Here I give an overview of a trilogy of “the” plays that opened on Broadway over the past month: “The Great Society”, “The Height of the Storm” at Manhattan Theatre Club, and “The Rose Tattoo” at the Roundabout Theatre Company.
All tagged David Garrison
REVIEW: City Center Encores! Off-Center presents “Working”
the annual Encores! Off-Center summer season kicks off with a newly re-conceptualized, site-specific production of Stephen Schwartz’s 1978 flop “Working” that interpolates a series of new monologues based on interviews with facilities staff at New York City Center; an admirable concept that makes for a touching tribute to these workers, the effect blunts the power of the show and cuts short its escalating emotional resonance. A suite of uneven performances and an oversized venue also hamper the effort.
REVIEW: “The Will Rogers Follies” at The Goodspeed Opera House
The Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut presents a first rate production of “The Will Rogers Follies” starring a perfectly-cast David Lutken; marvelously staged, choreographed, and designed, this high-energy 1991 bio-musical—performed as a Ziegfeld Follies revue—was brilliantly crafted by Broadway greats Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Peter Stone, and feels every bit as lavish in the intimacy of this venue as any show does on Broadway.