‘SWEAT’: (left to right) John Earl Jelks, James Colby (behind bar), Michelle WIlson, Johanna Day & Alison Wright. Photo: Joan Marcus

SWEAT
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Kate Whoriskey
Studio 54
254 West 54th Street
(212-239-6200), www.sweatbroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

Friendships among coworkers at a factory in Reading, Pennsylvania are tested in this gritty drama about working-class heroes and betrayal. The show, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, transferred to Broadway after a successful run last year at the Public Theater downtown. Sweat could not be more topical and timely. In addition, the ensemble cast is so powerful and the performances so strong that it is easy to overlook most of the thematic clichés and directing flaws.

Sweat is a Rust Belt epic that goes back and forth from 2000 to 2008, set in a factory town that typifies and reflects everything we heard about “battleground states” in last year’s presidential election, with union workers worried that their jobs will be shipped to cheaper plants in Mexico. Everything about that world is here, from talk of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) to xenophobia about “outsiders” and disenfranchised whites.

The story is told in both the past and present. The opening unfolds in 2008 as parole officer Evan (Lance Coadie Williams) gives the third degree to Chris (Khris Davis) and Jason (Will Pullen), both of whom have been friends for years. Next, we go back to 2000 to a bar in which most of the story takes place. The watering hole is run by Stan (James Colby), a guy who once toiled at the mill himself and has seen and heard the troubles of local workers all his life. We meet longtime factory worker Tracey (Johanna Day) and her friends and coworkers Cynthia (Michelle Wilson) and Jessie (Alison Wright). Tensions arise when Cynthia applies for a management job at the plant, irking Tracey and Jessie. Can coworkers remain friends with someone once she’s promoted to management? What follows is fairly predictable, but still mirror stories of layoffs, lockouts and broken dreams in factory towns across the USA.

Other characters include bar worker Oscar (Carlo Albán), the U.S.-born son of Colombian immigrants and Cynthia’s ex Brucie (John Earl Jelks), a substance abuser. Oscar unwittingly provides even more tension for Tracey as she realizes he may take a non-union job at the plant at a far lower hourly wage than she makes.

One of the show’s only problems is Kate Whoriskey’s uneven direction. Although Ms. Whoriskey gets first-rate performances from everyone, she and fight director U. Jonathan Toppo have trouble choreographing a violent fight scene in Act II.  While this scene is crucial, most of the stage combat comes across as awkward.

The characters are multi-faceted and realistic, and although Ms. Nottage’s twists are a bit hackneyed, the cast brings a sense of authenticity to these hard-working people faced with no hope. As the three lead women, Ms. Day, Ms. Wright and Ms. Wilson are all exceptional and yell and scream with conviction. Standouts of the show include Mr. Colby as Stan, giving a gut-wrenching performance, and Mr. Albán, whose portrayal of Oscar is infused with subtle honesty and integrity.

Ms. Nottage reportedly wrote the play after conducting countless interviews with real-life factory workers in Reading, and her research ultimately paid off because, despite some shortcomings, Sweat is a thought-provoking drama that is especially relevant in modern-day America.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 31, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on March 30, 2017

‘SWEAT’: (left to right) Alison Wright, Johanna Day, Khris Davis, James Colby, Carlo Alban & Will Pullen. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: (left to right) Carlo Alban, John Earl Jelks, Johanna Day, Michelle Wilson & Johanna Wright. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: (left to right) Johanna Day, Michelle Wilson, Carlo Alban & Alison Wright. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: Michelle Wilson & Johanna Day. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: Khris Davis & Lance Coadie Williams. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: Alison Wright, Will Pullen & Michelle Wilson. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: Will Pullen & Khris Davis. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: Michelle Wilson & John Earl Jelks. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: Alison Wright, Johanna Day & Michelle Wilson. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SWEAT’: Johanna Day & Carlo Alban. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post ‘Sweat’: Working-class heroes, grit & betrayal appeared first on StageZine.

‘ECLIPSED’: (Left to right). Pascale Armand, Lupita Nyong’o & Saycon Sengbloh. Photo: Joan Marcus

ECLIPSED
Written by Danai Gurira
Directed by Liesl Tommy
Through June 19, 2016
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200),www.EclipsedBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Freedom, loss of identity, sexual servitude, dignity, self-worth, guilt and anonymity are only some of the issues that Danai Gurira presents in her brilliant play Eclipsed. Caught up in the brutal violence of Liberian civil war, we meet five remarkable women.

Four have been torn from their families, childhood and innocence at an early age only to become known through their anonymity as Wife #1, Wife #2, Wife #3 and the Girl. Wife #1 (Saycon Sengbloh) is the eldest and has been in servitude to the master known as the C.O. for over 10 years, since she was 15, and is now the protector. Wife #2 (Zainab Jah) has escaped sexual servitude and has taken up arms and is fighting alongside the rebels. Wife #3 (Pascale Armand) has managed to retain her self-esteem and slight vanity and is carrying the C.O.’s. baby. The fourth is simply known as The Girl (Lupita Nyong’o), and she has wandered into the camp after her village has been ravaged and she has lost her family.

The Girl is bright and knowledgeable and meets her fate the hard way one night while having to relieve herself and the light of her innocence is gone.

The fifth woman, Rita (Akosua Busia), is the mediator with the C.O. for the release of the women and a salvation for them, depending on each woman whether she feels there is anything left to salvage.

We have read in the papers and seen on television the plight that has befallen the women and especially the young girls who have been taken from their families in Liberia, Nigeria, and Somalia, to name a few. In this instance, Ms. Gurira is literally placing us in the midst of all this chaos and horror that has befallen these countries and especially the misery these women endure on a daily basis.

The performances are brilliantly nuanced and paced by Lisel Tommy. She hits every emotional peak and devastating defeat to the maximum effect that the play offers. This effect is that it is an ensemble piece and each woman is given her due identity. Lupita Nyong’o as The Girl has the most complex part. The Girl’s transformation from the bright and eager young girl we first meet to the guilt-ridden rebel she has become, and the way she must grapple with the choices she has made, is fascinating.

Saycon Sengbloh, as the older Wife #1 and earth mother who ultimately finds salvation, is sensational. Pascale Armand as Wife #3 provides the humor needed to lighten the evening and she is sheer perfection. Zainab Jah is beautiful, fascinating and frightening as Wife #2, the rebel fighter using her ingenuity for survival. Akosua Busia brings dignity to Rita as the mediator for these women.

Eclipsed is not lighthearted fare but it is certainly a night for enlightenment and the power of women.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 11, 2016
Reviewed at performance on April 10, 2016

‘ECLIPSED’: (left to right) Saycon Sengbloh, Lupita Nyong’o & Pascale Armand. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘ECLIPSED’: (left to right) Zainab Jah, Saycon Sengbloh, Pascale Armand & Lupita Nyong’o in ‘Eclipsed.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

‘ECLIPSED’: (left to right) Lupita Nyong’o, Saycon Sengbloh & Pascale Armand. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘ECLIPSED’: (left to right) Akosua Busia, Lupita Nyong’o, Saycon Sengbloh & Pascale Armand. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post ‘Eclipsed’: Women’s saga out of Africa appeared first on StageZine.

THE SHOW HEARD ROUND THE WORLD: Daveed Diggs (center) as Thomas Jefferson & ensemble in the revolutionary blockbuster musical ‘Hamilton’. Photo: Joan Marcus

HAMILTON
Music, book & lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler
Inspired by the biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Directed by Thomas Kail
Richard Rodgers Theatre
226 West 46th Street
(877-250-2929), http://www.hamiltonbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Once or twice in a decade, a Broadway show comes along that is so innovative and unprecedented that it changes the American musical theater as we know it. In the 1990s, it was Rent. Nearly five years ago, it was the irreverent The Book of Mormon. In 2015, the game-changing musical is, without question, the blockbuster Hamilton, which recently transferred to Broadway after a sold-out run downtown at the Public Theater.

Indeed, Alexander Hamilton is mostly known to Americans for being on the $10 bill because he was one of the founding fathers of the United States. Unless one is an American history buff, we forget that Hamilton was chief state aide to George Washington, advocate of the U.S. Constitution, founder of the U.S. financial system, the first Secretary of the Treasury, and founder of the world’s first voter-based political system, the Federalist Party, and more. Most know the stories of the other founding fathers of our nation, but not Hamilton, and the true genius of this show is how music, lyric and book writer Lin-Manuel Miranda used Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton as the basis for the story and created a theatrical masterpiece. Mr. Miranda has taken what’s normally considered a dry subject, early American history, and turned it into an entertaining epic that appeals to the masses of all ages. Yes, the chronology of events in the American Revolutionary War are all here, but Mr. Miranda adds depth and complexity to everyone from George Washington (Christopher Jackson) to Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom, Jr.) and Thomas Jefferson (Daveed Diggs). There hasn’t been a Broadway musical with this much youthful magnetism and solid storytelling in many moons.

Hype has surrounded this show ever since it debuted at the Public this past winter. Hamilton has been the hottest ticket in town and one has not been able to go online or open a newspaper or magazine without reading some blurb singing its praises in the past six months. The hoopla is all justified, because from the two opening numbers, “Alexander Hamilton” (an expository song that sums up the man’s early life) and “My Shot” in Act I, Hamilton at first seems more like a seamless, energetic pop music concert than a Broadway musical, but in essence there is really nothing gimmicky going on at all. Yes, there are hip-hop and pop-style songs, but also many beautiful ballads and more traditional show tunes, all of which propel the story forward exquisitely. Mr. Miranda has also created an intricate historical epic that unfolds with rapid-fire energy and never lets up. It is completely unlike any of Mr. Miranda’s previous efforts, namely In the Heights, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2008.

We learn all the biographical details about Alexander Hamilton, the illegitimate son of a Scotsman and a prostitute born in the Caribbean, to his journey to America and how he helped the other founding fathers create the new USA after the Revolutionary War, but we also learn about Hamilton’s clashes with the third Vice President of the United States, Aaron Burr (Mr. Odom, Jr.), in the show-stopping song “The Room Where It Happens,” a number so infectious that it could easily be released as a pop song on the radio. The same holds true for George Washington’s ballad “One Last Time.” As Hamilton, Mr. Miranda’s performance is consistently solid, sincere and convincing, even if he’s not always the most dynamic performer on the stage.

Stage and TV star Jonathan Groff is a true scene-stealer as Mad King George III, America’s last monarch. Taking over the role originated Off Broadway at the Public by Brian d’Arcy James, Mr. Groff, clad in his huge regal crown and full king regalia, holding an imperial scepter, portrays the king as a petulant buffoon, seeing the revolting colonists as naughty, wayward children as he belts out such songs as “You’ll Be Back” with amusing, snarky aplomb.

The women in Hamilton’s life are just as influential, showing how they, too, made a difference in the early days of our nation. Renee Elise Goldsberry, as Angelica Schuyler, the sister of Hamilton’s wife, is especially moving whenever she sings “Satisfied” in her soaring voice. Phillipa Soo is equally outstanding as Eliza, Hamilton’s wife, a woman who petitioned Congress to publish her husband’s writings. Whenever Ms. Goldsberry and Ms. Soo sing, they bring down the proverbial house. Ms. Soo is absolutely haunting when singing “Burn,” a ballad about the pain of being Hamilton’s long-suffering wife.

Director Thomas Kail keeps the story moving along with fluid precision and at an exhausting, nonstop pace at all times. Andy Blankenbuehler’s choreography is graceful and marvelously stylized; the fusion of direction and choreography complement each other in the frenetic goings-on in this nearly three-hour, monumental show. Hamilton has truly started a Broadway revolution and will continue to influence the American musical theater for years to come.

GEORGE WASHINGTON: Christopher Jackson & ensemble in ‘Hamilton.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

GREAT WOMEN OF THE NEW AMERICAN NATION: Phillipa Soo, Renee Elise Goldberry & Jasmine Cephas Jones in ‘Hamilton.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

MAD KING GEORGE III: Jonathan Groff as America’s last monarch. Photo: Joan Marcus

AARON BURR: Leslie Odom, Jr. in ‘Hamilton.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

ELIZA & ALEXANDER HAMILTON: Phillipa Soo & Lin-Manuel Miranda. Photo: Joan Marcus

THOMAS JEFFERSON: Daveed Diggs in ‘Hamilton.’

AARON BURR & CO: Leslie Odom, Jr. & ensemble in ‘Hamilton.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

THE ‘RENT’ & ‘BOOK OF MORMON’ OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM TEENS: The cast of the monster hit ‘Hamilton.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Video montage from Hamilton

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published August 15, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on August 13, 2015

The post ‘Hamilton’: Start of the Broadway revolution appeared first on StageZine.

HAMILTON

Friday, April 24 at 10 a.m.

A new block of seats to the musical HAMILTON on Broadway go on sale Friday, April 24 at 10 a.m.  Tickets are available for purchase through March 27, 2016 via phone, online or at the box office of the Richard Rodgers Theatre (246 W. 46 St.).

HAMILTON begins previews at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on July 13 prior to an official opening night August 6. The musical concludes its 4-month sold-out engagement at The Public Theater on May 4.

HAMILTON is inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow and features book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and direction by Thomas Kail, who previously collaborated on IN THE HEIGHTS.

The new musical is produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman and The Public Theater.

Single tickets to HAMILTON Broadway range in price from $55 to $157.  Group tickets are on sale through the Group Sales Box Office at www.broadway.com/groups or by phone at 1.800.BROADWAY x2 For more information visit www.hamiltononbroadway.com    

The post ‘Hamilton’ Broadway Tickets On Sale 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

The post ‘Fun Home’ is dark ‘memory musical’ appeared first on StageZine.