A Show To See

[+ Lucky]

For those lucky enough to be near New York City, a review in today's NYTimes struck my interest, and I bet it would yours too:

THEATER REVIEW | 'ASCENSION'MORE ON 'Ascension'Temptation, the Priest, the Youth and His Mother

 

By ANITA GATES

Published: October 12, 2006

At the start of Edmund De Santis’s “Ascension,” the characters seem perfectly normal. The personable Rev. Calvin Porter (Stephen Hope), who is in line to become a bishop, is in his office, chatting with a parishioner, Agnes Sabatino (Lucy McMichael), about handling the food for a coming church event.

 

It should probably be a hint of things to come that Agnes is wearing sunglasses indoors and a raincoat three sizes too large. She admires a painting of the crucifixion (“This Christ has a nice body”) and admits to having seen “Ben Hur” 327 times.

 

And yes, before you know it, Agnes is accusing Father Calvin of sexual abuse. The long-ago victim is her son Lorenzo, who is now grown and suicidal, she says, because of the emotional damage.

 

For a second “Ascension” looks like “Doubt,” John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. But the entrance of Lorenzo (Brandon Ruckdashel) changes everything.

 

The 23-year-old Mr. Ruckdashel is making his Off Broadway debut and it is a stunning one. This is partly because he has the intense blond good looks of a young Brad Pitt with a soupçon of James Dean.

 

But Mr. Ruckdashel’s performance is also noteworthy because his Lorenzo vibrates with the smug and nonchalant power of youth. Father Calvin, it appears, is determined to resist him physically, but the odds aren’t good. It’s not clear who could resist when Lorenzo whispers: “God’s not here now. It’s just you and me.”

 

And this is before he takes his clothes off. (There is full frontal male nudity in Act II.)

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/10/12/arts/Asce190.jpg

 

Mr. De Santis has written a clever comic drama with satisfyingly acidic attitude, considerable passion and a killer ending. This is a mystery too, giving, taking back and re-evaluating clues about which, if any, of the three characters is telling the whole truth.

 

Marc Geller has directed his players smoothly, allowing Mr. Hope a tasty Michael Corleone moment and giving Ms. McMichael free rein to be the dark-comic relief. Not every actress can make “We’re all ####” a punch line.

 

Performances of “Ascension” will continue through Oct. 21 at the Lion Theater, 410 West 42nd Street; (212) 279-4200 or ticketcentral.com.

[edjames]

I have a ticket for next Thursday night's performance. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Run, don't walk, to see Christine Ebersole's fabulous performance in "Grey Gardens." I saw the show last week and had seen the off-Broadway production last spring. Christine, and her co-star, Mary Louise Wilson, are doing Tony-worthy performances. Mary's song "The Cake I Had," is wonderful.

 

Saw Martin Short's "Fame Becomes Me" last night. An amusing little show with some great performances by an outstanding cast. Written by Martin Short and music by Marc Shaiman, this show has a lot of gay overtones in it. After all, imitations of Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, Joan Rivers, Celine Dion, Tommy Tune, Renee Zellwegger, Jodie Foster and Britany Spears makes for a pretty good drag show! No Martin does not do the imitations. They are done by two ladies named Mary Birdsong and Donna Vivino. Perhaps the best part of the show is Martin's outrageous character, star-interviewer extraordinaire, Jiminey Glick. He interviews a new celebrity every night. I was lucky enough to see Stockard Channing in the interviewee seat last night. Also, Capathia Jenkins brings down the house with her number "Stop The Show." Discount tickets are available and it's probably up on TKTS, so for a discounted price, I'd recomend it.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Short's show IS fantastic. Look for a detailed review to post up in this week's 15 Minutes. I had a chance to see it last week and was really impressed with Marc Shaiman's music. Witty and funny. It's been extended into March 2007 now, so things must be selling decently.

 

Re: Grey Gardens... I don't think i've ever seen anything that Ebersole has done that hasn't been top-notch. It's nice to see this one transfered from off-Broadway. She's a charmer.

 

My two cents: The best show on Broadway right now is The Drowsy Chaperone. Hands down. Sutton Foster is perfect in this role and the cast has the comic chops to keep this rolling gag going. It's intelligent without pandering to the Disney crowd. Good stuff.

 

Also saw Chorus Line redo. It was... interesting. More to blog on that later.

 

 

BN

[+ Lucky]

Drowsy Chaperone, Putnam Spelling Bee, Palm Springs Follies...boy, Ben, we have different tastes. The latter is the one I'll never understand how you could rave about. They are starting their new season this week so I'll have to hear about it every week. Yuck!

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

You can't really compare Follies to Putnam or Chaperone... It's apples and oranges.

 

Follies brings me joy just to see those ol' hoofers back onstage doing what they enjoy most. There are few venues left for performers at that age and it's good to see (no matter how horribly shmaltzy it may be) the Follies fill that particular gap.

 

As for Putnam and Chaperone: We'll simply have to agree to disagree. I have a wide variety of musical tastes, but unfortunately there's not a whole lot on the boards right now that is truly showstopping stuff. C'est la vie

 

 

BN

[Guest alanm]

I would not give either "Fame Becomes Me" or "The Drowsy Chaperone" rave reviews, but sadly they are the best shows current playing on Broadway.

 

That is about to change. "Grey Gardens" and Butley" with Nathan Lane

are in previews. Stoppard's epic "The Coast of Utopia" and Williams'

"Suddenly Last Summer" begin previews this week. Within the next month previews will begin for "The Little Dog That Laughed," "Company" and "Spring Awakenings."

 

I loved "Spring Awakenings" off-Broadway and have high hopes for many of the other shows.

 

As with Lucky, I seldom agree with Benjamin's reviews of shows, but appreciate the attention he gives Broadway and Vegas in his blog, which deservedly won the Rentboy award for best blog this week.

[uwsman2]

I saw a preview of Butley and was not impressed. It seemed like they were looking for a vehicle for Nathan Lane to reprise his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple but with a different script. So he does, and seemed a bit bored to me. But the other male leada, a young British actor who looks a bit like a younger, fitter Matthew Broderick, is great eye candy...

[edjames]

This has not turned out to be the most exciting season on Broadway, but I thought I said those same words last year. The one good thing about Broadway shows is that they bring a wide range of theatrical productions to a diverse audience. Hence, what Ben likes, and what I like may not often be the same.

I will agree with him that the Drowsy Chaperone is a wonderfully delightful show and I loved it, too. Yes, Martin Short's Fame Becomes Me is not the most inventive and exciting show to hit the boards, but it was amusing and entertaining. But what is it with these shows not having an intermission? Both Chaperone and Short run straight through. Are the producers afraid the audience will walk out?

The current top box office sellers on Broadway are Jersey Boys and The Color Purple. Jersey Boys is a real fun and exciting show. Never a Four Seasons fan back in their heyday, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed that show. The Color Purple is entirely too long and I was told legendary Broadway director, Hal Prince, actually fell asleep in the first act and never returned to his seat after intermission when he went to the show. The star, LaChanze, is notorious for her abscence in most performances. History Boys, which just closed did big box office and would have continued its Broadway run, had the cast not had other obligations, but don't despair, the film opens in the US on Nov 22.

I saw the original Butley with Alan Bates back in the seventies and really didn't enjoy it then, so I won't be seeing the new production with Nathan Lane. Broadway buzz has it that audiences are having a hard time listening to Nathan's British accent.

I think the revival of Sondheim's Company will add some spark to the season and I am anxiously awaiting seeing that show in a few weeks, same with A Chorus Line, despite some lackluster reviews, it's having a good presale of tickets. I'm set to see it Thanksgiving night.

I'm off to see GBS's Heartbreak House this week with an outstanding cast.

There's a slew of stuff "in the works," so there's always hope for future seasons here and in the West End. I understand Marc Shaiman is working on a musical based on the Leonardo DiCaprio film "Catch Me If You Can," and a musical of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" is also in the works. Other musicals being touted around include "Muriel's Wedding" and "Dusty," based on the tragic life of singer Dusty Springfield, which was very successful in Australia this spring/summer, and is currently seeking a West End theater. And Mel Brooks is working on "Young Frankenstein" which is set to do a workshop here in NYC very soon with a stellar cast, however he has yet to cast a lead actor. Greg Kinnear and Jimmy Fallon are two of the names being tossed around.

[edjames]

First, the show has been extended until NOV 12. Business has been good. The initial run has sold out.

 

I saw the show last night. I thought it didn't live up to the NY Times review. The show doesn't even come close to the drama and intensity of "Doubt."

 

The show isn't badly written but its attempts at comic dialogue only ellicited small laughs from the audience, although one guy obviously was very amused and laughed quite loudly. It does weave its way through the story of deceit and lies very well.

 

I thought the role of the priest and the mother were slightly miscast, but given that this is an off-off Broadway production, I'm sure these actors are being paid less than scale for their performances.

 

As the NY Times points out the role of Lorenzo, played by Brandon Ruckdashel, is quite good. And YES, he does bear a striking resemblence to a young Brad Pitt! And naked, he's nice to look at.

 

All in all for the $19.25 ticket, it was worth every penny.

 

Ed