‘ROMEO + JULIET’: Rachel Zegler & Kit Connor. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

ROMEO + JULIET
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Sam Gold
Circle in the Square Theatre
235 West 50^th Street
https://romeoandjulietnyc.com/

By Scott Harrah

William Shakespeare’s classics are often revived with modern-day costumes and endless gimmicks to help bring in new, younger audiences. Sam Gold has previously directed two “reinvented” productions of the Bard’s classics, Macbeth and King Lear (which starred the late Glenda Jackson in a gender-bending role as King Lear). Mr. Gold has been more successful putting a contemporary spin on other classics, namely his outstanding revival of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People earlier this season (which also played at Circle in the Square).

Back in 2013, David Leveaux directed a dismal revival of Romeo and Juliet, starring the miscast Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad in which Romeo rode onto the stage on a motorcycle and Juliet delivered the iconic “Romeo, Oh Romeo” soliloquy by rote in American vernacular. This revival of Shakespeare’s popular classic about ill-fated lovers is a far superior production, but that would not be hard.

Mr. Gold’s interpretation of the story of the Capulets vs. the Montagues in Verona, Italy in the 14^th century (or later—scholars cannot seem to agree on the time period) is “modern” in the broadest sense. The circular theatre-in-the-round setting is used as a vehicle for all the madness happening on stage and off. We see overhead catwalks and a bed that goes up and down. Towers of teddy bears are seen on stage (don’t ask) and actors climb up on ladders to shout out their lines.

Need a brief plot summary? Shakespeare himself said it best in the prologue: ”Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.”

Despite the insanity in this production—from the cast dancing provocatively before the show to Enver Chakartash’s outrageous costumes—fortunately there are two solid actors playing the lead roles. Kit Connor (who played the older Elton John in the 2019 biopic Rocket Man) is the perfect teenage heartthrob as Romeo. Although Romeo + Juliet is not a musical, this production inserts short songs throughout the show, with music by Jack Antonoff and movement direction and choreography by Sonya Tayeh. Mr. Connor has a nice voice and the dynamic stage presence necessary to pull off the character.

Rachel Zegler, best known for playing Maria in the Steven Spielberg remake of West Side Story, is one of the show’s standouts. She adds the right mix of vulnerability and determination in her performance. When she sings, Ms. Zegler almost looks and sounds like a younger version of Ariana Grande. She has all the passion, spark and yearning of a young girl who is deliriously in love for the first time.

The other noteworthy performance is given by the marvelous Gabby Beans (Tony nominee for the Lincoln Center revival of The Skin of Our Teeth). She brilliantly portrays three characters: the wisecracking Mercutio (Romeo’s best friend), Romeo’s advisor the Friar and Prince Escalus, who tries unsuccessfully to make peace between the Montagues and Capulets.

Not everything works in this revamped version of the doomed young lovers of Verona. Modernized versions of Shakespeare have become standard fare on Broadway the past few years, and Sam Gold’s Romeo + Juliet is hardly as offensive or a “bastardization” like other 21^st century versions we have seen the past decade. Still, it would be great to someday soon see Shakespeare’s works done the way they were intended to be performed: In period costumes, without gimmicks and in all the original Elizabethan era glory. It was only 11 years ago in 2013 that two amazing British productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III were done in repertory, starring the legendary Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry. What made those two productions so enjoyable was their authenticity in recapturing the mood of that era. When performed in original period costumes, with musicians playing Elizabethan tunes, Shakespeare is much more palatable to modern audiences. With all the characters in his plays and endless subplots, Shakespeare makes for difficult reading, but when his plays are performed as the Bard intended, they are easy to follow and truly delightful. Mr. Gold’s Romeo + Juliet might be bringing in the Gen Z audience, but hopefully in future seasons Broadway will mount a few traditional Shakespeare revivals so the younger generation can judge for themselves whether they prefer a modernized Bard or plays performed in a more conventional manner.

Published October 24, 2024
Reviewed at October 19, 2024 press performance

‘ROMEO + JULIET’: Rachel Zegler & Kit Connor. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘ROMEO + JULIET’: Gabby Beans. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘ROMEO + JULIET’: Rachel Zegler & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘ROMEO + JULIET’: Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘ROMEO + JULIET’: Rachel Zegler & Kit Connor. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

The post ‘Romeo + Juliet’: Latest spin on classic appeared first on StageZine.

‘AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE’: Jeremy Strong. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
By Henrik Ibsen
Adapted by Amy Herzog
Directed by Sam Gold
Through June 16, 2024
Circle in the Square
235 West 50^th Street
(212-239-6200), www.anenemyofthepeopleplay.com

By David NouNou

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen was often called “the father of modern drama” because his stories focused on realism and social issues, so it is gratifying indeed to see a topical play such as the thought-provoking An Enemy of the People mounted this year on Broadway. What a difference a brilliant adaptation makes.

It was last produced in 2012 by the Manhattan Theatre Club with a listless and tepid adaptation by British playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz,  dull leads consisting of Boyd Gaines and Richard Thomas and misguided direction by Doug Hughes. Fast forward to March 2024: Amy Herzog has provided a heart-pounding adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People.

It updates Ibsen’s 1882 classic tale of social morality and responsibility, public health, fear of disease, and political grandstanding. It is a cautionary tale about science and sanity and the uprooting of everything sane and rational to universal irrationality of the masses and small-town corruption.

Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Jeremy Strong) has recently returned back to his small town in Norway with his daughter, Petra (Victoria Pedretti) and son Ejlif after the death of his wife Catherine. Thomas has been commissioned by his brother, Mayor Peter Stockmann (Michael Imperioli) to approve the benefits and results of the spas for the forthcoming summer tourist trade that will be arriving for health purposes.

Midway through the results, Dr. Stockman discovers the spas are contaminated and built over manure-infested pipes with bacteria that will bring illness to many visitors. Everyone stands behind Dr. Stockmann to bring this news to the forefront, including the newspaper owner, Aslaksen (Thomas Jay Ryan) and firebrand editor, Hovstad (Caleb Eberhardt) and let the townspeople learn of these dire situations. However, there is a holdout, the Mayor; he sees his brother as being hasty and feels he hasn’t seen everything from all aspects. Such as, how this kind of news can close tourism down for two years and bankrupt the city. In turn, one by one the townspeople start turning on Dr. Stockmann and his family, firing him, firing Petra as the schoolteacher, and abusing his son Ejlif.

Naturally, the standout performance is given by Jeremy Strong who has recently won every major TV award for his role in “Succession.” Although playing a very down-to-earth country doctor, he imbues his character with passion, trust, and a genial demeanor that is heartbreaking when his pleas go unheard.

Michael Imperioli of HBO’s “The Sopranos”—and more recently in his Emmy-nominated role on HBO’s “The White Lotus”— brings it on: the greed, avarice, turning against his brother and bringing an end to him. He is relishing his bravado on stage and it is a delight to see such wonderful sparring partners.

There is, however, one drawback to the evening: Sam Gold, the director. I don’t think there is a shtick he can ever resist to inject into a play whether it is warranted or not. Excess is his trademark. How can anyone ever forget him inserting a four-piece Philip Glass string quartet into the 2019 revival of King Lear, starring the late Glenda Jackson as King Lear? Or the abysmal 2022 mess of a MacBeth revival with Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga in which nothing made sense? This time around, instead of giving us a 10-minute break to use the facilities, he has the actors coming up on stage with the lights on, getting audience members to drink shots and asking them to participate as jury members for the second half of the play, with lots of needless carousing on stage.

However, in the end it is Amy Herzog’s brilliant adaption that makes this revival a must-see for this or any other season, with the added bonuses of Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli giving excellent performances.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 18, 2024
Reviewed at March 17, 2024 press performance.

‘AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE’: Michael Imperioli. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE’: Victoria Pedretti & Jeremy Strong. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE’: Victoria Pedretti. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

The post ‘An Enemy of the People’ revival a must-see appeared first on StageZine.

‘MACBETH’: Daniel Craig, Ruth Negga & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

MACBETH
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Sam Gold
Through July 10, 2022
Longacre Theatre
220 West 48th Street
New York, NY
(212-239-6200), www.MacbethBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Director Sam Gold contemporized, bastardized and overblew the 2019 revival of Shakespeare’s King Lear with Glenda Jackson. He is now minimalizing beyond recognition this epic debacle, Macbeth, so there should be a law that director Sam Gold must never be allowed to come near another Shakespeare play for fear of criminally destroying yet another classic.

Lord, spare us from false prophets and pretentious “visionary” directors who think they have new ideas to infuse into classic Shakespeare for new audiences. Sitting through this version of Macbeth, in almost complete darkness, except for the use of flashlights, green and red blinding laser lights, and a handheld bright light torch under Lady Macbeth’s chin in her hallucinated state, one can’t help but wonder—what the hell is going on here? It is hard enough traversing through gender-bending roles, and then having these players play multiple characters in the same outfits and try to disseminate who they are at that moment. Then you have to ask why is everyone doing different accents? Also why are there so many distracting sound effects? There is absolutely no cohesion.

I’ll fast-track it for you: Macbeth (Daniel Craig) and Banquo (Amber Gray) have defeated Scottish rebels in a civil war. On the way back, they encounter a coven of witches (who are always making soup and scrambled eggs—please, don’t ask— and also play various other roles). The witches tell Macbeth he will be the Thane of Cawdor and then be King of Scotland. Duncan, the current King of Scotland, rewards Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor. Poor Duncan comes to the Macbeth’s home to celebrate the end of the civil war, only to be murdered by them. Then Banquo gets murdered. Macbeth gets haunted by the ghost of Banquo and starts ranting. More prophecies: Lady Macbeth (Ruth Negga) who’s been sleepwalking and hallucinating, goes mad with guilt and claims “all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten these little hands” and kills herself. MacDuff (Grantham Coleman), friend of old King Duncan, avenges him by killing Macbeth, and crowns Malcolm (Asia Kate Dillon) Duncan’s son, as the rightful heir to Scotland.

With such minimalism, and a mostly bare stage, you would think you are watching the third day of rehearsal of a college production. With so much ranting and raving, the same actors in different characters overacting, it makes the dreadful 2013 version of Macbeth with Ethan Hawke at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre seem like a masterpiece.

If you are still inclined to see this Macbeth because of Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, I urge you to watch the 2021 film The Tragedy of Macbeth starring Denzel Washington first, just to give you a sense of what’s going on here.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 2, 2022

‘MACBETH’: Ruth Negga. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘MACBETH: Maria Dizzia, Daniel Craig & Amber Gray. Photo: Joan Marcus.

The post ‘Macbeth’: Something wretched this way comes appeared first on StageZine.

‘KING LEAR’: Glenda Jackson. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

KING LEAR
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Sam Gold
Original score by Philip Glass
Cort Theatre
138 West 48th Street
(212-239-6200), www.KingLearonBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Whatever happened to the adage of less is more? In this revival of King Lear, Shakespeare has been bastardized and vandalized by director Sam Gold.

Shakespeare has been presented in many ways: traditional, contemporary, and with dates shifting from Roman times to Fascist times (as was the case of Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington playing Brutus in a 2005 revival that was a mess). Well, nothing will prepare you for this reincarnation of King Lear with Glenda Jackson, a role she performed in 2016 at London’s Old Vic.

Shakespeare is convoluted enough, and listening to the Bard’s dialogue is crucial in order to comprehend the narrative. It is complicated, so attention must be paid. External distractions are unnecessary because there are enough of them here. Clocking in at three hours and 35 minutes, it’s a Herculean sit-through.

Lear (Glenda Jackson) has three daughters: Goneril, the oldest (Elizabeth Marvel), Regan, the middle (Aisling O’Sullivan); and Cordelia (Ruth Wilson), the youngest. Ms. Wilson also portrays The Fool. Lear has two too many daughters. Goneril and Regan, along with their husbands, honor Lear with their false love and devotion, while Cordelia just honors him without any false flourishes. This galls Lear’s vanity. thus banishing Cordelia from the kingdom, only too late discovering the treachery of his other two daughters. Thus, his unraveling and dissent into madness ensues.

What also ensues is the madness that takes place on stage. With no clear focus but pretentiousness by director Sam Gold, throwing everything on stage, including the proverbial kitchen sink, the viewer has to make some sense of the proceedings. Why is there a four-piece chamber orchestra consisting of two violins, a cello and viola and whose members are clad in formal attire, playing chamber music and moving about the stage, courtesy of Philip Glass? If the raison d’etre of the piece is a gender-bending role for Glenda Jackson as Lear, then why diminish and take away from her bravura performance by adding other members of the cast in gender-reversed roles like Jayne Houdyshell as the Earl of Gloucester and Ruth Wilson, doubling up as the Fool? Both diminish the returns from Ms. Jackson.

It is truly important to give everyone a chance to perform on the stage. Mr. Gold uses many African-American actors in important roles, he is giving Sean Carvajal, a Latino actor, the part of Edgar, son of Gloucester, to speak in Spanish phrases to an army for comic relief, which makes absolutely no sense and is offensive to Shakespearean devotees. He also uses Russell Harvard, a hearing-impaired actor, portraying the Duke of Cornwall, Regan’s husband, using a sign-language interpreter, the wonderful Aide to Cornwall, Michael Arden. All of these are admirable choices, but they create so much distraction that there is no cohesive flow. A viewer loses focus and concentration, because one’s attention keeps changing from one thing to another.

In the past Mr. Gold directed A Doll’s House, Part 2 beautifully and concisely but he also directed the abysmal 2017 revival of The Glass Menagerie with Sally Field, where he sucked out all the poetic brilliance of Tennessee Williams. Ann Roth is usually a meticulous costume designer and designed gorgeous costumes for Ms. Jackson in Three Tall Women, but here she is all over the place as well.

Be forewarned that, with all the noise and distractions, this is a three hour and 35-minute hollow production, so bring lots of cushions for your seats. It just might make sitting through this more bearable.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 4, 2019

‘KING LEAR’: Jane Houdyshell & Glenda Jackson. Photo: Brigitte
Lacombe

‘KING LEAR’: Glenda Jackson. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘KING LEAR’: Pedro Pascal & Jayne Houdyshell. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘KING LEAR’: Ruth Wilson. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

The post Pretentious madness of ‘King Lear’ appeared first on StageZine.

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf, Chris Cooper & Jane Houdyshell. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2
Written by Lucas Hnath
Directed by Sam Gold
Through July 23, 2017
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.DollsHousePart2.com

By David NouNou

In 1879, Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House where in the end, Nora Helmer slams the door of her house, leaves her husband and her children and walks away from a marriage that she felt was her prison. Quite remarkable for its day for a woman with no means of support to take such action. In 2017, Lucas Hnath has written A Doll’s House, Part 2 in which Nora comes back knocking on the door of the house she walked out of 15 years ago.

Nora (Laurie Metcalf) has come back and is greeted by Anne Marie (Jayne Houdyshell), the family nanny and housemaid. It’s an awkward moment but soon turns into hilarity at every turn, thanks to Mr. Hnath’s brilliant writing. Nora has not come to apologize or be forgiven for walking out on everyone but has come back to get something she wasn’t given 15 years earlier.

Nora has done very well for herself. She has become a successful female writer with plenty of money and lovers along the way. Nora has written many books under a pseudonym advocating freedom for women who feel shackled by the restraints and chains of their marriage by divorcing their husbands and starting a new life. In the process, she has provoked a judge who has found her real identity and is going to expose her for the sham that she is.

Thus her reason for her appearance at her husband’s doorstep. Torvald Helmer (Chris Cooper) never filed the divorce papers as he promised Nora he would. People assumed when she left that she was sick, went to a sanitarium and died. People felt sorry for Thorvald, his reputation at the bank strengthened and he never bothered to correct anyone.

The wheels are set in motion for what is to be the thrill ride of the theatrical season. Nora not only left Torvald and Anne Marie, but she also left behind a young daughter, Emmy (Condola Rashad), who has grown up into a young lovely woman. Like her mother, she is strong-willed; unlike her mother, she wants to get married to the man she is engaged to and wants to be enslaved by the man she loves. In this case, Nora cannot see Emmy as an ally to get her divorce.

What is absolutely astounding is how Mr. Hnath has taken Ibsen’s characters and given them new and far more complicated lives than Ibsen would have ever imagined. There are so many sides to align with, but the allegiance keeps shifting. Nora, Thorvald, Emmy and Anne Marie are all embroiled in these dilemmas and the audience is marveling at the expertise of the writing and the humor that is peppered throughout the play.

The performances at the John Golden Theatre are among the best you will see this season. The play has garnered eight Tony nominations and is sure to win a few: Laurie Metcalf, as Nora, is a sure shot. She is monumental and a force to be reckoned with. Jayne Houdyshell. who won Best Featured Actress in a Play Tony last year for The Humans, is up again this year in the same category, as is Condola Rashad. They are the embodiment of featured actresses and great in their parts and what a thrill it would be to see a tie where both of them could win.

There is some redemption here for Sam Gold, the director. After he deliberately stripped all the poetic lyricism and butchered the magnificent The Glass Menagerie earlier this season with his awful minimalism, it’s minimalistic here as well, but it serves the purpose. With expert writing and excellent performances, I can easily see The Doll’s House, Part 2 being named the Best Play of the Year.

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

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf & Condola Rashad. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf & Jane Houdyshell. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf & Jane Houdyshell. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

‘A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2’: Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

The post ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ thrill ride of season appeared first on StageZine.

‘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

The post A minimalist revival of ‘The Glass Menagerie’ 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.

SCOTTISH STAR AS ERUDITE PLAYWRIGHT: Ewan McGregor in Tom Stoppard’s ‘The Real Thing.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

THE REAL THING
Written by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Sam Gold
Through January 4, 2015
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
(212-719-1300), www.RoundaboutTheatre.org

By David NouNou

Although Tom Stoppard is not the easiest playwright to sit through, one must give him credit for being one of the most erudite dramatists ever. Certainly The Real Thing is a perfect example of how his mind works and his beliefs on the complexities of marriage and infidelity and, as presented on Broadway in January 1984, under the superb direction of Mike Nichols, one got to see the guts and the marrow of broken marriages, infidelity, passion, love, betrayal and guilt. However, director Sam Gold  has stripped the heart and soul of this show, as he did to another British import, the 2012 revival of John Osborne’s Look Back In Anger at the Laura Pels Theatre. Mr. Gold’s obsession with free form, non-grounded, minimalistic sets where “not just less but much less is more” is absolutely maddening. After all, the play was first done in England in 1982 and showed intellectual, well-to-do playwrights/characters in the play in their natural habitat of posh flats.

As if the play and its settings aren’t confusing enough, Mr. Gold and his set designer David Zinn have added another layer of “where are we now and what year is it?” to Stoppard’s play to make it almost incomprehensible. Adding doo-wop songs between scene changes, sung by the actors, leaves the audience at a loss for words.

Starting out are Charlotte (Cynthia Nixon) and Max (Josh Hamilton), a married couple having a to-do over the fact that she has gone to Geneva without her passport. This starts a row between the couple in which Charlotte leaves Max. This is followed by a doo-wop songfest in which the actors come on and rearrange the set and the lights come on Charlotte and Henry (Ewan McGregor). In this scene. we learn that Charlotte and Max were doing a scene from Henry’s latest play, House of Cards. On this particular Sunday, Max and his wife, Annie, another actress (Maggie Gyllenhaal), are visiting Henry and Charlotte. They are all friends in real life. However, in this life, it is Henry and Annie who are having the passionate love affair. Needless to say, the scene ends on a down note, but the director has his actors going into another doo-wop scene change.

This time Annie and Henry are living a blissful, passionate life, Max is wallowing in his sorrow and Annie is getting pleasure out of his misery and is totally okay with it. They do love each other; Henry has the usual writer’s block and things start going south. Another scene change, more doo-wops, Annie starts getting antsy and has an affair with a much younger fellow actor. This is where life imitates art; it is Henry who is jealous and has to keep his covetousness in tow, for he desperately loves Annie and, as she explains to him, “I love you, too, and you are my chap.”

Mr. McGregor and Ms. Gyllenhaal are movie stars who are making their Broadway debuts here. Ms. Nixon and Mr. Hamilton are seasoned theatrical actors, all four of them have theatrical experience and are pros in their field and add marquee value, but together they totally lack any chemistry. They deliver their lines devoid of any real feeling or the motivations behind them. If only Mr. Gold could have confined them in a real setting where they didn’t have to break character and waste time changing sets and do all those damn doo-wops and instead tried to elicit some genuine emotions from them, it would have made a far more interesting and enjoyable evening and made Mr. Stoppard’s work a pleasure to sit through.

TROUBLED COUPLE: Cynthia Nixon & Ewan McGregor in Tom Stoppard’s ‘The Real Thing.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

NIXON’S SECOND TIME IN SHOW: Cynthia Nixon (left) played young Debbie in the 1984 production of ‘The Real Thing’ & returns as Charlotte, seen here with playwright Henry (Ewan McGregor) in the latest Broadway revival of the show. Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 6, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on November 5, 2014

The post Star-Studded Revival Not Quite ‘The Real Thing’ appeared first on StageZine.