‘TAKE ME OUT’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

TAKE ME OUT
Written by Richard Greenberg
Directed by Scott Ellis
Through May 29, 2022
The Hayes Theater
240 West 44th Street
(212-541-4516), www 2ST.com

By David NouNou

Take Me Out is a show that is enjoyable while watching, but mind-blowing long after leaving the theater and pondering the different subject matters it tackles. I admired the show in 2002 more as a voyeur and missed out on the multiple layers upon which it is built. The central subject matter is the coming out of a beloved baseball player, who is at the top of his game, to the media, unbeknownst to his fellow teammates and without any cause or a personal relationship. Although it might have seemed a breakthrough for a major league athlete to come out as gay in 2002, just think where we are in 2022 and the alarming “Don’t Say Gay” Florida law that was just signed, banning the word “gay,” and other states trying to undo same-sex marriages. It is mind-numbing to see how far we are regressing, which in turn makes Take Me Out more progressive and relevant today.

The catalyst, Darren Lemming (Jesse Williams), a biracial center fielder for the fictional Major League team the Empires, beloved by the public as well as himself, has just announced he is gay for no apparent reason other than to free himself of the secret he’s carried on a daily basis. Now that his sexual orientation is in the open, he must navigate through life with the slings and arrows that are hurled upon him. Everything now comes under scrutiny—from an ordinary shower after a game to dealing with his teammates on a daily basis. He has the support of his teammate and friend Kippy Sunderstrom (Patrick J. Adams), who is also the narrator of the play. However, his best friend Davey Battle (Brandon J. Dirden) who plays on an opposing team, The Larks, is a holy man and revolted by what he considers Lemming’s “deviation” and “depravity.” This is the proverbial line in the sand that has been crossed.

Later, Darren Lemming also acquires a new accountant, Mason Marzac (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). The last one we are to believe has retired. Marzac knows nothing about baseball, but is enthralled that Darren has come out and has new interest in the game. Marzac has learned “that baseball is absolute. It works better than democracy. It has a definite winner and a loser.” Here is another layer for us to peel: in a democracy who wins an election and who loses?

Due to Lemming being in a slump and losses piling up, a dimwitted, racist, homophobic relief pitcher, Shane Mungitt (Michael Oberholtzer), is brought in from the minor leagues. He happens to be an orphan due to his father killing his mother and then killing himself, and is either from Arkansas or Tennessee. Now that the team begins winning, Mungitt is wanted for a press interview where he expresses his displeasure with “colored” people and having to shower with a “fa**ot.” This places Mungitt on suspension.

Due to the suspension, the team goes into a slump again. An apology letter is written and released to the public. Public sentiment wants Mungitt back, against Lemming’s feelings. With Mungitt back, this creates new revelations and consequences that will affect the lives of many. Please unravel the revelations and consequences for yourself, it will be more fulfilling. So many things come into question here, and I’m sure each viewer will have their own interpretation

Although this looks like an ensemble piece, there are four standout remarkable performances; Jesse Williams is an Adonis with a command of the stage that is riveting. His every stance, move and interaction is poetry in motion. Patrick J. Adams as friend and narrator anchors the play in his sincerity. Michael Oberholtzer as the outsider can he heartbreaking once you realize he will always be a failure in life and will always get himself in trouble.

The joker in the deck is Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Marzac, a role that won Denis O’Hare a much-deserved Tony Award in a supporting role. Where Mr. O’Hare was an introverted, nebbish “Mr. Cellophane” who blossomed while loving baseball, Mr. Ferguson is never a milquetoast but a lonely, self-deprecating accountant who falls in love with baseball once he meets Darren Lemming. As his friendship with Darren evolves, so does his flamboyance, giving the show its much needed levity.

My sincere hope is that Take Me Out will be extended beyond May 29th. With so many tourists coming to New York this spring and summer, this would be the one solid play I would recommend people to see. Its poignancy is harder hitting today than it was in 2002.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 7, 2022
Reviewed at April 6, 2022 press performance.

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Jesse Williams. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Jesse Williams & Brandon J. Dirden. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Michael Oberholtzer & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Jesse Williams & Ken Marks. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Patrick J. Adams & Jesse Williams. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Photo: Joan Marcus.

The post ‘Take Me Out’ revival even more topical today appeared first on StageZine.

‘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

The post ‘Choir Boy’: Teen angst tale needs fine-tuning appeared first on StageZine.

‘THE PROM’: The cast. Photo: Deen van Meer

THE PROM
Book by Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin
Music by Matthew Sklar
Lyrics by Chad Beguelin
Directed & choreographed by Casey Nicholaw
Longacre Theatre
220 West 48th Street
(212-239-6200), www.theprommusical.com

By David NouNou

To say that The Prom is the best musical of the season may not sound like much of a compliment, considering some of the dreck that has opened since June. However, this musical would stand tall in any season with stiffer competition.

This is the perfect antidote for these harsh times we live in. A musical that is joyous for the holidays and delirious for the winter doldrums ahead. A musical with a heart, a message that is not preachy, a hysterical book, a memorable score, direction and choreography that are expertly paced and placed and the expertise of three of the best Grade A hams on Broadway: Brooks Ashmanskas, Beth Leavel and Christopher Sieber make this the perfect gift for Christmas, Valentine’s day and every holiday thereafter.

Four Broadway veteran narcissists (is that really possible?); two of whom who have just closed on opening night in the musical Eleanor, a romp with Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt replete with hip-hop. They closed due to a drubbing they received from the New York Times (as if that is possible)? That was possible in the 1950s and 1960s but unfortunately not today.

Dee Dee Allen who portrays Eleanor (Beth Leavel) and Barry Glickman playing Franklin (Brooks Ashmanskas) are devastated by the reviews they received and are commiserated by their good friend Angie (Angie Schworer), a woman who has been in the chorus of Chicago for the last 20 years. They meet up that night with a fellow thespian that is a Julliard graduate but now works for cater waiter, and once was a TV star in the 1990s in a show called “Talk to the Hand.”

All four are in desperate need for image rehabilitation, so what do they do? They go on Twitter to look up worthy charitable causes to improve their public image. Along with their PR man, Sheldon Saperstein (Josh Lamon), they find their worthy cause. She happens to be a teenage lesbian, Emma (Caitlin Kinnunen) who can’t take a date to her high school prom due to the bigotry and homophobia of the town and its proclaimed leader of morality, Mrs. Greene (Courtenay Collins). Thus the prom is being cancelled.

So what do these Broadway angels of mercy decide to do? They go on a bus touring company of Godspell, thus bringing religion and pizzazz to the Midwestern town of Edgewater, Indiana in defense of uplifting their image and a town in desperate need of a makeover.

The plot may seem familiar but it does have some twists and the approach is different and refreshing. The book by Mr. Martin and Mr. Beguelin is grounded and hysterical. They bring the right amount of message, frivolity and a grand time. The score is relatable and Casey Nicholaw has done the same brilliant job he always does with his direction and choreography. As in Something Rotten, he has touched on his Broadway roots and no one does it better than him.

As for Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas, Christopher Sieber and Angie Schworer, they are at the top of their game. They all have show-stopping numbers, which are another dividend and a source of delight for the audience. You just can’t help but root for these lovable self-promoters (in this case they are the good people) and have these angels earn their wings.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published December 12, 2018
Reviewed at December 11, 2018 performance.

‘THE PROM’: (left to right) Josh Lamon, Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas & Angie Schworer. Photo: Deen van Meer

‘THE PROM’: Isabelle McCalla & Caitlin Kinnunen. Photo: Deen van Meer

‘THE PROM’: Christopher Sieber & cast. Photo: Deen van Meer

‘THE PROM’: Beth Leavel & Michael Potts. Photo: Deen van Meer

‘THE PROM’: Angie Schworer & Caitlin Kinnunen. Photo: Deen van Meer

‘THE PROM’: Isabelle McCalle & Courtenay Collins. Photo: Deen van Meer

‘THE PROM’: The cast. Photo: Deen van Meer

‘THE PROM’: (left to right) Christopher Sieber, Angie Schworer, Beth Leavel & Brooks Ashmanskas. Photo: Deen van Meer

The post ‘The Prom’ is best musical of season appeared first on StageZine.

‘TORCH SONG’: Ward Horton & Michael Urie. Photo: Matthew Murphy

TORCH SONG
Written by Harvey Fierstein
Directed by Moises Kaufman
Through February 24, 2019
The Helen Hayes Theater
240 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200),www.torchsongbroadway.com

By David NouNou

The original gay fantasia—set in the early 1970s and 1980s and every gay Jewish boy’s dream of being able to have the gorgeous hunk WASP lover and living happily ever after—is back. But as we all well know, that fantasy is not always the case even if we attain the unattainable. Originally known as Torch Song Trilogy, Harvey Fierstein wrote a play with a tailor-made role for himself. It was first produced Off-Off-Broadway, then moved to Off-Broadway at the Actors’ Playhouse, and finally came to Broadway in 1982 at the Little Theater, now the Helen Hayes, where it has landed in a most triumphant revival. Torch Song has come back home to its original theater with a shorter title and all the humor and pathos that made it a groundbreaking gay classic.

Upon second viewing what stands out the most is how pertinent and relevant the subject matter is now, even more so than it was in 1982. Back then, it had a certain voyeurism to gay culture and was titillating to see gay life explored so openly.

Act I entitled “International Stud” is set in a real backroom bar that existed in the ‘70s and ‘80s. We meet Arnold Beckoff or Virginia Hamm (Michael Urie), that being his drag name and a torch singer living in New York City. He encounters Ed (Ward Horton), the unattainable bisexual stud at the bar. He leaves with Ed and his real problems begin.

Act II, entitled “Fugue in a Nursery,” takes place three years later, 1974. Ed is with Laurel (Roxanna Hope Radja) and Arnold is invited by Laurel for a weekend in the country. Arnold is now with a former hustler, now model Alan (Michael Hsu Rosen). Needless to say, all that ensues is a kind of mixed doubles.

Act III “Widows and Children First” is the money-shot act and the most solid of all. It is now 1980 and we get to meet Mrs. Beckoff (Mercedes Ruehl), the role that was originated by Estelle Getty. It is here that we discover how the proverbial apple does not fall far from the tree. We learn about Arnold adopting an orphan, David (Jack DiFalco), and we find out that Ed has left his wife and is staying with Arnold. Most important is the battle royal that ensues between mother and son. Both have lost loved ones and both deal with their losses in different ways. Both demand love and respect on their own terms.

The third act shows how ahead of its time Torch Song really was. What we take for reasonable expectations now of having unattainable relationships and marriage, a family, and respect from loved ones was really once a fantasy. Although we have come a long way, certain dogmas remain constant.

Michael Urie has made the role of Arnold Beckoff his own. He has placed his own stamp and his own original contemporary take on Arnold. Mercedes Ruehl as his mother is electrifying. Their blow-up with each other is theater magic. Moises Kaufman’s direction gives the proceedings a feel of the present, although they are set in the not-so-distant past. The one flaw in this otherwise flawless revival is the casting of Jack DiFalco as the son David (who is supposed to be a 16-year-old teenager). This is the role that introduced the public to a young Matthew Broderick and later to Fisher Stevens; they were teenagers, Mr. DiFalco now is David. He is not a teen and does not even look like one. The head-scratcher here is didn’t anyone in casting or the production team see this as an obstacle? Regardless, Torch Song still holds up more than 36 years later as an epic of LGBTQ life that has a lot to say about sexuality, family, gender roles, love and acceptance to a new generation.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 5, 2018
Reviewed at November 4, 2018 press performance.

‘TORCH SONG’: Mercedes Ruehl & Michael Urie. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘TORCH SONG’: (left to right) Roxanna Hope Radja, Ward Horton, Michael Urie & Michael Hsu Rosen. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘TORCH SONG’: Jack DiFalco & Michael Urie. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘TORCH SONG’: Michael Urie. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘TORCH SONG’: Michael Urie & Jack DiFalco. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘TORCH SONG’: Mercedes Ruehl. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘TORCH SONG’: Michael Urie. Photo: Matthew Murphy

The post ‘Torch Song’: Superb revival of LGBTQ classic appeared first on StageZine.

‘EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE’: The cast. Photo: Alastair Muir

EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE
From an idea by Jonathan Butterell
Inspired from the 2011 documentary film Jamie Drag Queen at 16
Book & lyrics by Tom Macrae
Music by Dan Gillespie Sells
Directed by Jonathan Butterell
Choreographed by Kate Prince
Through September 28, 2019
Apollo Theatre
Shaftsbury Avenue WC2
London, United Kingdom
(0330 333 4809), www.everybodystalkingaboutjamie.co.uk

By David NouNou

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is an original musical that is a delight from start to finish. It is fresh and relevant. Among its many outstanding features is the score by Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom Macrae. It is lively, energetic and extremely catchy. The book by Mr. Macrae is a tad bit long and could use some trimming.

Inspired by the true story of Jamie Campbell, the setting has now shifted to Sheffield, England. It deals with the final semester of a high-school class that is about to graduate. They are in the process of getting their evaluations of what their field of work is going to be, and center stage at his desk is Jamie New, a 16-year-old boy (Luke Bayer, understudy) reading a copy of Vogue. When it is his turn to answer what profession he wants to get in, Jamie answers performing. His teacher tells him to “get real” and his aptitude test says he is going to be a welder. Well, that doesn’t sit well with Jamie because in reality he wants to be a drag queen but doesn’t have the nerve to announce it.

There are two people in his life that Jamie can confide in: his mother, Margaret (Josie Walker) and his BFF, a Pakistani schoolmate who wants to be a doctor, Pritti Pasha (Lucie Shorthouse).  And both are very supportive and encouraging of his future plans. His father abandoned him years ago when he saw Jamie prancing in his mother’s dress.

Thus starts Jamie’s journey to achieve his dreams. The road is a bumpy one. There are the usual school bullies who jeer, but there is also support from an owner of a drag boutique named “Victor’s Secret” Hugo Battersby ( Phil Nichol), formerly known as Loco Chanel, the world’s foremost drag queen and now a drag shop owner. He takes Jamie under his wing and introduces him to the world of drag and his first flaming red dress. As Jamie gets deeper into his endeavors, his fight becomes harder. The message here is he is a fighter and a survivor. He has friends that have his back and when you are only 16, climbing this steep path in red Jimmy Choo stilettos, who can ask for anything more? In an ideal world Jamie would be a perfect poster boy for the LGBTQ community.

The concept and structure of this musical is very British in nature and presentation. For Americans, it may take while to understand all the colloquialisms and the regional dialect.  What makes this musical so endearing is the score, choreography and the cast. With each song, the story is propelled forward. It explains each character vividly. The songs are full of joy and hope but the melancholy songs are written for Jamie’s Mom, Margret. “If I Met Myself Again” and the heart-wrenching “He’s My Boy” is a lament that every mother sings about her son, gay or straight, or just plain different.

The entire cast is splendid. However, there are three standouts. Luke Bayer, although the understudy, makes an incredible Jamie. There is so much joy and enthusiasm in him; his charm is off the charts. His mother, played by Josie Walker, is the epitome of every single mom trying to make sense of how to raise her son and at what point did she go wrong. The third is Lucie Shorthouse who brings a new meaning to being a cool Muslim BFF. She infuses the character with depth and heart.

Jonathan Butterell’s direction is concise but could have used some editing but it is Kate Prince’s choreography that keeps the dancers on point and precise.

If you are in London this summer, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is a must.  Due to its exacting setting, this is one of those musicals that would have a hard time transferring to Broadway. Even if you changed the setting to a rural American city, it would lose its essential native charm. This is one show that is meant to be seen in its natural setting and that is London.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 28, 2018
Reviewed at June 21, 2018 performance in London

‘EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE’: John McCrea & Josie Walker. Photo: Johan Persson

‘EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE’: John McCrea & Lucie Shorthouse. Photo: Johan Persson

‘EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE’: John McCrea. Photo: Alastair Muir

‘EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE’: John McCrea, Photo: Johan Persson

‘EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMiE’: Josie Walker & Shobana Gulati. Photo: Johan Persson

‘EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMiE’: Josie Walker, John McCrea, Shobana Gulati. Photo: Johan Persson

‘EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE’: The cast. Photo: Johan Persson

The post ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is a gender-fluid musical gem | London Theatre appeared first on StageZine.

‘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

The post ‘The Boys in the Band’: Gay culture’s dark past appeared first on StageZine.

‘INDECENT’: The cast. Photo: Carol Rosegg

INDECENT
By Paula Vogel
Directed by Rebecca Taichman
Cort Theatre
138 West 48th Street
212-239-6200, www.IndecentBroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

More than merely a drama about a play that shocked early 20th century audiences, Paula Vogel’s Indecent illuminates a dark period of history when anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant sentiment were rampant in America. No, the year is not 2017 but 1906 to the 1920s through 1940s. There are numerous themes and subtexts in this complex, fascinating and sometimes confusing drama, from the troubled staging of Yiddish writer Sholem Asch’s theatrical potboiler God of Vengeance to the disturbing tide of prejudice toward Jews and their culture evolving from the turn of the 20th century and onward.

This is the proverbial Brechtian epic, immediately grabbing one’s attention and posing questions about art, decency, and the boundaries of morality and faith. It’s exhausting yet riveting to watch from the opening scene, with Yiddish actors onstage speaking as ashes literally fall off their bodies. This is only the beginning of the layers upon layers of symbolism that unfold throughout the 100-minute show.

At first glance, one thinks the story is simply about Mr. Asch’s turgid Yiddish drama, a sensational tale about a brothel owner, his daughter, a prostitute, a lesbian affair and desecration of a Torah. Asch’s play was a hit on the Yiddish theater circuit in Europe, but scandalous indeed when it was translated into English and debuted in New York at the Provincetown Playhouse in 1922. Although the lesbian themes were toned down (and a Sapphic kissing scene cut) for the Broadway transfer to the Apollo Theatre in 1923, the cast and producer were arrested mid-performance for obscenity a few weeks into the run.

Indecent, however, is really less about the puritanical reaction to God of Vengeance in America and more of an homage to the death of Yiddish theater and the tragedy of Jews across the world from the early 1900s up through the Holocaust. In addition, the story shows how America, decades before feminism, could not handle not only homosexuality but anything that depicted women as something beyond wives, daughters or prostitutes.

Despite the heavy subject matter, Indecent is a visually arresting piece of theater. Seven actors portray “the troupe,” from Lemml, the stage manager of Asch’s play (Richard Topol), while others play musicians performing klezmer-style music (with original compositions by Lisa Gutkin and Aaron Halva). The stage features constantly changing projections of Yiddish, Hebrew and English supertitles and scene settings, from Warsaw in 1906 (when Asch first wrote the play) to Berlin, various stages and attics across Europe to New York City. The action jumps around from city to city like a TV miniseries or popular novel (a narrative technique that is always tricky on the stage).

There is a frenetic lyricism to Rebecca Taichman’s direction of the actors, many of whom play multiple roles. It is Ms. Taichman’s manic pacing of the evolving plot, musicians and actors dancing in circles–and the endless projections of the supertitles–that keeps us glued to the action but grows tiresome at times.

Indecent is a show that has quite a backstory itself, with Ms. Taichman basing the chronicle of God of Vengeance (and its obscenity trial over the first lesbian kiss in American theater) as a directing thesis at Yale. She and Paula Vogel worked over a period of seven years to develop the opus, after productions at the Yale Rep, La Jolla Playhouse and an Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard last year.

There are outstanding ensemble performances here, from Richard Topol as Lemml and Max Gordon Moore as Sholem Asch to Katrina Lenk and Adina Verson as the actresses portraying lovers. Musicians Matt Darriau, Lisa Gutkin and Aaron Halva add an eerie, haunting sincerity to the play with their original compositions.

Yes, the show is over-the-top, overly poetic, and perhaps too cerebral and academic for its own good. However, the overall message of Indecent is what makes it so relevant and topical today. Because, much like the political climate leading up to World War II, we also now live in age of xenophobia and prejudice about sexuality, race and religion. It is chilling when one thinks that the censorship, bigotry and fascism that were pervasive in the days of God of Vengeance (and created so much human suffering) could easily be repeated in 21st century America.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 18, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on April 15, 2017

‘INDECENT’: (left to right) Aaron Halva (with accordion), Matt Darriau (with clarinet), Lisa Gutkin (with violin) & company. Photo: Carol Rosegg

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‘INDECENT’: The cast. Photo: Carol Rosegg

‘INDECENT’: The cast. Photo: Carol Rosegg

‘INDECENT’: Max Gordon Moore & Richard Topol. Photo: Carol Rosegg

‘INDECENT’: Max Gordon Moore & Richard Topol. Photo: Carol Rosegg

‘INDECENT’: Katrina Lenk & Adina Verson. Photo: Carol Rosegg

‘INDECENT’: Max Gordon Moore & Adina Verson. Photo: Carol Rosegg

‘INDECENT’: Adina Verson & Katrina Lenk. Photo: Carol Rosegg

The post ‘Indecent’: Play about a play that shocked appeared first on StageZine.

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Gideon Glick, Rebecca Naomi Jones & Lindsay Mendez. Photo: Joan Marcus

SIGNIFICANT OTHER
Written by Joshua Harmon
Directed by Trip Cullman
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.SignificantOtherBroadway.com

By David NouNou

My God,  present-day millennial gay dating is fraught with so many obstacles and so much angst and pressure, it’s a wonder Jordan Berman, the show’s lead, comes out of it alive. I thought it was tough in the 1970s and 1980s navigating through one-night stands, but it was a breeze compared to what poor Jordan has to go through. What with having to see his three BFFs getting married one at a time and attending their engagements and bridal showers, it’s a wonder he has any time to go out and find a date for himself. When he does land a date, it’s with a coworker who may or may not be gay. Let’s also not forget the pressures one has to endure with social media.

Basically that is the plot of Significant Other. It is a harmless comedy that tries to show a gay 29- year-old, who is good-looking, fun, life of the party. Jordan Berman (Gideon Glick) sees his three BFFs Kiki (Sas Goldberg). Vanessa (Rebecca Naomi Jones) and his closest, Laura (Lindsay Mendez), getting married off and with each loss, he becomes more morose and sinks into a deeper funk.

The three BFFs: Kiki, the Jewish girl; Vanessa, the black girl; and Laura, the white girl are not so much as real characters as they are stereotypical TV sitcom characters; so the actresses that are playing them, Ms. Goldberg, Ms. Jones, and Ms. Mendez respectively do their best to define these roles. In the lesser male roles, playing multiple parts each: John Behlmann (Will, the man crush, Conrad/Tony) and Luke Smith (Zach/Evan/Roger) both play their characters with distinct personalities and come off more favorably.

Which brings us to the hardest part, Jordan Berman, who becomes a buzzkill by the end of the play. As each friend gets married, he becomes more isolated and obsesses on his fellow worker, Will, which makes him even more pitiful than pitiable. He leaves these long-winded, ridiculous messages on his friend’s voicemails, who don’t pick up when he calls, throws tantrums, and becomes needier, as he sinks deeper into his downward spiral. The sad part is as each of his friends gets married and moves on, Jordan just stays in his place and clings to the past. Instead of going out and trying to meet someone, he just wallows in his loneliness. Mr. Glick skillfully changes moods like a chameleon, which is what is demanded of him, and makes the part believable.

There are funny and touching moments in Significant Other, especially the ones with his loving grandmother, Helene (the wonderful Barbara Barrie). She brings a lot of heart to the obvious Nana role. Thanks to Trip Cullman’s fast-paced, breezy and inventive direction, he keeps this otherwise obvious fluff story afloat.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 8, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on March 7, 2017

“SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Gideon Glick, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Sas Goldberg & Lindsay Mendez. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: (left to right) Sas Goldberg, Lindsay Mendez, Rebecca Naomi Jones & Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: (left to right) Luke Smith, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Gideon Glick, Sas Goldberg & John Behlmann. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Lindsay Mendez & Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Barbara Barrie & Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: John Behlmann & Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: John Behlmann & Lindsay Mendez. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Gideon Glick. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’: Barbara Barrie. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post ‘Significant Other’: Love & the single gay appeared first on StageZine.

THE THREE ALISONS: (left to right) Sydney Lucas, Beth Malone & Emily Skeggs. Photo: Joan Marcus

FUN HOME
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Book and lyrics by Lisa Kron
Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel
Choreography by Danny Mefford
Directed by Sam Gold
Circle in the Square Theatre
1633 Broadway
(212-239-6280), www.FunHomeBroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

Home is where the hurt is in this Broadway transfer of the hit Off-Broadway musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s autobiographical graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. The show, which played a successful run at the Public Theater, is hardly your standard Broadway musical fare. This dark, often disturbing story is essentially a “memory play” with songs woven into the narrative, but it’s not exactly a modern-day Glass Menagerie with music.

Narrated by lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel (played at age 43 by Beth Malone), with Small Alison (Sydney Lucas) and Middle Alison (Emily Skeggs) representing the protagonist at different stages of her life, Fun Home is about growing up in a dysfunctional family in a Pennsylvania town in the 1970s. The Bechdels live in an old Victorian mansion, adding to the creepiness of the setting. Dad Bruce (Michael Cerveris) is an English teacher and also the town undertaker, running a local funeral parlor that the kids nickname the “fun home.” Dad has a passion for classic literature, antiques, decorating and renovating the family home—and underage teenage boys. Mother Helen (Judy Kuhn) is the typical wife in denial about her husband’s secret sexuality.

The dramatic conflict mostly centers on Alison’s volatile relationship with her parents. Her father is often critical of young Alison, chiding her for not liking to wear dresses and critiquing her budding art talent as she develops a passion for drawing cartoons. Unfortunately, most of the songs in this nontraditional musical seem strained, unnatural and silly—from ditties about polishing the furniture to a rousing number, “Changing My Major,” by Alison as she discovers lesbian love after a libidinous night with Joan (Roberta Colindrez) while a freshman at posh Oberlin College.

Despite a few funny moments, such as Alison’s dad sending her “lesbian books” like one by Collette, the subject matter in Fun Home is somber indeed, at times downright lugubrious, and doesn’t exactly lend itself to musical theater.

In addition, the story of Alison’s troubled parents is often more compelling than Alison’s own coming-of-age trajectory. However, there just isn’t enough detail about the parents and their sham marriage. Helen Bechdel tells of being stationed with her husband in Germany while he was in the military and traveling to Paris to meet a man who turned out to be his lover, but the significance of this anecdote is never explained. We know that the father is a self-loathing man unable to be true to himself, and the mother is a long-suffering woman who is sick of all the lies and deception, and Fun Home would be a far more interesting show if the parents’ backstory was explained better.

Director Sam Gold gets outstanding performances from the cast, despite the awkward in-the-round staging that is always tricky at Circle in the Square, with audiences having to watch the back of actors’ heads at times. Mr. Cerveris’ Bruce is consistently heartbreaking, portraying a man overwrought with guilt about his double life. Judy Kuhn is also outstanding as wife Helen, giving a searing portrait of a woman breaking down from years of marital discord. The three actresses playing Alison are all superb as well.

Fun Home already has a cult audience that enjoys it as a musical, but one wonders if the show might be more satisfying and solid as a straightforward drama because the Bechdel family suffers from enough adversity and emotional mishaps to make the story stand by itself, without any need for songs. Regardless, Fun Home is a powerful saga that puts a different spin on stage epics about maladjusted families and the pain of growing up feeling out of place and misunderstood.

MOM & YOUNG ALISON: Judy Kuhn & Sydney Lucas. Photo: Jenny Anderson

THE BECHDEL FAMILY: (left to right) Judy Kuhn, Oscar Williams, Zell Steele Marrow, Sydney Lucas & Michael Cerveris. Photo: Joan Marcus

GROOVING AT THE ‘FUN HOME’ FUNERAL PARLOR: Oscar Williams, Zell Steele Marrow & Sydney Lucas. Photo: Joan Marcus

ALISON & MIDDLE ALISON: Beth Malone & Emily Skeggs. Photo: Jenny Anderson

YOUNG ALISON & HER DAD: Sydney Lucas & Michael Cerveris. Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 23, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on April 22, 2015

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