Couple of Off-Broadway offerings...

[skynyc]

Hello, gentlemen...

 

Sorry for the long absence...life has really been happening lately. It hasn't stopped me from going to the theater, but lately I have been going back to work after shows, and have been too pooped to write when I get home.

 

I did see Lucky Guy...which has all ready closed. I went with three friends, and we each had two martinis before we went in. So naturally we LOVED it. Actually, the things that were supposed to appeal most to us queens...Varla Jean Merman and Leslie Jordan, were the things that got old the fastest. The score was pretty good, the leading man (Kyle Dean Massey - who replaced Aaron Tveit in Next to Normal) was terrific, both in voice and looks, and the real high point of the show were the very talented "Buckaroos". Four very cute, very buff chorus boys who epitomized camp...even showing up dressed in loinclothes and headdresses for one number...with tap shoes, mind you. We loved it. I am sorry it's gone so quick...I would have loved to arrange a theater outing for the folks here, and this was so silly, it probably would have appealed to all...especially with all the flesh on display.

 

Lysistrata Jones, which is playing at the Judson Gym on Washington Square South, got a nice notice from Brantley, and for once, I really agree with him. The story is a broad retelling of the Aristophanes comedy...(and just imagine what could go wrong with that....) Lysistrata Jones is determined to get her collegiate basketball team to win...they haven't won in thirty years and have determined that it's better to not try lose terribly, than try to win and look like losers. So Lysistrata and the other cheerleaders decide to withhold sex to try to inspire the boys to win. Mad hijinks ensue. (Ancient Greek comedy - mad hijinks - in the same show. Who knew?!?!)

 

The score is pretty light-weight, and most of the songs sound alike, and the sound design is out of control, especially for a 99-seat theater, but the cast is so winning and fun, with some real standouts, including prodigiously figured Liz Mikel as the narrator/seeress/madam, and Jason Tam as the tech-nerd who loves to dance. This is the summer romp that is the theatrical equivalent of a sweet-tea. And with a book by Douglas Carter Beane, there are some great, smart laughs.

 

The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World at Playwrights Horizons was a huge disappointment to me. Whoever thought that making a musical about the depressing story of an obsessed (and crazy) father who forces his three talentless girls into becoming a rock band would be a good idea was not thinking straight.

 

The performances were pretty good, (although their thick-as-maple-syrup New Hampshuh accents got tiresome very quickly,) it was the show that was bad. Depressing and tuneless, literally. The girls had to sing off-key continuously, until the lights would change and we’d “hear” what was going on their heads, suddenly tuneful and lovely.

 

This couldn’t make up it’s mind if it wanted to be funny or sad or disturbing so it just settled on dreadful. There must have been friends of cast in the back corner who cheered and applauded wildly after each number, which only accentuated the sounds of crickets coming from from the other 5/6 of the audience.

 

One thing that the internet has done, it has enabled High School age girls to realize that they can have some say, and they can stand up to their parents...I got so tired of these three brow-beaten girls...one who disappears into silence.

 

The Minister's Wife at Lincoln Center is NOT for everyone. But it was for me. Based on Shaw, (which I love). Based on Candida (which I love). Starring Marc Kudisch and Bobby Steggert (whom I love). Ninety minutes, no intermission (which I love.) This intimate chamber musical portrays the rather tender love triangle of James Morell, Socialist advocate and preacher, who rather takes his wife for granted; the ridiculously young poet Eugene Marchbanks who is in love with her; and the stunning object of their affection, Candida; very nicely. Add Morell's secretary who is in love with him, and his assistant pastor who is completely clueless and you have a nice group of folks to watch for the evening.

 

I did yearn for one really lovely tune, or a hummable melody, but the score, for bassoon, cello, violin and keyboards, was wistful and appropriate for the time period and characters. No question that some people snuck out after about forty minutes, but I find the story was appropriately served by this adaptation. I did have to wonder why they chose to remove the sub-plot of Candida's VERY capitalistic, sweatshop-owning father...but to have kept him in they would have needed to add brass to the orchestrations. LOL

 

I have also heard marvelous things about the MINT Theater's new production of A Little Journey. The MINT specializes in revising lost gems, and apparently this one is just that.... Something to look forward to.

[uwsman2]

I saw a Minister's Wife when it was in previews. I thought the score was undistinguished and detracted from the play. The songs seemed like an intrusion that was delaying an interesting story. You said that you yearned for "one really lovely tune." That was my problem. Lots of gestures but no real tunes. I didn't really think that this story was crying out to be done as a musical.

[+ beethoven]

I LOATHED "The Minister's Wife," and so did most people I know. It would have been much, much better if they eliminated the awful music and just performed "Candida" as Shaw wrote it.

 

I'm seeing the Mint's new production next week, and I hear excellent things about it from friends. It also got a favorable review in Friday's NY Times.

 

The Woody Allen movie, "Midnight In Paris," is FABULOUS!! I never see movies twice (at least not at $9.50 a pop), but I'd see this one again tomorrow!!

[edjames]

Saw "By The Way. Meet Vera Stark" last night at Second Stages. A most wonderful cast with a top notch funny and sharp first act. The second act, however, disappoints.

 

 

ED