Theater Roundup: Comics Unleashed

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Sunday, 17 April 2011 05:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Written by Rajiv Joseph; directed by Moises Kaufman
Starring Robin Williams, Arian Moayed, Glenn Davis, Brad Fleischer

The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Written by Stephen Adly Giurgis; directed by Anna D. Shapiro
Starring Bobby Cannavale, Chris Rock, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Annabella Sciorra, Yul Vazquez

Marie and Bruce
Written by Wallace Shawn; directed by Scott Elliott
Starring Tina Benko, Marisa Tomei, Frank Whaley

Although Robin Williams, Chris Rock and Marisa Tomei are all award-winning comic performers, only one of them is a stage veteran. Anyone who’s seen her in Top Girls, Oh the Humanity, Salome or other plays knows that Tomei has become a nuanced, mature actress. So it’s interesting that both Williams and Rock have taken on roles in difficult-to-sell plays by Rajiv Joseph and Stephen Adly Giurgis for their Broadway debuts, while Tomei once again shows off her abundant comic chops in a revival of a 30-year-old Wallace Shawn play.

When Robin Williams first appears in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, he stalks around inside a cage; with his grizzled, gray beard and husky frame, he actually resembles a bear more than he does a tiger, but let that pass. In Rajiv Joseph’s provocative but unsatisfying drama inspired by a news item about a tiger biting off a soldier’s hand, Williams plays the title tiger, whose ghost walks among the U.S. soldiers and Iraqis thrown together by the war, asking unanswerable questions about God and human nature.

Joseph has filled his play with too many over-explained passages that rub shoulders with equally (and inexplicably) unexplained passages, along with an abnormal interest in graphic ravaging of the body, as also in his aptly named Gruesome Playground Injuries. But Joseph does have his finger on the 21st century intersection of the personal, the political and the mystical; it’s too bad that his brighter ideas are less than felicitously worked out.

Moises Kaufman’s shrewd staging on Derek McLane’s gorgeously detailed set—complemented by David Lander’s crafty lighting—gives Tiger more seeming substance than it has. The play is also helped by Williams’ surprisingly straightforward, agreeably cantankerous interpretation of the title role and excellent acting in support from Arian Moayed as Iraqi interpreter Musa, Glenn Davis and Brad Fleischer as American soldiers and Hrach Titizan as the frightful ghost of Saddam’s son Uday.
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With a title like The Motherf**ker with the Hat, you’d expect Stephen Adly Giurgis’ play to be completely crude, rude and lewd…well, it’s all that and more. This cracklingly comic examination of current and former addicts—especially lovers Veronica and Jackie, his sponsor Ralph and Ralph’s wife Victoria—struggling with their addictions comes off as a cousin of Martin McDonough’s A Behanding in Spokane from last season: its tremendously coruscant dialogue, which takes flight when spoken by its sharply caustic cast, gives the illusion of it being more penetrating than it is.

For 95 fast-moving minutes, Giurgis unleashes a unbroken, profane stream of words out of the mouths of his characters; thanks to Anna D. Shapiro’s concise direction, which makes great use of Todd Rosenthal’s amazingly flexible sets. Then there’s the terrific cast, which gives glorious voice to Giurgis’ endlessly vulgar dialogue.

Yul Vasquez’s Julio (Jackie’s cousin) finds unexpected laughs every moment he‘s onstage; Elizabeth Rodriguez’s Veronica is a coke-snorting spitfire of epic proportions; Annabella Sciorra’s finely-etched Victoria is the closest anyone comes to levelheadedness; and Chris Rock’s sincerely insincere Ralph, a laconic extension of his stand-up persona. Best of all is Bobby Cannavale as Jackie, a parolee with a jealous streak that sets what little of the play’s plot in motion, and who makes Giurgis’ foul-mouthed tirades soar in a physically draining but  exhilarating performance.
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Wallace Shawn’s Marie and Bruce, which purports to be an acidic, absurdist look at a woman leaving her dead marriage, doesn’t play fair from the start: Marie is competent, smart, and charming while Bruce comes off as a jerk with a fatal flaw: annoying friends. Encouraging us to take Marie’s side from the start makes the play so lopsided that it’s drained of any drama, humor, heartbreak or credibility.

Director Scott Elliott keeps things interesting through his clever staging, but that only works to a point. Frank Whaley has no chance to create a coherent character of Bruce because the playwright has mercilessly caricatured him. Conversely, Marisa Tomei uses all of her considerable appeal to keep the audience watching, but even this resourceful actress can’t get a handle on a woman marked almost exclusively by her bilious outbursts. Her interchangeable monologues tell us virtually nothing about her marital dilemma, leaving the audience in the same prone state that Marie is seen in during the interminable dinner part scene—slumped down, eyes closed, oblivious to what’s going on.

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Richard Rodgers Theatre
226 West 46th Street, New York City
www.bengaltigeronbroadway.com
Performances through July 3, 2011

The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Schoenfeld Theatre
236 West 45th Street, New York City
www.themfwiththehat.com                                                                                     Performances through June 25, 2011

Marie and Bruce
The New Group/Acorn Theatre
410 West 42nd Street, New York City
www.thenewgroup.org                                                                                           Performances through May 7, 2011

Opera Review: Capriccio at the Metropolitan Opera

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Saturday, 16 April 2011 06:00

Written by Jack Angstreich

On the evening of Thursday, April 7th, 2011, I attended a performance of the Metropolitan Opera's production of Richard Strauss's profound "conversation-piece", Capriccio. This production, directed by John Cox, here receives its first revival since its 1998 premiere. The purpose of the opera's original 18th-century setting is meaninglessly undermined here by placing the action in the 1920s; nor is there any especial merit in the mise-en-scene. However, the outstanding Metropolitan Opera Orchestra sounded superb under the direction of Andrew Davis.

The singers were, as a whole, at the very least, adequate, although this was not as strong a showing of vocal talent as in last year's glorious production of Strauss's more substantial Ariadne auf Naxos, due to be revived again this season in coming weeks. Among the highlights of this performance were Sarah Connolly, who had several vocally impressive moments as the actress Clairon, even if she seemed unsuited to projecting the physical appeal of the role as written. (Connolly, however, was absolutely stunning in her solo recital at Alice Tully Hall, the following week.)

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Theater review: Musicals, Old and New

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 11 April 2011 05:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Anything Goes
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Choreographed and directed by Kathleen Marshall
Starring Sutton Foster, Joel Grey, John McMartin, Jessica Walter, Colin Donnell, Laura Osnes

Catch Me If You Can
Original book by Terrence McNally
Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
Directed by Jack O’Brien
Choreography by Jerry Mitchell
Starring Norbert Leo Butz, Aaron Tveit, Tom Wopat, Kerry Butler, Rachel De Benedet

Company
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Lonny Price
The New York Philharmonic conducted by Paul Gemignani
Starring Craig Bierko, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Katie Finneran, Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Lazar, Patti Lupone, Jill Paice, Martha Plimpton, Anika Noni Rose, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jim Walton, Chryssie Whitehead

Spring means that musicals are blooming on Broadway and even at Lincoln Center, thanks to the New York Philharmonic's starry Company. While its unfair to compare the elegance of Stephen Sondheim's Company songs or the timeless Cole Porter tunes of the Anything Goes revival to the Catch Me If You Can pastiches concocted by Marc Shaiman, the genuine talent onstage and behind the scenes makes Catch as winning as the indisputable Sondheim and Porter classics.

As Reno Sweeney, the irrepressible man-eater of Anything Goes, Sutton Foster gives the kind of electrifying performance that fans of this hugely talented singer-actress knew she had up her sleeve as they watch her effortlessly dominate Kathleen Marshall's irresistible revival.

Set on a cruise ship populated by gangsters, preachers, rich widows and widowers, young lovers and Reno, the brassy entertainer, Anything Goes is saddled with lame plotting, silly dialogue and banal characterizations that were surely old-hat in 1934, but that's not really the point. Whenever a glorious Cole Porter song begins, we're in heaven. From "I Get a Kick Out of You" to "You’re the Top," "It's De-Lovely," "Anything Goes" and "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," the Porter jukebox blasts one classic after another, putting other so-called "jukebox musicals" to shame.

Nimbly staged and sparklingly choreographed by Marshall on Derek McLane's spiffy shipboard set, with Martin Pakledinaz's snazzy costumes and Peter Kaczorowski's magisterial lighting along for the ride, this revival effervescently kicks up its heels. The de-lovely cast features zany Joel Grey as crook Moonface Martin, sly John McMartin as eternally tipsy millionaire Eli Whitney, suave Colin Donnell as stowaway Billy Crocker and incandescent Laura Osnes as lovestruck ingénue Hope Harcourt.

But this is Sutton's show all the way: her infectious personality, angelic good looks, lithe athleticism, powerhouse voice and dance moves add up to Broadway's best musical performer.
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The bubbly Catch Me If You Can isn't musically memorable, although Marc Shaiman's score is serviceable. Instead, it's the pizzazz of Jack O’Brien's staging that gives this adaptation of Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film about Frank Abagnale, Jr., world-class con artist who tormented FBI agent Carl Hanratty for years before his capture, a shiny veneer.

The musical shrewdly has Frank present his story as a TV variety show, complete with dancing girls, production numbers and "guest stars" like his parents, agent Hanratty and women he seduces. With vets like director O'Brien, book writer Terrence McNally, lyricist Scott Whitman, choreographer Jerry Mitchell and composer Shaiman aboard, this diverting show also stars a game cast which turns Shaiman's ersatz cocktail jazz, fake blues and '60s doo-wop tunes into real showstoppers, led by Kerry Butler singing the American Idol-ish fantasy "Fly, Fly Away."

Aaron Tveit (Frank Abagnale) and Norbert Leo Butz (Carl Hanratty) work their tveit butz off: Tveit is a charming and likable guide to the proceedings, while the incomparable Butz balances absurd comic touches with song-and-dance skill, and whose rousing first-act number, "Don’t Break the Rules," stops the show so thoroughly that there's almost no sense continuing.
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Sondheim musicals are no strangers to either New York Philharmonic musicians or conductor Paul Gemignani, who tackle Company with a lushness rarely (if ever) heard on Broadway.

This staged concert version of Company, slickly directed by Lonny Price (who cleverly moves  his cast around the stage to simulate a much larger playing area), stars established musical performers and assorted television actors, led by Neil Patrick Harris as eternal bachelor Bobby, whose comic timing serves him well, even if he can’t quite handle the big emotions needed for the finale "Being Alive," which Raúl Esparza easily pulled off in the 2006 Broadway revival.

Martha Plimpton and Stephen Colbert have the best (and most amusing) chemistry among the five couples badgering their friend Bobby to settle down, while Mad Men's Christina Hendricks shows off a fantastic figure and nice talent for light comedy as April, a stewardess who beds (but not weds) Bobby. Among the many Broadway vets, Anika Noni Rose splendidly nails "Another Hundred People," Katie Finneran overdoes the murderous patter song "Not Getting Married Today," and Patti Lupone takes flight with the classic "The Ladies Who Lunch," punctuating her venomous rendition by flinging her drink into the first few rows. It's enough to make one forget all about Elaine Stritch. Well, almost.

Anything Goes
Stephen Sondheim Theatre
123 W. 43rd Street
New York, NY
www.roundabouttheatre.org
Opened March 10, 2011; open run

Catch Me If You Can
Neil Simon Theatre
250 W. 52nd Street
New York, NY
www.catchmethemusical.com
Opened March 11, 2011; open run

Company
Avery Fisher Hall
W. 65th Street and Broadway
New York, NY
www.nyphil.org
Opened April 7; closed April 9, 2011