Musical

Reasons Not To Be Afraid...

C. Jefferson Thom — Mon, 08 May 2023 00:38:40 +0000

Reasons Not To Be Afraid... C. Jefferson Thom May 7, 2023 - 20:38

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The cast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Photo: Tracy Martin

If you're watching a slasher movie and the guy in the hockey mask doesn't terrify you, or at least present an intimidating figure, then you're facing a different kind of danger. And so is the case with the title character in Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. If Sweeney doesn’t kill it with terror, then disinterest has a real chance to survive…

5^th Avenue's present production of Sweeney Todd has a murder on its hands and evidence would indicate the blame lies with casting for vocal merits at the sacrifice of acting chops. Vocally, there is little room for complaint. This cast is stacked with strong singers, filling an essential necessity for such a powerful and challenging score. The same cannot be said for the production's acting capabilities, a problem which starts right at the top with Yusef Seevers's Sweeney. Seevers seems to struggle with capturing Sweeney as a character. He has little to no presence, which is disastrous when you have lyrics stating "…Sweeney would blink and rats would scuttle." Those rats ain't scuttling this time around, instead Seevers drifts aimlessly from scene to scene, lacking any command of the moment, and often being upstaged by his counterparts.

Two of those upstaging counterparts are Anne Allgood (Mrs. Lovett) and Jesus Garcia (Pirelli). Allgood is a revelation, giving an interpretation of the murderous entrepreneur Lovett that would stand out on Broadway. Her character is crystal clear from her first appearance on stage and continues on, supported by a confidence that allows her to completely relax into her role. She is funny without pushing and conveys her inner thoughts naturally with a subtle ease. Allgood lives up to her last name, making it look easy, and her performance alone is worth the price of admission. Garcia offers a brief but memorable performance as Pirelli, providing comic relief while knowing exactly what to do with his short time on the stage.

With these and a few other exceptions, the acting struggle is systemic, which makes all evidence point to the core issue of direction. Jay Woods fails her actors from the lack of a coherent directorial vision down to basic staging. Actors wander about as if anxious to figure out where they belong and seem to have been left rudderless on a sea of character study. The lack of a steady, guiding hand is palpable and the bold choices that are made are somewhat baffling. A striking example of this is the choice to direct an entirely ham-handed sex scene during one of the musical’s most famous and beautiful moments as four separate songs overlap into one surmounting cacophony of overwhelming sound. The intercourse comes in prematurely, causing us to rubberneck our focus on the car crash to our left instead of the stunning sunset straight ahead. This choice does nothing to further the moment and is truly puzzling. The climax is meant for the audience in hearing this euphoric moment (something which, again, the cast does well to deliver) and is better left implied for Anthony and Johanna. This confusion of choice carries over into Danielle Nieve's costume design which is oddly all over the place. Elements of Steampunk clash with Sci-Fi mixed with more realistic period attire, lacking in cohesion and resulting in looks that could be described as a Judge Turpin out of Plan 9 from Outer Space while the Beadle's costume suggests that he may have flown in on a hot air balloon from Kansas. This is all very much at odds with Lex Marcos's very competent and considered scenic design. Intimidating, pointed pikes jut up from below as elegantly sharp arches hover from the proscenium above, both threatening to come together at any moment in a world-ending chomp, successfully creating a source of constant tension for the play to fearfully exist in. That such a poignant set design should be made to co-exist with such a confused look in costumes again speaks to Woods's overall difficulty with vision and direction.

Sweeney Todd is arguably one of the greatest achievements of one of musical theatre's greatest composers, so there is much to be said for taking the opportunity to hear Sondheim's songs sung so soundly. However, many of the profound and galvanizing themes embedded in its words are left largely unexplored in this production. 5^th Avenue shows great potential but falls short of being the genuinely worldclass playhouse I sincerely hope they one day become.

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3 from the Tribeca Film Festival

Brandon Judell — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 11:00:10 +0000

3 from the Tribeca Film Festival Brandon Judell June 18, 2021 - 07:00

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"Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world," Jean-Luc Godard once alleged. Ah, if so, here is a fraud that is a stairway to many a truth, at least that’s what’s this year's Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) persuasively demonstrates.

From an early handful of TFF offerings I’ve screened, there was not a bummer in the crop, just far-reaching offerings tackling various issues with an applaud-worthy savvy: DACA angst, love spurred on by Covid-19, sex trafficking, religious hypocrisy, alternative music posturing, Jewish childhoods in Brooklyn, musical takes on Black Lives Matter, aging while sitting next to a tree, arranged marriages, and a blind cat-sitter.

Clearly, the Fest's opening feature is the most highly publicized film of the year, In the Heights. The musical's creators and performers have been interviewed by everyone but SpongeBob. At this writing, worrisomely for some, the film has not been breaking box office records, plus creator Lin Manuel Miranda's been accused of Afro-Latinx erasure. Yet the production has inarguably broken Hollywood's self-imposed taboos on depicting the Hispanic experience in the States, not to mention upending the studios' reluctancy to allow Hispanics to be groomed for stardom. With its invigorating choreography, its candy-colored cinematography, its songs that become more addictive with repeated viewings, and its first-rate cast, the Washington Heights populace's cry for an equal chance to live the American Dream should become more palatable to those of all political persuasions.

Miranda calls this seeking a sueñito, which translates into a "little dream." There are many a folk depicted here with sueñitos, but for some reason, the character whose quest had me tearing up was Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV), the teen-aged cousin of lead character (Anthony Ramos). When Sonny realizes he might not be able to get into college because of his lack of citizenship papers, his pain is palpable. (Also catch an early-on shot of Sonny biting into a potato chip while working in a bodega, then returning the uneaten half back into the bag. He does so with unbridled style. A bravo! comic-snack moment.

Pulkit Arora’s first film, the 6-minute short, "Milk Toffee," is a simple tale that was shot in one day at the Navy Children School in India. Here a Goan schoolteacher/nun (the engaging Tanvika Parlikar) has caught several of her students stealing toffees, which at first they refuse to admit. That’s a no-no, especially when the following phrase is shouting from the classroom bulletin board: "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord." However, when one of the boys shows up with his furious dad, to save the boy from an obvious beating, the teacher lies and states that she, in fact, was the one who stole the toffee. The father hollers that he’ll see she’s fired. Left alone, with the stolen candies on her desk and the lesson-of the day on the blackboard ("God will guide your steps."), she steers her chair away from a huge sculpture of a blue-eyed Christ, unwraps a toffee, and contentedly chews away. Moral: lying lips are sometimes the best type of lips, and the most Christian.

As for Eric Oh, this acclaimed artist left his job animating for Pixar (Finding Dory, Inside Out) to create his own personal cinema. The result was "Opera," which earned an Oscar nomination this year for Best Animated Short. His latest is "Namoo" (Korean for tree), a delightfully dark take on life, rather reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's classic, The Giving Tree. A babe is born as is a sapling. As the boy ages, so does his tree, but instead of bristling with leaves, the branches are weighted down with the artifacts of the lad's life: his toys, a bicycle, a guitar, awards he has won, and drawings reflecting his dreams. Then come the at-times harsh realities of adulthood. A love won and lost. Office jobs replacing creative ambitions. And finally a traipse toward death, a finality that turns out to be quite rewarding for both tree and man. A second Oscar nom wouldn’t be out of the question here.

Other noteworthy Tribeca offerings: See for Me, the sensational Seven Days, and Poser.

(The 2021 Tribeca Film Film Festival runs until June 20th.)

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Musicals That Want More

C. Jefferson Thom — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 15:53:12 +0000

Musicals That Want More C. Jefferson Thom July 17, 2017 - 11:53

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Fun Home

5th Avenue Theare, Seattle

Through July 30th

When it comes to Broadway-caliber theatre productions, cities like Seattle get what New York is willing to give them. Very often this means local audiences only get a taste of the most mainstream, spectacular efforts the Great White Way has to offer, remaining unexposed to the more challenging and innovative works that do sometimes still happen there. As a result, theatre (particularly musical theatre) is relegated to its niche enclave of dedicated fans along with a wider audience of casual theatre goers who come knowing what to expect. While presenting an enjoyable way to pass a few evening hours this can also bear a disappointing stamp of mediocrity. Fun Home, currently playing at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, is a happy exception to this trend.

Like Next to Normal before it, Fun Home works to break the preconceived notions of what musical theatre is and can be. Following more in the tradition of Stephen Sondheim (as its closing notes seem to strongly wink at) instead of the far more trodden path of Andrew Lloyd Webber, this musical attempts to push its medium to greater deeps and a more meaningful exploration of the human condition. Armed with an imaginative creative team and stellar cast, this touring production is up to the challenge.

As Fun Home already swept the 2015 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book (Lisa Korn), Best Score (Jeanine Tesori & Lisa Kron), and Best Direction of a Musical (Sam Gold) it seems a bit late in the game to comment on these aspects of the production. Suffice it to say this present touring manifestation does work to validate those accolades. What differs from the original Broadway show and needs comment here is the cast, which masterfully maintains a level of quality worthy of the production's origin.

In this adventure of trying to make some sense out the role our parents have played in our lives, as well as the one we have played in theirs, there are a number of stand out performances, but Abby Corrigan in the role of Medium Alison is particularly memorable. Playing the middle portion of the main character divided between three stages of her life, Corrigan tackles this transitional, pivotal moment with a unique energy that is instantly captivating. She beams with the awkward excitement of early adulthood and communicates with a perfect economy of gestures and facial expressions which precisely cut their way to back of the house. Kate Shindle offers a calmer and more retrospective approach to the older Alison and Carly Gold gives a very sweet and endearing performance as Small Alison. Breaking from the role traditionally reserved for child characters, Gold shines with the more meaningful number "Ring of Keys" where the youngest of the Alisons first becomes aware of her attraction towards women in this song of confusion and budding self-awareness. On that note, Fun Home presents a welcomed portrayal of lesbian life which is oddly under-represented in a world of theatre that offers so many explorations into other gay experiences and issues. Yet another point in its favor.

Musicals have a tendency to explode into flashy numbers where adults essentially behave like children. Fun Home avoids that cliche while allowing for one such number that does let kids be kids as the three Bechdel children play at making their own commercial for the family funeral home. "Come to the Fun Home" is a definite high point and a welcomed, light-hearted relief from the more weighing subject matter.

On the heavier end of the spectrum, Robert Petkoff walks a fine line between sympathetic and despicable in the role of Bruce, Alison's troubled father. While much of the story revolves around Bruce's struggle between his two lives, our only insights into who he was are seen through what Alison remembers and as his resistance to revealing his true self to her is at the core of her struggle, we share her limitations. Nonetheless, Petkoff manages to provide a multitude of nuances for this many-sided, mystery character who took secrets with him that we will never fully know.

Production quality also carries the Broadway stamp. Ben Stanton's lighting design divides and connects space well where needed while offering a gentle and appropriate nod to the story's graphic novel origins. David Zinn's set design works in striking unison with the progression of the story, beginning with confusion and clutter which, after a brief separation, lifts to reveal a realized and complete picture. Just as Alison begins to see a clearer picture of her family life we're able to see it with her.

Fun Home only plays at The 5th Avenue Theatre through to July 30th, so opportunities to see this unconventional gem are limited. The Jersey Boys and Mama Mia tours will always be around somewhere, but shows like this one are becoming exceedingly rare. Catch it while it's still here. - C. Jefferson Thom

Jersey Girls

Jay Reisberg — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 03:10:38 +0000

Jersey Girls Jay Reisberg December 10, 2010 - 22:10

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The Bikinis

The Queens Theater in the Park Flushing

Meadow Corona Park, NY Through December 12, 2010 Yes, Manhattanites, there is a shiny, new and lovely 450 seat theater in Queens Park, housed in architect Philip Johnson's 1964 World’s Fair New York State Pavilion, where The Bikinis, a new musical beach party is taking the stage with a relentlessly power-packed show of girl songs (and boy’s as well) from the early sixties and beyond.

These Jersey "girls' are now not all too far from their early sixties, and have ventured from New Jersey to Florida to perform for the first time in twenty years at a benefit to save (or vote to lose for big bucks) their treasured summer homes at a Florida seaside trailer park. Oops! I mean Sandy Shores Mobile Home Seaside Resort, which is really -- well -- a trailer park. An energetic song fest ensues taking us from tunes by the Shirelles and on to the disco era. All the while the back story of the women's lives weaves in and out. Act one dwells on the stuff of youth, whereas the second act focuses on the trials of maturity, settled and unsettled marriages and failed relationships, etc.

Each of the players is a consummate and seasoned Broadway professional. Kathy Morath (Jodi) and Kristi Carnahan (Annie) portray sisters. Karyn Quackenbash (Karla) and Marva Hicks (Barbara) are the school friends who join to become "The Bikinis." These women deserve kudos galore for delivering thirty-five or so songs with a boundless energy which would be impressive in women half their ages. Upon curtain's close I imagine them rushing to take their places in individual hyperbolic chambers for deep oxygen infusion.

The songs of the first act are primarily of a type which is now lost in the mists of time: the ditty, which Messrs. Merriam and Webster define as "an especially simple and unaffected song." Examples are "It's in His Kiss, Where the Boys Are", and "Shop Around." The show's director Ray Roderick, and Joseph Baker, the music director/arranger co-wrote an original ditty, the obligatory, "In My Bikini," which is the one hit wonder that put our girls on the radar, if only for a blip. The second act songs commence with The Zombies' "Time of the Season" and conclude with Donna Summers' "The Last Dance." The Era of the ditties is now over, and so are the fun-loving breezy days of youth. This is brought home when Jodi sings an original country song, "Goodnight to You," saying farewell to her cheatin' husband.

The cast delivers their songs in tuneful, unaffected and appealing manner, backed by four musicians who create a big sound that belies their small number. Ann Klein plays both electric and acoustic guitar, accurately recreating the sounds of the various eras and occasionally pops on stage as a character referred to as Betty. She is joined by Masataka Odaka skillfully putting out classic bass lines. Fine keyboarding is provided by Joseph Baker, who also co-wrote the original material, as well as serving as music director and arranger. Aaron Russell on electric drums gives us all the varieties of rhythm we could want.

The Bikinis is not in any way a feminist polemic on women in music, but it does provide a refreshing alternative to the Jersey Boys discourse. Hey, who were the Jersey Boys going after? Perhaps it is time to get the story from the girls who became the women they married, divorced and otherwise may still long for.

I shamefully admit the show evoked an image stream of personal nostalgia which two days later is still with me. I was sent back to 1961 when I went to the Hollywood Bowl with Janis (whose last name I can no longer recall) to see the original Shirelles. Although the show can be enjoyed by all regardless of age, those of us who lived through the eras in which these songs first appeared, may find themselves savoring some sweet recollections.