“Desperate Measures” is a smartly crafted new musical (very) loosely inspired by the central plot of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”, set in the Wild West in the late 1800s. A musical comedy guilty pleasure that is fun and charming, this show offers a perfect, joyful escape from the horror of the daily news.
Elevator Repair Service’s “Everyone’s Fine with Virginia Woolf” by Kate Scelsa is self-styled “fan fiction” parody response to Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, lovingly skewering the latter with a sometimes absurdist literary, dramaturgical, and feminist critique. The ambition is admirable and the result mixed, though entertaining.
2018-2019 Broadway season preview; new plays "The Lifespan of a Fact" and "American Son" announced for the fall; long-planned renovation of the Palace Theatre/hotel complex threatens to shudder "SpongeBob SquarePants"; Natalie Walker ranks all 41 Broadway theatres; Public Theater announces 2018-2019 season; MCC Theater moves to midtown in November; “Carousel” cast recording released
The Tony Awards are Broadway’s biggest night—and thus the biggest night in American theatre—the one time a year the nation (or at least some portion of it) pauses to celebrate excellence in theatre. Take a look at the list of winners and my takeaways.
Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia mounts an impressive and solid production of Kander and Ebb’s “The Scottsboro Boys”, a satirical minstrel show presentation of the harrowing story of one of the most disgraceful episodes in American history. Musical theatre fans in the D.C.-metro area should flock to this regional premiere of an extraordinary and underappreciated musical. It’s an important “must see” of the season, and well-worth the visit.
“Dan Cody’s Yacht” is a new play by Anthony Giardina that tackles contemporary issues of privilege, mobility, inequality, and education through an implausible, plot-hole ridden story with an irredeemable leading character and disgraceful ideological point of view. Skip it.
The Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut presents a first rate production of “The Will Rogers Follies” starring a perfectly-cast David Lutken; marvelously staged, choreographed, and designed, this high-energy 1991 bio-musical—performed as a Ziegfeld Follies revue—was brilliantly crafted by Broadway greats Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Peter Stone, and feels every bit as lavish in the intimacy of this venue as any show does on Broadway.
"Escape to Margaritaville" will close July 1st; "The Band's Visit" will tour in June 2019; Donna Murphy returns to "Hello, Dolly!" for six performances; Katharine McPhee extends her time in "Waitress"; Audible enters into a deal with Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre; the New York Times compiles the 25 best American plays of the past 25 years
“Peace for Mary Frances”, a new play by Lily Thorne, receives a world premiere production by The New Group starring Lois Smith as a fading matriarch of a very dysfunctional family, waiting to die in home hospice. Hyper-realistic, brimming with both tedium and spasmodic explosions of family feuds, death isn’t always the most compelling experience to observe, but that turns out to be the point.
Susan Stroman, John Kander, and David Thompson continue their thirty year collaboration with “The Beast in the Jungle”, a “dance play” inspired by Henry James’ 1903 novella. The dancing and music is beautiful to watch and hear, but the piece is dramatically unfulfilling, its more cryptic source material diminished in the course of fleshing out, crystallizing, and modernizing the story.
Hook & Eye Theater’s fourth collaborative play “She-She-She” examines the experience and legacy of New Deal-era She-She-She campers and their contemporary descendants, set against a larger dialogue about female agency, grief, trauma, and isolation. While this witty, playful, and heartfelt show has closed, be sure to put Hook & Eye Theater on your radar.
Andy Karl replaces Steve Kazee in "Pretty Woman"; Paul Schneider joins Armie Hammer and Josh Charles for "Straight White Men"; "KPOP" angles for an Off-Broadway run in 2019; NBC will telecast a live production of "Hair" in 2019; Broadway grosses hit a record high in the 2017-2018 season, but attendance is flat; memorial service for five-time Tony nominee Jan Maxwell to be held on Friday; original “Kiss Me, Kate” star Patricia Morison dies at 103
