a recurring theme in Ernest Hemingway novels, but something rarely seen in contemporary British theater. Does The Man view his female conquests like the sea trout he loves to catch? Let’s leave the allegorical parts of the story open to audience interpretation.

Mr. Jackman is supported with first-rate performances by Ms. Donnelly and Ms. Jumbo. It is worth noting that Ms. Donnelly is the only cast member who appeared in the 2012 London production and reportedly rallied to bring the show to Broadway, and she is dynamic in every scene.

Ian Rickson directs everyone with the perfect sense of tension needed, as Mr. Butterworth’s action teases the audience. Is this a ghost story? Or is it a Gothic spine-chiller, a sort of macho variation of something by the Bronte sisters for the stage? The River will leave many impressions. Some may find it overly poetic and pretentious, some might be confused, while others will appreciate Mr. Butterworth’s gift for ornate language and dialogue. Regardless, The River is destined to become one of the most-talked-about dramas of the season.

HUGH JACKMAN AS THE MAN: Aussie actor stars in Jez Butterworth’s ‘The River.’ Photo: Richard Termine

ORIGINAL LONDON CAST MEMBER: Laura Donnelly (top) was in the 2012 production at the Royal Court Theatre & pushed for the show to come to Broadway with Hugh Jackman (below) in the lead. Photo: Richard Termine

BRITISH HIT ARRIVES ON BROADWAY: Hugh Jackman & Cush Jumbo as The Woman in ‘The River.’ Photo: Richard Termine

GHOST STORY OR GOTHIC THRILLER? Hugh Jackman (left) & Cush Jumbo in ‘The River.’ Photo: Richard Termine

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 16, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on November 15, 2014

The post Hugh Jackman Takes Us To ‘The River’ appeared first on StageZine.