Hello 2013 (Picnic and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)

I have seen two shows already this year, and I liked them both. Last weekend, I saw Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Picnic in previews with Arthur and Lisa. We all liked both shows. I had been worried about Picnic because the Huntington's production of William Inge's Bus Stop seemed so dated and unnecessary. But Picnic has so much to say about gender roles and socioeconomic problems that reviving this Inge play actually makes sense (though I found the plot in the second act less compelling).

The pacing in Cat needs to be tightened, and I think Scarlett Johansson actually underplays her sex appeal, sexual frustration, and marital desperation. Plus her accent doesn't sound at all like she is from North Carolina or Memphis. I am SO sick of amorphous, overdone Southern accents. Benjamin Walker and Debra Monk are good as Brick and Big Mama, and Ciarán Hinds is PERFECT as Big Daddy. I loved him in The Seafarer, too, and I'm thrilled that he's continuing to act in New York. I'd keep Hinds here always, if I could. I have to say that this is the most I've enjoyed Emily Bergl on stage--a really excellent performance from her as Sister Woman.

Shall we talk about Picnic and beefcake Sebastian Stan? I really love how the entire first scene is dedicated to ogling his shirtlessness (both by the audience and by the characters). Is it just me or is he a bit orange, though, as though he used bronzer instead of having a real tan? I'm sure that's healthier, and maybe it looked better from farther back, but I found it distracting. Also--and I hate to actually complain about all that skin--did they really have low-rise jeans back then?

Anyway, Stan is fantastic in the role (though any line that included "baby" sounded a bit off), and I'd go see him in anything (and I can't wait for the Captain America sequel). He certainly has a spin at Stanley Kowalski in his future. Also, he's a graceful dancer?! I wonder if he can sing ... I'm now fantasizing about him playing Riff in West Side Story. Seriously, as lovely as his physique is, I really, really just want to watch him dance some more.

The rest of the casting for Picnic is spot on, too. Stan's chemistry with Ben Rappaport and Maggie Grace is great. Really, everyone in the cast is fantastic, as you would expect from a group including Ellen Burstyn, Maddie Corman, Mare Winningham, Elizabeth Marvel, and Reed Birney. I mean, I've mentioned repeatedly how I love Reed Birney. Always. Grace is a good casting choice, and I was pleasantly suprised by her performance. But I especially liked Madeleine Martin, formerly of August: Osage County, as Millie, and I can't wait to see her in future shows.

I think I'm not back in New York for about six weeks, when I'll finally be seeing The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf, which has the best window card I've ever seen (it's already hanging on my wall). I've always loved Woolf, and I'm excited about seeing a lot of the Drood cast, including Conor McPherson regular Jim Norton, Stephanie Block, Chita Rivera(!!!), and Jessie Mueller. I hear it's a good time.




I suspect that in 2013 I'll be seeing fewer shows. I have less disposable income, and we just adopted two polydactyl cats, so I don't want to be gone every weekend until we've bonded more. Plus, I'd miss them! I'll try to be better about seeing Boston theater to make up for it. I need to start with getting a ticket to Pippin before it transfers to Broadway.

Here are the new cats, Jack (all black) and Milo (black and white). We adopted them from the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, Mass.



(We considered calling Milo Fanty, for Phantom, since it kind of looks like he's wearing a mask, but the name didn't stick.)

Farewell, 2011 (the best and the worst)

I've already organized the theater shows I saw in 2011 into categories ranging from Best Ever to Kill Me Now. So I'm doing a different kind of wrap-up post here.

2SD's favorite things about theater in 2011, in no particular order:

* Steven Hoggett took over the city. On stages across New York City this year, you could see Hoggett's magic in theatricalizing the history of the Scottish military's Black Watch, Green Day's disaffected Aughts soundtrack American Idiot, the otherwise-awkward Peter Pan retelling Peter and the Starcatcher, and the stage adaptation of the Irish indie-darling film Once (at NYTW and now transferring to Broadway).

* We found out that the Handspring Puppet Company exists. Their puppet horses made a bleak WWI children's story a hit (but also proved that the Tonys need separate categories for playwriting and production). I actually hated the treacly story of War Horse, but all the design and puppetry aspects of the production are fantastic. The National Theatre knows how to make a gorgeous, stunning production (see also Frankenstein, below). And the puppets are unbelievable in their believability. I trust we'll see more from Handspring in coming years, and I can't wait.

* London's National Theatre took pity on those of us stuck on this side of the pond by screening awesome productions in movie theaters. Thanks to National Theatre Live, which screened both versions of Danny Boyle's lead-swapping Frankenstein play, I got to see my longtime movie obsession Jonny Lee Miller and my current TV obsession Benedict Timothy Carleton Cumberbatch (best name ever) swap roles as Dr. Frankenstein and his Creature. It's one of the most visually stunning things I've ever "seen" on stage. I wish it would kick War Horse out of the Vivian Beaumont Theater immediately. Alas, I missed the screening of One Man, Two Guvnors--but I definitely plan to see James Corden in it on Broadway this season. And I really wish they'd broadcast Sinéad Cusack and Ciarán Hinds in Juno and the Paycock.

* We got a second chance to savor the perfection of Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan. I first saw this Druid production at the Atlantic Theater in Feb. 2009, and it is still the most perfect performance of anything I have ever seen on stage (just edging out Conor McPherson's The Seafarer on Broadway). I'm not sure why it didn't transfer to Broadway, but I'm so glad it went on a short U.S. tour so that I could enjoy it again. I love ArtsEmerson for bringing shows like this to Boston. I wish they could convince National Theatre Scotland to bring us Black Watch.

* Stephen Karam rewarded Roundabout Underground's investment in the young playwright. Sons of the Prophet in Boston in the spring and the streamlined production that just closed in New York showed the same wit as Karam's Speech & Debate and much more depth. I really love the play and hope Karam continues to work on it. If it doesn't jump to Broadway, it should have a great future in regional theaters.

* Anything Goes had an awesome, never-ending tap number. It lost a bit of its surprise by being blasted via every medium to advertize the show, but HOLY CRAP that performance is amazing to see live.

* The Normal Heart ripped ours out. I am not being hyperbolic when I say that this play inspired me to change my life. I'll post more about that in a few weeks. (Also, it gave rise to Ellen Barkin's F-bombing Twitter domination campaign.)

* Reed Birney was perpetually employed. As he should be. The most natural everyman I've ever seen on stage. His sheer honesty in every moment grounded even Adam Rapp's increasingly bizarre Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling.

* Mark Rylance made two fairly gross characters kind of hot and sexy. In the same season. He won the Tony for his jaw-dropping performance as Rooster in Jerusalem, but I think his work in La Bête was even more impressive. He made a twenty-minute monologue (an exaggeration, surely, but it was wicked long)--part of which was delivered while he was flatulently on the pot--riveting and almost charming, even in pompous, rhyming couplets. Rylance's awards acceptance speeches are themselves award-worthy (2011 and 2008).

* DanRad is a righteous dude. Daniel Radcliffe proved himself to be a true theater fan and completely a dedicated performer. He can come back to Broadway any day. Or out with me for a cup of coffee. Or out to a drag show with me. Or whatever, really. He seems charming and hilarious, and I can't wait for the next time Susan Blackwell gets a hold of him.

* Michael Esper got around. His excellent character development made the couch-ridden Will a character to watch even amid American Idiot's visual barrage of violent choreography and sensory-overloading projections. After he got off the couch, he turned in a beautiful performance in Tony Kushner's new play iHomo and went crazy-pants in Nicky Silver's The Lyons. He did a couple things at Vassar/NY Stage and Film over the summer. And he's just been announced for Assistance at Playwrights Horizons with Bobby Steggert, and that makes me wicked happy. Oh, and on the side, he formed an as-yet-unnamed punk band with fellow Idiots Johnny Gallagher and Gerard Canonico (see photos below).

2SD's least-favorite things about theater in 2011:

* War Horse got the Tony for best play. Just ... NO.

* People created musicals that somehow made awesome things boring. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert made drag queens boring. Catch Me If You Can made one of history's most famous con men boring. And Bonnie & Clyde made sexy, deadly, road-tripping bank robbers boring. How is that even possible?

**********

Here, have some pretty! Look at the bromance! Now with bonus ginger beard!





Michael Esper and John Gallagher Jr. having some bro moments at Rockwood with their unnamed punk band (Gerard Canonico was stuck behind the drum kit)

Photos by Monica Simoes, from Playbill.com

The Dream of the Burning Boy

http://www.roundaboutunderground.com/about.htm



If you've seen this production of The Dream of the Burning Boy, you will understand that my review could be adequately summed up in two words: REED. BIRNEY.

To say this is Birney's show is a gross understatement. His stunningly real performances can save otherwise flawed scripts--as in the good but not quite excellent Tigers Be Still--but there is no need for rescue here. In Burning Boy, David West Read has given us one of my favorite scripts in years, and my favorite of Roundabout's exciting Underground series for new works by emerging artists (granted, I missed The Language of Trees and Ordinary Days). With nary a false note, the script easily surpasses the delightful Speech & Debate and Tigers, and I can't wait to see what is next from this young playwright.

Combined with Birney's masterful delivery, the power of this show about the aftershocks of the sudden death of a student is stunning, heartbreaking, undeniable. Even gaping in awe of Reed's pitch-perfect interpretation, I was impressed with the other strong actors. Kristie Dale Sanders brilliantly walks the line between devastation and restraint as the grieving mother. Matt Delapina as the hapless but well-meaning guidance counselor was charming, as was Jake O'Connor as the romantically stupid best friend. Jessica Rothenberg and Josh Caras were both very real in much less showy roles.

The only hiccup in this otherwise perfect production (and I don't bestow that compliment lightly)--which I probably would not have noticed in a less stellar production--was a few "acted" line readings from Alexandra Socha, who was otherwise excellent as the not-yet-grieving sister--a part seemingly written for Ellen Page. (I loved her as my first Wendla in Spring Awakening back when she was an understudy, but once she took over the role her portrayal turned a bit wooden and she began acting mostly by squinting, a trait thankfully almost completely missing here.)

This topic and these are roles could so easily have been overdone and stagy, but the restraint (and lightly sprinkled gallows humor) is admirable, and the show shockingly steered clear of false notes and genuinely surprised me (especially the writing for the best friend). Grief is so difficult to write, and I kept expecting to be disappointed but it never came.

I really cannot say enough good things about this show, which has been extended to May 15 so far and deserves a much longer run. Catch it while you can.