"Crossing Swords" at the American Theatergroup through May 1, 2016

 Jeremy Greenbaum, Ali Gordon, Chase Crandell

It is a shame to have to write about a terrific almost new musical knowing that it is about to close this weekend (Sunday May 1.) But that is the case with the disarmingly performed, musically pleasurable, altogether winning “Crossing Swords” by Joe Slabe (rhymes with The Bay) in which its 20th century plot pivots off the classic 19th century romantic drama “Cyrano de Bergerac.” It is a teenaged twist on the old he loves her but she loves another.

If you most likely missed “Crossing Swords”  (as I did) when it was first presented as part of the New York Musical Theater Festival in 2013, you must keep your antennas on the alert for future productions, some of which are bound to show up on regional stages across the country. With its play-within-a-flashback-within-a-play conceit and set in and around the all-boys St. Mark’s Catholic School in 1969 and the all-girls St. Anne’s, the main story is cradled within a present prologue and epilogue.

In the prologue/present, Jeremy (Steven Hauck) is middle-aged as is Nicky (Sarah Dacey Charles.) These former teens have reunited and choose to reminisce following a funeral of Sir one of the teachers at St. Marks. Their memories are primarily of their own romantic experiences as teenagers rehearsing a production of “Cyrano.”

In the flashback, a very fine Hauck now has the role of Sir a stuffy, closeted math teacher who has a slightly contentious relationship with Miss Daignault, the girl school’s French teacher, as played with Gallic esprit by Charles.) Both Sir and Miss have touching back stories that add a commendable dimension to their characters.  

Back in 1969, Jeremy is played with an appealing exuberance by Jeremy Greenbaum who has won the role of Cyrano. During rehearsals he finds that his attraction to his good-looking co-star, best friend and school jock David (Chase Crandell) is more than simply friendly. With an impressive tenor, Crandell is splendid as the frustrated, poetry-challenged Christian. As you might expect, the shy David is enamored of Nicky (a beguiling Ali Gordon) who, misguidedly has the more effusive Jeremy in her sights.

Friendships all around are strained to the breaking point and fueled by the constraints of the as yet un-liberated sexual mores of today. In particular, Sir’s discomforting lecture to the embarrassed Jeremy on the need for suppressed feelings is a stinging reminder of outmoded psychology.

Pleasures abound within this mangled mingling of three romantic teens and their seniors and include humor-filled rehearsals, some excellent swordplay (credit to fight choreographer Trey Compton), and the high level of acting, under the direction of Igor Goldin. Best of all is the ambitious, bright and lyrical score by Slabe in which every affecting ballad and ensemble number is beautifully sung by an exceptionally talented company.

The modest but accommodating setting designed by Bethanie Wampol serves the action. Of importance there is also an underlying poignancy to the plot that makes this refreshing musical something very special. So, I hope that I’ve said enough to get you headed with haste to the production by the American Theatergroup at the Hamilton Stage in Rahway, NJ.

“Crossing Swords” (through May 1, 2016)

Hamilton Stage at UCPAC, 360 Hamilton St. Rahway, NJ

For tickets ($38.00) call (732) 499 - 8226

"School for Scandal" at the Lucille Lortel Theatre

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Dana Ivey, Frances Barber, Helen Cedpedes

Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s “The School for Scandal” is unquestionably a masterpiece of 18th century artificiality. It is easy enough to cloak its pretentions in pure synthetic theatricality but it is more rewarding and fun to see this view of Restoration high life when presented as winningly as it is by the Red Bull Theater now at the Lucille Lortel Theater. And what could be more difficult for a contemporary actor in a play such as this than to flit and flirt amidst yards of ruffles and lace while maintaining the validity and integrity of two centuries removed characters. It’s good to report that it is also the human side of metaphor-strewn Old England that shines through under Marc Vietor’s direcion.

As a result, the grace and humor of the play’s characters come through, especially watching the incessantly disapproving Sir Peter Teazle (Mark Linn-Baker) wrangle with his incorrigible child bride (Helen Cespedes.) We are given plenty of opportunities to identify with the men those “unconscionable dogs,” and the distaff “daughters of calumny” that Sheridan satirically reproves with such wit and polish. Bravi to this company for making Sheridan’s glitteringly dialogued expose of London’s polite society from being much more than an over dressed convention of relentless boors and tiresome scandalmongers.

Costume designer Andrea Lauer knew she had better utilize all the extravagant and colorful ruffles, laces, satins, silks and multi-colored powdered wigs to measure up to the obligatory scenery-chewing performances that do all but devour the modest but elegant scenery - mostly moving panels - as designed by Anna Louizos. While some members of the company are more skilled than others in the meticulously schooled art of sniffing/snuffing, mincing and raising of the eyebrows, there is a general consensus that the appropriate attitude is sufficient. It’s almost enough to see how the mastery of lines and asides nicely conveys the form and elegance of Sheridan’s world.

Standout among the company is Dana Ivey, who, not surprisingly, is a joy to watch as the gossipy Mrs. Candour and like the others in her social circle, doesn’t slip into caricature but rather reveals the formalized naturalism that must exist in equal measure with the period’s affectations. Aside from Baker, Ivey and Cespedes,  others who appear as equally accomplished haute farceurs are Frances Barber as the rich and ribald Lady Sneerwell, Jacob Dresch, as a really slinky gossip columnist Mr. Snake and Ryan Garbayo as his obnoxious protégé cum society poet Sir Benjamin Backbite.

The always terrific Henry Stram nails the more subtly of decorous mannerisms as Sir Oliver Surface. You may be hard pressed not to laugh aloud every time a gong rings announcing the arrival of Punjabi family friend Master Ranji (Ramsey Faragallah). But stifling laughs is almost a must if you want to hear all the lines. Sheridan’s play exposes disguises, deceptions, and dishonesties without obscenities. That’s quite a feat and with this lovely production we see how his spirit is kept alive.

“The School for Scandal” (through May 8, 2016

Lucille Lortel Theatre, Christopher Street

For tickets ($80.00 & $100.00) call (212) 924 - 2817

"Arthur Miller's The Crucible"

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 Sophie Okonedo and Ben Whishaw
Photo by Jan Versweyveld

Whatever was anticipated or expected from the provocative and always challenging director Ivo Van Hove, his unique approach to the classics (“A View from the Bridge”) as well as to modern works (“Lazarus”) virtually insured us a stunning and arresting revival of “Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” Be prepared for a staging that more than equates this classic drama to its theme and to its relevancy in today’s world.

The mass hysteria that the Salem witch-hunt provoked in the 17^th century was no more or less insidious an epidemic than the one that McCarthyism fostered during the 1950s. We need never forget the political, moral and ethical issues on trial, in either century, thanks to Miller’s arresting drama of rampant intolerance and misguided religiosity. “The Crucible” is the play he wrote in 1953 specifically to denounce the prevalent inequities of so-called justice.

In yet another century, and in the light of the most recent and horrific events that surround us and invade our consciousness, the sixty-three year old play asks us if we are prepared and willing to be tested again, to see how one’s rage and fear is apt to be manipulated and used to create another witch-hunt? Just when I thought I’d had enough of Miller’s award winning classic, it has been given a hauntingly illuminating and thought-provoking production at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

With a highly controlled amount of hysteria, Van Hove is giving us a most chilling and non site-specific consideration of Miller’s troubling  play. The infamous Salem witch trials of 1692, with its not too subtle political analogies, were dramatized by Miller to not only pontificate on the general evils of superstition and mass hysteria, but to vividly recreate a time when these human and inhuman aberrations lived in a society that feared both God and the devil, in equal propensity. “The Crucible” tells the tale of innocent people victimized by a jealous, lecherous girl and her young followers when their devilish fantasies get out of control.

As performed on designer Jan Versweyveld’s grandly abstracted/minimalist stage setting, made evocative largely by his own somber lighting designs, the plot abounds, sometimes chaotically, in accusations, denials, threats, and confessions. This havoc unfolds as the misguided minister Reverend Paris (Jason Butler Harner) and the Deputy Governor Danforth (Ciaran Hinds) interrogate the good citizens of Salem, Mass. Harner is as infuriating as a clergyman blinded by his own self-serving goals, as is Hinds as the chillingly stiff-necked and arrogant law enforcer. While it is the household of adulterous farmer John Proctor (Ben Whishaw) and his reverential, loving wife Elizabeth (Sophie Okonedo) that is the central focus, the involvement of the townspeople is made into riveting cameo scenes. Nothing alarming about Van Hove’s staging as it as expected another example of the kind of unorthodox display of pretentions that he famously showers on plays - - - basically attention-grabbing theatricality. Quite a season for this Belgium-born director.  

All the performances are first rate, with not a single actor either overstepping or under-addressing that fine line of credibility. Whishaw (whom I recently enjoyed in the BBC series “London Spy”) and Okonedo (Tony Award-winner for “A Raisin in the Sun”) as John Proctor and his wife, are extraordinarily moving and tragic figures in this riveting chronicle of a civilization run amok by vindictive predators.  Okonedo is impressive as the farmer’s wife who, although limited by the restraints of a puritanical social structure, reveals in her modest movements and tormented expressions a mighty spirit. Whishaw’s intense performance, as the stolid farmer guilty of adultery, but who ends of representing the most noble and ethical aspects of the human spirit, stands high among an altogether compelling company.

Memorable moments are also contributed by Brenda Wehle, as the dangerously literate Rebecca Nurse and Jenny Jules, as Tituba, the servant from Barbados. Teagle F. Bougere, as the irrational Judge Hawthrorn, makes a good case for the pompous attitude of the law. A steely Saoirse Ronan is appropriately chilling as the as the vengeful Abigail, a bad seed among a barrel full. Wojciech Dziedzic’s appropriately drab costumes offset the almost blinding tension that permeates “The Crucible” from start to finish.

Yet it is the sheer force of Miller’s writing that will have you reeling long after the final curtain. If nothing else, Van Hove’s version is a reminder that we need to see this play at least once in every generation to consider its meaning - - - to test as well as put on trial our moral and ethical fiber.

Walter Kerr Theater, 219 W. 48th St; tickets: $149 top. Opened March 31, 2016.