edjames

Dismal review from NYTimes columnist Jesse Green. My instinct to bolt at intermission was probably a good idea. I didn't stick around. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/theater/review-gettin-the-band-back-together-broadway.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftheater&action=click&contentCollection=theater®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront Review: Familiar Rock Dreams in ‘Gettin’ the Band Back Together’ When a Broadway show needs a preshow warm-up, what follows is likely half-baked. At least that’s the case with “Gettin’ the Band Back Together,” the empty-headed entertainment that opened on Monday at the Belasco Theater. In a scripted welcome before the curtain, Ken Davenport, the lead producer and a co-author of the book, delivers a supercharged spiel that bodes ill — and begins with a whopper. “What you’re about to see is one of those rare things on Broadway these days,” he says. “A totally original musical.” To the extent that “Gettin’ the Band Back Together” is not based on a specific pre-existing property, he’s technically right. But originality isn’t novelty, and the show is such a calculated rehash of a million tired tropes that it can best be described with Broadway math: “School of Rock” plus “The Fully Monty” divided by “The Wedding Singer” — and multiplied by zero. Like “The Full Monty,” it concerns a bunch of middle-aged men trying to revive their flagging spirits by putting on a show. In this case, the men are former members of a garage band called Juggernaut, whose high school dreams of rock superstardom have dissolved into careerism and slackerdom. Mitch, once Juggernaut’s lead singer, is a stockbroker so bad at his job that he gets fired on his 40th birthday. When he slinks back to New Jersey to live with his mother, he discovers that her home has been threatened with foreclosure by Tygen Billows, the once and forever frontman of Juggernaut’s old nemesis, Mouthfeel. (How he came to own “73 percent of the real estate” in town is a mystery barely acknowledged.) To rescue the house and his self-esteem, Mitch agrees to a rematch of the epochal battle of the bands that Mouthfeel lost years earlier. The redemptive competition is a vigorous nod to “School of Rock,” and so is the sequence in which Mitch (Mitchell Jarvis) reassembles his players. They include Bart Vickers (Jay Klaitz), a shlubby math teacher with a secret crush; Sully Sullivan (Paul Whitty), a police officer with Broadway dreams; and Rummesh Patel (Manu Narayan), a nerd who wanted to be a pediatrician but was instead pressured into entering his father’s dermatology practice — and, imminently, an arranged marriage. Because more clichés can still be accommodated, a fifth member of Juggernaut must be recruited to replace one who has conveniently died in the interim; cue the audition sequence lifted from “The Full Monty.” Naturally the new kid, Ricky Bling (Sawyer Nunes), saves the day at the reconstituted band’s first gig. At an Orthodox Jewish wedding he delivers a “comical” rap (including the immortal line “make a ruckus with your tuchis”) closely patterned on the one in the “The Wedding Singer.” Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but in a musical it cancels the possibility of surprise. Here the obviousness of the characters and the outcome of the plot give the songs almost nothing to do, and here I’m able to say that Mark Allen, who wrote the music and lyrics, is equal to the task. His tunes are so rote they’re textureless, and his lyrics make about as much sense as random phrases sent through several passes of Google Translate. “I took the safe road / to a life of stocks and bonds,” Mitch sings. “And bonded years / the same day reloaded / and hindsight crystal clear.” So true. Still, the lyrics are not as fuzzy as the book, which Mr. Davenport wrote with an improv comedy collective called The Grundleshotz. There are 12 Grundleshotzes, one of whom, Sarah Saltzberg, also provided “additional material.” (I wish it had been subtractional.) With its slapdash aesthetic, the result has the mouthfeel of mystery stew: old ingredients randomly cooked. Even that could work, in the manner of a witty, loose-limbed revue like “Spamalot,” but the jokes here are just New Jersey burns and “that’s what she said” groaners. (Mitch’s mother, a piano teacher in yoga pants played winningly by Marilu Henner, calls a “hedge fund” a “shrub fund.”) What’s left is a show that makes fun of the conventions of musical theater while trying desperately to adhere to them. As such, the characters are barely even archetypes. Tygen (Brandon Williams) is a hair metal narcissist who can’t finish a sentence; his entourage are vamps and half-wits. In general, the women are groupies, dim blondes or foxy single moms raising teenage angst-machines; the men of Juggernaut are heart-of-gold sad sacks. By the time several cast members “break” in a clearly scripted eruption of supposed hilarity, you begin to feel that the show, in its mania to please, has crossed a line from silly to clammy. You want its hands off you. With such icky material, a clean production like the one the director John Rando delivers can make matters worse. (It looks and moves like a real musical; why doesn’t it feel like one?) The scenic design by Derek McLane and costume design by Emily Rebholz are suitably cartoony, but the lighting, by Ken Billington, goes too far into rock concert fantasy. Likewise, Chris Bailey’s choreography leans heavily on mimed air-guitar licks and high-five exuberance. The cast, too, sells the show as hard as it can, which is not a pleasant sensation when it’s clear enough that no one is buying. (Well, the town of Sayreville, N.J., where the story is set, is buying; it has signed on as a co-producer.) Still, I admired the band members playing their own instruments, and the quick-sketch confidence of Tamika Lawrence and Ryan Duncan in utterly beside-the-point bits. But when the digressions are more engaging than the main story, something’s fatally wrong. In “Gettin’ the Band Back Together,” the problems likely started in the improv room, where a necessary atmosphere of supportive encouragement can lead to least-common-denominator results. Nor were those problems resolved during the show’s 2013 tryout in New Jersey. Maybe, in hindsight crystal clear, the title’s annoying apostrophe should have been a clue to its ambitions. The show aims so low that all it achieves is a ruckus in the tuchis.

Ib a word "No." Classic Stage has a set schedule and little room to extend current productions.

My thoughts and prayers for Aretha at this time. One of the all time greats.

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There are a number of factors to consider when planning your investment strategy. First, your age. Are you nearing retirement age? How much money will you need for the future? What is you tolerance for risk? The older you get, the more conservative you should be with your portfolio. There are 3 words you should always consider when investing, "safe," "secure," and "insured." Examine investments in bond funds or individual bonds in state and federal bonds that will decrease your taxes. Diversify your portfolio to limit exposure. Also, be careful of what friends and relatives advise you to do. Remember its not their money!

Stage Version of ‘Network,’ Starring Bryan Cranston, Sets Broadway Opening Are audiences ready to get mad as hell all over again? The National Theater’s stage version of “Network,” Paddy Chayefsky’s searing film satire about and the manipulative executives who seek to use him for their advantages, will transfer to Broadway in the fall. As in its London production, the Broadway play will be directed by Ivo van Hove and will star Bryan Cranston as Howard Beale, the anchorman of the fictional UBS channel, whose troubling on-air diatribes earn him the title of “mad prophet of the airwaves.” “Network,” the original 1976 motion picture written by Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet, starred Peter Finch as Howard Beale; William Holden as the depleted news president Max Schumacher; and Faye Dunaway as Diana Christensen, a cynical programming executive who becomes Schumacher’s lover as well as his workplace rival. At its release, “Network” earned the disdain of the TV news business for depicting the industry as an arena where furious passion and uninhibited anger could supplant sober fact. The film nonetheless became a commercial and critical success, winning Academy Awards for Chayefsky’s screenplay and the performances of Beatrice Straight, Ms. Dunaway and Finch (who died two months before the Oscars ceremony). The National’s production was adapted by Lee Hall (“Billy Elliot”) from Chayefsky’s script, and opened to acclaim last November. Reviewing the play for The New York Times, Ben Brantley praised it as “a bravura exercise in torturously applied pressure,” adding that it “feels as pertinent to our time as it did to its own.” Mr. Cranston, a Tony Award winner for “All the Way” and four-time Emmy Award winner for “Breaking Bad,” said in a statement that, in a “post-truth era,” the Chayefsky film “shines a spotlight on today’s society with prescient clarity.” He added, “I’m thrilled to be able to continue ‘Network’ in New York where the story originated over 40 years ago. It’s remarkable to see how things have changed … and what has not.” Mr. van Hove is also directing a new Broadway version of “West Side Story,” with choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, that is planned to begin performances in December 2019 and open in February 2020. He won the Tony for directing his recent Broadway revival of “A View From the Bridge,” which ran in the same season as his revival of “The Crucible.” Press representatives for the Broadway production of “Network” said in a statement that it will be presented at the Cort Theater. The limited 18-week run will begin previews on Nov. 10 with an opening night scheduled for Dec. 6. Its producers include David Binder, who next year will become artistic director for the Brooklyn Academy of Music

‘Carousel’ Will Close on Broadway in September Renee Fleming, center, with members of the “Carousel” ensemble.CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times By Amanda Svachula The Broadway revival of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel” will close on September 16 after a surprisingly short six-month run. Though it opened to largely positive reviews and was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, the box office has dropped sharply. Ticket sales peaked the week of April 29 at $1,289,712; for the week ending August 5, the show earned $675,660, about 42 percent of its potential. Directed by Jack O’Brien and choreographed by the ballet star Justin Peck, “Carousel” stars Joshua Henry as the ill-fated carnival barker Billy Bigelow, Jessie Mueller as his love interest Julie Jordan, and the opera singer Renée Fleming, in her Broadway musical debut, as Nettie Fowler. The show won two Tonys, for Mr. Peck’s choreography and for Lindsay Mendez in a supporting role. The production is the fifth revival of the musical, which first opened on Broadway in 1945. The last revival, in 1994, played for about a year and won five Tonys. moment of debate over the portrayal of women in classic musicals. A Broadway revival of “My Fair Lady,” which drew similar concerns, opened at about the same time but has turned out to be more popular, earning $1,269,449 last week.

Interesting, but you're right nothing new, however, why are their no women profiled?

Don't forget... Sep 25 The Waverly Gallery @ The Golden Theater, with Elaine May Michael Cera, Lucas Hedges and Joan Allen Sep 27 The Nap @ Manhattan Theater Club (looks at the world of snooker...? huh?) Oct 2 The Ferryman @ Bernard Jacobs Theater. (big London hit!) Oct 5 King Kong @ The Broadway Theater (why not, especially if its on TDF) Oct 6 American Son @ Booth Theater, with Kerry Washington Oct 9 Torch Song @ Helen Hayes Theater, with Michael Urie Oct 18 The Lifespan of a Fact @ Studio54, with Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale Oct 23 The Prom @ The Cort Theater, a new musical with Beth Leavel, Christopher Seibert and Brooks Ashmanskas Nov 1 The Cher Show @ Neil Simon Theater Nov 1 To Kill A Mockingbird @ The Schubert, with Jeff Daniels

I just received this email from Adonis Lounge... Shame, I was at Fairytail this past Saturday night and had a good time! I hope Tim, Luis and Dan will find a new venue soon. Good luck guys. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - Adonis/Spunk No Longer at Fairytail Lounge Where to start... Anyone who follows Adonis/me, whether in person or just via these email announcements, knows I do my best to always remain transparent anytime something happens requiring and explanation or announcement. We'll approach this the same way, openly and honestly, rather than providing a false account of events or explanation that leaves more questions than answers. Wednesday evening, Dan, Luis, and I were informed that we would no longer be needed to manage and/or run things dancer related at Fairytail Lounge, effective as of today. It did come as somewhat as a shock to all 3 of us, as there was no event or tragic disagreement that precipitated this meeting. Any explanation or account besides that is simply false. After a short meeting, we all agreed that our 3 year partnership with Fairytail Lounge had run it's course. There was no fighting or screaming and overall everything was quite amicable all things considered. Nothing lasts forever and as we've seen over the years, venues come and go, but we always move forward. Each time an obstacle appears, new opportunities arise that inevitably make Adonis better and allow us to Evolve, pun intended for those of you who have been on board for awhile! We're already making moves that we're confident people will be very excited about. We'll have lots of exciting news and announcements this week, so open those emails for all the details! Dan, Luis, and I plan to meet Tuesday to see what direction suits us best collectively and individually. We're both excited about the possibilities ahead for both Spunk and Adonis. Reflecting on the last 3 years leaves me in a place that can best be described in one word- gratitude. I'm genuinely grateful for the opportunity originally offered to me at Fairytail Lounge. I'm grateful Spunk decided to hop on board and partner up, and I'm grateful for the experience those 3 years has provided me on the current path forward. Lastly, I'd be remiss if I did not comment on the actual Adonis/Spunk partnership of the last 3 years. Dan and Luis from Spunk are a breath of fresh air in what often times amounts to a very seedy business. They conduct themselves and their business with the utmost integrity and esteem. Rest assured, whatever direction we all end up following once the cards fall, we will remain allies and friends.

NYTimes, Ben Brantley says it's a "smart, shameless and extravagantly entertaining production". Keep an eye out, with reviews like this producers must be handled around the conference room table, on their smart phones, etc to try and find a theater soon. Perhaps some unlucky production will close early or not open at all? ://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/theater/moulin-rouge-the-musical-review.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront Review: Hit Songs to Sin By in a Smashing ‘Moulin Rouge!’ BOSTON — The jukebox has exploded. Its pieces zoom through the air like candy-colored shrapnel, whizzing by before the memory can tag them and making the blandly familiar sound enticingly exotic. I’m talking about the recycled pop hits, mostly of a romantic stripe, that make up the seemingly infinite song list of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” at the Emerson Colonial Theater here. By the end of this smart, shameless and extravagantly entertaining production you’ll think you’ve heard fragments of every Top 40 song of lust and longing that has been whispered, screamed or crooned into your ear during the past several decades. You may even believe that once upon a time you loved them all. Part of the genius of Mr. Luhrmann’s original version — which starred Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor as doomed lovers in a Bohemian, fin-de-siècle Paris — was that it put mainstream, latter-day radio songs into the context of a verismo costume opera like “La Traviata.” Not for nothing was Elton’s John’s “Your Song” the ballad most memorably . That’s because it was your song, too. By dressing up the melodies you sang in the shower in opulent gaslight-era drag, Mr. Luhrmann created an equalizing paean to love ballads of all ages. The soundtrack of the commuter’s daily life acquired a purple grandeur, with Bowie, Labelle and Madonna assuming the velvet cloaks of Verdi and Puccini. That’s because it was your song, too. By dressing up the melodies you sang in the shower in opulent gaslight-era drag, Mr. Luhrmann created an equalizing paean to love ballads of all ages. The soundtrack of the commuter’s daily life acquired a purple grandeur, with Bowie, Labelle and Madonna assuming the velvet cloaks of Verdi and Puccini. But the creators of this presumably Broadway-bound, $28 million spectacle — directed with wit and heart by Alex Timbers, with seductive, funny choreography by Sonya Tayeh — have tinkered artfully with their archetype, translating the cinematic splendors of Mr. Luhrmann’s universe into more earthly pleasures. This “Moulin Rouge!” captures the sensibility of a movie-loving movie in a theater lover’s language. The glamour is still here, but there’s a lot more grit. And we’re far more aware of the mortal flesh of the characters. This show also knows that a lot of new songs have flowed under the earbuds since 2001, and the list of those now included occupies three columns of infinitesimal type in the program. Among them are hits from Lady Gaga, Florence and the Machine, OutKast, Lorde, Sia, Beyoncé, Pink, Britney Spears, Adele and Katy Perry, for starters. (You may pause here to bow your head to Justin Levine, the show’s music supervisor.) There are also some new repurposed oldies, so when the villain of the piece (the sadistic Duke of Monroth, played to the hilt by Tam Mutu) is allowed to introduce himself it’s with the opening lines of the Rolling Stone’s “Sympathy for the Devil.” The heroine is still named Satine, and she’s still the vedette of the louche nightclub of the title, which is run by her old pal, Harold Zidler (Danny Burstein, delivering a master class in pandering, sentimental seediness). On film Satine was embodied with a porcelain fragility and Marilyn-esque breathiness by Ms. Kidman, a silver-screen phantasm about to evaporate. Here she is played in a more realistic key by a sensational Karen Olivo (a Tony winner for “West Side Story”), and no matter how bare her costumes, this Satine is wearing her sex appeal like a suit of armor. In John Logan’s baldly written (and still trimmable) new book for the show, Satine is a feral survivor of the streets who began turning tricks at 13. Like Harold, her partner in deception, she sees love — or the illusion of it — as a commodity for profit. This transactional element is signaled from the get-go. Derek McLane’s fab psychedelic valentine of a set — a cornucopia of nesting pink hearts — is on full display when the audience arrives. And it is soon inhabited by corseted men and women with proffering gazes. (The plush, sin-ready costumes are by Catherine Zuber.) Men with top hats and phallic cigars join these creatures of the night. Two women move to the edge of the stage to slowly swallow swords as they caress each other’s thighs. And when Mr. Burstein’s Master of Ceremonies raises his cane, it spurts confetti over the audience. He promises that he and his crew can service you, “no matter your sin, no matter your desire.” And then there’s that smashing little rendition of an immortal ode to the working girl, “Lady Marmalade,” performed as delicious raunch-and-roll by Robyn Hurder, Holly James, Jacqueline B. Arnold and Jeigh Madjus. At this point, you may think you’ve wandered into a Gallic variation on “Cabaret,” or immersive naughty nightclub pieces like “Queen of the Night.” And when Ms. Olivo makes her entrance on a trapeze, singing “Diamonds Are Forever” with a , she is just the sort of flower that would grow from such fecund soil.

I saw Bette last night in Hello Dolly. This was the 3rd time I've seen the show. She was mesmerizing and the audience was full of her fans. I'm happy to say the entire cast is wonderful and I still think Charlie Stemp almost steals the show. Bette does indeed clown around a bit and it appeared that she and David made an effort to crack each other up during the food scene. At one point Bette threw dumpling at the conductor in the orchestra pit! Show closes on Aug 25 and the national tour with Betty Buckley is off and running across the USA. September 25 – 26, 2018 Utica Stanley Theatre September 30 – October 21, 2018 Cleveland Playhouse Square October 23 – November 17, 2018. Chicago Oriental Theatre November 20 – 25, 2018 Miami Arsht Center November 27 – December 2, 2018 Orlando Dr. Phillips Center December 4 – 9, 2018 Tampa Straz Center December 11 – 16, 2018 West Palm Beach Kravis Center January 8 – 13, 2019 Tempe ASU Gammage January 15 – 20, 2019 San Diego Civic Theatre January 22 – 27, 2019 Costa Mesa Segerstrom Center January 29 – February 17, 2019 Los Angeles Hollywood Pantages February 19 – March 17, 2019 San Francisco SHN Golden Gate Theatre March 19 – 24, 2019 Las Vegas The Smith Center March 27 – April 7, 2019 Denver Buell Theatre pril 9 – 14, 2019. Des Moines Civic Center April 16 – 28, 2019 Minneapolis Orpheum Theatre April 30 – May 5, 2019 Nashville Tennessee Performing Arts Center May 7 – 12, 2019 Columbus Ohio Theatre May 14 – 19, 2019 Louisville The Kentucky Center May 21 – 26, 2019 Durham Durham Performing Arts May 28 – June 2, 2019 Greenville Peace Center June 4 – July 7, 2019 Washington D.C. Kennedy Center Opera House July 9 – 14, 2019 Charlotte Belk Theater July 17 – 28, 2019 Dallas Music Hall at Fair Park August 6 – 18, 2019 Boston Opera House

This article in today's NYPost from columnist Michael Reidel: The hype around ‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ is growing By Michael Riedel. August 2, 2018 | 7:25pm Danny Burstein stars in the Boston production of "Moulin Rouge! The Musical." Moolah-la: They’re sure spending a lot of money on “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” The stage adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s vertigo-inducing movie musical is budgeted at $30 million — and that doesn’t include the lavish party the Ambassador Theatre Group hosted Sunday night for the reopening of the Boston theater it played in. The Champagne flowed before the show debuted as an Acela-load of Broadway power brokers marveled at the magnificently restored Emerson Colonial Theatre across from Boston Common. Tommy Tune towered above the crowd, clad in black tie, white gloves and a red “Moulin Rouge!” sash. Tune has a long history with the theater. He engineered the stunning turnaround of “My One and Only” at the Colonial in 1983, transforming a dog of a show into a Tony-winning sensation. Tune was so moved to be back there, he told friends he’s thinking of directing and choreographing a revival of “Grand Hotel.” For now, the Colonial has a winner in “Moulin Rouge!,” with a world premiere people were calling “sensational,” “thrilling” and “powerful.” Directed by Alex Timbers and designed by Derek McLane, the show stars Aaron Tveit as a struggling composer in Paris who falls in love with a cabaret performer, played by Karen Olivo, and six-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein is the cabaret’s host. John Logan (“Red”) wrote the script, and the score is bursting with songs by Lady Gaga, Sam Smith and others. The standout numbers from the 2001 movie, including “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” and “Minnie the Moocher,” are there as well. McLane’s sets spill off the stage to engulf the entire theater, which has been painted a deep, luxuriant red. The audience gasped in delight at Catherine Zuber’s costumes, one more extravagant than the next. Zuber’s last stint at the Colonial was not a happy one. She was fired from “Seussical the Musical” there in 2000, the first of many heads that rolled in Whoville on that $10 million flop. Her return to the Colonial with “Moulin Rouge!” is, by all accounts, a triumph. Critics, including some heavy hitters from New York, are seeing the show this weekend, so look for their reviews on Monday. The only carping I picked up is that the show’s high-voltage energy becomes a bit mind-numbing by the second act. “There is no let-up,” a source says. “It’s spectacular and it’s gorgeous, but it’s a bit relentless. They have to find some moments for it to breathe. But there’s no question it has the makings of a big, big hit.” Global Creatures, an Australian company that made millions producing dinosaur shows, is backing the show. It’s also opening the $40 million “King Kong” on Broadway this fall. The company has yet to announce “Moulin Rouge!” for Broadway, but sources say it will arrive here in the summer of 2019, possibly at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, now home to “Kinky Boots.” But if you happen to catch “Moulin Rouge!” in Boston, where it runs only until Aug. 19, make sure to slip into the ladies lounge and get a look at the marble table. The chips in it were made by Bob Fosse when he was tapping out numbers on top of it during the 1978 out-of-town tryout for “Dancin’.”

The reviews are in, at least from the NYTimes and NYPost, and they are not good: Ben Brantley's review in the NYTimes rambles on a bit too much for a cut and paste, so check out the link to read his commentary: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/theater/head-over-heels-broadway-review-go-gos.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront The NYPost was a little more succinct: Go-Go’s musical ‘Head Over Heels’ hasn’t got the beat Hudson Theatre, 141 W. 44th St.; 855-801-5876. 135 minutes, one intermission. Intermission, all I ever wanted! The new musical “Head Over Heels,” which opened Thursday on Broadway, takes the songs of ’80s American girl group the Go-Go’s, plops them in a British story from the 16th century and adds a bunch of modern, self-referential jokes. It’s an idea that’s so crazy, it just might work! It doesn’t. This indulgent show is wackier than it is fun, and elicits more “huh?” than “ha”. Worse, it treats the catchy pop music like a side of spinach. The confusion kicks off with the opening number, “We Got the Beat,” which also features the best dancing you’ll see all night. We’re told that Arcadia, the fictional land where the show is set, has “got the beat” — the “beat” presumably being social stability and wellness. Fine. These are the narrative gaps you’ve gotta fill when watching “Head Over Heels.” Soon the King of Arcadia (Jeremy Kushnier) has an ominous meeting with the Oracle of Delphi (the splendid drag queen Peppermint) and hears some downer prophecies: His daughters will be stuck with awful suitors, his wife (Rachel York) will cheat on him and his land will be overtaken. He’s lost the beat. Get it? So, the King and Co. head out of town to the country to escape his sad fate. His two daughters, the vain Pamela (Bonnie Milligan) and the plain Philoclea (Alexandra Socha), are the best part of the show. Milligan has a powerful voice and a wicked sense of humor, and Socha brings some much needed sincerity to the cacophony of crazy. It could use a whole lot more. One suitor, a poor shepherd named Musidorus (Andrew Durand), is told to pack his tent, so he dresses like an Amazon to follow Philoclea around undetected. Mistaken identity antics ensue, and Durand, who looks a lot like Bill Hader, keeps them amusing. The sex-and-disguise plot is zany, if familiar. There’s a little bit of “Twelfth Night” here, some “Into the Woods” there, some “Xanadu” everywhere. But the dialogue is grating. The book, originally by Jeff Whitty and James Magruder, is marred by olde English speak. There are enough thees, thous and wherefores for the Wars of the Roses. The uppity chitchat is the musical’s main gag, and it’s extremely tedious. You’ll wish their lips were sealed. Most people don’t buy tickets for the quips: They come for the Go-Go’s, and hits like “Vacation,” “Cool Jerk,” “Mad About You” and Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is A Place On Earth.” But unlike the ABBA catalog that drove “Mamma Mia!,” these songs are a bad fit for theatrical storytelling. They begin at one place, plant their feet and stay there, both musically and lyrically. Electric Light Orchestra gave us more detail and movement in “Xanadu,” which is a low, low bar. If the songs — perfect for the dance floor — can’t push the tale along, then at least they can provide some opportunities for big, glittery dance numbers, right? Nope. There really aren’t any exhilarating musical moments in director Michael Mayer’s slapdash production. “Vacation” is reduced to a solo, with a few ensemble members jumping out of fabric ocean waves, as if they were in a dance recital. Stumped Go-Go’s fans will want to get up and go. AND, NYPost Columnist, Michael Reidel predicts a bleak future for this show with only a small advance and dismal daily box office revenue: Gwyneth Paltrow’s musical ‘Head Over Heels’ is on thin ice Broadway producer Gwyneth Paltrow skipped Thursday night’s opening of her show, “Head Over Heels,” the Go-Go’s musical, at the Hudson Theatre. Word is she stayed in Montauk, making wedding plans with fiancé Brad Falchuk. But she might want to head back soon before “Head Over Heels” posts its closing notice, making it the first disaster of the new season. The $10 million show has a paltry advance of less than $1 million and is selling about $35,000 in tickets a day. Only rave reviews will keep it afloat. But don’t look to The Post, where reviewer Johnny Oleksinski says “Head Over Heels” reduces its catchy pop music to “a side of spinach.” Around Broadway, predictions of doom and gloom are everywhere. “The numbers are not sustainable,” a production source says. “There’s just no interest in this show.” The Ambassador Theatre Group, which owns the Hudson, is already looking for a new show to replace it, so the theater won’t sit empty. But Christine Russell, the show’s lead producer, says she’s not giving up yet. “I don’t dispute anything you’ve heard, and I wish our numbers were stronger,” she told me. “But we always knew this would be a word-of-mouth show. The feedback we’re getting from audiences is that the show is smart and funny and relevant, and it confirms the passion we’ve had for ‘Head Over Heels’ from the beginning.” Passion is all well and good, but it’s money you need to keep a struggling show going until — and if — word of mouth kicks in and ticket sales take off. Does Russell have the money? “We have been committed from Day 1 to this show,” she says. “And we’re still committed. We use the Go-Go’s catalog, but this is an original musical. And I can say that the feedback we’ve had from audiences is encouraging.” “Head Over Heels” is based on “Arcadia,” a 16th-century prose poem by Philip Sidney. He was a nice guy, I’m told, but the only people who read his poems today are getting graduate degrees in English literature at Oxford. And therein may lie the problem: This is a show that aims to be arty but wants to sell tickets to Go-Go’s fans who, I assure you, aren’t getting graduate degrees in English literature at Oxford. The show has plenty of sex — straight, gay and otherwise — as well as cross-dressing. It also features the first transgender woman ever to originate a principal role on a Broadway stage: Peppermint, of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” But with its high-brow English poetical roots and thees and thous, it also feels like Shakespeare in the Park or something you’d see at London’s National Theatre. “We’ve never been able to figure out how to sell this show,” says a production source. “Maybe we should have sold the sex.” We’ll see how things play out for “Head Over Heels.” If it needs money to fight for survival, Paltrow has it. Her lifestyle Web site Goop is worth $250 million. Or she could join the cast. I saw her years ago in “As You Like It” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Looking forward to seeing this on August 16th... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/theater/straight-white-men-review-armie-hammer-josh-charles.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront Review: ‘Straight White Men,’ Now Checking Their Privilege on Broadway You’ll have plenty to talk about after seeing “Straight White Men,” the smart and thorny Broadway anomaly that opened at the Helen Hayes Theater on Monday. But don’t plan on talking much beforehand. That’s because the preshow music is deliberately deafening. In the script, the playwright Young Jean Lee specifies “loud hip-hop with sexually explicit lyrics by female rappers.” Worth noting is the slight change from the play’s debut at the Public Theater in 2014, when the lyrics she specified were all that plus “nasty.” Nastiness of any sort is not part of this Broadway outing, a Second Stage production directed by Anna D. Shapiro. The confrontational tone of the opening, as of the rest of the play, has been softened significantly. As soon as the lights dim, two charming “persons in charge” — Kate Bornstein, a gender theorist who defines herself as nonbinary, and Ty Defoe, a two-spirit member of the Oneida and Ojibwe nations — take the stage to apologize for any discomfort the music might have caused. “Kate and I are well aware that it can be upsetting when people create an environment that doesn’t take your needs into account,” Mr. Defoe says, tongue in cheek. Their presence, as well as the play’s title, may lead you to expect a scathing indictment of privilege, or at least an anthropological dissection of it. (A literal frame around the stage bears the caption “Straight White Men,” as if it were a diorama in a natural history museum.) And when the sparkly curtain rises on a middle-class basement family room, apparently decorated by the patriarchy itself — but really by the set designer Todd Rosenthal — the expectation of parody is further aroused. That’s not what you get. For one thing, the Nortons — Ed, a widower, and his three adult sons — are hyperaware of their relative good fortune and the unfairness to others it unavoidably entails. As children, the boys played a board game called Privilege, invented by their mother, that repurposed a Monopoly set to teach lessons about racism, denial and economic oppression. Whoever got the iron or thimble received a bonus for “unpaid domestic labor.” The game’s challenge has not been lost on the boys as adults, though they each deal with it differently. Jake (Josh Charles) has become the very thing his mother probably hoped to prevent: a banker who drives a BMW, tells homophobic jokes and keeps nonwhite associates from advancing. (But at least he knows he’s wrong.) His younger brother, Drew (Armie Hammer), is convinced that by writing an antimaterialist novel and teaching one class a week he is using his abilities “in service to something bigger than myself.” Jake’s complacency and Drew’s pretensions get punctured over the course of Christmas at Ed’s, amid family traditions including plaid pajamas, raillery and eggnog. (The old game of Privilege gets dragged out, too.) Though there is a slight, overbright satirical edge, Ms. Lee mostly paints Jake and Drew with the kind of sympathy and insider knowledge only an observant outsider could muster. But they are not the play’s problem; the biggest threat they pose to the status quo is their superannuated roughhousing. In their early 40s, they still give each other wedgies. Rather, it’s the oldest brother, Matt (Paul Schneider), who precipitates a crisis. Burdened by decades of student debt — and by an unexplained failure to thrive that has left him a self-described loser — he has returned home to live with Ed (Stephen Payne). He cleans and cooks, and would fully earn the unpaid domestic labor bonus if it really existed. Though Matt says he’s happy with his choice, his upscale brothers, noting his horrible clothes, worry that he’s depressed. (The dead-on costumes are by Suttirat Larlarb.) His temp job making copies at a local community organization reads to them as a form of self-flagellation, so far beneath his abilities as to suggest pathology or, even worse, politics. Jake thinks Matt has deliberately suppressed any ambition to make room for others who have traditionally been excluded from positions of authority. Drew thinks he needs therapy. Instead of resolving the mystery of Matt, Ms. Lee astutely complicates it. In boyhood, he was the most rigorously committed of the three to social justice, even forming a school for young revolutionaries whose fight “song” was an excerpt from Hegel. But as the wrangling over Matt becomes the main action of the play’s second half, the tonal shift from naked comedy to psychological witch hunt — it’s almost like a “Crucible” for underachievement — starts to seem heavy-handed. You would expect no less from Ms. Lee, a downtown fixture whose home base from 2003 to 2016 — Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company — became notable for pulling real drama out of artificial constructions. If “Straight White Men” seemed bigger and more naturalistic than her typical work when it played Martinson Hall, a 199-seat black box theater at the Public, it was still aptly disorienting, maintaining the aura of surrealism that came from her years on the experimental vanguard. But at the 581-seat Helen Hayes, recently restored to its former Broadway glory, some of that aura has faded. The casting of shiny actors like Mr. Hammer (of “Call Me By Your Name”) and Mr. Charles (of “The Good Wife”) has the perverse effect — though they are both spot on — of making the play seem mainstream. So does Ms. Shapiro’s direction, which is confident and highly polished; even the boys’ mortifying, half-remembered rec-room dance routines are snappily choreographed, by Faye Driscoll.

The first of the newest offerings for the fall season on Broadway. Can't say I was overwhelmed, in fact, we left at intermission. Loud heavy metal rock music. The cast is Ok, and for a first preview everything seemed to go smoothly. The audience was heavily "papered" (that means free or deeply discounted seats). I saw a lot of Audience Extras. Perhaps some else will see it and last through the entire show, and until then I'll await the critics reviews. Opens August 13. http://gettinthebandbacktogether.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/home-grouplogolockup.jpg

Now at The Soho Rep, Farr off-Broadway, this show has been extended and within 30 minutes sold-out the run. I can only hope it will either be extended, again, of moved to a larger venue! In This Play About Race, ‘People Need to Be Uncomfortable’ Since June 17, playgoers have clapped for Jackie Sibblies Drury’s divisive “Fairview” at Soho Rep. But they’ve also cried and raged and staggered out stunned. At the theater, in the street outside and later on social media, spectators have sorted through knotty responses that no string of emojis can capture. On a recent Saturday, Ms. Drury prepared to greet a matinee audience of family and friends. As she stepped into Añejo, a restaurant just down the street from the theater, a table of 20 broke into applause. Other tables started applauding, too. It must have seemed like the thing to do. Ms. Drury, 36, looked pleased and embarrassed and also a little relieved. “Fairview” begins as an easygoing comedy about a middle-class black family gathering for a birthday dinner and ends somewhere else entirely. A play about race, though not only about race, it includes a series of gestures and invitations that divide the audience. Divide the audience figuratively? Sure. That, too. In The New York Times, Ben Brantley suggested that “Fairview” would have you squirming in your seat. “You will also wind up questioning your basic right to sit there,” he wrote. The play will run for at least another month, so describing just how it achieves this unease doesn’t seem quite fair. But Ms. Drury; the play’s associate director, Garrett Allen; and a couple of the actors were willing to speak about why they are making audiences so uncomfortable and how it feels to rattle them matinee after matinee, night after night. Ms. Drury’s earlier plays, “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation …”about a group of theatermakers and “Really,” about a photographer’s white mother and black girlfriend, and “Social Creatures,” about well, zombies, were already interested in questions of identity and perception. “Fairview,” which expands on these questions, began a few years ago when Ms. Drury and the play’s director, Sarah Benson, began having conversations about surveillance culture and the place of black bodies in public spaces. (Ms. Benson was out of the country and unavailable for an interview.) Theater is itself a public space of sorts, and Ms. Drury wondered what it means for audiences, especially white, middle-class audiences, to consume stories about marginalized communities. She worried that people might exercise their empathy “by going and seeing the show and because you’ve done it there, then there’s no need to change anything about your life,” she said over a hurried glass of wine before she walked over to Añejo. “Fairview” is purpose-built to offer more of a workout. Sitting down, shutting up, clapping at the end — that’s what most shows demand of an audience. But “Fairview” is different. It rips up that social contract, suggesting that spectatorship might not always be innocent or passive or nice. The piece went “through all these different ideas about different ways to have an audience aware of being watched and watching other people and making judgments,” Ms. Drury said. During spring rehearsals there were many hypothetical conversations about how audiences might respond to the piece and what the actors should do in volatile situations. (Backup is in place in case a confrontation goes too far. It hasn’t yet been needed.) “There was a general curiosity in terms of how this play would go over,” said Heather Alicia Simms, who plays Beverly, speaking by telephone. She had never done a play like this. Neither had anyone else in the room. No one knew what to expect. Now that it has been running for weeks, they still don’t. “It’s never comfortable,” Ms. Simms said. Those conversations continue. When it comes to how an audience handles the play, “there are a billion and one possibilities,” said Mx. Allen, the associate director, who prefers the gender-neutral honorific. “Every response is incredibly valid.” Discomfort doesn’t seem to divide along racial lines. White audience members and audience members who don’t identify as white have enjoyed it. White and nonwhite audience members haven’t. There have been complaints — on Twitter, on Show-Score — that the play went too far and complaints that it didn’t go far enough. (One Show-Score was a paragon of cognitive dissonance: “Ambitious, Great acting, Indulgent, Provocative, Bloated.”) That’s O.K. with the playwright. “A lot of people who have been upset by it have also intellectually engaged with it and I don’t know that being upset is wrong,” she said. Reactions vary widely not only from one performance to another but also within the same performance, which can be jarring. “I think that the play is asking people to realize that their individual responses to the play are theirs alone and that other people are having different responses,” Ms. Drury said. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/06/theater/fairview-play-race.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftheater&action=click&contentCollection=theater&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

Now at Second Stage with a great cast of ladies, all playing the title character at different stages of her life. Blair Brown, Grace Gummer, Tatianna Maslany and others perform a series of vignette scenes depicting a woman whose life can only be summed up with the phrase "bad decisions." Written by Tracey Letts, I felt the show needed work and I think the audiences lack of overwhelming applause and lack of a standing-o proved my point. Shame. For ‘Mary Page Marlowe,’ Six Actresses Share One Role The many faces of “Mary Page Marlowe,” clockwise from top left: Mia Sinclair Jenness, Kellie Overbey, Emma Geer, Susan Pourfar, Tatiana Maslany and Blair Brown. In “Mary Page Marlowe,” a play by Tracy Letts that tracks seven decades in an Ohio woman’s life, the title character is many things: a baby, a girl, a wife, a lover, a mother, a divorcée, a retiree. She’s also many people. In the Second Stage Theater production, which is now in previews and opens July 12, Mary Page is played by six actresses. Well, six actresses and one creepily lifelike baby doll. On a recent weekday evening, rehearsal wrapped and the cast rushed into the green room to celebrate a couple of birthdays. Then the various Mary Pages shuffled back into the upstairs rehearsal space, balancing plates of cake, glasses of water and, in the case of Tatiana Maslany, who plays Mary Page at 27 and 36, half an avocado. “I missed lunch,” she said. Ms. Maslany, who played at least 11 roles on the TV clone drama “Orphan Black,” and is finding it a pleasant change to share just one, was joined by Mia Sinclair Jenness, who plays Mary Page at 12; Emma Geer, who plays her at 19; Susan Pourfar, who plays her at 40 and 44; Kellie Overbey, the sole blond Mary, who plays her at 50; Blair Brown, who plays her at 59, 63 and 69; and the director, Lila Neugebauer. The creepy baby stayed in its crib. (There are other actors, too. And other characters. But these are the only Mary Pages.) Barring occasional interruptions — Ms. Overbey briefly slipped out to manage a migraine, Ms. Pourfar excused herself to collect her actual baby, “not a doll,” she clarified — the women spoke about identity, change and the challenge of convincing an audience that women with different faces and voices and ways of moving through the world are really all the same. Wigs help. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. Who Is Mary Page Marlowe? MIA SINCLAIR JENNESS I think she’s resilient. Even as a 12-year-old, she goes through her fair share of heartbreaks and bad times, but that doesn’t necessarily make her a sad person. EMMA GEER I’m playing her at 19. She’s strong, she’s powerful. She’s a dreamer and she has a very big heart. TATIANA MASLANY The big question of identity is a massive part of Mary Page in the two scenes in which we see me. It’s what happens at 30, what I certainly experienced — a question of who am I and what is my life? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/theater/for-mary-page-marlowe-six-actresses-share-one-role.html

A really terrific one-woman tour de force at the Minetta Lane theater starring Carey Mulligan. Carey delivered a knockout performance relating the dramatic and horrifying tale of a woman, her marriage and the shocking upheaval in her life. I won't reveal details but the last 20 minutes are riveting! No intermission, it runs about 1 hour and 45 minutes but worth every second. Limited run.... Review: Carey Mulligan Tells a Harrowing Tale of ‘Girls & Boys’ By Ben Brantley. June 27, 2018 The woman with the raw, luminous face has a story she wants to tell you. No, that’s not quite right. It’s a story she has to tell you, though the hard urgency of her narrative won’t be obvious at first. It is obvious she’ll deploy all the tools at her command — charm, aggression, the illusion of immediate intimacy — to keep your attention. Because this woman is portrayed with unswerving focus by Carey Mulligan, one of the most compelling stage actresses of her generation, there is never any question of her not succeeding in this mission. For the more than 100 uninterrupted minutes that make up Dennis Kelly’s “Girls & Boys,” in which Ms. Mulligan is the entire cast, you are unconditionally hers. This is true even when you start to suspect that there is both more — and, fatally, less — to her character’s story than meets the eye. Afterward, when you’re out of the coercive range of Ms. Mulligan’s gaze, you’ll find yourself thinking that Mr. Kelly is one lucky playwright to have had her as his interpreter. “Girls & Boys,” which opened on Wednesday night at the Minetta Lane Theater under the seamless direction of Lyndsey Turner, is a dark tease of a tale that never quite rises to its own, earnest ambitions. Despite its anodyne title, “Girls & Boys” considers the relationship between the sexes to explore the ways in which each is wired to create and destroy. Or as Woman (that’s how Ms. Mulligan’s character is identified in the program) says, “I think a lot about violence.” She continues, “I just think it’s such a fundamental part of our species that how can you understand us without understanding it?” There are reasons, needless to say, that she poses this question, including one of devastating relevance to her. Woman has done her research, and she conversationally folds in evidence that is academic as well as anecdotal, sociological as well as personal. Somehow, though, the answers never add up, nor do the details that convincingly define a life torn asunder. Mr. Kelly — best known here for his impeccably quirky, Tony-winning book for the musical “Matilda” — has written a careful and intelligent script that covers many bases but lands on few of them with full impact. It begins as a fond portrait of a love affair and ends as a cold assessment of a tragedy, while implicitly wondering how one might have led to the other. Ms. Mulligan’s character is a documentary maker and mother of two who describes the signal events of her adult life with a bright candor that she has clearly learned suits her. This comes across in both her account of how she won a hotly coveted job in television without much in the way of a résumé or experience and of how she met and fell for the man who would become her supportive husband. These aspects of her life are described directly to the audience as Ms. Mulligan stands on an empty stage with nothing but her expressive frame and face to define the busy world she is conjuring. These scenes alternate with others in which she is dealing with the often tedious demands of her two young children, Leanne and Danny. But while Es Devlin’s superb set, delicately lighted by Oliver Fenwick, has shifted to reveal a completely detailed living area, rendered in monochrome, Ms. Mulligan is again called upon to fill in blanks. Though Woman’s children are never seen, she tends to them with a present-tense and vividly precise physicality. And in the play’s most chilling moment, as her character is balancing her attentions between a little boy who wants to play war and a girl who wants to play architect, Ms. Mulligan looks at us and says matter-of-factly, “I know they’re not here.” That the boy is instinctively military, while the girl is drawn to more constructive and intellectual pursuits, posits a gender-based contrast in sensibilities. So does Woman’s account of a documentary she worked on, about an academic who basically theorizes that women should be running the world. That theorist, by the way, is as a man. And the account of his behavior while collaborating on the documentary is evidence of Mr. Kelly’s welcome refusal to present any argument in pure black and white. This is also true of Woman’s account of what led to the terrible events at the play’s center. Yet it is in this most crucial, central story that the script falters, lapsing into the conventions of true crime shows and police procedurals in which a forensic expert tries to explain imponderable acts. Not that you’ll be entirely conscious of this failing while you’re watching Ms. Mulligan, though it may quietly nag at you. Audiences who know only her screen work (“Mudbound,” “The Great Gatsby”), haven’t experienced the full measure of the uncanny emotional translucence she emanates on stage. That quality was what made her the best Nina I’ve seen in Chekhov’s “The Seagull” (on Broadway in 2008), and it infused her harrowing study of a schizophrenic in “Through a Glass Darkly” (Off Broadway in 2011). In “Girls & Boys,” she is required to shadow her natural, revelatory radiance. But every so often, even in the midst of a jokey anecdote, Ms. Mulligan’s Woman stretches her long neck and tilts her chin upward. Her face fleetingly becomes one that has been stripped nearly to the skull by pain and guilt. And you realize anew, with a startling pang, that this person doesn’t at all want to be talking about what she’s talking about. But, as Ms. Mulligan makes so achingly clear, she doesn’t have a choice. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/theater/girls-and-boys-review-carey-mulligan.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftheater&action=click&contentCollection=theater&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront

taking a break from Broadway and focusing on off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway offerings. First up was the Irish Rep revival of On A Clear Day, starring Melissa Errico and Stephen Bogardus. Despite efforts to tighten up the storyline, this scaled back version just doesn't work, and somehow, given the history fo the show, I don't think it ever will. A good cast but somehow it was unsalvageable in the long run. FYI This was my third production of this show! I must be a glutton for punishment or an eternal optimist that hopes it'll get better. Great score, lousy book. Review: ‘On a Clear Day,’ Eternally Odd, Gets Yet Another Life By Jesse Green. June 28, 2018 Bizarre subjects are no deal breaker for musicals; think human meat pies and philosophical felines. But few shows have as bewildering a topic as “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” the 1965 jaw-dropper about ESP, telekinesis and past-life regression that’s a weird mix of laughably earnest woo-woo and chipper Broadway savvy. For the savvy, we have the score to thank: a treasure trunk of standards with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Songs like “ ,” “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” and “ ” are so catchy and well constructed that, stripped of context, you’d have no idea they were originally attached to such strange ideas. (In the musical, “Hurry, It’s Lovely Up Here” is sung to a flowerpot.) For the strange ideas, Lerner has to take the blame. It was he who, obsessed with the New Age fads flitting around the era, devised a story — about a love triangle among a psychiatrist, his patient and her former incarnation — that became, over the years, Broadway’s pity project: the Golden Age book most in need of rescuing. My conclusion, based on , the 2000 Encores concert starring Kristin Chenoweth, the complete rewriting of the show as a Harry Connick, Jr. vehicle in 2011 and the cute revisal that opened at the Irish Repertory Theater on Thursday, is: It can’t be fixed. The pleasures of “On a Clear Day” are so intertwined with its absurdities that no theatrical version can separate them. You have to enjoy it for what it is, or not. The Irish Rep production, led by Melissa Errico in the dual role of wacky Daisy Gamble and grand Melinda Wells, gives it a good go, on a very small scale. (The cast has been reduced to 11 from 47 and the orchestra to five from 31.) Songs, subplots and characters have been dumped, including Daisy’s boyfriend, Warren — presumably to enhance Daisy’s agency in the story. She goes to see the hypnotherapist Mark Bruckner (Stephen Bogardus) not because her smoking threatens Warren’s advancement at work (as in the original) but because it threatens her own. Which might make more sense if we ever learned what Daisy does. But Dr. Bruckner isn’t really interested in her smoking anyway; he’s interested in her ESP and telekinetic powers. She anticipates phone calls, intuits the location of missing objects and makes flowers burst from their pots “as if the cops were after them.” But Dr. Bruckner isn’t really interested in her smoking anyway; he’s interested in her ESP and telekinetic powers. She anticipates phone calls, intuits the location of missing objects and makes flowers burst from their pots “as if the cops were after them.” It is while fishing around in her subconscious that Dr. Bruckner discovers her previous incarnation as Melinda, the highborn daughter of an antislavery crusader in Georgian England. Compared to Daisy, Melinda is confident, unconventional and uninhibited; naturally, Dr. Bruckner falls in love with her. Alas, Daisy’s the one who falls in love with him. The rules of hypnotically induced past-life regression are murky. Apparently, other characters from Daisy’s past — like Melinda’s lover, Edward (John Cudia) — can hitch rides into the present, so they get to sing flowery arias like “ .” And the therapist himself can hitch rides back, which gets confusing fast. When Dr. Bruckner tries to save Melinda from drowning on a ship bound for America around 1800, the story enters a causal loop paradox that makes some people snigger and others throw up their hands. I did both. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/theater/review-on-a-clear-day-you-can-see-forever-irish-rep.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftheater&action=click&contentCollection=theater&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront

Alas the folks that should read and ay attention to that issue of Time Out will never see it. The whole issue is devoted to the do's and don't of etiquette in public places. Last night I had an older woman sitting next to me at the American Ballet Theater at the Met. She continually cleared her throat every minute of the first act. It was annoying and distracting. I bolted from the row at the first intermission and plopped my behind in a 5th row center orchestra aisle seat and watched the remainder of Don Quixote, which was divine!

OK, now that the awards have been handed out, we can take a look at what's coming up in the fall season. Upcoming: HEAD OVER HEELS • Theatre: Hudson Theatre • First Preview: June 23, 2016 • Opening: July 26, 2018 • Director: Michael Mayer • Original book by Jeff Whitty. Adapted by James MacGruder. Music by the Go-Go’s • New musical based on Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, showcasing the music of the '80s band the Go-Go’s. • Co-produced by Gwyneth Paltrow and Donovan Leitch. Had its debut at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in summer 2017. The musical will play San Francisco's the Curran April 24–May 20, 2018. STRAIGHT WHITE MEN • Theatre: Helen Hayes • First Preview: June 29, 2018 • Opening: July 23, 2018 • Written by Young Jean Lee • Director: Anna D. Shapiro • It’s Christmas Eve, and Ed has gathered his three adult sons to celebrate with matching pajamas, trash-talking, and Chinese takeout. But when a question they can’t answer interrupts their holiday cheer, they are forced to confront their own identities. GETTIN’ THE BAND BACK TOGETHER • Theatre: Belasco Theatre • First Preview: July 19, 2018 • Opening: August 13, 2018 • Music and Lyrics by Mark Allen, book by Ken Davenport and Grundleshotz • Director: John Rando • New musical about an investment banker who loses his job and decides to restart his life by reorganizing his high school rock band. PRETTY WOMAN • Theatre: Nederlander Theatre • First Preview: July 20, 2018 • Opening: August 16, 2018 • Written by Garry Marshall (book), Bryan Adam and Jim Vallance (score) • Director and choreographer: Jerry Mitchell • A musical adaptation of the hugely successful film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Pretty Woman will play an out-of-town tryout in Chicago in spring 2018. BERNHARDT/HAMLET • Theatre: American Airlines Theatre • First Preview: September 1, 2018 • Opening: September 25, 2018 • Written by Theresa Rebeck • Director: Moritz von Stuelpnagel • Rebeck’s new play is set against the lavish, late-19th-century production of Hamlet starring Sarah Bernhardt in her make-or-break role. Janet McTeer, last seen on Broadway in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, will bring the legendary leading lady to life. THE NAP • Theatre: Samuel J. Friedman Theatre • First Preview: September 4, 2018 • Opening: September 27, 2018 • Written by Richard Bean • Director: Daniel Sullivan • Dylan Spokes, a fast-rising young star arrives for a championship tournament only to be confronted by the authorities warning him of the repercussions of match fixing. Before he knows it, Dylan’s forced into underhanded dealings with a cast of wildly colorful characters that include his ex-convict dad, saucy mum, quick-tongued manager and a renowned gangster, to boot. THE WAVERLY GALLERY • Theatre: John Golden Theatre • First Preview: September 25, 2018 • Opening: October 25, 2018 • Written by: Kenneth Lonergan • Director: Lila Neugebauer • A feisty Greenwich Village art dealer must give up her beloved gallery due to her advancing years. As time rearranges her world, she must rely more then ever on her family’s love, loyalty, and devotion. THE FERRYMAN • Theatre: Bernard B. Jacobs • First Preview: October 2, 2018 • Opening: October 21, 2018 • Written by: Jez Butterworth • Director: Sam Mendes • The Ferryman is set in rural Northern Ireland in 1981. The Carney farmhouse is a hive of activity with preparations for the annual harvest. A day of hard work on the land and a traditional night of feasting and celebrations lie ahead. But this year they will be interrupted by a visitor. KING KONG • Theatre: Broadway Theatre • First Preview: October 5, 2018 • Opening: November 8, 2018 • Written by Jack Thorne (book), Marius de Vries and Eddie Perfect (score) • Director and choreographer: Drew McOnie • A musical adaptation of Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace’s novella. • King Kong had its world premiere at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. TORCH SONG • Theatre: The Hayes • First Preview: October 9, 2018 • Opening: November 1, 2018 • Written by Harvey Feinstein • Director: Moises Kaufman • The acclaimed 2017 Off-Broadway revival will transfer with its cast intact. THE PROM • Theatre: Cort Theatre • First Preview: October 21, 2018 • Opening: November 15, 2018 • Written by Bob Martin (book), Chad Beguelin (lyrics), Matthew Sklar (music) • Director: Casey Nicholaw • Cast: Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas, Christopher Sieber • An original musical about a gay couple who want to attend their high school prom. • Had a premiere production at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in August 2016. Producers are Dori Berinstein and Bill Damaschke. THE CHER SHOW • Theatre: Neil Simon • First Preview: November 1, 2018 • Opening: December 3, 2018 • Book by Rick Elice. Music by various composers. • The musical traces the career of pop star Cher • The Cher Show will premiere at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre June 12–July 15, 2018. CHOIR BOY • Theatre: Samuel J. Friedman • Previews begin: December 27, 2018 • Opening: January 22, 2019 • Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney • Director: Trip Cullman • For half a century, the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys has been dedicated to the education of strong, ethical black men. One talented student has been waiting for years to take his rightful place as the leader of the legendary gospel choir. But can he make his way through the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key? TRUE WEST • Theatre: American Airlines • First Preview: December 27, 2018 • Opening: January 24, 2019 • Written by Sam Shepard • Director: James Macdonald • Revival. Ethan Hawke stars opposite Paul Dano in Shepard's classic play about two brothers. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD • Theatre: Shubert • First Preview: November 1, 2018 • Opening: December 13, 2018 • Written by Aaron Sorkin • Director: Bartlett Sher • Cast: Jeff Daniels, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Will Pullen, Gideon Glick, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Stark Sands, Frederick Weller, Erin Wilhelmi, Dakin Matthews, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Stephen Mckinley Henderson, Phyllis Somerville, Liv Rooth • Based on Harper Lee's novel of the same title.

Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, or I've just been purchasing too many damn expensive seats, but I have to say that at last night's performance of Boys, I found the audience polite and well-behaved. I have to say, I had some hesitation about seeing this show, again, but I found it more enjoyable this time around. If I had any criticisms, I'd say Andrew Rannells, Matt Bomer and Charlie Carver are all too damn handsome, pretty and cute. Very distracting! LOL. The other criticism is that I find Jim Parsons has become too associated with his character of Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory. I can't help watching him and wondering if he's sometime channeling Sheldon in his performance. I wondered if perhaps Eric McCormick would have been a better choice as Michael. AND, just because I'm a fan, I loved the music of my era, and especially Dusty Springfield's Look Of Love as the audience exited the theater. Also, my experience at Harry Potter was similar. the audience around me was polite and quiet. We had some young teenagers in my row, but they, too, were quiet and into the show. Not a lot of hooting' and hollering' on stage entrances.

2018 Tony Award Winners: Full List These are the winners of the 72nd annual Tony Awards. Read our latest updates and watch along with our theater critics. Best Musical: “The Band’s Visit” Best Play: “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Best Revival of a Musical: “Once on This Island” Best Revival of a Play: “Angels in America” Best Book of a Musical: “The Band’s Visit,” Itamar Moses Best Original Score: “The Band’s Visit,” Music and Lyrics: David Yazbek Best Leading Actress in a Play: Glenda Jackson, “Three Tall Women” Best Leading Actor in a Musical: Tony Shalhoub, “The Band’s Visit” Best Leading Actress in a Musical: Katrina Lenk, “The Band’s Visit” Best Featured Actor in a Play: Nathan Lane, “Angels in America” Best Leading Actor in a Play: Andrew Garfield, “Angels in America” Best Featured Actress in a Play: Laurie Metcalf, “Three Tall Women” Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Ari’el Stachel, “The Band’s Visit” Best Featured Actress in a Musical: Lindsay Mendez, “Carousel” Best Scenic Design of a Play: Christine Jones, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Best Scenic Design of a Musical: David Zinn, “SpongeBob SquarePants” Best Costume Design of a Play: Katrina Lindsay, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Best Costume Design of a Musical: Catherine Zuber, “My Fair Lady” Best Lighting Design of a Play: Neil Austin, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Tyler Micoleau, “The Band’s Visit” Best Direction of a Play: John Tiffany, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Best Direction of a Musical: David Cromer, “The Band’s Visit” Best Choreography: Justin Peck, “Carousel” Best Orchestrations: Jamshied Sharifi, “The Band’s Visit” Sound Design in a Play: Gareth Fry, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Sound Design in a Musical: Kai Harada, “The Band’s Visit” Special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the theater: Chita Rivera, Andrew Lloyd Webber Special Tony Award: Bruce Springsteen, John Leguizamo Regional Theater Tony Award: La MaMa E.T.C. Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award: Nick Scandalios Tony Honors for excellence in the theater: Sara Krulwich, Bessie Nelson, Ernest Winzer Cleaners