‘THE COLLABORATION’: Paul Bettany & Jeremy Pope. Photo: © Jeremy Daniel, 2022. Scenic & costume design by Anna Fleischle.

THE COLLABORATION
Written by Anthony McCarten
Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah
Through February 11, 2023
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.manhattantheatreclub.com


By David NouNou

When one sees The Collaboration, keep in mind that, for dramatic purposes, this play is an abbreviated, slightly altered, condensed time frame of two art giants Andy Warhol (Paul Bettany) and Jean-Michel Basquiat (Jeremy Pope) to fit the parameters of a stage play and still make it interesting for the general public, some of whom might not be familiar with art, the artists and their individual or collaborative work.

Warhol and Basquiat were introduced by art dealer, Bruno Bischofberger (Erik Jensen), in 1982 and had a tumultuous friendship with many ups and downs that lasted for many years. They spent a lot of time together, working out, painting and going to parties together and many collaborative art pieces until their 1985 joint exhibition Paintings, shown at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York that was slammed by critics and torn apart by the media. This ultimately was the final rift that practically all but ended their relationship.

As playwright Anthony McCarten writes it, Bischofberger worked with and displayed both artists. He indeed brought the two together because Basquiat was on the rise with his raw-energy paintings and Warhol was on the decline due to his repetitious lithographs. Although the two had nothing in common, Bischofberger thought a collaboration between the two would benefit both and leave a lasting legacy for the art world to enjoy.

McCarten shows the slow argumentative start between the two and a lot of the play centers around them asking each other questions of what art means to each of them. This is displayed by the films and pictures Warhol took of Basquiat’s art process, and Basquiat forcing Warhol to start painting again after 25 years of not touching a brush. With this process, they built a deep and meaningful friendship that intersected with their personal lives. This is where one of Basquiat’s girlfriends, Maya (Krysta Rodriguez), is introduced.

Upon hearing of the death of fellow artist Michael Stewart by police officers for painting graffiti, Basquiat is overwhelmed and is about to resort to heroin use again only to be intervened by Warhol after a fight they had earlier. This is when Warhol returns and becomes the father figure to encourage him to paint together and release their emotions.

The key performance here is Paul Bettany as Andy Warhol. He is iconic, consistent, absorbing, fascinating and intimately raw.

Jeremy Pope has the harder part, that of the rebellious Black artist who has hit it big in the art world because of his unconventional work. He comes across as petulant and, at times, childlike because of his young age. When the two met he was only 22. Mr. Pope has proven his talents in both The Choir Boy and Ain’t Too Proud, earning him two Tony Award nominations in the same year. However, his performance here is gripping at times but mostly inconsistent.

For art connoisseurs, The Collaboration may be a fond remembrance of these two artists. For most theatregoers, it will be an interesting viewing of two formidable, diametrically opposed artists having mutual respect for each other, their works, and their common grounds.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 6, 2023
Reviewed at January 5, 2023 press performance.

‘THE COLLABORATION’: Paul Bettany & Jeremy Pope. Photo: © Jeremy Daniel, 2022. Scenic & costume design by Anna Fleischle.

‘THE COLLABORATION’: Erik Jensen. Photo: © Jeremy Daniel, 2022. Scenic & costume design by Anna Fleischle.

‘THE COLLABORATION’: Paul Bettany & Erik Jensen. Photo: © Jeremy Daniel, 2022. Scenic & costume design by Anna Fleischle.

‘THE COLLABORATION’: Jeremy Pope & Paul Bettany. Photo: © Jeremy Daniel, 2022. Scenic & costume design by Anna Fleischle.

‘THE COLLABORATION’: Krysta Rodriguez & Jeremy Pope. Photo: © Jeremy Daniel, 2022. Scenic & costume design by Anna Fleischle.

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‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’: (left to right) Ephraim Sykes, Jeremy Pope, Jawan M. Jackson, James Harkness & Derrick Baskin. Photo: Matthew Murphy

AIN’T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS
Book by Dominique Morisseau
Music & lyrics from the Motown Catalog
Directed by Des McAnuff
Choreographed by Sergio Trujillo
Imperial Theatre
249 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200),www.ainttooproudmusical.com

By David NouNou

Jukebox musicals are becoming more and more a Broadway staple. All you need is an extensive songbook catalog, a backstory dealing with the struggles of rising to the top, struggles with love/home life, and a few bumps along the way and the rest of the show fills itself out. You don’t need to have the songs be in the right order of their release. All you have to do is place them where they fit in best. Just look at two recent jukebox musicals: last year’s Summer: The Donna Summer Musical which was an offensive and an inaccurate mess; and The Cher Show, a campy homage to the legend.

Jukebox musicals when done well may turn out to be a profitable blockbuster. Case in point: Des McAnuff’s Jersey Boys; everything worked to perfection in that. Then there are the abysmal messes like Jimmy Buffet’s Escape to Margaritaville and the Go-Go’s musical Head Over Heels (both with pedestrian books). The plot lines were so absurd that the only way to go was down.

Aside from the Motown song catalog, which is the raison d’etre for Ain’t Too Proud, there is a coherent book by Dominique Morisseau, showing the struggles to the top, the struggles of being on the road and the messed-up home life, and since this is a musical about a group, the cracks that begin and form from within. Otis Williams (Derrick Baskin), the head of the Temptations who brings them together, tells us there were ultimately 24 members who made up the group over the years.

The original five consisted of Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin (Jawan M. Jackson), the bass, the silky lady’s man, Eddie Kendricks (Jeremy Pope), smooth stylist Paul Williams (Curtis Wiley) and the main voice and also the seismic volcano David Ruffin (Ephraim Sykes). The struggle here is the higher the charts they climbed, the more their demons took over and made them more volatile to work with together.

The leads, voices, acting, choreography by Sergio Trujillo, direction by Des McAnuff, songs and book are all here. This doesn’t mean that the show is flawless. This could have been one of the greatest jukebox musicals, if it wasn’t for the artistic design team: sets, costumes and lighting making the evening duller and less exciting that it actually is. The sets (what there is of them) are by Robert Brill, consisting of a monochromatic gray, black and white which visually makes the look very dreary. The costumes by Paul Tazewell are equally bland and they both make the proceedings seem like you are watching it on a 1960s black and white TV set. The lighting by Howell Binkley doesn’t shed much light on the proceedings, either.

Besides the song catalog you are left with six excellent performances and voices that give the show its gravitas and knocks you out of your seat. It is hard to single any performance but let’s start with the flashiest; Ephraim Sykes as David Ruffin is a sure-fire Tony Award contender for Featured Actor in a Musical. Jeremy Pope, seen earlier this year in Choir Boy, is just as smooth, silky and charming and another contender. At our performance the role of Paul Williams was taken over by Curtis Wiley who was splendid, as was Jawan M. Jackson (Melvin Franklin, bass), the longest-staying member of the group alongside Otis Williams. Derrick Baskin as Otis has the hardest part and it is the least showy. He is the man who brings the Temptations together. He is the father figure and the disciplinarian, thus making his role a straight man, narrator and the last living survivor of the group. The sixth is the scene-stealing Saint Aubyn, playing Dennis Edwards who replaces David Ruffin. His scenes inject attitude and humor in just the right places.

Let’s leave the ending a surprise. It brings the show to a crescendo and gives it the vibrance that leaves you in R&B nirvana.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 29, 2019
Reviewed at March 28, 2019 press performance.

‘AIN’T TOO TO PROUD’: Christian Thompson (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’: Ephraim Sykes (center, kneeling) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’: Jeremy Pope & Candice Marie Woods. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’: Ephraim Sykes & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’: Ephraim Sykes. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’: Derrick Baskin (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

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‘CHOIR BOY’: (left to right) Nicholas L. Ashe, J. Quinton Johnson, Jeremy Pope, Caleb Eberhardt & John Clay III. Photo: Matthew Murphy

CHOIR BOY
Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Trip Cullman
Through February 24, 2019
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.manhattantheatreclub.com

By David NouNou

Life in any prep school is fraught with teenage angst, anxiety, bullying, camaraderie, homophobia and preparing for college, but the setting for Choir Boy is the Charles P. Drew Prep School—a boarding school for teenage black men with high ethical standards—has an extra layer added, that of hypocrisy and not ratting out your fellow brothers even if they “done you wrong.”

Pharus Jonathan Young (Jeremy Pope), a flamboyantly gay African-American teenager who has been bullied and shamed since he was eight, sings to his own tune, at his own peril. Here now, he does what he knows best and that is to sing gospel songs and he is the lead in the choir. Of course, there is also the homophobic bully, also in the choir, Bobby Marrow (J. Quinton Johnson). He also happens to be the nephew of Headmaster Marrow (Chuck Cooper).

At the onset, Pharus is taunted with racial and homophobic slurs by Bobby at a school recital, which puts the blame on Pharus for stopping in the middle of singing. Pharus is summoned to the headmaster’s office to explain his behavior. Naturally being a young man of honor and obeying the school code, he doesn’t squeal to the headmaster of what the man’s nephew did to him. Well, you see the dilemma here.

In this mix is a closeted, confused young man, David Heard (Caleb Eberhardt), aspiring to be a priest. The sympathetic and understanding straight, macho roommate, Anthony (John Clay III) and the all-around smart aleck, Junior Davis (Nicholas L. Ashe) who tries to do the right thing by all.

The problem here is the story—what there is of it—is riddled with clichés and has little substance. Written by Tarrell Alvin McCraney, Oscar winner for the screenplay of Moonlight, has a good premise, that of a young gay black teenager struggling in the world to find a place in it, and the struggle within his own race. It’s a story that should be told, but it was told better in Moonlight. This reeks of the 1992 movie School Ties with Brendan Fraser and Matt Dillon, of honor in an all-boys’ school. What is worse is that there is no focus from director Trip Cullman to give it a more cohesive narrative and badly needed fine-tuning. The redeeming grace is Jeremy Pope as Pharus. He originated this role in 2013 off Broadway, and gives the play the anchor it so desperately needs.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 10, 2019
Reviewed at January 9, 2019 performance.

‘CHOIR BOY’: Jeremy Pope & Chuck Cooper. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘CHOIR BOY’: Jeremy Pope & Caleb Eberhardt. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘THE CHOIR BOY”: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘CHOIR BOY’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘THE CHOIR BOY”: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘CHOIR BOY’: John Clay III & Jeremy Pope. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘CHOIR BOY’: Quinton Johnson & Jeremy Pope. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘CHOIR BOY’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘CHOIR BOY’: Jeremy Pope. Photo: Matthew Murphy

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