All in Review
“THE AЯTS” at La MaMa is a stirring world-premiere collage-like piece of multimedia docu-drama recounting the contentious history and debate over public funding for the arts and humanities in the United States. Rousing, informative, and depressing, this is an important piece of argumentative, documentary theatre for these weary times.
The Pond Theatre Company, dedicated to world premieres of plays by Irish and British writers, presents “The Naturalists” anew play by Irish playwright Jaki McCarrick. Even though the pace and tone of the piece varies widely from act one to act two, you won’t find a better acted suite of scenes on any New York stage than the ones here. The Pond is a new theatre company worth keeping your eyes on.
“Show Time! The First 100 Years of the American Musical”, a one-man presentation of the history of the American Musical, has the feel of a slick TedTalk with the added benefit of songs. Serious musical theatre history buffs and those genuinely seeking a lively academic instruction on the roots and evolution of the art form should definitely not miss this show.
Gingold Theatrical Group presents a new adaptation of Shaw’s “Heartbreak House”. Despite an impressive roster of actors, and a slew of standout performances, a new framing device for the play results in a muddled tone and lack of setting central to communicating the play’s anti-war allegory.
The Public Theater and the Onassis Foundation USA present a six performance concert of “The Gospel at Colonus” in Central Park; this gospel-infused re-telling of Sophocles’ “Oedipus at Colonus” is set at a black Pentecostal service and delivered as a sermon. The concept is genius, the storytelling muddled, and the music a little labored. Nevertheless, it is an experience to be remembered.
In “Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin”, Mr. Felder, a pianist and actor, entertainingly performs a docudrama of legendary composer/lyricist Irving Berlin’s life through song and story. Informative and irresistible, the show does not rely on nostalgia for its success, and Mr. Felder gives a compelling and convincing performance.
National Yiddish Theatre Folksbeine’s “Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish” breathes fresh life into a treasured property from the golden age of musical comedy, forcing audiences to interact anew with what is now one of the most well-known and performed musicals of all time, and providing, in return, a host of vital performances and resonant insights. It is, in short, a revelation. See it, or regret it.
The Mint Theater Company resurrects Lillian Hellman’s long-forgotten 1936 play “Days to Come”, which ambitiously—and quite successfully—dramatizes long-simmering personal and social grievances exploding against a backdrop of labor strife in a small Ohio town. Exciting and refreshing, a play easily cast as a period piece is most surprising for how it is not.
Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia mounts a gorgeous, first-class production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1994 Tony-winning best musical, “Passion”, featuring striking and beautiful designs, lush instrumentation, a full-voiced ensemble, and notable performances by Natascia Diaz and Claybourne Elder. If you live in the D.C.-metro area, or will be passing through, be sure to check out this rarely seen chamber-sized musical melodrama.
“Pretty Woman: The Musical” features a painfully uninspired new score, a largely Xeroxed script, no romance, and a gaudy and cheap-looking production entirely devoid of emotion or entertainment. Turning this classic 1990 film into a stage musical was a big mistake. Huge.
“Gettin’ the Band Back Together” is a genuinely funny new guilty pleasure of a musical with a tried-and-true formulaic structure and a host of scrappy, likable characters; the score is unfortunately unremarkable, derivative, and forgettable, but the book, developed through improv rehearsals, is sitcom-light, irreverent, well-beat, and really silly. Others may pile on, but I must admit: I had fun.
“Be More Chill” is a new sci-fi, pop-rock, satirical allegory of a musical for tweens and early teens, and probably not anyone else. Based on a 2004 novel about a high school loser who swallows a pill-sized computer that makes him cool, the show is well-staged and performed, but remains an emotionally disengaging experience. Willed into production re-existence on the strength of its international, online teenage fanbase, expect to be hearing about it for some time to come.
