‘THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM’: Eileen Atkins & Jonathan Pryce. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM
Written by Florian Zeller
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Jonathan Kent
Through November 24, 2019
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200),www.manhattantheatreclub.com

By David NouNou

Florian Zeller is a French novelist and playwright whose previous plays include The Father (which played at the Samuel J. Friedman in 2016, with a Tony Award-winning performance from Frank Langella). Earlier this year, Isabelle Huppert was in Mr. Zeller’s The Mother Off Broadway. There is a thread that runs through Mr. Zeller’s plays where death and dementia play a major character. From a pretentious standpoint, it is equivalent to a haunting character that comes in and goes out between scenes, but stripped from the haunting aspect, it is a deep and disturbing reality that all the elderly and their families face together.

Set in present-day Paris in a house in the country, Andre (Jonathan Pryce) is in a dazed and agitated state and is staring out the kitchen window while his older daughter, Anne (Amanda Drew) is going over his papers and discussing what to do with his diaries while he remains mute. She also brings forward the fact that he unable to live alone in this big house, when Madeline (Eileen Atkins) Andre’s wife of 50 years walks in, with their younger daughter Elise (Lisa O’Hare). She goes on preparing mushrooms for lunch, and Andre goes over the ingredients for this delightful dish that they substituted for meat. This conversation goes on for a while where we have to decide which one of them is dead, is it Andre or Madeline?

It becomes frustrating deciphering these scenes, because every time it goes in one direction, the other character pops up. It’s Mr. Zeller’s way of showing us how people with dementia deal with death and family. He plays these two subjects almost as ghosts. The subject matter is heady and so many families face these problems every day.

What grounds this thin 80-minute drama is the nuanced performance of Eileen Atkins as Madeline, the strong, indomitable force that anchors Andre throughout their 50-year marriage. She is willful, and for all intents and purposes, the proverbial “last man” standing.

Jonathan Pryce gives another powerful performance; his agitated state, his rambling repetitious sentences are heartbreaking and terrifying. Although he was the personality in the marriage, in the longer run he is the terrified and weaker of the two. Their performances give life to the memory of a powerful subject, overshadowing and outliving an otherwise weak play of gimmicks.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published September 26, 2019
Reviewed at September 25, 2019 press performance.

‘THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM’: Eileen Atkins & Jonathan Pryce. Photo: Hugo Glendenning

‘THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM’: Eileen Atkins & Jonathan Pryce. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM’: Jonathan Pryce. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM’: Eileen Atkins. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM’: Jonathan Pryce. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT’: Gabriel Byrne & Jessica Lange. Photo: Joan Marcus

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
By Eugene O’Neill
Directed by Jonathan Kent
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street, (212-392-1652)
www.roundabouttheatre.org

By Scott Harrah

You’ve not truly seen Jessica Lange perform until you catch Roundabout’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night— for this is probably her best performance in years, if not ever. The tragic epic runs three hours and 45 minutes. However, this production is so wonderfully paced by director Jonathan Kent, and Ms. Lange’s portrayal is so haunting, that this marathon of family dysfunction circa 1912 almost seems like a breeze to sit through.

Ms. Lange plays Mary Cavan Tyrone, the wife of successful Irish actor James (Gabriel Byrne) and a woman battling decades of morphine addiction, broken dreams and a volatile relationship with her two sons. Many have portrayed Mary throughout the years, but Ms. Lange, at this point in her career, seems tailor made for the part. She is a marvelous mix of maturity, incandescent stage presence, vulnerability and strength. From the moment she enters the stage, she has us spellbound as she paces, full of nerves and emotion, with her hands running across her hair, or throat or smoothing out her dress. One minute she’s sweet and coquettish; the next, she’s yelling at the family. Watching Ms. Lange is exhausting as she recounts both the happy and painful details of her past, and it’s impossible to keep our eyes off her.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night, first produced on Broadway in 1956, is Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical saga of his family in the early 20th century. It is a foggy August day at Monte Cristo Cottage, the seaside Connecticut estate of the Tyrones. Mary has recently returned from a sanitarium and has failed to kick her morphine habit (which she claims is medication for her arthritic hands). Elder son James (Michael Shannon) has a serious alcohol problem and visits the local brothel too much, while the family fears the constant coughing of younger son Edmund (John Gallagher, Jr.), modeled after O’Neill himself, means he probably has consumption (tuberculosis) and may soon be sent to a state sanitarium.

With his thick Irish brogue and elegant demeanor, Gabriel Bryne is certainly everything Eugene O’Neill had in mind for the character of James Tyrone: A man eager to maintain the love of his wife as she unravels.

Michael Shannon gives a solid depiction of a man overcome by his demons, one who admits his kid brother is his “only pal.” Unfortunately, John Gallagher, Jr. is less effective as Edmund, the youngest son.

The drama has never been easy to watch with its heavy talk about death, alcoholism, disease, an overly frugal father, and so on. Yes, it is melodramatic and repetitious at times. Although the play could use some trimming, it’s still a masterpiece and O’Neill’s greatest work. Perhaps that’s why director Jonathan Kent keeps everything intact here, with all the touches that remind us of O’Neill’s real-life family back in 1912, from Jane Greenwood’s elegant period costumes to Tom Pye’s gorgeous set. In a season of unorthodox revivals, it’s refreshing to see one that’s simple, straightforward and free of gimmicks, allowing audiences to appreciate everything that is great about an American classic.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night has received seven Tony nominations, including Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play and Best Director of a Play.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 3, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on May 1, 2016

‘LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT’: John Gallagher, Jr. & Jessica Lange. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT’: Jessica Lange & Gabriel Byrne. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT’: (Left to right) John Gallagher, Jr. & Michael Shannon. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT’: Jessica Lange. Photo: Joan Marcus

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IMELDA’S TURN: Imelda Staunton gives one of the freshest interpretations of Mama Rose ever in the London revival of ‘Gypsy.’ Photo: Johan Persson

GYPSY
Suggested by the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Jonathan Kent
Choreographed by Stephen Mear
Through November 28, 2015
Savoy Theatre
Strand
London, United Kingdom
(0844 871 7674), www.gypsythemusical.uk

By David NouNou

Americans are very possessive of their national treasures, and Gypsy, the musical, is certainly one of them. I would definitely place it among the five greatest American musicals of all time. However, in the past 11 years, two Broadway revivals have been major disappointments: the first was a total flatliner, and the second was a maniacally one-note, manic, diva-driven vehicle. So when it was time for StageZine to select which shows to review in London, Gypsy was not a top priority. I must say that nothing could have prepared me for what I saw on the stage of the Savoy or Imelda Staunton as Mama Rose.

To begin with, the book by Arthur Laurents is tightly written (though at times now a bit creaky) but the music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim are immortal and second to none. From the first note of the overture, the music is intoxicating and prepares you for the roller coaster ride you are about to take. Starting with the new orchestrations by Nicholas Skilbeck and Tom Kelly to fit the range of the leading lady’s voice, they maintained the crispness of the score, and Jonathan Kent’s reimagined and redefined direction compresses the proceedings on the small Savoy stage not in a downscaled manner but in the shabby mode of the old vaudeville and burlesque style.

The story is simple: a stage mother (Rose) is trying to push her two young daughters, Baby June and Baby Louise, to stardom in vaudeville at a time when vaudeville was dying and the girls are growing up and still being passed off as young little girls. Ultimately time marches on, June runs off to elope and get away from Mama’s grip to become an actress, and Louise becomes the renowned stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.

Now for the best part of a review, when a critic shamelessly fawns over the leading lady and for good reason. Most Americans know Imelda Staunton for her Oscar-nominated role as the lead in Vera Drake and the two Harry Potter movies and would not seem an obvious choice as Mama Rose; after all, the role was originated by Ethel Merman, the legendary voice of Broadway. Just listen to the original recording of Gypsy and you’ll know why no actress dared play the part until 1974. That was the time when Angela Lansbury was coaxed to do the role. Ms. Lansbury was not a great singer but certainly gave a brilliant performance. Ms. Lansbury originated it in London and lucky for me she came to Broadway, where I got my first glimpse of this masterpiece. Subsequently many actresses have come to play the part: Tyne Daly, Linda Lavin, Bernadette Peters, Betty Buckley, Patti LuPone, and those are only the ones that I saw, but I can honestly say I have never encountered a force with the ferocity of Hurricane Imelda.

She is as ruthless as Medea, as delusional as Norma Desmond, as genteel, charming and emotionally fragile as Blanche DuBois. Being familiar with this musical, I was most interested to see how Ms. Staunton was going to make her first entrance. While the audience was watching the proceedings onstage, I had my head cocked to the right, watching her make her way down the dark aisle. While most Roses barrel in on their first entrance to make their presence felt as the force they are with the famous line “Sing out, Louise,”  not Imelda; she casually sashays down the aisle and firmly says those three immortal words while climbing onstage. At first I thought this was an odd choice for an entrance, but then it made sense; she unobtrusively enters to receive her due applause. And so begins this legendary performance for the ages. You see her building layer after layer with every scene and song. She is raw and vulnerable; she is coiled like a cobra ready to strike, and all wrapped up in a veil of desperation to succeed. As for her singing, no one expects Merman, but watch Ms. Staunton act the hell out of “Some People,” “Small World,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Together Wherever We Go,” and the finale “Rose’s Turn.” One is absolutely and orgasmically drained after that number.

As the grown up Louise, Lara Pulver bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Joan Crawford, is perfect in her early stages of awkwardness and being invisible and touching up to the point where Mama pushes her onstage to be a stripper. It’s at this point where she is not convincing in the maturation process and the emergence of the renowned stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Her “Let Me Entertain You” montage of the cocoon opening into a butterfly is hampered in two ways; she is given the most hideous costumes to perform in, thus making the scene blah instead of sexy and exciting; and she lacks the oomph to bring any shading to character development as Gypsy Rose Lee.

Peter Davison is sweet, gentle and loving as Herbie, Rose’s ardent pursuer, but lacks the hard edge of an agent that Herbie needs to survive in show business.

One of the major highlights of the show’s reimagining are the three strippers in the “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” number. Usually performed by older but fit actresses, Mr. Kent made it more authentic, by showing the seediness of burlesque with women whose bodies have had hard times and seen better days. Kudos to Anita Louise Combe (Tessie Tura), Louise Gold (Mezeppa) and Julie LeGrand (Electra) for letting it all hang out.

I must confess that seeing Imelda Staunton as Mama Rose performing at the magnificent art deco Savoy Theatre was theatrical nirvana for me. For anyone who is planning to visit London and is going to the theatre, Gypsy is the show to catch. A truly “must see” show of the year.

AS RUTHLESS AS MEDEA & AS DELUSIONAL AS NORMA DESMOND: Imelda Staunton as Mama Rose in ‘Gypsy’. Photo: Johan Persson

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES: Lara Pulver (left) & Imelda Staunton in ‘Gypsy.’ Photo: Johan Persson

ONE OF AMERICA’S BEST MUSICALS REVIVED IN LONDON: Imelda Staunton (left) & Lara Pulver in ‘Gypsy.’ Photo: Johan Persson

‘LITTLE LAMB’: Lara Pulver in ‘Gypsy’. Photo: Johan Persson

GREATEST SHOW-BIZ STORY EVER ON THE STAGE: ‘Gypsy’ revival in London. Photo: Johan Persson

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 26, 2015
Reviewed at June 19, 2015 performance in London

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