Reviews for Encores at NY City Center 2008
Applause
Encores! at NY City Center -
February 2008
Reviewed by John Kenrick
I have always been amazed at the
determined coterie of people who catch concert stagings at Encores
or elsewhere at the dress rehearsal or the very first night, only to fly
to their keyboards and religiously post negative reviews on the web.
Such creatures pre-date the internet. In Alan Jay Lerner's autobiography
The Street Where I Live, he tells of people who used to come to
the first out of town preview performance of a new show, pretending to
be supportive when all they really wanted to do was see your show at its
very worst, then head back to New York and tell everyone you had a flop
on your hands. Lerner referred to these individuals as the "dear
shits." Mind you, every theatergoer is entitled to state an
opinion, but formally reviewing a show at its dress rehearsal is just
plain sadistic -- no show deserves it. That is why I make a point of
catching Encores on Sundays, after the cast and crew have had a
chance to pull things together. A lot of people who saw the Encores
production of Applause at the start of its four day run were unhappy --
in part because beloved diva Christine Ebersole was performing through a
whopping case of the flu, but also because other production elements
were still coming together. Well, by the final night, Ebersole was in
much stronger voice and the production was quite smooth -- a genuine
pleasure to behold. Has Applause aged well? Frankly, some
parts of it are holding up better than others. The music by Charles
Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams were a contemporary attempt to capture
the spirit of 1970, and capture it they did. If that sound is not your
thing, you may well think it dated -- I found it as enjoyable to hear as
ever. Betty Comden and Adolph Green's libretto took their plot and less
than a dozen lines of dialogue from the film All About Eve,
reshaped and even replaced a few key characters, and poured in plenty of
their patented wise-cracking dialogue. If that kind of humor is not your
thing,
you may well think it dated -- it's what I call a well-built musical. The
wonderful Kathleen Marshall directed with a less than consistent hand
this time around, with some scenes far less well served than others. Her
decision to insert post-1970 shows in a parody sequence was designed to
please the Encores core audience, and many liked it -- I found it
an embarrassing anachronism, in part because I have come to expect
nothing but the best from Marshall and the Encores team. Scenic
consultant John Lee Beatty is a treasure, but it is time someone warned
him that staged concerts can be weighed down by too many set
elements. Rob Berman conducted with a flawless sense of
period sound -- what a joy to hear those Philip J. Lang orchestrations
in their full glory! Christine Ebersole is not exactly the sort of
star the role of Margo Channing was conceived for, but she pulled off
the challenge with tons of brio and a cartload of style. That she did so
despite the flu merely confirms that old-style theatrical
professionalism is not quite a thing of the past. However, I still
question the wisdom of reviving Applause without compelling
casting in the lead. There are many roles the divine Ebersole ought to
be seen doing -- forgive me, but this was not one of them. The supporting cast
was surprisingly uneven. The talented Erin Davie was merely alright as
the manipulative Eve Harrington, and handsome Michael Park set off no
sparks as Margo's lover-director Bill Sampson. Tom Hewitt is one of the
most talented leading men on Broadway today, but the minimal role
of Margo's producer gave him almost
no chance to prove it. On the plus side, Chip Zien and Kate Burton were
exactly right as the playwright and his faithful wife, and Mario Cantone
was sexy and hilarious as Margo's gay hairdresser. Megan Sikora did
a nifty job as Bonnie, the high-kicking dancer who leads her fellow
"gypsies" in the show's giddy title song. Last year
was one of the best ever for Encores, with three solid hit
productions of vintage revue material. That is a tough act to follow,
and Applause left audiences cheering despite all sorts of
challenges. Perfect? No -- but damned good
entertainment. It certainly made fools out of the grousing "dear shits" -- who ultimately prove nothing but their own
small mindedness.
Juno
Encores! at NY City Center - March 2008
Reviewed by John Kenrick Marc Blitzstein was a first-class ass.
Sure, he did some significant work, from creating the pretentious yawner
The Cradle Will Rock to his landmark adaptation of The Threepenny
Opera. But anyone who would compose a Broadway musical for a major star like Shirley Booth and not bother to give her a “star” moment rates as . . .well, as an ass.
And that's exactly what happened with Juno – a well-intentioned but ultimately unsatisfying musicalization of Sean O’Casey’s hard-hitting play Juno and the Paycock
that has inspired much print over the years, but has not been seen by New York audiences since its two week run in 1959. The folks at Encores remedied that in a well-intentioned but ultimately unsatisfying concert production starring the always impressive Victoria Clark. Just as with Shirley Booth four decades ago, Ms. Clark lavished considerable charm, talent and technique on the title role, but the material left this reviewer wondering why such a gifted actress would bother. Clark spent a great deal of time exuding strength while suffering life latest travails, but never got the moment of dramatic magic both she and her audience deserved.
The fault lies squarely with the material itself. Joseph Stein’s libretto moved the action of O’Casey’s play back a bit to the final days of the Irish revolution in 1921, but the central story of a family collapsing under a series of private and public tragedies makes for singularly depressing entertainment. Blitzstein sprinkled his score with echoes of Irish folk music and more than a few sweet songs, but he was a strange choice to compose a decidedly strange project.
This Encores staging might have profited from a director with some experience in handling musicals. As it was, Garry Hynes gave this production plenty of harsh, authentic atmosphere without ever creating the sense of flow this particular production desperately needed. (The stirring and all-important opening number “We’re Alive” was damn near a dramatic dud here.) Certain key roles were hopelessly miscast, most notably leading man John Shuck and his sidekick Dermot Crowley – both capable pros stuck in the wrong roles and seemingly flailing about without the assistance of a sensible directorial hand.
However, there were treasures to enjoy. Aside from the always compelling work of Ms. Clark, there was Celia Keenan-Bolger as the self-absorbed teenager dreaming of romance, and the golden-voiced Michael Arden as the suitor she foolishly spurns. Tyler Haynes played the son who lost an arm in the fight for Irish independence, and who now faces the consequences of ratting out his best friend to the British authorities – his nightmare ballet in the second act was easily the emotional and artistic highlight of the evening. Special kudos to choreographer Warren Carlyle for pulling together such a powerful number in so short a rehearsal time. The entire demanding score profited mightily from the always deft hand of music director Eric Stern.
Encores gave Juno a more than respectable effort. I’m not sure there is any cast that could make this uneven, ill-focused musical a winning experience. Top-notch Irish performers are not thick on the ground in musical theatre today. Someone like Milo O’Shea would have made far more sense in the male lead – but even the most “Darlin’ Man” imaginable could only do so much with so little. And with the composer dead for some 35 years, there is no way to provide the leading lady with the kind of second act heart-stopper this “almost” show fatally lacks.
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