‘GREY HOUSE’: Laurie Metcalf & Eamon Patrick O’Connell. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

GREY HOUSE
Written by Levi Holloway
Directed by Joseph Mantello
Through July 30, 2023
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.GreyHouseBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Upon leaving this show, one wishes ushers had handed out leaflets to explain what on earth playwright Levi Holloway was writing about to clarify what happened on the stage of the Lyceum Theatre for the last 100 minutes. What is supposed to pass as a thriller comes across as a pretentious, incomprehensible, inconceivable tale. It is the story of a married couple, Henry (Paul Sparks) and Max (Claire Karpen)—Tatiana Maslany was absent at our performance due to illness—driving in a blizzard. They get into a car accident by hitting a deer, and that leaves Henry with a broken ankle. He hobbles in with Max to the cabin in the woods. Wooo—scary concept.

The time is 1977 (I guess people got scared easier in those days). The time is essential to know, because back then there were no cell phones to call for help. Of course, all the prerequisites are here, the house is creaking endlessly, the wind is howling outside, the cabin is a creepy mess and empty, and in order to call for help, Henry and Max walk into this seemingly abandoned cabin to call for help only to find out the phone’s cord is severed and there is no way to call out. This should have been a sign to get out of the house.

To add to the thrills and chills, there are the loud blackouts, a basement door that opens and closes with smoke billowing out of it. You ask yourself if this the stairway to hell? There is a refrigerator that, when opened, has different contents in it. The first time there are jars of elixirs in it, followed by different contents and back to the jars. Of course, what horror tale doesn’t have a face staring blankly through a window? These are the best of the jolts and shockers.

Soon, five of the creepiest children start appearing: Marlow (Sophia Anne Caruso), seemingly the eldest and the chilliest, an act perfected from her playing the role of Lydia Deetz in the musical Beetlejuice. Next is Bernie (Millicent Simmonds) who is deaf and uses sign language and can make Henry’s nose bleed with the merest hand gesture. Squirrel (Colby Kipnes) creeps in and out of the basement. A character named A1656 (Alyssa Emily Marvin)—this is not a typo —is the nicest of the lot, and one boy, The Boy (Eamon Patrick O’Connell), is the youngest. He is mostly blindfolded and hardly ever speaks. There’s also The Ancient (Cyndi Coyne); she is old and ghoulish—I think a ghost—who preys on Henry’s mind with the elixirs.

Oh, I almost forgot, there is also Raleigh (Laurie Metcalf), a seemingly gruff mother (or just having a bad day) mother figure to these children.

As Henry’s pain gets worse, Marlowe and the rest start plying Henry with the jars of moonshine—better known as the nectar of dead men—his condition worsens, these demon children start playing devious head games with Max to reveal inner secrets. Now, one would ask why would anyone allow themselves to be subjected to any of this? One would sooner amputate one’s own leg than be subjected to these children and this awful setting. It is at this point we find out there are many hidden secrets that brought them here. Was it really an accident or fate brought them here? You decide; I didn’t care.

Director Joe Mantello, usually a very concise and thorough director, has shed no light onto the proceedings except for the eerie lighting by Natasha Katz and a creepy set by the ever-brilliant set designer Scott Pask.

In a thriller, you expect to get scared and terrified, and not end up with a headache trying to figure out “what in the hell did I just sit through”?

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 5, 2023
Reviewed at June 3, 2023 press performance.

‘GREY HOUSE’: The cast. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: (left to right on stairs) Sophia Anne Caruso, Alyssa Emily Marvin & Millicent Simmonds. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Sophia Anne Caruso. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Paul Sparks & Colby Kipnes. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Eamon Patrick O’Connell & Paul Sparks. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: Tatiana Maslany & Paul Sparks. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

‘GREY HOUSE’: (left to right) Laurie Metcalf, Tatiana Maslany, Alyssa Emily Marvin & Millicent Simmonds. Photo: MurphyMade, 2023.

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HILLARY AND CLINTON
Written by Lucas Hnath
Directed by Joseph Mantello
Through July 21, 2019
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.hillaryandclintonbroadway.com

By David Nounou

After seeing Lucas Hnath’s 2017 A Doll’s House, Part 2, a follow-up to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in which Nora returns to her family after a 15-year absence (and all the drama she creates), I was intrigued to see what Mr. Hnath’s next play would be. Upon learning it was entitled Hillary and Clinton, I was giddy with anticipation over what twists he would bring to this world-renowned couple.

Starting out promisingly, we see Hillary (Laurie Metcalf) in 2008 explaining that flipping a coin five times results in one outcome, what are the chances getting the same results flipping that coin over and over again? What if another Hillary in another galaxy was doing the same toss of the coin, what would be the results there? Titillating premise for sure, but the results come up short.

Hillary is despondent that she has lost the Iowa caucus to Barack (Peter Francis James). Now, in New Hampshire, she is in third place, Barack still leading. She and her campaign manager Mark (Zac Orth) are discussing strategies, and he insists that she doesn’t call Bill (John Lithgow) for help. Everyone here is known by their first name. Mark has an offer from Barack’s team that if she drops out gracefully, Barack will pick her as his running mate, saying that it isn’t her turn now. Of course the first thing she does is call Bill for help. What ensues is bitter rancor and chastisements.

What is so frustrating is that in the 80 minutes in A Doll’s House, Part 2, so much happened, while in the same amount of time here, not much happens. After 40 minutes you hear Hillary say it is the end of Part 1, so naturally one assumes that the alternate universe would begin with what if she did run as Barack’s running mate? She wouldn’t have been secretary of state, she would not have been blamed for Benghazi and there may never have been a private server and who knows how the 2016 elections would have resulted in another galaxy? What possibilities to explore indeed. Instead we are served the blaming game and that Bill is the millstone around Hillary’s neck; she would be better off divorcing him and he would be nothing without her.

Laurie Metcalf’s riveting performance is what sustains one’s interest in the show. Without a Hillary wig, makeup or pantsuits, she is Laurie being Hillary in the most natural of ways and the performance is so luminous it could lead to an unprecedented third consecutive Tony Award for her.

John Lithgow as Bill also shines, but here he is more of a lead weight than the charismatic charmer that Bill still is. He is the man made by a strong woman standing behind him and in his shadow.

Joe Mantello as usual extracts every nuance from an otherwise lackluster show to keep it compelling. Pity he couldn’t extract or create that alternate universe. Instead, we have to be satisfied with another stunning performance from Laurie Metcalf as the heroine.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 18, 2019

‘HILLARY AND CLINTON’: John Lithgow plays Bill. Photo; Robert Zuckerman

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‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: (left to right) Robin de Jesus, Michael Benjamin Washington, Andrew Rannells & Jim Parsons. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE BOYS IN THE BAND
Written by Mart Crowley
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through August 11, 2018
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212) 239-6200, http://boysintheband.com/

By Scott Harrah

My first encounter with Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band was back in college, decades after it was originally produced in 1968. I read the play one evening in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down because I’d never read anything that had so many gay-male characters, speaking in such crisp, rapid-fire bitchy dialogue.  As engrossing as the play was to me in my early 20s, I also found it completely offensive, particularly the lead character Michael, a reprehensible man who is full of self-loathing and makes racist and anti-Semitic comments and jokes to his friends. Seeing the show in its first-ever Broadway revival, with a stellar cast under Joe Mantello’s tight direction, has taken much of the insolent sting out of Mr. Crowley’s classic.

It’s still a flawed play, dated and inherently off-putting by 21^st century standards, but if one looks beyond the now “politically incorrect” content, the show remains a curious masterpiece, and was groundbreaking for being the first drama to show a microcosm of the gay-male subculture. Before Boys, gay men were mostly portrayed in films for comic relief as effeminate, stereotypical characters (hairdressers, florists, interior designers, etc.). As a vehicle for Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Robin de Jesus (all openly gay, by the way) and others, this ebullient revival is certainly an event. For millennials and anyone too young to remember the dark days of gay life before and after Stonewall and the horror of the AIDS pandemic, it is an historical reminder of how far gay men have progressed.

The plot revolves around Michael (Jim Parsons), an unemployed writer who somehow can afford a posh, two-level Upper East Side Manhattan apartment (David Zinn’s scenic design is gorgeous, but seems too modern for the 1960s). Michael is a high-strung, well-educated man from the South and was raised in an affluent Catholic family. As the story opens, he’s preparing to host a 32^nd birthday party for his friend Harold (Zachary Quinto), a man he derisively refers to as a “pock-marked Jew.” His friend Donald (Matt Bomer), an easygoing “underachiever,” arrives after a canceled session with his therapist and is helping Michael with party preparations. The phone rings and Michael learns his supposedly straight college roommate from Georgetown, Alan (Brian Hutchison), is in tears and desperately needs to see him. Michael hesitantly invites his old friend over.

Guests start arriving. There is Emory (Robin de Jesus), the swishy interior decorator; “Cowboy” (Charlie Carver), a mentally vapid, pretty-boy blond male hustler and Emory’s “birthday present” for Harold; Hank (Tuc Watkins), a schoolteacher in the process of divorcing his wife; Hank’s lover, Larry (Andrew Rannells), a fashion photographer with monogamy issues; and Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington), a bookstore clerk, the only African-American in the group and the butt of many cruel, unfunny racist jokes and “n” word slurs by Michael.

The play has been referred to as an anachronistic “Auntie Tom” story for gays because it depicts gay men as victims of both society and their own self-abasement.  Granted, Boys was written in an era when most gay men had no choice but to stay in the closet, but have supposedly close friends (gay or straight) of any time period ever been so vicious to each other? Then again, the premise of friends being catty to each other is the foundation of all the puerile, sophomoric TV reality shows nowadays, so in that sense The Boys in the Band was decades ahead of its time.

As the drinks flow, the guys’ true feelings come out and one of the narrative highlights is a “truth” game and Michael insists that each guest pick up the telephone and call someone from the past or present to proclaim their love. Painful secrets and pathos are revealed with each telephone call, but discussing them further would spoil much of the story.

Joe Mantello directs the amazing ensemble of actors beautifully, but the biggest disappointment is Jim Parsons as Michael. Mr. Parsons, a TV superstar in his own right as nerdy genius Sheldon Cooper on the megahit series “The Big Bang Theory,” is no stranger to the Broadway stage, appearing in everything from winning revivals of Harvey and The Normal Heart to the lead in An Act of God. Unfortunately, Mr. Parsons is miscast as Michael, because he exudes too much charisma and likability for the despicable character of Michael. Michael is a man who says mean-spirited, repulsive things like “Oh, you really gotta figger, it’s tough to be a n****r, but it’s tougher to be a Jew” and self-deprecating zingers such as “You show me a happy homosexual and I’ll show you a gay corpse.”  However, Mr. Parsons is too charming, guileless and—dare I say it?—too much like TV’s Sheldon Cooper when he should simply be vile. As Harold himself says, “Michael doesn’t have charm. He has counter-charm.”

Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesus, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington and Tuc Watkins are all outstanding. This production’s biggest standout is Zachary Quinto as Harold. Mr. Quinto, first known for playing Spock in several Star Trek film sequels, is also a Broadway stage veteran, but here he gives one of his most memorable live performances ever. Although Mr. Quinto is perhaps too handsome for the role of Harold, he is nonetheless a revelation of wit and venom in his tinted glasses and outrageous mod 1960s garb, delivering his acerbic lines with zeal. However, in this case, he would have had greater impact on the show had he played the character of Michael. One can imagine how great he might have been in the role. Perhaps he might have evened out this production a bit and given Michael the hateful edge that’s necessary for the part.

Some have said that, without The Boys in the Band, there would never have been Angels in America and the countless gay-themed plays that followed, such as Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion! Love it or dismiss it, Mart Crowley’s 50-year-old drama shows the dark, unsettling roots of LGBT life in the 1960s, and there is certainly a lot to ponder with these complicated “boys” back in town on the Broadway stage.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 31, 2018

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Jim Parsons (left) & Zachary Quinto. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Jim Parsons & Matt Bomer. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’:Zachary Quinto & Charlie Carver. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: Matt Bomer (left) & Jim Parsons. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast facing Brian Hutchison. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE BOYS IN THE BAND’: (left to right) Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington & Matt Bomer. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: (left to right) Glenda Jackson, Alison Pill & Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

THREE TALL WOMEN
Written by Edward Albee
Directed by Joseph Mantello
Through June 24, 2018
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200),www.threetallwomenbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Upon seeing Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women for the second time, having originally seen it in London in 1994 with Maggie Smith, one wonders why this 1991 Pulitzer Prize winning play has never been done on Broadway? The answer is simple it was waiting for Glenda Jackson to retire from British politics and return to the stage, and what a return; she is nothing short of remarkable, giving the performance of the year.

To some degree this is Albee’s most accessible and normalized play. The characters are simply known as A, Glenda Jackson, B, Laurie Metcalf and C, Alison Pill. In the first half of the play, A is a sick, old dying woman who is rich, vain, imperious, bigoted, racist as well as homophobic. She is nursed by a middle-aged savvy B, who knows all her idiosyncrasies and knows when to calm and when to stoke her. C is young and idealistic and has been sent over by A’s attorney to take care of A’s unpaid bills. In the midst of all the idealism and cynicism, A has a stroke and blackout.

Within seconds the second part begins in a mirror image in reverse, with a body facing the back wall and the three tall women emerge in radiant lilac frocks, facing the audience, discussing the deceased.  The three women are the same at different stages of their lives: 26 idealistic, 52 bitter and cynical, and 92 content that it is all behind her now and she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore. Each one theorizes which is the best time in life.

Now back to Ms. Jackson. Leaving the stage for 25 years and being part of the British House of Commons has not dimmed her stage presence one iota. My personal favorite Glenda Jackson film is her 1973 Oscar-winning performance in A Touch Of Class. She was forceful, dominant and a force to be reckoned with; she hasn’t lost her touch and damn she is a classy lady through and through. Even when she is talking about her late husband’s genitalia, she peppers it with such frivolity that she manages to bring the house down. Here is an instance when an actor and role were made for each other, a performance for the ages.

Laurie Metcalf, who last year won a Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress for A Doll’s House, Part II supports Ms. Jackson admirably in Part I, then glows as a red-hot ember in the second half. Her depiction of middle-aged bitterness is sublimely real. She is becoming a Broadway staple and a perennial Tony nominee, and for my money, she should return to Broadway annually.

Alison Pill, who is an accomplished actress in her own right, is in the least admirable part. Her part is the least developed and lacks much dimension. She does have a sincere moment in the second half as she retells a moment of her youth.

Broadway audiences are in for a real treat with Three Tall Women, beautifully directed by Joe Mantello. He has imbued it with so much texture and richness that the play seems timeless. Besides seeing one of Albee’s best and least revived plays, you will be experiencing a ferocious force known as Hurricane Glenda, a powerful tour de force in the best of ways.

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

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Alison Pill, Laurie Metcalf & Glenda Jackson. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Glenda Jackson & Laurie Metcalf

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Glenda Jackson. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Alison Pill, Glenda Jackson & Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Alison Pill, Glenda Jackson & Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: Alison Pill. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

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‘THE GLASS MENAGERIE’: (left to right) Madison Ferris, Sally Field & Joe Mantello. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

THE GLASS MENAGERIE
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Sam Gold
Belasco Theatre
111 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200), http://glassmenagerieonbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Tennessee Williams is consistently revived on Broadway because he’s one of the greatest American playwrights of all time. His first play is also his most delicate and quite accessible, so even in a minimalistic revival like this, the story is timeless. The dialogue is so seamless and the characters so real that one can almost overlook director Sam Gold’s unorthodox staging, with almost no set and few props. Williams purists, be forewarned: This production isn’t The Glass Menagerie you probably fell in love with in high-school English or drama class.

Mr. Gold first mounted this revival in Amsterdam, and utilitarian, avant-garde retooling of American drama classics is common practice in Europe these days. While this may be great overseas, it does not always work on Broadway. However, Mr. Gold isn’t the first to create a nontraditional staging of Menagerie.  Less than four years ago in fall 2013, director John Tiffany and scenic designer Bob Crowley brought the show from the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts to Broadway (starring Cherry Jones as Amanda Wingfield) and were nominated for a Tony Award, recreating the 1930s epic of a St. Louis family with a reflecting pool of water and a stylized set featuring a tower of fire escapes (a crucial part of the original script). This revival also does not include—as is often featured in other productions and the script—the large portrait of Mr. Wingfield, the father who left the family years earlier.

The casting here, along with Wojciech Dziedzic’s costuming (which seems more 1950s or 1990s than ’30s), is also atypical. In addition, because there is not much to Andrew Lieberman’s set, other than a dining room table, the black stage often metaphorically swallows the actors whole.

Sally Field is powerful as Amanda Wingfield, the domineering harpy of mother. She gives a new interpretation of Amanda, the faded Southern belle who clings to tradition and unrealistic goals for her children. Whether she’s nagging her children or recalling her glory days in Mississippi, we hear the sounds of desperation in every syllable she utters.

It is great to see Joe Mantello (now better known as a director than actor) as Tom, the protagonist and narrator. He is appropriately nervous and high-strung, arguing with his mother or talking about the drudgery of working in a shoe factory and spending mysterious nights at the movies, but with his gray hair, he seems more like Amanda’s brother or Laura’s father.

Newcomer Madison Ferris (an actress who uses a wheelchair in real life) makes her Broadway debut as Laura, the painfully shy, emotionally and physically challenged character who relates only to her glass animal collection and words of encouragement from her brother and mother.  Ms. Ferris’ Laura is authentic and touching, portraying an about-to-blossom flower when the famous Gentleman Caller (Finn Wittrock) arrives. Mr. Wittrock is amusing and natural as the man Tom invites over for dinner, after Amanda insists on finding a suitor for “Sister.”

It is always a thrill to see Tennessee Williams’ plays revived, but this bare-bones production falls flat in comparison to the excellent John Tiffany-directed version or even the 2004 production with Jessica Lange and Christian Slater. Mr. Gold brings a new spin indeed to the show, but because the set lacks key elements of the show to anchor the story, this Glass Menagerie seems more like a first week’s dress rehearsal than a full-fledged production, lacking the polish needed to make the classic truly shine.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 9, 2017
Reviewed at press preview performance on March 4, 2017

‘THE GLASS MENAGERIE’: Finn Wittrock & Madison Ferris. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE GLASS MENAGERIE’: Sally Field & Joe Mantello, Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE GLASS MENAGERIE’: Joe Mantello & Sally Field. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE GLASS MENAGERIE’: Joe Mantello & Sally Field. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘THE GLASS MENAGERIE’: Joe Mantello, Sally Field & Finn Wittock. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

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‘AN ACT OF GOD’: Sean Hayes. Photo: Jim Cox

AN ACT OF GOD
Written by David Javerbaum
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through September 4, 2016
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.AnActOfGod.com

By Scott Harrah

God returns to Broadway in this hit show from last summer, appearing in the 21^st century to give us His new version of the Ten Commandments. He’s not in the form of a burning bush, but this time around he’s in the body of Emmy Award winner Sean Hayes, with mostly heavenly results.

Mr. Hayes, Jack McFarland of “Will and Grace” fame, reprises the role originated by “Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons in 2015. Mr. Hayes, who played God earlier this year in the Los Angeles and San Francisco productions, brings his Almighty touch to New York. Anyone who saw Mr. Parsons do the role will immediately make comparisons about Mr. Hayes’ portrayal. While Mr. Parsons’ God was more droll, ingenious and deadpan, Mr. Hayes gives a fresh, snarky take on the Supreme Being. Sean Hayes as God is more sarcastic, delivers the dialogue with more of an edge and, well, does at times seem like Jack McFarland as our Heavenly Father, but that’s not a problem at all if one is a “Will and Grace” fan.

Naturally, the script has been updated slightly for 2016. There are now jokes about Hamilton and Donald Trump (no need to spoil anything with punch lines, but there are enough new tweaks to make the show worth a second look, even if you caught it last year with Jim Parsons).

We know that God is omnipotent and omnificent created the world in six days and can be merciful. We know He can be full of wrath, vengeful, jealous, unjust and downright cantankerous. We now know that on good days He also has a sense of humor.

Besides Mr. Hayes, the other true star is the clever script by David Javerbaum (13-time Emmy Award-winning former head writer and executive producer of “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart), all based “on the memoir of God.”

Whether you’ve seen Sean Hayes as Jack in “Will and Grace” or caught his Broadway debut back in 2011 opposite Kristin Chenoweth in Promises, Promises, you’ve never seen him quite like this.  Now, in this 90 minute monologue, he shows us God’s duality, the good side of Him and the one who is skeptical of mankind’s daily troubles. He is vain and does not concern Himself in sports, so we should stop praying to Him for our favorite team, Mr. Hayes shows us God in all of his moods. While Mr. Hayes primarily plays things for laughs (and gets them), he can be poignant in the right places, such as when he announces the 8^th commandment, “To Honor Thy Children.” Suddenly, this smart-mouthed God shows he has a compassionate side, too.

God has two engaging assistants: The questioning angel Michael (David Josefsberg) and the servicing angel Gabriel (James Gleason). The set by Scott Pask and lighting by Hugh Vanstone is sparse but effective. As he once did for Bette Midler in I’ll Eat You Last (which played the Booth back in 2013), Joe Mantello has a fine gift for extracting the best from his actors who engage in monologues.

Now here’s a commandment: Thou must now get to the Booth Theatre and see Sean Hayes as God.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 6, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on June 4, 2016

‘AN ACT OF GOD’: James Gleason, Sean Hayes & David Josefsberg. Photo: Jim Cox

‘AN ACT OF GOD’: Sean Hayes. Photo: Jim Cox

‘AN ACT OF GOD’: James Gleason, Sean Hayes & David Josefsberg. Photo: Jim Cox

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‘BLACKBIRD’: Jeff Bridges & Michelle Williams. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

BLACKBIRD
Written by David Harrower
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through June 11, 2016
Belasco Theatre
111 West 44th Street.
(212-239-6200), www.blackbirdbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Complex and intense, riveting but perplexing, damaged and flawed are all descriptions of the characters and the play Blackbird. By the nature of its unsavory subject matter, it is one of those plays that make you squirm in your seat, but you can’t take your eyes off the stage. Its strongest suit is that it constantly alters the viewer’s allegiance from one character to the other.

Ray (Jeff Daniels) seduced Una (Michelle Williams) 15 years ago. Ray was 40, Una was 12. On the surface it is a very clear open-and-shut case. Today, Una has finally located Ray, who has moved to a different city and changed his name. She has come to his place of work to confront him about that incident. From the onset, when both characters enter together as though joined at the hip into a messy private eating area, you sense that fireworks will go off. They have both paid a horrific price for their act and the extent of their damage is very obvious. As the play delves deeper into the incident, it becomes an entangled web of who seduced who, who was left alone to fend for themselves, and who had to pay the higher cost of humiliation and punishment

Up to this point the play is riveting and intoxicating. However, playwright David Harrower alters this perfectly balanced play to reach the nether regions and suddenly this emotional wallop disperses into the nebulous zone and there is no assistance from director Joe Mantello.

In order to keep this play on track, you need two superb performances, and what performances? Michelle Williams who made an inauspicious Broadway debut in 2014 in Cabaret is simply mesmerizing. Every movement, facial expression, tick, and the torment behind them is conveyed magnificently. She is so immersed into the role that at times it is excruciating to watch.

Jeff Daniels is equally brilliant; he picks up his cues from Ms. Williams and has to go toe to toe with her in order to give the play balance. Upon hearing Ms. Williams recall her lost youth and upon remembering his own ordeal of punishments, Mr. Daniels ages before our very eyes. The two are giving the performances of their careers.

Consequences of events that happened a long time ago stay with us and the damage and flaws it creates can be lifelong. Hopefully at some point, one can confront it and try to resolve it. Blackbird is only 85 minutes long and performed without an intermission. Short as it is, it’s not an easy sit through, but the rewards are great. To see Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams at the top of their game makes the evening that much more bearable and enriching.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 13, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on March 11, 2016

‘BLACKBIRD’: Jeff Daniels. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘BLACKBIRD’: Michelle Williams. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

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‘THE HUMANS’: (left to right) Reed Birney, Jane Houdyshell, Sarah Steele, Arian Moayed. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

THE HUMANS
Written by Steven Karam
Directed by Joe Mantello
Helen Hayes Theatre
240 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200), www.thehumansonbroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

Dysfunctional family dramas have become a staple in American theater, but Steven Karam’s The Humans, which just transferred to Broadway after a brief run at the Roundabout Laura Pels, is the rare exception of such a play that resonates with a natural universality. Think of this as a one-act, abridged version of Tracey Letts’ August: Osage County with a supernatural twist. Director Joe Mantello has left everything from the Off Broadway version intact, from the fine cast to the unique, split-level set depicting a bare bones Manhattan basement duplex apartment.

Steven Karam, best known for his 2011 drama Sons of the Prophet, establishes himself as one of America’s leading playwrights here with the saga of the Blakes. The family has traveled from Scranton, Pennsylvania to spend Thanksgiving with daughter Brigid (Sarah Steele) and her boyfriend Richard (Arian Moayed) in their new Chinatown abode. In 95 minutes, we learn about the many troubles of the family. Brigid and Richard are swimming in student loan debt. Brigid’s parents Erik (Reed Birney) and Deirdre (Jane Houdyshell) are in their 60s and have mounting financial troubles, plus the burden of taking care of Erik’s mother, Momo (Lauren Klein), suffering from the late stages of Alzheimer’s. Older daughter Aimee (Cassie Beck), an attorney, is grappling with a debilitating health problem and a lackluster love life (her girlfriend recently dumped her).

Throughout the show, we hear strange sounds, many of which Brigid blames on an elderly neighbor, while others are attributed to a trash compactor. As the show progresses, the sounds become stranger and more jangled and disturbing. Are these the sounds of the neighbor, typical street noise in Manhattan, or something darker and more sinister? This is one of the many enigmas never explained.

The story has all the elements of a crisis-by-the-numbers, formulaic drama, but what sets it apart from others is the crisp, often hilarious dialogue and the onstage chemistry of the cast. Besides the personal turmoil of each character, there isn’t much else to the plot other than everyone is gathered to spend the most iconic American holiday together. The Blakes are folks who are much like many struggling middle-class Americans in the 21st century. They struggle to keep and find jobs and make ends meet and argue about religion and values, or even things as trivial as organic “super foods.”

What’s most remarkable here is the great ensemble acting, expertly directed by Joe Mantello. Mr. Birney and Ms. Houdyshell truly standout, but credit must also be given to the technical and set wizards of the show: David Zinn for his innovative scenic design; the lighting design by Justin Townsend; and the sound design of Fitz Patton because The Humans relies heavily on the set, sounds and lighting to evoke the mood and take the audience on an emotional ride that is already one of the 2015/2016 season’s most-talked-about dramas.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published February 21, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on February 20, 2016

‘THE HUMANS’: Sarah Steele & Reed Birney. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

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‘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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HEAVENLY FATHER: Jim Parsons in ‘An Act of God.’ Photo: Jeremy Daniel

AN ACT OF GOD
Written by David Javerbaum
Directed by Joe Mantello
Through August 2, 2015
Studio 54
254 West 54th Street
(212-239-6200), www.AnActOfGod.com

By David NouNou

What a divine inspiration for God to make an appearance in the 21st century and give us His new version of the Ten Commandments, not in the form of a burning bush, bleeding statue, or some religious relic, but to use the body of Jim Parsons and, of all places, the Sodom and Gomorrah of the 1970s and 1980s, Studio 54. Simply heavenly.

We know that God is omnipotent, omniscient, created the world in six days and can be merciful. We have an inkling that He can be full of wrath, vengeful, jealous, unjust and downright cantankerous. We now know that, on good days, He also has a sense of humor.

Humor is the joy that David Javerbaum (head writer and executive producer of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”) has mined in An Act of God, based on the memoir of God. However, the proverbial cup that runneth over is God choosing Jim Parsons to represent Him in the flesh. We all know Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, the Ph.D., theoretical physicist from TV’s “The Big Bang Theory,” but who knew he may actually be God who wears a flowing white robe, jeans and red sneakers?

If you had the good fortune to see Mr. Parsons in the astounding 2011 revival of The Normal Heart and the 2012 revival of Harvey, you know what a proficient actor he can be on stage. Now in what is an essentially 90-minute monologue, he shows us God’s duality, the good side of Him and the one who is weary of the day-to-day problems of mankind. He is vain and does not concern Himself in sports, so we should stop praying to Him for our favorite team to win or help us with the Tony ballot come this Sunday. Mr. Parsons has been blessed with the power to show us God in all of his moods. To show you what a superb actor Mr. Parsons is, and this is not a spoiler alert, just wait till the 8th Commandment, “To Honor Thy Children” and watch the compassion that runs throughout his whole being.

God also has two delightful assistants, the questioning angel Michael (Christopher Fitzgerald) and the servicing angel Gabriel (Tim Kazurinsky). The set by Scott Pask and lighting by Hugh Vanstone are other worldly and I mean that in the good sense. Just like he did for Bette Midler in I’ll Eat You Last, director Joe Mantello knows how to extract the best from his actors who engage in monologues.

The only thing missing in An Act Of God is the 11th Commandment; “Thou Must Go to Studio 54 and see Jim Parsons.”

SELFIE TIME IN THE AFTERLIFE: (left to right) Tim Kazurinsky, Jim Parsons & Christopher Fitzgerald. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

OH, GOD: Jim Parsons. Photo: Jeremy Daniel

REIGNING SUPREME: Jim Parsons in ‘An Act of God.’ Photo: Jeremy Daniel

GOD ALMIGHTY: Jim Parsons in ‘An Act of God.’

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 4, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on June 3, 2015

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