Renée Fleming makes her Broadway debut in Living on Love

     Opera superstar Renée Fleming looks as if she is having a ball with her Broadway debut in Living on Love, Joe DiPietro’s charming new comedy at the Longacre Theatre.  Actually the entire cast appears to be enjoying themselves, hamming it up in this show that seems modeled after a 1930s screwball comedy.

     Like those earlier shows, the outcome of this one, set in 1957 and based on the play Peccadillo by Garson Kanin, will never be in doubt.  It’s the getting to the end that is fun.  Director Kathleen Marshall keeps the action hopping for two hours.

     The plot centers around two fading luminaries of the music world, Fleming as Raquel De Angelis, an opera singer who has played the world’s great stages and now must settle for upstate New York and Fort Lauderdale — “Do they sing in Fort Lauderdale,” she asks — and her husband, Vito De Angelis (Douglas Sills), a once renowned conductor who spends his days mostly in bed or drinking wine.  

     Trying not to acknowledge their changing circumstances, they insist on being referred to as The Diva and The Maestro.  And don’t dare mention the name Maria Callas to her or Leonard Bernstein to him, not to these raging egos.  

     In keeping with this style of comedy, their rage is often directed at each other.  I thought of the 1937 Rodgers and Hart song “I Wish I Were in Love Again” with its line “the conversation with the flying plates,” only in their case it’s snow globes, given to each other from locations on their concert tours, that go flying. 

     Of course this mix is going to need a younger, on-their-way-up couple to balance The Diva and The Maestro and these parts are filled quite nicely by Robert Samson (Jerry O’Connell), a would-be novelist, and Iris Peabody (Anna Chlumsky), a publishing house assistant who dreams of being an editor.  

     Robert is the latest in a long line of ghostwriters — “spooky helper,” as the Italian-born Maestro says — hired by the publisher to help the great conductor write his memoir.  After Robert quits in frustration, Iris — “Irish” in The Maestro’s pronunciation — arrives to push for the manuscript’s completion or the return of the company’s $50,000 advance, which has already been spent, along with an additional $20,000.

     Realizing he has to finish the book, The Maestro asks “Irish” to help him. Seeing this as a way to fulfill her desire to be an editor, she readily agrees. When The Diva finds out, she wants a memoir of her own, to come out first, and brings Robert back to write it.

     So now two couples are rushing to finish competing books in the living room of the De Angelises’ lush penthouse (gorgeous set by Derek McLane, enhanced by Peter Kaczorowski’s lighting). And, you guessed it, not getting too far with that but young love is blooming. One of my favorite lines is when Iris says to the shy Robert, it’s so refreshing to meet a man lacking in self-confidence.  When I mentioned that comment to my friend Mary after the show she agreed it was great, adding, “isn’t it a shame you could never use it?”

     But that’s contemporary thinking, so let’s get back to our screwball world. We have two more stock characters and they are hilarious, the joined-at-the-hip butlers played by Blake Hammond and Scott Robertson, who also happen to sing opera and play the Steinway when their employers aren’t around.

     Everyone plays their parts to the hilt, just as they should with a show like this.  Fleming, wearing gorgeous dresses (costumes by Michael Krass), breaks into song from time to time, which is wonderful. She has seen enough divas in her day and she knows just how to satirize one, complete with her little dog, Puccini (Trixie) on her arm.  She has great comic timing and such an expressive face.  I hope she returns often to Broadway.

     Before opening here, Living on Love was seen in Williamstown, MA, but it fits nicely as well on Broadway, where it is scheduled to play until Aug. 2. More than 100 seats are set aside to be sold for $25 at every performance.

Kelli O'Hara is something wonderful in The King and I

     When our Drama Desk nominations were announced yesterday afternoon at 54 Below, I was surprised Kelli O’Hara wasn’t included in the Outstanding Actress in a Musical category for her performance in the revival of The King and I at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. After seeing the show last night, I remain surprised. Her Anna is a strong, warm woman with a sense of humor and nothing stands between O’Hara and her character. She was wonderful and deserves to be nominated.

     The show, directed by Bartlett Sher, was nominated for Outstanding Revival of a Musical, but the only other nod it received was for Scott Lehrer’s sound design. This is partly because the contenders this awards season are strong so the show faced stiff competition, but also because the production, although lovely to look at and listen to, falls just short of the spark of life this great musical deserves. With the exception of O’Hara, the cast of more than 50 seem to be doing their parts rather than being the parts, at least in the first act. 

     I had heard much about Ken Watanabe as the King and none of it was good.  A theatre actor in his native Japan, he has appeared as Japanese characters in American films but is just now making his American stage debut, in a large-scale Broadway musical no less. A friend and fellow critic who knows the show well told me she couldn’t understand a word he said. I had heard from others that his accent was a problem, but I had no trouble following him. I think, though, that he is working so hard to master the dialogue, singing and dancing that he isn’t able to concentrate on giving the King much dimension.  Still, I liked him.

     The show is blessed with a strong supporting cast, especially Ruthie Ann Miles as Lady Thiang and Ashley Park as Tuptin.  

    And blessed with a wonderful 29-piece orchestra, under the direction of Ted Sperling. The musicians are on view during the overture, then Anna’s ship sails into harbor and the stage extends to cover them.  When I saw this large prop (sets by Michael Yeargan) veering toward us, I thought I was in for a Lloyd Webber evening of excess, but this was the only such example, and quite a nice one for a dramatic entrance.

   The ship, of course, brings Anna Leonowens, a Welsh widow, and her 9-year-old son, Louis (Jake Lucas), to 1860's Bangkok.  Anna has been hired by the King of Siam to teach his multitude of children by his multitude of wives about the western world.  Not only do cultures clash, but personalities as well. Anna is an independent-minded woman and the King is used to submissive wives and concubines. O’Hara always does a good job of bringing out the tension between these to conflicting characters and Wananabe does often enough to carry the story. 

   This theme of differing worlds learning to bend to one another is brought out in some of musical theatre’s most beloved songs, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and they are all richly sung.  It’s a joy to hear O’Hara sing “Hello, Young Lovers,” “Getting to Know You” and “Shall We Dance?,” and fun to watch her infuse humor through movement and tone into “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?”  And Miles’ “Something Wonderful” is just that.

     

     The creative teams is excellent as well. Christopher Gattelli’s choreography, based on that created by Jerome Robbins for the show’s original production in 1951, is mesmerizing, especially in the dramatic “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” ballet.  

     Catherine Zuber’s costumes are stunning and should have been nominated, but this season brought us a wealth of award-worthy costumes. Zuber was nominated in this category for Gigi.

     Donald Holder’s lighting also was worthy of a nomination.

     The show is three hours, brought down (thank God) from three and a half in early previews.  The first act dragged and I was wishing it wasn’t going to be such a long night, but the second act picked up and I left the theatre in good spirits.  It’s not a great revival, but it’s a quite good one, and that’s probably the next best thing to great.

Judith Light and Jessie Mueller announce 2015 Drama Desk Awards nominations

Nominations for the 2015 annual Drama Desk Awards were announced this afternoon at 54 Below by previous Drama Desk winners Judith Light (The Assembled Parties, Other Desert Cities) and Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical).

Both women were beautifully dressed, with hair and makeup just right, as opposed to some announcers in years past who have shown up looking as if they were taking time out from clearing out the garage. They also left their egos behind and were complete professionals, in contrast to others in the past who seemed to think the announcements were all about them.  Interestingly, both wore sapphire blue.  “I see you got the memo,” Light joked to Mueller.

The Drama Desk nominees will receive their official nomination certificates at the nominees' reception on May 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at New World Stages.

The 60^th Annual Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Laura Benanti, will take place on Sunday, May 31 at The Town Hall in Manhattan. 

In keeping with Drama Desk's mission, nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway during the 2014-2015 New York theater season.

About Drama Desk

Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring together critics and writers in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and it is the only critics' organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions in the same categories. 

2014-2015 DRAMA DESK AWARD NOMINATIONS

Outstanding Play

Clare Barron, You Got Older

Lisa D'Amour, Airline Highway

Anthony Giardina, The City of Conversation 

Stephen Adly Guirgis, Between Riverside and Crazy

Elizabeth Irwin, My Manãna Comes

Simon Stephens, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Jack Thorne, Let the Right One In 

Outstanding Musical

An American in Paris

Hamilton

Fly By Night

Pretty Filthy 

Something Rotten

The Visit

Outstanding Revival of a Play

The Elephant Man

Fashions for Men

Ghosts

The Iceman Cometh

Tamburlaine the Great

The Wayside Motor Inn

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Into the Woods

The King and I

On the Town

On the Twentieth Century

Pageant

Side Show

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Reed Birney, I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard

Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy

Ben Miles, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2

Bill Pullman, Sticks and Bones

Alexander Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Brooke Bloom, You Got Older

Kathleen Chalfant, A Walk in the Woods

Kristin Griffith, The Fatal Weakness 

Jan Maxwell, The City of Conversation

Helen Mirren, The Audience

Carey Mulligan, Skylight

Tonya Pinkins, Rasheeda Speaking

Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Brian d'Arcy James, Something Rotten!

Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris

Jeremy Kushnier, Atomic

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Matthew Morrison, Finding Neverland

Ryan Silverman, Side Show 

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Kate Baldwin, John & Jen
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Leanne Cope, An American in Paris

Erin Davie, Side Show

Lisa Howard, It Shoulda Been You

Chita Rivera, The Visit

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

F. Murray Abraham, It's Only a Play
Reed Birney, You Got Older

K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway

Jonathan Hadary, Rocket to the Moon

Jason Butler Harner, The Village Bike
Jonathan Hogan, Pocatello

José Joaquin Perez, My Mañana Comes

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Annaleigh Ashford, You Can't Take It with You

Beth Dixon, The City of Conversation

Julie Halston, You Can't Take It with You

Paola Lázaro-Muñoz, To the Bone

Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2

Julie White, Airline Highway

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Peter Friedman, Fly By Night

Josh Grisetti, It Shoulda Been You
Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Leslie Odom Jr., Hamilton
Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!

Max von Essen, An American in Paris

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Carolee Carmello, Finding Neverland
Tyne Daly, It Shoulda Been You
Elizabeth A. Davis, Allegro

Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton
Luba Mason, Pretty Filthy

Nancy Opel, Honeymoon in Vegas
Elizabeth Stanley, On the Town 

Outstanding Director of a Play

Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Jeremy Herrin, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2

Anne Kauffman, You Got Older

Lila Neugebauer, The Wayside Motor Inn
Austin Pendleton, Between Riverside and Crazy

Joe Tantalo, Deliverance

John Tiffany, Let the Right One In

Outstanding Director of a Musical

Carolyn Cantor, Fly By Night
Bill Condon, Side Show

John Doyle, The Visit
Thomas Kail, Hamilton
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!

Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Outstanding Choreography 

Joshua Bergasse, On the Town

Warren Carlyle, On the Twentieth Century

Steven Hoggett, The Last Ship
Austin McCormick, Rococo Rouge
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris 

Outstanding Music

Jason Robert Brown, Honeymoon in Vegas

Michael Friedman, The Fortress of Solitude

John Kander, The Visit

Dave Malloy, Ghost Quartet

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Sting, The Last Ship

Outstanding Lyrics

Jason Robert Brown, Honeymoon in Vegas

Fred Ebb, The Visit

Michael Friedman, The Fortress of Solitude

Karey Kirkpatrick & Wayne Kirkpatrick, Something Rotten!

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Benjamin Scheuer, The Lion 

Outstanding Book of a Musical

Hunter Bell & Lee Overtree, Found
Karey Kirkpatrick & John O'Farrell, Something Rotten!
Craig Lucas, An American in Paris

Terence McNally, The Visit

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly, & Michael Mitnick, Fly By Night

Outstanding Orchestrations

Christopher Austin, An American in Paris
Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Allegro
Larry Hochman, Something Rotten!
Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton
Rob Mathes, The Last Ship
Don Sebesky, Larry Blank, Jason Robert Brown, & Charlie Rosen, Honeymoon in Vegas

Outstanding Music in a Play

Cesar Alvarez, An Octoroon
Danny Blackburn & Bryce Hodgson, Deliverance

Sean Cronin, Kill Me Like You Mean It

Bongi Duma, Generations

Freddi Price, The Pigeoning

Arthur Solari & Jane Shaw, Tamburlaine the Great

Outstanding Revue

Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging! 

Just Jim Dale

Lennon: Through a Glass Onion

Lonesome Traveler

Outstanding Set Design

Bob Crowley, An American in Paris

Christine Jones, Let The Right One In

David Korins, Hamilton
Mimi Lien, An Octoroon

Scott Pask, The Visit
Daniel Zimmerman, Fashions for Men

Outstanding Costume Design
Bob Crowley, An American in Paris
Bob Crowley, The Audience

Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2

Paul Tazewell, Hamilton
Andrea Varga, The Fatal Weakness

Catherine Zuber, Gigi

Outstanding Lighting Design

Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Paule Constable & David Plater, Wolf Hall, Parts 1 & 2
Maruti Evans, Deliverance

Natasha Katz, The Iceman Cometh

Ben Stanton, Our Lady of Kibeho

Outstanding Projection Design 

59 Productions, An American in Paris

Roger Hanna & Price Johnston, Donogoo

Darrel Maloney, Found

Peter Nigrini, Our Lady of Kibeho

Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Austin Switser, Big Love

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

Peter Hylenski, Side Show

Scott Lehrer, The King and I

Scott Lehrer & Drew Levy, Honeymoon in Vegas

Brian Ronan, The Last Ship

Nevin Steinberg, Hamilton

Jon Weston, An American in Paris

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

Nathan Davis, The Other Mozart

Ien Denio, Deliverance

Ian Dickinson (for Autograph), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Gareth Fry, Let the Right One In

John Gromada, Lives of the Saints

Matt Tierney, Our Lady of Kibeho

Outstanding Solo Performance

Christina Bianco, Application Pending

Jonny Donahoe, Every Brilliant Thing

Tom Dugan, Wiesenthal
Mona Golabek, The Pianist of Willesden Lane

Joely Richardson, The Belle of Amherst

Benjamin Scheuer, The Lion

Unique Theatrical Experience

Catch Me!

Everybody Gets Cake

The Human Symphony

Queen of the Night

A Rap Guide to Religion

Special Awards: Each year, the Drama Desk votes special awards to recognize excellence and significant contributions to the theatre.

For 2014-15, these awards are:

This year the nominators chose to bestow a special award for outstanding ensemble to the actors who so brilliantly shared a room in the world of A. R. Gurney's The Wayside Motor Inn: Kelly AuCoin, Jon DeVries, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Rebecca Henderson, Marc Kudisch, Jenn Lyon, Lizbeth Mackay, David McElwee, Ismenia Mendes, and Will Pullen. 

To Bess Wohl, the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award: For establishing herself as an important voice in New York theater, and having a breakthrough year with the eclectic American Hero, Pretty Filthy, and Small Mouth Sounds. Her writing expresses sensitivity, compassion, and humor with a sure hand. 

To John Douglas Thompson: For invigorating theater in New York through his commanding presence, classical expertise, and vocal prowess.  This season he demonstrated exceptional versatility in Tamburlaine the Great, and The Iceman Cometh.

To Ensemble Studio Theatre: For its unwavering commitment to producing new works by American playwrights since 1968, and enriching this season with productions of When January Feels Like Summer, Winners, and Five Times in One Night. EST's Youngblood program fostered and nurtured Hand to God, setting Tyrone off on his devilish path to Broadway.           

To Andy Blankenbuehler: For his inspired and heart-stopping choreography in Hamilton, which is indispensible to the musical's storytelling. His body of work is versatile, yet a dynamic and fluid style is consistently evident. When it's time to "take his shot," Blankenbuehler hits the bull's-eye. 

Hand to God was considered in the 2011/2012 season in its first production at Ensemble Studio Theatre. New elements were considered in the MCC production in the 2013/2014 season. There were no new elements in the Broadway transfer.

Fun Home was considered in its run at the Public Theatre in the 2013/2014 season. It received nominations for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Outstanding Director of a Musical, Outstanding Music, Outstanding Lyrics and Outstanding Book of a Musical.

Disgraced was considered in its Off-Broadway premiere at Lincoln Center in the 2012/2013 season, and only new actors and technical staff were eligible in the Broadway transfer.

The 39 Steps was considered in its initial Broadway production in the 2007/2008 season and won for Unique Theatrical Experience.

Nominations by Numbers

13        Hamilton

12        An American in Paris 

9          Something Rotten!

7          The Visit         

6          The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

5          Honeymoon in Vegas

5          Side Show

5          Wolf Hall

4          Deliverance

4          Fly by Night

4          The Last Ship

4          Let the Right One In

4          On the 20^th Century

4          You Got Older

2          Airline Highway

3          Between Riverside/Crazy

3          The City of Conversation

3          It Shoulda Been You

3          On the Town

3          Our Lady of Kibeho

2          Allegro

2          The Audience

2          The Elephant Man

2          Fashions for Men

2          The Fatal Weakness

2          Finding Neverland

2          The Fortress of Solitude        

2          Found 

2          The Iceman Cometh

2          The King and I

2          The Lion

2          My Mañana Comes

2          Pretty Filthy

2          Tamburlaine the Great

2          The Wayside Motor Inn

2          You Can't Take It With You

1          Application Pending

1          Atomic

1          The Belle of Amherst

1          Big Love

1          Catch Me!

1          Donagoo

1          Everybody Gets Cake

1          Every Brilliant Thing

1          Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging!

1          Generations

1          Ghost Quartet

1          Ghosts

1          Gigi

1          I'm Gonna Pray for You So Hard

1          The Human Symphony

1          Into the Woods           

1          It's Only a Play

1          John & Jen

1          Just Jim Dale

1          Lennon: Through a Glass Onion

1          Lonesome Traveler

1          Kill Me Like You Mean It          

1          Lives of the Saints

1          An Octoroon

1          The Other Mozart

1          Pageant

1          The Pianist of Willesden Lane

1          The Pigeoning

1          Pocatello

1          Queen of the Night

1          The Rap Guide to Religion

1          Rasheeda Speaking

1          Rocket to the Moon

1          Rococo Rouge

1          Skylight

1          Sticks and Bones

1          To the Bone

1          The Village Bike

1          A Walk in the Woods

1          Wiesenthal

Photo by David Gordon, Theatermania.com.  Jessie Mueller, left, and Judith Light.

Dr. Zhivago -- happily ever after?

     I don’t know when two hours and 45 minutes have flown by as quickly as they did at the new Broadway musical Doctor Zhivago, which opened last night at the Broadway Theatre. Under Des McAnuff’s direction, with a book by playwright Michael Weller, the span of years between 1903 and 1930, covering a world war, bloody revolution, love, betrayal, marriage, death and so much more, fly by.

   Based on the 1958 Nobel Prize-winning novel by Russian author Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago tells the story of Yurii Zhivago, an upper class doctor and poet, and Lara Guishar, a struggling seamstress turned revolutionary.  Both are married to someone else but their love affair plays out through all the strife and turmoil of early 20th century Russia.  Tam Mutu, a leading man in London who is making his Broadway debut, plays Yurii and Kelli Barrett (Wicked, Rock of Ages) is Lara.

  Composer Lucy Simon provides an appropriately sweeping score and Michael Korie and Amy Powers offer rousing songs and some nice duets.  Ron Melrose is the music director.

     I was involved throughout, but at a distance.  I didn’t feel a sense of intimacy as we whirled from scene to scene, pausing for a song or two then moving on, ending on an upbeat note with the final number.  If you liked the 1965 movie, which I did, you’ll catch glimpses of it, but the tone and pace are brighter and faster. It’s an entertaining evening of musical theatre, but without the sense of history of its predecessor. And I don’t know why Weller changed the ending so much.  

     Michael Scott-Mitchell’s sets are often incomplete, taking up just the sides of the stage, which helps convey the large scale of the story as well as enhance the feeling of destruction and desolation of the country.  But they also contribute to the lack of intimacy, except in the scene in the ravaged country mansion where Yurii and Lara are able to shut out the world for 10 days and be together. Large icicles hang from the ceiling and the windows are covered with frost.  Howell Binkley’s lighting casts a blue glow over the room, giving the sense of deep cold that was so much a part of the movie and yet is otherwise missing from the musical. 

     The opening number “Two Worlds” sets the theme of the show — aristocracy and peasants, humbled aristocracy (those lucky enough not to have been murdered) and revolutionaries, White Army and Red Army, wife and mistress.  These opposing world are often presented together at opposite sides of the stage.  This is most effectively done in the library scene when Tonia Zhivago, Yuri’s wife (Lora Lee Gayer), and Lara meet for the first time and find a bond between them. On the left, in “It Comes As No Surprise,” Lara sings of her guilt over her love for Yurii and Tonia on the right sings of her love for him and her discovery that she can’t hate Lara after meeting her.  “I feel him closer when she is near,” they sing. 

   Barrett, whose voice is especially lovely, portrays a more innocent Lara than Julie Christie did in the movie.  It’s harder to understand why men are so obsessed with her — Yurii, as well as her husband, Pasha Antipov (Paul Alexander Nolan) and the aristocrat Victor Komarovsky (Tom Hewitt), who had an affair with her when she was a vulnerable teenager in need of financial support.  When she and Yurii sing “On the Edge of Time” in the decaying mansion just before they are to part, their love seems more tender than passionate. Yurii had sung a similar duet, “Watch the Moon,” when parting from Tonia at the train station on his way to fight in the war against Germany.     

     Kelly Devine choreographs some lively Russian dances and Paul Tazewell’s costume’s nicely carry out the two worlds theme — “the oppressed and the elite and never shall they meet.”

     Dr. Zhivago has been making its way to Broadway for nearly a decade.  It premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in May 2006.  In 2010 it was revised in Australia with McAnuff as director.

     My friend Janet and I left the Broadway Theatre in high spirits after the stirring “Finale,” but a feel-good ending is not what Dr. Zhivago is about.  It is, though, what Broadway is about, so, to borrow from one of the songs, it comes as no surprise.

   

An American in Paris: Who Could Ask for Anything More?

     At the close of their curtain call, the cast of An American in Paris sang one line from the show, “Who could ask for anything more?” Who could, indeed?  I certainly couldn’t have. This new stage incarnation of the 1951 Oscar-winning film is absolute perfection. The only thing more I could ask for is to see it again.

     Directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, artistic associate of the Royal Ballet, the show brings to the Palace Theatre two stars of the New York City Ballet, Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope, making their Broadway debuts with breathtaking performances. As ballet principals they are unaccustomed to doing eight shows a week but one would never know it.  Whether dancing classic ballet, jazz or ballroom, they are mesmerizing.  They and the entire cast well deserved the rousing standing ovation they received.

     A second element of the greatness of this show can be captured in one name — Gershwin.  George and Ira’a score, adapted, arranged and supervised by Rob Fisher, includes such classics as “I Got Rhythm,” “The Man I Love,” “Liza,” “S’Wonderful, “But Not for Me,” “An American in Paris” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.”   The musical’s book is by playwright Craig Lucas. 

     And the story is charming.  Jerry Mulligan (Fairchild), an American ex-soldier, has decided to stay on in post-World War II Paris to paint and live the artist’s life.  Of course boy has to meet girl, and he does, falling hard for a Parisian ballerina, Lise Dassin (Cope). She struggles to resist her attraction to him because she is expected to marry Henri Baurel (Max von Essen), a Frenchman whose family is sending him — and they hope her — to America to run one of their textile factories.  We find out in the second act why Lise feels obligated to marry Henri.

     To complicate matters, but only slightly, another America also is captivated by Lise, Adam Hochberg, played with delightful comic flare by Brandon Uranowitz. Adam composes the music for Lise’s ballet while Jerry creates the designs. 

     And speaking of designs, Bob Crowley’s sets, along with 59 Productions’ projections, are multidimensional feats of creativity, combining the realistic and abstract, brought to life by Natasha Katz’s lighting.  I sighed with delight with their scene beside the Seine, with two boats floating on the bright blue river. It was lovely, and a perfect setting for Jerry to woo Lise with “Liza.”  Ahh, so romantic.

     Crowley also did the exquisite costumes.  I loved the full-skirted sherbet-colored dresses in the Galleries Lafayette scene, a lively number in which Jerry goes to the famed department store to court Lise, a shopgirl there, and  shoppers and clerks end up dancing in the aisles and atop the counters.  S'Wonderful! 

     An American in Paris had its world premiere in Paris in December.  How blessed we are now to have it in New York.    

No Fizz in Gigi's Champagne

     Catherine Zuber’s costumes are gorgeous and Derek McLane’s impressionistic sets colorfully portray Paris and its levels of society, but unfortunately they are the highlights of director Eric Schaeffer’s anemic revival of Gigi at the Neil Simon Theatre.  

     While stunning to look at, the show suffers most from its lack of a strong lead.  In her Broadway debut, Vanessa Hudgens (of “High School Musical” fame) makes the title character seem like a squirmy brat rather than an effervescent young girl on the brink of womanhood at the turn of the 20th century.

     In the canon of musical theatre, Gigi is one of the lightweights.  My friend Mary rightly labeled it “a second-hand My Fair Lady,” a good comparison because like that great musical, it has a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, with a plot hinging on transforming a spirited young girl into a cultured woman of the world. In the case of Gigi, the makeover is to mold her into a graceful woman who will snag a rich man and enter into a lucrative contract to be his mistress.

     But Gigi’s songs lack the power of My Fair Lady’s.  "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," "I Remember It Well," "The Night They Invented Champagne" and the title song, “Gigi”, (which won an Oscar for the 1958 movie version), are pleasant, but they pale in comparison to “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” and even “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “Get Me to the Church on Time.”

     Still, with a stronger cast, Gigi would make for a lighthearted evening of theatre.  It’s been successful before.  As a straight play, adapted by Anita Loos from the 1944 novella by French author Colette, it introduced Audrey Hepburn to the New York stage in 1961.  Seven years later it was made into a movie starring Leslie Caron that won nine Oscars, including Best Picture.  It was presented as a musical on Broadway in 1973, winning a Tony for Best Musical Score, but critics were not impressed and that version flopped. 

     This new adaptation of Gigi features a book by Heidi Thomas.

  The exceptions to the bland cast are Victoria Clark as the grandmother who has raised Gigi and Dee Hoty as the great aunt who is striving to school her niece in sophistication — “insinuate yourself into the chair,” she says as Gigi prepares to plop into it — and the important things in life — “men are temporary, jewels are for life.”

     Joshua Bergasse’s choreography is, for the most part, mechanical.  The number “Paris is Paris Again” should be joy-filled, but its only spark is from the costumes.  Similarly, “The Night They Invented Champagne” needs more fizz.

     If you are feeling the urge to reconnect with Gigi, get the movie and skip this revival.  

Amazing Grace is coming to Broadway!

Following Sold-Out Acclaimed Engagement in Chicago

AMAZING GRACE 

To Play Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre (261 West 41^st Street)

Previews Begin Thursday, June 25 

For Thursday, July 16 Opening Night

Principal Casting & Creative Team Announced

Amazing Grace, a new musical, will play Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre (261 West 41^st Street) with performances beginning Thursday, June 25 for a Thursday, July 16 opening night. 

The new musical features music and lyrics by Christopher Smith and a book by Christopher Smith and Arthur Giron, directed by Gabriel Barre (Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party) and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Newsies). 

The cast for Amazing Grace on Broadway will include members of the show’s acclaimed, sold-out world premiere in Chicago: Tony Award nominee Josh Young (Jesus Christ Superstar), Erin Mackey (NY Philharmonic's concert production of Sweeney Todd, Chaplin), Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper (Act One, The Life), Chris Hoch (Matilda, Far From Heaven), Stanley Bahorek (The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Big River), Harriett D. Foy (Mamma Mia!, Crowns), Laiona Michelle (The Book of Mormon national tour), Rachael Ferrera (Broadway debut), and Elizabeth Ward Land (Scandalous, The Green Heart). 

Additional casting for the 33-member company of Amazing Grace will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Amazing Grace is based on the awe-inspiring true story behind the world’s most beloved song. A captivating tale of romance, rebellion and redemption, this radiant production follows one man whose incredible journey ignited a historic wave of change that gave birth to the abolitionist movement.

John Newton (Tony Award nominee Josh Young), a willful and musically talented young Englishman, faces a future as uncertain as the turning tide. Coming of age as Britain sits atop an international empire of slavery, he finds himself torn between following in the footsteps of his father – a slave trader – and embracing the more compassionate views of his childhood sweetheart (Erin Mackey). An unforgettable musical saga, Amazing Grace captures the spirit of history’s sweetest and most powerful sound: freedom.

Additional members of the creative team include Eugene Lee and Edward Pierce (scenic design), Toni-Leslie James (costume design), Ken Billington and Paul Miller (lighting design), Jon Weston (sound design), Robert –Charles Vallance (hair design), David Leong (fight and military movement), Gillian Lane-Plescia (dialect coach), Kenny Seymour (orchestrations), Michael Keller (music coordinator), and Joseph Church (music director, arranger, incidental music).

Amazing Grace is produced by Carolyn Rossi Copeland and Alexander Rankin.

The production premiered last October in Chicago and was embraced by theatre critics and played to sold out houses. 

“Hearing ‘Amazing Grace’ sung by this cast makes for an undeniably stirring theatrical moment; it brought tears to my eyes. Amazing Grace features stirring, romantic music and lyrics by Smith with catchy, accessible melodies and is vividly staged by director Gabriel Barre sending characters up and down masts.”

• Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

“A stirring musical. An epic romance. Artfully produced on the lavish scale of Les Mis. Amazing Grace is a soaring piece of work full of well-crafted lyrics and character-driven melodies”

• Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

“Amazing Grace is nothing short of amazing!”

• Hank Mendheim, Windy City Live ABC-TV

“This emotional and gripping story ensures you will never hear the beautiful hymn Amazing Grace the same way again.”

• Paul Lisnek, Comcast

“A musical of raw power with superb, intense performances.”

- Steve Oxman, Variety

Your Self-Sabotage Survival Guide

From the Producer of the PhilHallmonics

OPEN A NEW WINDOW

Songs For A New Chapter

Kicking off the launch of best-selling author Karen Berg’s newest book, YOUR SELF SABOTAGE SURVIVAL GUIDE, the evening will feature veterans of Broadway theater and Fortune 500 business sharing their stories of reinvention. “Open A New Window” is a tapestry of toe-tapping music and inspirational tales woven together with some of Berg’s best from her more than three decades as an author and motivational speaker. 

The evening includes performances from Emmy and Tony nominee Ron Raines, Broadway conductor and musical director Phil Hall, and Phong Vu, CEO, of Six Sigma Management Institute, James Gerth, Kevin B McGlynn,  Linda Moshier, John DiBartolo and Karen Berg

“YOUR SELF SABOTAGE SURVIVAL GUIDE: How To Go From Why Me to Why Not?” empowers people of all ages to overcome their obstacles, reinvent themselves, and finally claim the success that's always seemed just out of reach.

Thursday, April 9th
6:00 pm

Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center (111 Amsterdam Avenue-64th & 65th Sts.)

Admission is free.

For more info visit commcorestrategies.com/openanewwindow