Long week in review (11/15-11/20/2011): The Divine Sister / Idiots in concert / The Lyons / Once / Other Desert Cities / Hadestown

The theater week started (normally) in Boston on Tuesday, when I went with Lisa and hubby (I suppose I should just start calling him Arthur, yeah?) to see Charles Busch's The Divine Sister at SpeakEasy Stage in Boston. I never saw the show when it was in New York, and I think that's really, really fine. It's just really not my kind of humor (though I had a blast at Silence! The Musical!, which has a similar feel, I guess). The performances were excellent, especially Varla Jean Merman (aka Jeffrey Roberson), and the cast certainly didn't hold anything back in this insane slapstick comedy with music. It was quite a brilliant performance for what it was, I suppose. Not my favorite, but not a waste of an evening, and I like trying new things.

Then Lisa and I decided we were tired of acting like adults, so we ran off to New York Thursday night after work. We got to Rockwood Music Hall in time to catch the midnight set from the as-yet-unnamed punk trio of (ex-Idiots) Michael Esper, Johnny Gallagher, and Gerard Canonico. We got a nice seat upstairs and I drank a lot a whiskey. Lovely.

Friday we saw Esper again, this time at the Vineyard Theatre for our second viewing of The Lyons. Linda Lavin as the mother was just as excellent the second time around. Kate Jennings Bryant as the alcoholic sister was just as terrible. Dick Latessa as the obscenity-spewing dying patriarch was good but greatly overshadowed by Lavin--well, everyone was. I can see why she chose to do this off-Broadway role instead of reprising her role in the Broadway transfer of either Follies or Other Desert Cities. A role like Mrs. Lyons is a hard one to find. I feel extraordinarily lucky to have seen her performance even once, much less twice. The play itself is ... hilarious, sad, and very problematic. There's a weird scene with Mr. Lyons in the second act that is just SO unnecessary. The same with the sister's scene at the top of that act. Just, terrible really. It was hard to tell whether Bryant was truly awful (overall, but in that scene in particular), or if the playwright (Nicky Silver) spent all his talent on writing the parents and just ran out of steam when faced with the dialogue for the other roles. Overall, the first act is really good (daughter excepted), and the second act is a mess. As always, Esper cries beautifully. (Isn't it time for this man to be in a comedy? Or, even better, a traditional musical comedy? Please?)

Saturday Lisa saw Venus in Fur, which she then RAVED about, before abandoning me to head back to Boston. (I'm seeing Venus this weekend--front row for Hugh Dancy, w00t!) While she was there, I headed to the New York Theatre Workshop for my first viewing of Once. (I'll be seeing it a total of four times before it closes off-Broadway and will then probably park myself at the Bernard Jacobs theater next year.) I bought tickets to three performances as soon as subscriber tickets were available and have since gotten tickets to the closing, which is conveniently on a Sunday evening during a long weekend. I am in love with pretty much everything about this show, as I knew I would be. A show that adds the creative team behind Black Watch to the music of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova was a pretty safe bet for me. Sure, it's cheesy at times, but in a way that I find charming overall. And the music and visuals are breathtaking. I love the entire cast (even with the accent wonkiness). Kudos to Steve Kazee for making me feel even a bit sorry for him--given how attractive and talented he is, it's not so easy to be convincing as a sad sack. Major props to Cristin Milioti for approaching Irglova's stunning vocals and being completely charming in a role that's a bit too twee.

(I don't know if there are any left, since the show is getting good reviews and has already announced its Broadway transfer, but they were offering $20 tickets for all Sunday evening performances. They were available to purchase in advance at the box office--cash only, max 4 per person.)

Then I saw Other Desert Cities, minus Stockard Channing, who was out with an injury. The audience was understandably upset to be missing the show's star. I like Channing and was a bit disappointed, but I didn't mind seeing an understudy. I feel like I certainly get a better sense for the strength of a play itself when left in the hands of a less overwhelming presence. (Indeed, would The Lyons be as enjoyable without Lavin's masterful delivery and the extra oomph she provided even--often especially--in silent moments?) The cast is excellent, including understudy Lauren Klein, but the rhythm of the show was definitely off. And it did sound as though Jon Robin Baitz had written specifically for Channing's voice. I liked the play well enough and would like to see Channing in that role (because Pal Joey should NOT be the only time I see her on stage), so maybe I'll go back when Justin Kirk takes over Thomas Sadoski's role. For me, though, Judith Light made the show.

To wrap up the weekend, I got to see Anais Mitchell's BRILLIANT folk opera, Hadestown, again, this time as a regular concert at Le Poisson Rouge. As most of the audience were diehard fans, Mitchell skipped the exposition and just plowed ahead with the songs, with guest musicians including Ani DiFranco as Persephone and Boston music god Tim Gearan as Hades. I am so in love with this show. If I were rich, I'd bankroll a production of it myself. And I'd convince the Once team to write the book/direct/choreograph/design it. THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN.

After Hadestown, the enormous band/cast came down off the stage and led the audience in some protest/pro-union songs. She then invited everyone to follow her out to Washington Square Park to support the OWS campers there. Here's a very up-tempo version of Hadestown from the park:

And here's the end of my favorite choreographed moment in Once:

Elizabeth A. Davis and Cristin Milioti

Photo by Joan Marcus

Weekend in review (11/11-11/12/2011): Suicide, Incorporated / Morgan Karr / Bonnie & Clyde / Wild Animals You Should Know

I felt like crap this weekend, but I like to think I can separate that from my opinions about the shows I saw. But, you know, full disclosure and all that.

So, yay for a three-day weekend. And OF COURSE Lisa and I used that to go to New York. Full reviews to come, but I'm tired of being so thoroughly behind, so I'm going to start doing these quick weekend reviews in addition to coming back for full reviews later. So these will be for general impressions and recommendations and then (I hope) I'll be able to go back and dig in for the reviews later.

Anyway, here's what I saw:

• Suicide, Incorporated at Roundabout Underground
  
• Morgan Karr's concert at Joe's Pub
• Bonnie & Clyde musical on Broadway
• Wild Animals You Should Know at MCC Theatre
  

First up was the latest offering from Roundabout Underground, a program I really love. This is the group's black box space and they use it to foster young artists. So far their biggest success seems to be Stephen Karam, so a big YAY for that. I really like Speech & Debate, and I love Sons of the Prophet (which started at the Huntington in Boston and is now in Roundabout's Pels theater, their larger off-Broadway space, upstairs from the Underground--so Karam is literally moving up in the world).

Right, so the new Underground show is Suicide, Incorporated. I was achy and exhausted, and the theater was overly warm, so I was not at my best as an audience member. Still, I think the show needs to pick up the pace. I was itching to leave toward the end, even though a couple of the performances are excellent. (HOLY CRAP, James McMenamin.) I think the idea of the play is intriguing: a company that helps people write their suicide notes. It's interesting to think about how companies prey on desperate people, how people can learn the wrong lessons from personal tragedy, and how little effort it might take to nudge someone onto or off of the right track. The play isn't as funny or insightful as it seems to thinks it is, and in addition to the production needing better pacing, the play could use some trimming. Still, not bad, and I'm glad I managed to fit it in (more in retrospect than while I was fidgeting in my overly tall seat).

Then I saw Spring Awakening alumnus Morgan Karr's concert at the newly renovated Joe's Pub. In general, I think I like the new space, though I did not like sitting near the new door to the kitchen, which was louder than it should be. The new bathrooms are plentiful. The whole Public Theater is a mess of construction right now, but I think it's moving in the right direction.

Karr is determined to be a pop star, and he certainly has the voice and the drive for it. He has surrounded himself with talented supporting artists, and he goes balls-to-the-wall out on stage. His songwriting isn't my favorite style, but DAYUM that boy can sing. And he put on a SHOW. So go see him when you get a chance. And his 11:11 wish thing is pretty charming, even though his 11/11/11 show started barely before midnight (not his fault).

Next up was the new musical Bonnie & Clyde. I will have very, very much to nitpick about it. For now, I'll just say that for a show filled with so much shooting, it really misses the mark. (Yeah, I'm sure I'm neither the first nor the last to make that super-lame observation.) It's not bad exactly, but it's not good. I was hoping it would be great or hilariously awful, but it is neither. And it isn't shockingly mediocre the way Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Catch Me if You Can are. It just fails to be good. The sound and projections and costuming and design are excellent. The fault lies with the material. The music is pretty forgettable other than about three good songs. And the entire focus of the show is wrong. There are such talented people up on stage, a famous real-life story, and so much potential relevance in this economic climate and culture of fame worshiping. So it's so disappointing for the musical to be so not right. Alas. Also, Laura Osnes has such a beautiful voice, but this is the third show I've seen her in and SHE CANNOT ACT. Just ... NO.

Rounding out the trip was the new off-Broadway play Wild Animals You Should Know, which I think had just started previews that week. I liked it. The performances are very good, as you would expect from Tony Winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) and Patrick Breen (the Normal Heart), but really there isn't a weak link in the cast (plus Jay Armstrong Johnson and John Behlmann are so very, very pretty). There are interesting ideas (alas not particularly well explored). Basically, it's fine off-Broadway fare, but nothing that is likely to stick with me for a long time. And the MCC needs new seats like whoa.

While I was at Suicide, Incorporated, Lisa saw Other Desert Cities and really liked it. I'm looking forward to seeing it next weekend.