‘FLOYD COLLINS’: (collage, left): Jeremy Jordan & (collage, right) Lizzy McAlpine & Jeremy Jordan. Photos: Joan Marcus.

FLOYD COLLINS
Book by Tina Landau
Music & lyrics by Adam Guetell
Directed by Tina Landau
Through June 22, 2025
Lincoln Center Theatre
at the Vivian Beaumont
150 West 65^th Street
https://www.lct.org/

By Scott Harrah

A century ago in 1925, the news of a cave explorer trapped in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky became a media sensation. This true story is the basis for the narrative of the Broadway musical Floyd Collins.  The show was originally produced off Broadway in Philadelphia in 1994 and later in New York at Playwrights Horizons in 1996. Now, this latest iteration starring Jeremy Jordan as Floyd has received six Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical .

Golden-voiced Jeremy Jordan

Broadway star Jeremy Jordan, with his golden voice and kinetic stage presence, is the perfect actor to bring Floyd Collins to life. The historical saga of a man who went spelunking in a Kentucky cave, hoping to find a new tourist attraction, and ended up pinned 55 feet below ground under a rock is not exactly a recipe for a great musical. Regardless, Mr. Jordan actually makes the concept as riveting and sensational as possible. Mr. Jordan charmed Broadway audiences last year with his Tony-nominated role in The Great Gatsby. As Floyd, he is consistently outstanding with such solo songs as “The Call, “ “And She’d Have Blue Eyes,” and “It Moves.”

Media hasn’t changed much in a century

The show is ultimately a tragedy, and the media circus that surrounds him is, of course, unfortunate but it simply shows that the press a century ago were just as ruthless as they are today. Floyd Collins might remind some of Kander and Ebb’s long-running Broadway phenomenon Chicago simply because it also shows how the media will often sensationalize any unfortunate news story to sell to a voracious public. The second act opens with “Is That Remarkable,” a song about how the media indulges in exploitative journalism. However, while Chicago is a dark yet upbeat musical full of irony and derisive frivolity, Floyd Collins is simply dark.

Floyd’s family, townsfolk & the press

We also meet a number of characters above ground, all of whom are supposedly trying to help Floyd. His younger brother Homer (Jason Gotay) leads the quest to rescue Floyd. His younger sister Nellie (Lizzy McAlpine) is quite concerned about Floyd. She has just been discharged from a mental hospital and is often misunderstood. Nonetheless, she thinks rationally when trying to help her brother and has unique insight about his emotional state.

Marc Kudisch plays Lee, Floyd’s devastated father who has trouble coping with his son’s dangerous situation.  His wife Miss Jane (Jessica Molaskey) is also Floyd’s stepmother, but she spends most of her time trying to console her husband. Local townsfolk include Bee Doyle (Wade McCollum), a land owner who is the first to see that Floyd is trapped in the cave. He is the first one to seek help and eventually he gets quite wrapped up in the rescue attempts, along with Ed Bishop (Clyde Voce), another town cave explorer.

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: Taylor Trensch. Photo: Joan Marcus.

Taylor Trensch plays Skeets, a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal. He becomes deeply involved in the story of Floyd Collins and ends up winning a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. Mr. Tresnch imbues the character of Skeets with a profound sense of concern and altruism. He starts out as simply a newspaper reporter.  Eventually, we see a wonderful arc to the character of Skeets.  He becomes more like a concerned friend of Floyd’s.  It is no surprise that Taylor Trensch has received a Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical Tony nomination.

Book & direction

Writer-director Tina Landau’s book is not always perfect. The characters are all well written, but there is often too little detail about each one’s backstory. As a director, however, Ms. Landau extracts many great performances.

It’s great to see Broadway veteran Marc Kudisch back on stage again as Floyd’s father, Lee. Mr. Kudisch does his best with the limitations of the character and material.

Newcomer Lizzy McAlpine shows a lot of promise as Floyd’s sister Nelly. Ms. McAlpine’s unique vocals can be both high and low, and there is sometimes a country twang heard and that fits the indie folk-style songs in the show.  Jason Gotay is engaging as Homer, Floyd’s baby brother.

It’s no wonder that Floyd Collins received Tony nominations for Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Dan Moses Schreier) and Best Orchestrations (Bruce Coughlin). The Vivian Beaumont stage is gigantic, and in so many productions actors something appear as if they are being “swallowed” by the stage. Yes, there are some rare moments like that in this show, but making 1920s Kentucky look vivid and lively is no easy task. The lighting and sound here is superb. Bruce Couglin has done a splendid job with the orchestrations, and he has added great depth to the score.

The score & vocals

It would be inaccurate to say that Floyd Collins is an uplifting evening of theater. The show is essentially an historical American tragedy, but it’s worth seeing thanks to Adam Guettel’s richly textured music and lyrics. In addition, the performances by Jeremy Jordan and Taylor Trensch are two of the spring’s best.

Published May 11, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on May 10, 2025

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: Jason Gotay & Jeremy Jordan. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: Marc Kudisch & Jessica Molaskey. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: (left to right) Cole Vaughan, Wade McCollum, Clyde Voce & Jason Gotay. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘MCNEAL’: Robert Downey Jr. (center right) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

MCNEAL
A new play by Ayad Akhtar
Directed by Bartlett Sher
Through November 24, 2024
Lincoln Center Theater
at the Vivian Beaumont
160 West 65^th Street
www.lct.org

By Scott Harrah

One might think McNeal—with Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr. making his Broadway debut in a drama with the controversial topic of AI (artificial intelligence) as a running theme—would be an instant blockbuster. Written by renowned, Pulitzer Prize-winning, Tony-nominated playwright Ayad Akhtar (Disgraced and Junk), the play also features a high-tech set by Michael Yeargan and Jake Barton and clever projections by Jake Barton. While this may sound like a winning formula, not everything works but the show is still thoroughly engrossing.

Mr. Downey Jr. plays Jacob McNeal, a troubled well-known novelist with numerous personal problems, including alcoholism. He is self-centered, rude and egotistical; not the most likeable character. It is difficult to have much sympathy for him.

As the story opens, Jacob is seeing his doctor, Sarah Grewal (Ruthie Ann Miles). She tells him that he’s in poor health and he needs to stop drinking for the sake of his liver. He isn’t interested in hearing about his health because he’s waiting for the Nobel committee to announce who will win the prize for literature.

There is much buzz about his latest novel Evie, but people are questioning its origins. Even before the show opens, a projection of a smartphone is seen with someone typing who will win the Nobel for literature. This is clever foreshadowing because we soon learn that Jacob has been using ChatGPT to help him with his writing, but he is doing more than using it for research and outlines. He is actually using it to have AI rewrite classics from Shakespeare to Ibsen in the “Jacob McNeal style.”

AI is rapidly changing the way we do everything, especially in the workforce. Everyone from Hollywood actors and writers to blue-collar workers and journalists are concerned that AI may eventually take away jobs. Many are concerned about the capabilities of ChatGPT and other types of AI because these high-tech applications can do everything from writing an email to composing fiction. All one has to do type in a few keywords and descriptions of what is needed and within a few minutes, AI can produce a grammatically correct and satisfactory but often wooden and stilted email, marketing promotion, and so on. However, AI is never something to use for one’s own writing, but Jacob has become so depressed and down and out from alcoholism and personal problems that he starts using ChatGPT for his novels.

Of course, people soon catch on, and there is a particularly tense scene between Jacob and Natasha Braithwaite (Brittany Bellizeare), a New York Times reporter. The interview was arranged by his savvy literary agent Stephie Banic (Andrea Martin).

Other subplots involve a strained relationship between Jacob and his son, Harlan (Rafi Gavron). The son’s mother was also a struggling writer and died by suicide when Harlan was very young. Harlan cannot stand his father, and there’s a powerful scene in which both have a nasty argument.

Meanwhile, Jacob’s ex-lover Francine Blake (Melora Hardin) is a writer and editor and he is attempting to rekindle their romance. She blasts him for using and exploiting private details about his life for his work.

Despite the final portion of the show unraveling a bit and a grim ending, director Bartlett Sher does a nice job of keeping the show together with all the high-tech projections and lighting. Mr. Sher manages to extract many outstanding performances from the cast. Mr. Downey Jr is the main attraction here, and he definitely delivers, portraying Jacob McNeal as a man with many shortcomings, one whose humanity is often difficult to see on the surface. It’s a big departure for Mr. Downey Jr. after his many Marvel movies and his role in last year’s box-office phenomenon Oppenheimer.  Rafi Gavron gives a heartbreaking performance as Jacob’s son Harlan. Andrea Martin is amazing as Jacob’s agent. It is great seeing Ms. Martin play a serious character for a change, something we have not seen since her Tony-winning performance in the last Pippin revival back in 2013.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 9, 2024
Reviewed at October 5, 2024 press performance

‘MCNEAL:’ Robert-Downey Jr. & Brittany Bellizeare. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘MCNEAL’: Robert Downey Jr. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘MCNEAL’: Andrea Martin. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘MCNEAL’: Melora Hardin & Robert Downey Jr. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

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‘UNCLE VANYA’: Steve Carell. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

UNCLE VANYA
By Anton Chekhov
A new version by Heidi Schreck
Directed by Lila Neugebaeur
Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont
150 West 65^th Street
https://www.lct.org/about/beaumont-theater/

By Scott Harrah

The Russian dramas of Anton Chekhov are never easy plays for American audiences to endure for numerous reasons. Unlike the classics of William Shakespeare, they were never originally written in English so anything poetic and florid about the language is often lost in the proverbial translation. Anton Chekov himself supposedly said Uncle Vanya was intended to be a comedy. If he indeed wanted the play to be interpreted for laughs, Mr. Chekhov would probably love the fact that this latest version—with an updated book by What the Constitution Means to Me playwright Heidi Schreck—at Lincoln Center stars none other than The 40-Year-Old Virgin himself, Steve Carell of “The Office” fame. Mr. Carell is about as American as one gets, and he’s one of our best comic actors. He gets laughs from the audience whenever he’s on the stage.

One might need to down a few vodkas to actually see this drama, first produced in Moscow in 1899, as a comedy, but Vanya (originally subtitled Scenes from a Country Life) and the plays of Chekhov in general are so lugubrious, talky and long that they have always been ripe for parody. Remember the hilarious Chekhov spoof from the 2012 Broadway season by the late Christopher Durang, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike? However, this 21st century interpretation of Uncle Vanya is hardly a parody. It is more like a lighthearted Cliff Notes version of a Chekhov classic with contemporary comic touches.

It is hard to feel much sympathy for the Russian aristocracy portrayed in Uncle Vanya because they are so affluent, immoral and self-indulgent, bored with their summer days in their country home. The play is really about upper-class people who are afraid of wasting their lives, but do not bother to do anything meaningful or pragmatic to better themselves.

The story focuses on a couple from the city, Alexander (Alfred Molina), a professor in poor health, and his gorgeous young wife, Elena (Anika Noni Rose). They have traveled to the rural Russian village to check on their country estate and let everyone living there know they intend to sell the property. Vanya lives on the estate with his niece Sonia (Alison Pill) and he isn’t happy about the visit from Alexander, who is Vanya’s brother-in-law and Sonia’s father. Vanya manages his late sister’s estate with Sonia’s help.  Vanya isn’t amused at all about all the hoopla everyone makes over the professor and his trophy wife. Vanya and the hard-drinking doctor Astrov (William Jackson Harper) are both hot for Elena. Sonia has a crush on the doctor.

Uncle Vanya is a drama originally written in four acts, with a plot that features everything from a love triangle to an attempted murder. Heidi Schreck does a fine job of trimming some of the narrative blather and updating the text for modern audiences, highlighting much of the humor Anton Chekhov supposedly inserted into the story. Mimi Lien’s stage design is a bit of a head-scratcher. The Vivian Beaumont has a vast stage and, as StageZine’s late co-publisher and managing editor David NouNou often said, it is difficult to produce any play in this theater without a lavish set because otherwise, the actors seem like they are being swallowed whole by a stage decorated with sparse scenery. Ms. Lien’s set sometimes resembles a dark city park or a campground.

Director Lila Neugebauer does her best to get fine performances from the stellar cast. Mr. Carrell is his usual charming self, and he definitely has the acting chops for drama (as anyone who saw him play a Marcel Proust-loving, neurotic gay man in Little Miss Sunshine back in 2006 can attest). The fact that Steve Carell is doing Chekhov is funny all by itself, but he approaches the role here with everything he has, and audiences will love him. He is droll and angst-ridden and gives one of the most original interpretations of the title character to date.

It is always a pleasure to see Alfred Molina on the Broadway stage, and this is a far different role than some of his previous shows, such as his Tevye in the 2004 revival of Fiddler on the Roof and his Tony-nominated roles as artist Mark Rothko in Red and Yvan in Yazmina Reza’s Art. Mr. Molina is more than convincing as ailing professor Alexander.

Another noteworthy performance is given by Broadway veteran and Tony-winning actress Jayne Houdyshell as Maria, Vanya’s mother. Ms. Houdyshell is consistently outstanding, and it’s too bad she didn’t have a larger role here.

The gorgeous Anika Noni Rose as Elena is another actress who is no stranger to Broadway. Ms. Rose starred in Tony Kushner’s Caroline, or Change and as Maggie the Cat in a revival of an all-Black production of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof opposite Terrence Howard, as well as A Raisin in the Sun. She has both the beauty and the onstage sexual chemistry to get all the guys pining for her. Ms. Rose skillfully plays up every aspect of Elena being a bored wife to her much-older husband.

William Jackson Harper, best known for his role on the NBC TV sitcom “The Good Place,” is delightful as the boozy doctor Astrov. Alison Pill’s Sonia has the right mix of vulnerability and naiveté.

Did Chekhov really think Uncle Vanya was a comedy? The same has been said about Chekhov’s most famous drama The Cherry Orchard, and this critic reviewed two mind-numbingly inept productions of that classic both on and off Broadway over the past 20 years. Let’s leave the question of “Russian drama as comedy” up to the academics. This new, abridged version of Uncle Vanya, with many modern comic touches by playwright Heidi Schreck and director Lila Neugebauer, won’t win over Chekhov purists, but it is accessible enough for present-day audiences to enjoy.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 15, 2024
Reviewed at May 12, 2024 performance

‘UNCLE VANYA’: Alfred Molina & Anika Noni Rose. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘UNCLE VANYA:’ William Jackson Harper & Anika Noni Rose. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘UNCLE VANYA:’ William Jackson Harper & Alison Pill. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘UNCLE VANYA’: The cast. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

The post ‘Uncle Vanya’: Chekhov with a modern touch appeared first on StageZine.

‘CAMELOT’: Phillipa Soo & Andrew Burnap. Photo: Joan Marcus.

CAMELOT
Music by Frederick Loewe
Original book & lyrics by Alan Lerner
Book by Aaron Sorkin
Based on T. H. White’s The Once and Future King
Directed by Bartlett Sher
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
150 West 65th Street
(212-239-6200), https://camelotbway.com/

By David NouNou

Lord, save the musical theatre from heavy-handed “serious” writers who insert themselves into classic musicals in the name of reinventing them. Camelot was the next venture for Lerner and Loewe following their smash hit My Fair Lady. They tackled T. H. White’s fantasy novel The Once and Future King, which were short stories based about King Arthur based on the 1485 work Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory. They created this fantasy world for the theatre about King Arthur, meeting and marrying Guenevere, creating the round table with knights of the highest order and valor, and its most formidable knight Lancelot du Lac. Visually, Camelot was and may still be the most opulent, extravagant, lavish and colorful musical ever created. I know, I saw it and remember it vividly, thanks in large part to my parents taking me to the theatre at a very early age.

The book by Mr. Lerner wasn’t perfect; it contained too much plot and so many characters but it had an easy flow. The score was sublime especially the lilting music by Mr. Loewe. This is not an easily revivable musical in great part because of the complicated and overlong book and Aaron Sorkin hasn’t made it any better. Between him and Bartlett Sher—who is a formidable director of musicals: South Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady,  all under the banner of Lincoln Center—have stripped the fantasy, joy, glory, pomp, extravagance and whimsy and left us this dreary, vapid, monochromatic, joyless world that once was known as Camelot.

Starting with Arthur (Andrew Burnap) hiding from his arranged betrothal to Guenevere (Phillipa Soo), Princess of France, to end the wars and seal the relationship between England and France. Arthur and Guenevere, while escaping from her retinue, stumble upon each other in the wintry woods near the castle where Arthur explains the virtues of Camelot in the song “Camelot.” The two form a bond, which will lead to the creation of the round table. Arthur’s mentor and tutor, Merlin (Dakin Matthews), before dying, warns Arthur of impending doom but doesn’t tell him what it is. In walks Lancelot (Jordan Donica), the knight of the highest ideals singing his own virtues in “C’est Moi.”

Temptation does enter this magical kingdom of virtue, morals and standards where no one is above the law. Arthur’s illegitimate son, Mordred (Taylor Trensch), is the snake in the garden of Eden who tempts Lancelot and Guenevere to be caught together, and causes the undoing of Arthur and all of his idealistic dreams.

Again, although it wasn’t perfect, Lerner and Loewe attempted to create a beautiful world where one could hope for a better future. In Sorkin and Sher’s world, on the enormous Vivian Beaumont stage, their world starts out bleak, threadbare, and has no chance for any higher ideals, the illusion and fantasy are missing and there is no hint of it in Michael Yeargan’s nonexistent sets. Instead of armor, gossamer and brocade, the costumes by Jennifer Moeller are so drab, dreary and adorned with black leather that this Camelot lacks any illusion, mystique or charm.

Thankfully, what is kept intact is the beautiful and melodic score and that is in large part due to its musical director and conductor Kimberly Grigsby. One can just close one’s eyes and listen to Ms. Grigsby and her full glorious orchestra and I’ll quote “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.”

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 16, 2023
Reviewed at April 15, 2023 press performance.

‘CAMELOT’: Phillipa Soo, Andrew Burnap, Dakin Matthews & Jordan Donica. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Andrew Burnap. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Jordan Donica. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Andrew Burnap. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Jordan Donica & Phillipa Soo. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Phillipa Soo. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Taylor Trensch & Marilee Talkington. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Danny Wolohan, Anthony Michael Lopez, Fergie Philippe & Dakin Matthews. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘CAMELOT’: Phillipa Soo & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THE OLD MAN & THE POOL’: Mike Birbiglia. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THE OLD MAN & THE POOL
Written by Mike Birbiglia
Directed by Seth Barrish
Through January 15, 2023
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
150 West 65th Street

(212-239-6200), www.mikebirbigliabroadway.com

By David NouNou

When a lot people have lost their everyday humor and comedy has become harder to do, when a standup comedy routine could cancel a comic in a heartbeat, somehow—as he did in his last outing on Broadway, The New One in 2018, about his neurosis and the birth of his baby girl—Mike Birbiglia scores and gets big laughs by joking about things to which most of us can relate, including the not-always-funny topic of midlife emotional and physical health.  In Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & The Pool, Mr. Birbiglia has managed to hit another home run.

One-man shows can be very hit-and-miss and can be interminably drab vanity projects (as evidenced last month) and one becomes very leery of them. However, Mr. Birbiglia’s one-man show provides humor in the purest and most guileless of ways. The slings and arrows aren’t directed at anyone but himself. He doesn’t display vanity but tries to provide genuine comic relief through the anguish he’s endured in his life through the health issues he’s had and survived.

Mr. Birbiglia is 44, Catholic, married to a Jewish girl Jennie and has a daughter Oona, and they play a huge part in his act. His love for them is heartachingly genuine and he never uses them as the brunt of his jokes but fellow travelers in his journey of maladies.

Mr. Birbiglia suffers from a sleep-walking disorder (the basis for his 2008 Off-Broadway show and 2012 indie film Sleepwalk with Me). At 21, he had early cancer detection for bladder cancer that he miraculously beat. At 34, he learned he had type 2 diabetes, etc. He has been diagnosed by many doctors and told to do many different regimens to remedy his maladies. Without giving you more detail, you have to hear about his treatment of swimming lessons at the YMCA. A genuine sidesplitting classic.

Mr. Birbiglia has the affability of a middle-aged standup Tom Hanks. There even is a slight resemblance and the storytelling has the same warm delivery but Mr. Birbiglia is an original. He writes his own material for his shows, stars in them, and leaves the audience, proverbially speaking, rolling in the aisles.

You might think that an evening discussing one’s own aliments might be a drag, but Mr. Birbiglia, under the deft direction of Seth Barrish, has turned his literal and figurative pain into funny fodder for our enjoyment and makes our ailments more bearable. For an evening of non-stop hilarity, this is the comedy you’ve been waiting for. Think of it as an early Christmas/Chanukah gift, courtesy of Mike Birbiglia.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 13, 2022
Reviewed at November 12, 2022 press preview performance.

‘MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THE OLD MAN & THE POOL’: Mike Birbiglia. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THE OLD MAN & THE POOL’: Mike Birbiglia. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THE OLD MAN & THE POOL’: Mike Birbiglia. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

The post ‘Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & the Pool’ a gift appeared first on StageZine.

‘THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH’: (left to right) Julian Robertson, Roslyn Ruff & Paige Gilbert. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH
Written by Thornton Wilder
With additional material by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz
Through May 29, 2022
Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont
150 West 65th Street
(800)331-0472, https://www.lct.org/

By Scott Harrah

Thornton Wilder’s 1942 Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Skin of Our Teeth was last revived on Broadway in 1955. It has not been produced in 67 years for numerous reasons. The epic is not nearly as accessible or universal as Our Town and is thorny and awkward in nature.  The story is a three-act saga of the ultimate survival of humanity and the Androbus family, married for 5,000 years and living in Excelsior, New Jersey. The story takes us from the Ice Age to Atlantic City in the 1920s to the end of an unspecified war and is convoluted indeed. It touches on everything from the Bible to technology to natural disasters and the environment.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has updated the story with new material since this production features a multi-ethnic cast, with the help of director Lileana Blain-Cruz. For example, sassy maid Sabina (Gabby Beans)—in a role originated by the late Tallulah Bankhead in 1942—starts out the show by breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience, but she talks about how she’s been in several August Wilson plays.

In Act One, a composite of the early 20^th century, Mrs. Antrobus (Roslyn Ruff) is in her New Jersey home with her children, Gladys (Paige Gilbert) and Henry (Julian Robertson). It is August but the entire Northeast of the USA is contending with a wall of ice that is moving south from Canada. Mr. Antrobus (James Vincent Meredith) is the inventor of everything from the lever, the wheel, multiplication tables and the alphabet. Refugees start arriving at the Antrobus home, all wanting food.  Some of the arriving refugees include Moses, the prophet Homer and Greek Muses. We also see one of the play’s highlights: Huge animated puppets of a dinosaur and a woolly mammoth that will remind many of the gorgeous horse puppets in a far superior Lincoln Center show a decade ago, War Horse.

Act Two takes place in 1920s Atlantic City, depicting a convention as well as a seaside carnival midway on the famous Boardwalk. Mr. Antrobus is being sworn in as president of “the Ancient and Honorable Order of Mammals, Subdivision Humans.”  Sabina appears as a conniving beauty pageant queen, trying to steal Mr. Antrobus away from his wife and family.  A gypsy fortune teller (Broadway veteran Priscilla Lopez) warns everyone about a storm about to hit the shoreline. Her prophecy comes true as a hurricane arrives, the story takes a biblical turn and family members start taking pairs of animals onto a large ship reminiscent of Noah’s Ark, indicating the world is ending.

Act Three is the play’s most confusing section.  We are back at the Antrobus home in New Jersey, but everything has been decimated by an unspecified war. The two Antrobus women have survived by hiding in a cellar and Gladys now has a baby. George Antrobus has been away fighting the war. Henry returns as a general, having fought on the opposite side.

All three acts are introduced with a “News of the World” newsreel, a clever touch by projectionist Hannah Wasileski.

Perhaps Thornton Wilder’s themes are meant to show us the resilience of humans through natural and man-made disasters. However,  what is presented here, with all the tweaks by director Lileana Blain-Cruz and playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, is all ultimately a more confusing night of theater.  While it was ambitious even attempting to update this monster of a play, the end result is a slog to sit through for most audiences. There are some occasionally funny moments and two noteworthy standouts. Newcomer Gabby Beans is a spunky delight as maid Sabina, and Priscilla Lopez shines as the fortune teller, with her lively performance.  The dinosaur and woolly mammoth puppets steal the show in Act One, and Adam Rigg’s sets are consistently impressive, but this production of The Skin of Our Teeth is too long and lugubrious to be palatable in the 21^st century.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 3, 2022
Reviewed at May 1, 2022 press performance.

‘THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH’: (left to right) Roslyn Ruff, Julian Robertson, Paige Gilbert & James Vincent Meredith. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH’: Priscilla Lopez. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH’: James Vincent Meredith & cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

‘THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH’: Gabby Beans. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

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