Sometimes, life's stories can be more extraordinary
than any fairytale. Big Fish gives account
of the tall-taled days of Edward Bloom (Norbert Leo Butz), a man whose life
seems to come out of a story book. Although Will's(Zachary Unger as the child,
and Bobby Steggert as the adult) mother Sandra (Kate Baldwin) and wife
Josephine (Krystal Joy Brown) indulge in the truth of Edward's fanciful tales,
Will refuses to believe until he can uncover for himself what is real and what
is fantasy. What results is the manifestation of all of Edward's best memories
woven into present day to show us that in fact, "The ones who face their
fears lead the most interesting lives."
Butz
is the true definition of a Leading Man. His presence is commanding, and with a
velvety voice and ease in dance, you don't want to take your eyes off of him.
Even more impressive was his ability to seamlessly transform his age from an
elderly man, to a teenager, to an adult, and back again within a matter of moments;
I'm not even sure how old Butz really is he transitioned so well. The same goes
for Baldwin. We get to watch Sandra gracefully change from girl to woman, all
while being lucky enough to hear her beautiful voice ring out. Bobby Steggert(Older Will) stands his ground with the
heart wrenching performance of a son struggling to believe in the man he has looked
up to his entire life.
From
the very moment the lights came up, the stage is flooded in rich beautiful
color; Julian Crouch's scenic design transforms from a dark forest to a warm,
modest household to bright USO show. William Ivey Long's costume designs could
be considered their own characters with dresses becoming swaying trees and
crackling campfires, men turning into giants, and women into mermaids.From Ashton, Alabama to Central Park, to the Calloway
Circus, each new world is more fantastic than the last. Use of projections made
the impossible a reality, and technical aspects including a stage full of
daffodils and dancing elephants made it a spectacular. Andrew Lippa's bright
score and Susan Stroman' s exciting choreography are reminiscent of the classic
Golden Age of Broadway with big production numbers ("Be the Hero") to
tear-jerking ballads ("I Don't Need a Roof"). Together, everything
blends to make a fresh, modern take on the classic Musical Theatre
structure.
Many
will notice that although the story is still from Daniel Wallace's novel, it is
not the same as the Big Fish we know
from Tim Burton's film. On screen, the life of Edward Bloom was much darker and
oftentimes more like a fable, whereas onstage it's closer to a fairytale. In my
opinion this was a smart move by John August, who penned both the screenplay
and the musical's book. The bright version of Big Fish for stage is energetic and engaging, which is needed for a
piece of musical theatre to be successful. Many shows that come to Broadway now
are inspired by films, so oftentimes it can be difficult to stick out and be
memorable. Where Big Fish gets it
right is its ability to stand as its own piece of theatre, you don't need to be
a fan of the movie to fall in love with the piece on stage.
Big
Fish opened October 6 and is now playing at The Neil Simon
Theatre. Review By: Kelcie Kosberg
The 1900s come alive in Snow
Geese, the world premier drama by Sharr White directed by Daniel Sullivan
and starring Emmy and Tony award winner Mary Louise Parker.
Recently widowed, Emily Gaesling(Mary Louise Parker), had
decided to throw her annual hunting party to honor her eldest son, Duncan(Evan
Jonigkeit), on his deployment overseas and her late husband’s memory, despite
the fact that his spendthrift ways have left the family buried in debt. She is
determined to believe that they are just as well off as they always were,
refusing to listen to her younger, more level headed son, Arnold(Brian Cross).
Mary Louise Parker is no stranger to the theatre and has
been seen in such shows as Proof, How I Learned to Drive, Angels in America,
and of course her award winning television show “Weeds”. Usually dynamic and
volatile onstage, I found her performance to be somewhat stilted due to the
mannerisms she had adopted for the role. The effect made her less personable
and relatable to the audience eliminating any sympathetic feelings for her
character.
Brian Cross made his confident Broadway debut as the younger
Gaesling brother. His chemistry with his older brother made them a strong
familial duo with Evan Jonigkeit proving to be a great example of a leading
actor of our generation.
While Cross’s love story with the maid, Victorya(Jessica Love) a Central
European refugee from a once prominent family, created empathy.
Worth mentioning, is Victoria Clark’s performance as the discreetly
intervening sister, Clarissa, and her immigrant husband Max(Danny Burnstein),
who despite being an American citizen for thirty years has been ostracized due
to growing German hostility stemmed from the war. Heartwarming, engaging, and
truly stunning are just a few words that come to mind to describe Clark and Burnstrein. Their
story is heartbreaking and poignant.
Jonigkeit’s exuberance over “fixing” the problems overseas
are sharply contrasted with Cross’s accounts of the rising casualties and
Victorya’s personal accounts of hardship bringing to mind the harsh realities
of war. The audience can’t help but draw a parallel between World War I and the
modern day conflicts in the Middle East creating a drama worth talking about
long after the curtain goes down.
The set designed by Tony award winner John Lee Beatty, was
simply stunning. The set would rotate to create different dimensions throughout
the play. I felt completely immersed into their world. Japhy Weideman, the lighting designer, made
the set come alive and set the mood perfectly.
Snow
Geese is playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre and
is only running through December 15th, so get your tickets now. Photos by: Joan Marcus Review By: James Russo & Sarah Brown
When
I walk out of a theatre, I enjoy listening to the conversations from the
audience. A good play is one that inspires, evokes emotion, and compels - “A
Time to Kill,” missed the mark.
Written by Rupert Holmes and
directed by Ethan McSweeney, the play is the stage adaptation of John Grisham’s
famous courtroom drama, that takes place in a deep southern county in
Mississippi during the early 1980’s. Racing
through rape, murder, the KKK’s destructive rituals, and courtroom politics, I
was curiously disappointed by a lack of urgency in the play. McSweeney had all
the resources to create a show that compelled and shocked an audience with the
truth of the South’s no so distant history, and instead other than a persistent
use of the “n” word, there was nothing provocative about the performance and
nothing to show the audience that civil rights had been “granted” just ten years
before and some areas were still chafing from the fact that they could no
longer legally treat other humans as inferior.
Truthful performances given by
Sebastian Arcelus(Jake Brigance), Tom
Skerritt(Lucien Wilbanks), and
Patrick Page(Rufus Buckley) make it
worth seeing. Disappointed that John Douglas Thompson(Carl Lee Hailey) only seemed to have two volumes and no chemistry
with onstage wife, Tonya Pinkins(Gwen
Hailey), while supposedly, peppy, whip-smart, Bostonian law student, Ashley
Williams(Ellen Roark) had no Boston
accent, and seemingly only one stage cue – to half-heartedly seduce Jake
Brigance.
The three women lacked any of the
Southern traditional female qualities that help create empathy, while the women
who were instrumental in Grisham’s novel, Jake’s wife and daughter, and Carl
Lee’s daughter, were demoted to a telephone call and projection. A mistake, as
they would have brought depth to their male counterparts. How could an audience
react to seeing a broken, ten year old girl onstage? I can guarantee it would
bring the urgency that was lacking but essential to creating empathy for Carl
Lee.
A revolving stage and gorgeous
projections make scene changes pass smoothly, while also giving background to
the area, the plot, and the dramatic moments. For such a horrible, awful
subject, there were no tears and far too much laughter from the audience
provided by unnecessary one liners in the script. To me, that defeats the
purpose of performing a culturally traumatic drama such as this. A Time to Kill fell short.
A Time To Kill opened October 20th , 2013 at Broadway's Golden Theatre.
A Night with Janis
Joplin is a musical journey celebrating one of the most influential female
rock in roll artists of all time – Janis Joplin. Her biggest musical influences
– trailblazers Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Odetta, Nina Simone and Bessie
Smith, make guest appearances to further explore what it means to be a female
icon in a then male dominated world.
Like a comet that burns far too brightly to last, Janis
Joplin (Mary Bridget Davies) exploded onto the music scene in 1967 and, almost
overnight, became the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The unmistakable voice filled
with raw emotion and tinged with Southern Comfort made her a must-see headliner
from Monterey to Woodstock. It would take a woman filled with the same gumption
to pull off such a performance and while Mary Bridget Davies can sing and act
like Janis, her stage presence was lacking.
Mary Bridget Davies is reprising her role as Janis Joplin on
Broadway, having previously taken the country by storm with her critically
acclaimed performance.
It seems a shame that a woman with a voice like Mary’s, was
what looked like banned to the corner of the stage to tell her story. Out of all the hits, I found the song
selection disappointing. Redeemable moments were Mary’s performance “Another
Little Piece of My Heart,” and her duet with Aretha Franklin that closed Act I.
Despite the promising cast and Mary’s voice, this stage adaptation doesn’t
compare to a concert given by the Queen herself, but it’s a close second!
The choreography done by Patricia Wilcox(Motown) lacks
the creative flare that it could have been, but the set and lighting design
done by Justin Townsend (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) more than makes
up for it. Townsend's designs put the audience in a glorified warehouse while
the lighting sets the mood for a rock concert worth attending.
A Night with Janis Joplin opened October 10, 2013 at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre.
If you are a true Janis Joplin fan,
then this show is definitely worth seeing.
Tennessee Williams’s ‘The Glass
Menagerie’ returns to Broadway under the direction of John Tiffany. Amanda Wingfield (two-time Tony® Award winner Cherry Jones)
is a Southern belle past her prime, living with two grown children in a small
apartment in St. Louis. Amanda dreams of a better life for her shy and crippled
daughter Laura (two-time Tony Award nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger), so she pushes
her son Tom (Zachary Quinto, Angels in
America), to find a “gentleman caller” for the girl. However, the arrival
of the gentleman caller (Brian J. Smith,
The Columnist) sends shockwaves through the family and causes cracks to
form in the delicate fantasies that have kept them going.
This brave
new interpretation of this Tennessee William's classic is being portrayed by a
truly, beautiful, thoughtful and inspiring cast. Cherry Jones(Amanda) plays the very protective,
stubborn mother. Both overbearing and warm, Jones’ talent is indescribable and
a must-see. Celia Keenan-Bolger(Laura)
is the crippled daughter tackling the burden of being a completely able bodied
actress playing a physically challenged role. If I hadn’t known she wasn’t
disabled, I would never have known so great is her immersion into the
role. She was full of grace and
confidence which really made her shine through. Zachary Quinto(Tom) is making his Broadway debut and
delivers the performance of a lifetime, leaving the audience speechless.
Lastly, Brian J. Smith(Gentleman Caller)
is all the things a good romancer is supposed to be, charming, alluring, and
charismatic.
The technical aspects of this show
only enhance the performances. Bob Crowley
designs both the set and the costumes. The set is three platforms, displaying a
minimalistic apartment surrounded by a dark abyss, perfect to keep the audience
engaged in the action on stage, without being distracted by pointless
decoration. Natasha Katz has once again delivers a beautiful elegant mood
that’s perfect for this show.
The Glass Menagerie
opened
September 26, 2013 at Broadway's Booth Theater (45th Street) and runs a
strictly limited run through Jan 05, 2014, so get your tickets soon!