Broadway Watch Dec 04
Tue, 21 Dec 2004, 09:28 amWalter Plinge1 post in thread
Broadway Watch Dec 04
Tue, 21 Dec 2004, 09:28 amI know I normally do this at the end of the month, but this is my last work week until the New Year.
Two Musicals opened this month.
Pacific Overtures
2004 Revival, Broadway version of Japanese Production
No Cast Recording – Original Broadway Cast available
Some Reviews:
THEATERMANIA - David Finkle
“…The striking set of light wood with traveling screens, hinting at secrecy and illusion, sits on water to make literal the script's "floating kingdom" references. In this surrounding, Miyamoto stylishly orchestrates his cast, which includes women for the first time.”
“… A couple of drawbacks in the Roundabout's Pacific Overtures are specific to the director's vision and execution. Miyamoto, who has apparently dreamed of Broadway since his Tokyo boyhood, has allowed parts of the text (specifically, the depiction of family life) to seem twee and at least one segment (the above-noted confrontational anthem) to impress as Las Vegas bravado. Miyamoto also doesn't seem to have noticed that the second-act-opening "Please Hello" is less effective than it should be because the delivery's garbled.”
“…The real defect in the often visually imposing, often emotionally disappointing Pacific Overtures is the John Weidman libretto with "additional material" by Hugh Wheeler… with its book scenes that cover much ground but don't have much more scope than a college survey course.”
“…Pacific Overtures too often feels like a trip to a contemporary History of Humankind Museum room rather than a jaunt to a musical theater house.”
BROADWAY.COM - Eric Grode
“Amon Miyamoto… made a splash in 2002 with a Japanese-language rethinking of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Pacific Overtures at Lincoln Center… a lot of what seemed inscrutable and intriguing at an international arts festival is exasperating on a Broadway stage, an ungainly mix of earnest stage tricks and pandering slapstick.”
“B.D. Wong, whose performance in M. Butterfly remains a benchmark on the complicated emotional dynamics of East-West cross-culturalism, is grievously miscast in the role: Fatuous, glib and relentlessly adorable, his Reciter offers very little insight into the exotic goings-on beyond an arched eyebrow… the singing quality is quite strong overall.. but most surprising of all is Ing, who once again plays the Shogun's Mother in "Chrysanthemum Tea"--and sounds better than he did 28 years ago.”
TALKINÂ’ BROADWAY - Matthew Murray
“At last it can be told: The official color of Japan is beige. This stunning revelation comes to us direct from the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Pacific Overtures at Studio 54, where beige isn't just the dominant color, it's the driving philosophy. “
“…Though the cast members perform in English, they may as well speak and sing in Japanese for the connection they make with the audience; everyone… has been directed to act, sing, and dance with the kind of fervor that makes Japanese history lectures seem rousing.”
“…And though Ing charmingly performs his portion of that most quintessential of all Sondheim songs, "Someone in a Tree," Miyamoto's staging makes it more about the treaty house (apparently cast off from a community theatre mounting of Peter Pan) than the unknowability of history and how the effects of such uncertainty ripple down through the ages.
“It should be the defining moment in a show about changing perspectives and attitudes on global and personal scales. But "Someone in a Tree" is here only one in a series of reserved scenes and songs, meditations on meaning and emotion rather than representations of them, however abstract. Only in "Next," when Miyamoto stages the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America's devastating retribution, does the production take a firm stand on anything.
“That the moment is almost sardonically heavy-handed is beside the point; at least something finally breaks through the barrier of serene tranquility that otherwise always separates the show from its audience. Only in that moment are any musical and dramatic possibilities of this Pacific Overtures realized, allowing the show - to paraphrase the Reciter in the opening number - to float. The rest of the time, it drowns in its own beige pretensions.”
La Cage Aux Folles
2004 Revival
Featuring Daniel Davis and Gary Beach
No Cast Recording – Original Broadway Cast available
Some Reviews:
THEATERMANIA – David Finkle
“Gary Beach… in the juicy Albin/Zaza part is disappointing. This is Gary Beach as Nathan Lane as Albin; the reminiscent acting style is hard to miss. Maybe Beach's many performances with Lane in The Producers are the cause of this odd development.
“As a result, Daniel Davis's suave Georges inherits the larger spotlight, especially when full-throatedly delivering "Song on the Sand." Gavin Creel is okay as Jean-Michel, though it's unclear why he has a ponytail when he's so concerned about passing muster with Anne's hyper-critical dad. The rest of the cast members, including the hard-working Cagelles, hold up their end of the bargain. But even if La Cage aux Folles was always pretty much an enterprise geared to appeal to the tired businessman and -woman, that doesn't mean that such patrons should be served a tired show. In this production, yesteryear's mascara is running.”
BROADWAY.COM – Ken Mandelbaum
“Even at its 1983 premiere, La Cage aux Folles was a resolutely old-fashioned musical. Harvey Fierstein's book and Arthur Laurents' staging were very much in the traditional mode. And Jerry Herman's score successfully brought back the sort of take-home tunes that many had thought to be out of style… As it turns out, the new Cage feels closer in spirit to the farcical film versions of the property than to the more emotional Broadway musical original… while the laughs are in place, it's harder to fall in love with Georges and Albin.
“Recycling a bit of his previous transvestite role, The Producers' Roger De Bris, while also channeling a good deal of Nathan Lane's comic delivery, Gary Beach evinces all of the necessary flamboyance and vulnerability for Albin… In the heretofore less flashy role of Georges, Daniel Davis is fully Beach's equal… he displays fine comic timing, and does well by "Look Over There" and "Song on the Sand." Both men possess more than serviceable singing voices.”
“La Cage is likely to remain what it always was, a surefire crowd-pleaser. But this new production has a hard time locating the heart of the piece, and fails to scale the heights of the original.”
TALKIN’ BROADWAY – Matthew Murray
“Nothing dulls faster than a knife that wasn't that sharp to begin with. It should come as no surprise, then, that the revival of La Cage aux Folles that just opened at the Marquis not only doesn't cut deeply, it doesn't even break the skin.
“…when Jean-Michel's fiancée and her parents come to visit, Albin is shoved into the background and everyone else the closet to promote the kind of normal existence that Jean-Michel has never lived. This all paves the way for the production's most telling number, a stinging rebuke to the cold-heartedness pervading their once-tight family unit. The song demonstrates Herman at his melodic, incisive best, and is undoubtedly of the chilling, wake-up-and-take-notice variety that any show stepping even one foot in controversy can't do without. Its title? "Look Over There." Yes, that's the firm musical reprimand from Georges to Jean-Michel in the second act, pleading him to accept love in whatever form it takes, and not "I Am What I Am," the titanic first act finale in which Albin, in the middle of a performance, storms off the stage after being unceremoniously expelled from Jean-Michel's life. It's not just that 20 years of cultural progress has rendered this anthemic composition toothless; while "Look Over There" resonates more strongly today, "I Am What I Am" still packs a considerable dramatic punch.
“But its overall impact is diminished by Beach's forced, unfocused performance… His entire conception of the character is off, from his establishing number "A Little More Mascara" on - Albin is supposed to find self-esteem in his make-up, but Beach begins the number (and the show) strong and has nowhere to go but down.
“Davis is engaging and charming from his first moments onstage, emceeing the club with wry comments to the audience and a sly smile suggesting a man at peace with himself and his life. Wielding a surprisingly strong singing voice and his proven acting ability, he nails scenes and sails through the romantic "Song on the Sand" or the reproving "Look Over There" with the kind of facility you'd expect from a musical comedy veteran like, oh, Gary Beach. “
Seventeen other Musicals currently running:
Brooklyn
Original 2004 Broadway Production
Featuring Cleavant Derricks & Eden Espinoza
Cast Recording Available
Dracula
Original 2004 Broadway Production – Due to close Jan 2005
Featuring Tom Hewitt & Melissa Errico
No Cast Recording – Nor is there likely to be one!
Bombay Dreams
2004 Broadway version of London Production – Due to close in Jan 2005
No Broadway Cast Recording – Original London Cast available
Fiddler on the Roof
2004 Revival
Featuring Alfred Molina, soon to be replaced by Harvey Fierstein!
Cast Recording available
Wonderful Town
2003 Revival
Currently featuring Brooke Shields
2004 Tony Award – Choreography
Cast Recordings available: Original revival cast with Donna Murphy
Replacement Cast Recording with Brooke Shields released soon.
Wicked
Original 2003 Broadway Production
Featuring Idina Menzel
2004 Tony Awards – Actress (Idina Menzel); Scenic Design & Costume Design
Cast Recording available
Avenue Q
Transferred from Off-Broadway in 2003
Featuring John Tartaglia and Stephanie DÂ’Abruzzo
2004 Tony Awards – Musical; Original Score & Book of a Musical
Cast Recording Available
MovinÂ’ Out
Original 2002 Broadway Production
2003 Tony Awards – Choreography & Orchestrations
Cast Recording available
Hairspray
Original 2002 Broadway Production
2003 Tony Awards – Musical; Original Score; Book of a Musical; Actor (Harvey Fierstein); Actress (Marissa Janet Winokur); Featured Actor (Dick Latessa); Direction & Costume Design
Cast Recording available
Mamma Mia!
2001 Broadway version of London Production
Currently featuring Carolee Carmello
No Cast Recording – Original London Cast available
42nd Street
2001 Revival – Due to close in Jan 2005
Currently featuring Patrick Cassidy
2001 Tony Awards – Revival of a Musical; Actress (Christine Ebersole)
Cast Recording available
The Producers
Original 2001 Broadway Production
Currently featuring Hunter Foster
2001 Tony Awards – Musical; Original Score; Book of a Musical; Actor (Nathan Lane); Featured Actor (Gary Beach); Featured Actress (Cady Huffman); Direction; Orchestrations; Scenic Design; Costume Design; Lighting Design & Choreography
Cast Recording available
The Lion King
Original 1997 Broadway Production
1998 Tony Awards – Musical; Direction; Scenic Design; Costume Design; Lighting Design; Choreography
Cast Recording available
Chicago
1996 Revival
Currently featuring Wayne Brady
1997 Tony Awards – Revival of a Musical; Actor (James Naughton); Actress (Bebe Neuwirth); Direction; Lighting Design & Choreography
Cast Recording available
Rent
Transferred from Off-Broadway in 1996
Currently featuring Drew Lachey
1996 Tony Awards – Musical; Original Score; Book of a Musical & Featured Actor (Wilson Jermaine Heredia)
Cast Recording available
Beauty and the Beast
Original 1994 Broadway Production
1994 Tony Award – Costume Design
Cast Recording available
The Phantom of the Opera
1988 Broadway version of London Production
1988 Tony Awards – Musical; Actor (Michael Crawford); Featured Actress (Judy Kuhn); Direction; Scenic Design; Costume Design & Lighting Design
No Cast Recording – Original London Cast available
One New Broadway Cast Recording released this month
Brooklyn – Razor & Tie B0006LOLMK
Attendance figures for last four weeks
Top Three Shows by Attendance
Wicked – 57888
The Lion King – 57776
The Producers – 49182
Top Three Shows by Capacity
Mamma Mia! – 101.6%
The Lion King – 100.2%
Wicked – 100%
Bottom Three Shows by Attendance
Dracula – 17945
Brooklyn – 22582
Avenue Q – 25428
Bottom Three Shows by Capacity
Dracula – 54.5%
Bombay Dreams – 57.7%
Brooklyn – 67.6%
Currently in Previews
Little Women - New Musical
Good Vibrations - New Beach Boys Catalogue Musical
Coming Soon
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - New Musical
Monty PythonÂ’s Spamalot - New Musical
All Shook Up - New Elvis Catalogue Musical
The Wiz - Revival
The Light in the Piazza - New Musical
Sweet Charity - Revival
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Broadway version of London Production
Two Musicals opened this month.
Pacific Overtures
2004 Revival, Broadway version of Japanese Production
No Cast Recording – Original Broadway Cast available
Some Reviews:
THEATERMANIA - David Finkle
“…The striking set of light wood with traveling screens, hinting at secrecy and illusion, sits on water to make literal the script's "floating kingdom" references. In this surrounding, Miyamoto stylishly orchestrates his cast, which includes women for the first time.”
“… A couple of drawbacks in the Roundabout's Pacific Overtures are specific to the director's vision and execution. Miyamoto, who has apparently dreamed of Broadway since his Tokyo boyhood, has allowed parts of the text (specifically, the depiction of family life) to seem twee and at least one segment (the above-noted confrontational anthem) to impress as Las Vegas bravado. Miyamoto also doesn't seem to have noticed that the second-act-opening "Please Hello" is less effective than it should be because the delivery's garbled.”
“…The real defect in the often visually imposing, often emotionally disappointing Pacific Overtures is the John Weidman libretto with "additional material" by Hugh Wheeler… with its book scenes that cover much ground but don't have much more scope than a college survey course.”
“…Pacific Overtures too often feels like a trip to a contemporary History of Humankind Museum room rather than a jaunt to a musical theater house.”
BROADWAY.COM - Eric Grode
“Amon Miyamoto… made a splash in 2002 with a Japanese-language rethinking of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Pacific Overtures at Lincoln Center… a lot of what seemed inscrutable and intriguing at an international arts festival is exasperating on a Broadway stage, an ungainly mix of earnest stage tricks and pandering slapstick.”
“B.D. Wong, whose performance in M. Butterfly remains a benchmark on the complicated emotional dynamics of East-West cross-culturalism, is grievously miscast in the role: Fatuous, glib and relentlessly adorable, his Reciter offers very little insight into the exotic goings-on beyond an arched eyebrow… the singing quality is quite strong overall.. but most surprising of all is Ing, who once again plays the Shogun's Mother in "Chrysanthemum Tea"--and sounds better than he did 28 years ago.”
TALKINÂ’ BROADWAY - Matthew Murray
“At last it can be told: The official color of Japan is beige. This stunning revelation comes to us direct from the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Pacific Overtures at Studio 54, where beige isn't just the dominant color, it's the driving philosophy. “
“…Though the cast members perform in English, they may as well speak and sing in Japanese for the connection they make with the audience; everyone… has been directed to act, sing, and dance with the kind of fervor that makes Japanese history lectures seem rousing.”
“…And though Ing charmingly performs his portion of that most quintessential of all Sondheim songs, "Someone in a Tree," Miyamoto's staging makes it more about the treaty house (apparently cast off from a community theatre mounting of Peter Pan) than the unknowability of history and how the effects of such uncertainty ripple down through the ages.
“It should be the defining moment in a show about changing perspectives and attitudes on global and personal scales. But "Someone in a Tree" is here only one in a series of reserved scenes and songs, meditations on meaning and emotion rather than representations of them, however abstract. Only in "Next," when Miyamoto stages the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America's devastating retribution, does the production take a firm stand on anything.
“That the moment is almost sardonically heavy-handed is beside the point; at least something finally breaks through the barrier of serene tranquility that otherwise always separates the show from its audience. Only in that moment are any musical and dramatic possibilities of this Pacific Overtures realized, allowing the show - to paraphrase the Reciter in the opening number - to float. The rest of the time, it drowns in its own beige pretensions.”
La Cage Aux Folles
2004 Revival
Featuring Daniel Davis and Gary Beach
No Cast Recording – Original Broadway Cast available
Some Reviews:
THEATERMANIA – David Finkle
“Gary Beach… in the juicy Albin/Zaza part is disappointing. This is Gary Beach as Nathan Lane as Albin; the reminiscent acting style is hard to miss. Maybe Beach's many performances with Lane in The Producers are the cause of this odd development.
“As a result, Daniel Davis's suave Georges inherits the larger spotlight, especially when full-throatedly delivering "Song on the Sand." Gavin Creel is okay as Jean-Michel, though it's unclear why he has a ponytail when he's so concerned about passing muster with Anne's hyper-critical dad. The rest of the cast members, including the hard-working Cagelles, hold up their end of the bargain. But even if La Cage aux Folles was always pretty much an enterprise geared to appeal to the tired businessman and -woman, that doesn't mean that such patrons should be served a tired show. In this production, yesteryear's mascara is running.”
BROADWAY.COM – Ken Mandelbaum
“Even at its 1983 premiere, La Cage aux Folles was a resolutely old-fashioned musical. Harvey Fierstein's book and Arthur Laurents' staging were very much in the traditional mode. And Jerry Herman's score successfully brought back the sort of take-home tunes that many had thought to be out of style… As it turns out, the new Cage feels closer in spirit to the farcical film versions of the property than to the more emotional Broadway musical original… while the laughs are in place, it's harder to fall in love with Georges and Albin.
“Recycling a bit of his previous transvestite role, The Producers' Roger De Bris, while also channeling a good deal of Nathan Lane's comic delivery, Gary Beach evinces all of the necessary flamboyance and vulnerability for Albin… In the heretofore less flashy role of Georges, Daniel Davis is fully Beach's equal… he displays fine comic timing, and does well by "Look Over There" and "Song on the Sand." Both men possess more than serviceable singing voices.”
“La Cage is likely to remain what it always was, a surefire crowd-pleaser. But this new production has a hard time locating the heart of the piece, and fails to scale the heights of the original.”
TALKIN’ BROADWAY – Matthew Murray
“Nothing dulls faster than a knife that wasn't that sharp to begin with. It should come as no surprise, then, that the revival of La Cage aux Folles that just opened at the Marquis not only doesn't cut deeply, it doesn't even break the skin.
“…when Jean-Michel's fiancée and her parents come to visit, Albin is shoved into the background and everyone else the closet to promote the kind of normal existence that Jean-Michel has never lived. This all paves the way for the production's most telling number, a stinging rebuke to the cold-heartedness pervading their once-tight family unit. The song demonstrates Herman at his melodic, incisive best, and is undoubtedly of the chilling, wake-up-and-take-notice variety that any show stepping even one foot in controversy can't do without. Its title? "Look Over There." Yes, that's the firm musical reprimand from Georges to Jean-Michel in the second act, pleading him to accept love in whatever form it takes, and not "I Am What I Am," the titanic first act finale in which Albin, in the middle of a performance, storms off the stage after being unceremoniously expelled from Jean-Michel's life. It's not just that 20 years of cultural progress has rendered this anthemic composition toothless; while "Look Over There" resonates more strongly today, "I Am What I Am" still packs a considerable dramatic punch.
“But its overall impact is diminished by Beach's forced, unfocused performance… His entire conception of the character is off, from his establishing number "A Little More Mascara" on - Albin is supposed to find self-esteem in his make-up, but Beach begins the number (and the show) strong and has nowhere to go but down.
“Davis is engaging and charming from his first moments onstage, emceeing the club with wry comments to the audience and a sly smile suggesting a man at peace with himself and his life. Wielding a surprisingly strong singing voice and his proven acting ability, he nails scenes and sails through the romantic "Song on the Sand" or the reproving "Look Over There" with the kind of facility you'd expect from a musical comedy veteran like, oh, Gary Beach. “
Seventeen other Musicals currently running:
Brooklyn
Original 2004 Broadway Production
Featuring Cleavant Derricks & Eden Espinoza
Cast Recording Available
Dracula
Original 2004 Broadway Production – Due to close Jan 2005
Featuring Tom Hewitt & Melissa Errico
No Cast Recording – Nor is there likely to be one!
Bombay Dreams
2004 Broadway version of London Production – Due to close in Jan 2005
No Broadway Cast Recording – Original London Cast available
Fiddler on the Roof
2004 Revival
Featuring Alfred Molina, soon to be replaced by Harvey Fierstein!
Cast Recording available
Wonderful Town
2003 Revival
Currently featuring Brooke Shields
2004 Tony Award – Choreography
Cast Recordings available: Original revival cast with Donna Murphy
Replacement Cast Recording with Brooke Shields released soon.
Wicked
Original 2003 Broadway Production
Featuring Idina Menzel
2004 Tony Awards – Actress (Idina Menzel); Scenic Design & Costume Design
Cast Recording available
Avenue Q
Transferred from Off-Broadway in 2003
Featuring John Tartaglia and Stephanie DÂ’Abruzzo
2004 Tony Awards – Musical; Original Score & Book of a Musical
Cast Recording Available
MovinÂ’ Out
Original 2002 Broadway Production
2003 Tony Awards – Choreography & Orchestrations
Cast Recording available
Hairspray
Original 2002 Broadway Production
2003 Tony Awards – Musical; Original Score; Book of a Musical; Actor (Harvey Fierstein); Actress (Marissa Janet Winokur); Featured Actor (Dick Latessa); Direction & Costume Design
Cast Recording available
Mamma Mia!
2001 Broadway version of London Production
Currently featuring Carolee Carmello
No Cast Recording – Original London Cast available
42nd Street
2001 Revival – Due to close in Jan 2005
Currently featuring Patrick Cassidy
2001 Tony Awards – Revival of a Musical; Actress (Christine Ebersole)
Cast Recording available
The Producers
Original 2001 Broadway Production
Currently featuring Hunter Foster
2001 Tony Awards – Musical; Original Score; Book of a Musical; Actor (Nathan Lane); Featured Actor (Gary Beach); Featured Actress (Cady Huffman); Direction; Orchestrations; Scenic Design; Costume Design; Lighting Design & Choreography
Cast Recording available
The Lion King
Original 1997 Broadway Production
1998 Tony Awards – Musical; Direction; Scenic Design; Costume Design; Lighting Design; Choreography
Cast Recording available
Chicago
1996 Revival
Currently featuring Wayne Brady
1997 Tony Awards – Revival of a Musical; Actor (James Naughton); Actress (Bebe Neuwirth); Direction; Lighting Design & Choreography
Cast Recording available
Rent
Transferred from Off-Broadway in 1996
Currently featuring Drew Lachey
1996 Tony Awards – Musical; Original Score; Book of a Musical & Featured Actor (Wilson Jermaine Heredia)
Cast Recording available
Beauty and the Beast
Original 1994 Broadway Production
1994 Tony Award – Costume Design
Cast Recording available
The Phantom of the Opera
1988 Broadway version of London Production
1988 Tony Awards – Musical; Actor (Michael Crawford); Featured Actress (Judy Kuhn); Direction; Scenic Design; Costume Design & Lighting Design
No Cast Recording – Original London Cast available
One New Broadway Cast Recording released this month
Brooklyn – Razor & Tie B0006LOLMK
Attendance figures for last four weeks
Top Three Shows by Attendance
Wicked – 57888
The Lion King – 57776
The Producers – 49182
Top Three Shows by Capacity
Mamma Mia! – 101.6%
The Lion King – 100.2%
Wicked – 100%
Bottom Three Shows by Attendance
Dracula – 17945
Brooklyn – 22582
Avenue Q – 25428
Bottom Three Shows by Capacity
Dracula – 54.5%
Bombay Dreams – 57.7%
Brooklyn – 67.6%
Currently in Previews
Little Women - New Musical
Good Vibrations - New Beach Boys Catalogue Musical
Coming Soon
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - New Musical
Monty PythonÂ’s Spamalot - New Musical
All Shook Up - New Elvis Catalogue Musical
The Wiz - Revival
The Light in the Piazza - New Musical
Sweet Charity - Revival
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Broadway version of London Production