"The Winter's Tale" (now through December 30) at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey

Jon Barker and Erin Partin (photo: Jerry Dalia)

You can really feel the chill of winter in the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's production of Shakespeare partly morose, partly magical “A Winter’s Tale." The affection and attention given to the Bard’s late-in-life play is obvious in the direction of Bonnie J. Monte. It may be considered a lesser work, but it has remained an audience favorite. Whether or not it is the best choice for a holiday entertainment is a matter of taste.

The convoluted, preposterous plot, charged as it is with an essentially unmotivated story, is presented within a world of tufted snow-white moveable panels created by designer Brittany Vasta. They effectively frame the subdued palette of the costumes designed by Nikki Delhomme.

Immersion into the plot isn’t all that difficult. Shakespeare pulls out his melodramatic hand-grenade early on. In the story, Leontes, the king of Sicilia, suddenly goes mad with jealousy because he suspects (for no apparent reason) and then accuses his pregnant queen Hermione of not only having had an affair with their house guest, his best friend Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, but that he is the baby’s father.  

Paradoxically, after the play’s first half in which we see how a distressingly paranoid monarch incredulously slanders, humiliates, alienates, and even destroys most everyone he holds dear, we are treated to a second half all bathed in sweetness and light (with a significant assist from lighting designer Tony Galaska) to making everyone live happily ever after.

The Winter’s Tale makes up for its lack of coherence and cohesiveness in its ability to provoke our continued interest. And certainly its rush of exquisite lyricism is not to be overlooked. Monte, whose creative instincts have enhanced many productions at this theatre for twenty-eight seasons keeps this intriguingly lopsided and fragmented play moving along. She adorns the play’s fantastical element by the increased presence of Father Time (Raphael Nash Thompson) who appears now and again to comment on the action in a silver robe holding an hour-glass scepter.

Monte gives this undeniably make-believe world, in which time and reality run amok, a pro-active energy that emphasizes the play’s confounding psychological aspects. Although it is hard to forgive the Leontes of Jon Barker for his impetuously mindless stupidity, the character he creates comes back to haunt us. His difficult-to-swallow redemption does not preclude, however, our need to evaluate his behavior.

John Keabler makes the most of the maligned Polixenes’ resort to gallantry under the circumstances. So is Erin Partin’s display of patience-in-adversity as that “precious creature” Hermione. Marion Adler was a burst of feminine fury as Paulina, the court physician and resident loudmouth. Courtney McGowan, as the long-lost daughter Perdita, and Ryan Woods as the a-wooing Prince Florizel impressed as the lovesick teens. The small but important role of the king and queen’s ill-fated young son Mamillius was earnestly played on opening night by Jeff Lin (alternating with Xander Egbert-Crowe) with a desire to prove that there is no such thing as a small part. Not generally moved to laughter by the antics of most Shakespeare’s comical characters, I found William Sturdivant as the roguish Autolycus and Seamus Mulcahy as the imbecilic young shepherd funny indeed.

With its romantic innocence tainted by macabre undertones and its gorgeous poetry tested by melodramatic excess, “The Winter’s Tale” makes uncompromising appreciation difficult, but Monte’s elegant staging and the overall excellence of the acting make a case for it as an antidote to the usual holiday entertainment.

"Holiday Inn" (now through December 30) at the Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, N.J.

Nicholas Rodriguez (center) and company

Forgive me if I am not playing fair when I say that this absolutely delightful production of “Holiday Inn” has the sparkles even if it is not generating quite the same sparks that made it the best Broadway musical of 2016. Be assured, however, that what is being presented at the Paper Mill Playhouse during this holiday season is still first class entertainment.  

It is safe to assume that there is always a little trepidation, some anxiety and perhaps even worry that a stage adaptation of a modest classic film musical will run the risk of being not only patently quaint but also seriously out-of-touch with life as we know it. Put aside your fears as the 1942 film musical “Holiday Inn,” with its wondrously melodic score by Irving Berlin, has been beautifully restored/re-envisioned by director Gordon Greenberg and co-writer Chad Hodge. To be sure, there is a quaintness to the basic and barely credible story that has been updated to post World War II. But there are just enough infusions and inferences with a contemporary resonance that will appeal to young audiences who may not be bringing along the nostalgia that will inevitably come with older audience members.

The plot follows the travails of singer Jim (Nicholas Rodriguez) after he has a parting of the ways with dancer Ted (Jeff Kready) his b.f. and professional partner. Jim decides to give up showbiz for a less stressful life buying and maintaining a working farm (really?) So what is a smart but desperate guy to do when the crops fail and the mortgage is due? Of course, he turns to his tapping and chirping Broadway pals for help in transforming the dilapidated homestead into a snazzy retreat with entertainment....but only on the holidays (more really.) Jim gets a little help and more than a little romance from former farm owner and school teacher Linda (Hayley Podschun) whose former aspirations of a career in the theater are suddenly re-kindled.

Sometimes the personable Rodriquez puts his big voice into overdrive when more crooning tones would be more effective. As the sweetly rakish Ted, Kready is terrific and as obliged rips up the stage with his exuberantly stylish dancing to “You’re Easy to Dance with” and literally ignites the stage with “Let’s Say it with Fireworks.” Podschun is sweetly beguiling as Linda and her silvery soprano brings just the right luster to her songs... and she’s quite a hoofer.

The best part of this sunny feel-good show is the abundance of tuneful Berlin songs, some of which are not in the original film. “Easter Parade,” “Happy Holiday,” and “White Christmas” are now joined by “Blue Skies,” “Heat Wave,” “Shaking the Blues Away,” “It’s a Lovely Day Today” and more treasures from the Berlin songbook.

With all those great songs, also be prepared for some great and inventive dancing. Choreographer Denis Jones is full of surprises using an assortment props and special effects (they should be surprises) that bring to mind some of the imaginative dance numbers created by filmdom’s Busby Berkeley. It won’t be long into the show before you are shaking your blues away with a splendid cast that has captured the era, the time and place with the same panache as has set designer Anna Louizos and costume designer Alejo Vietti. . .oh, those Easter bonnets! 

Standout among the supporting cast are Ann Harada as the smart-alecky resident handywoman and Paige Faure as Ted’s sassy and brassy blonde fiance and dancing partner. But it’s director Greenberg and choreographer Jones who have delivered the real goods. "Holiday Inn" comes gift-wrapped for all who cherish the great Berlin tunes and those who treasure the great traditions of the American musical theater.

"A Doll's House, Part 2" at the George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, N.J. (now through December 23, 2018)

Kellie Overbey and Ann McDonough
photo: T. Charles Erickson

Nora slamming the door at the end of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” has to be one of the most famous exits in all dramatic literature. It stunned and excited audiences in 1879 enough to insure the popularity of this decidedly verbose play over the years. It continues to be a challenge for the actor playing Nora. We can thank playwright Lucas Hnath for not only considering Nora’s fate by allowing her to come back and have her say in “A Doll’s House, Part 2.”

From all reports, this play which was lauded on Broadway in 2017 and won a Tony for its leading lady, has had a huge subsequent success. It is currently the most produced new play in regional theaters across the country. Having seen the play on Broadway, I would like to assure those considering to see it at the George Street Playhouse, that this production and especially the performance by its leading actress Kellie Overbey is simply terrific. 

Briefly for those who may not know the premise of the play or this sequel: Nora makes up her mind to leave her oppressive husband and two children and take her chances in the world. This brings us to the sequel in which Nora returns fifteen years later as a successful author of women’s literature. Writing under a pseudonym, Nora is a highly motivated, liberated, aggressively independent woman, a kind of  19th century Gloria Steinem. She is dedicated to helping women free themselves from a need to see marriage as a goal and to see marriage as a prison. 

Assuming that her husband Torvald (Andrew Garman) has fulfilled his promise to divorce her, Nora has signed contracts, purchased property, and openly engaged in affairs with men. The problem that brings Nora home is her discovery that Torvald had not filed for divorce making all her actions illegal and subject to prosecution under the law. Facing humiliation and possible jail sentence, Nora hopes to get Torvald to fulfill the agreement made fifteen years ago.

While hardly revelatory in showing how differently men and women once performed their roles in a marriage, Hnath’s play gives the 19th century Nora a shot of 21st century activism. This play dramatically examines both how much and how little has been achieved in redefining relationships in a marriage, equality under the law, and equanimity in our social lives,

It takes a while for the nanny Anne Marie (a wonderfully brittle Ann McDonough) to hear the knocking, answer the door, and gradually deal with the shock of seeing Nora, so well dressed and self-assured. The action is played out over a few days during which Nora attempts to persuade both Torvald to sign the divorce papers and also get the support of their daughter Emmy (Lily Santiago.) This action could, as it is revealed, compromise Torvald’s reputation as well as Emmy’s impending marriage.

Although filled to the brim with discourse, it is also marked with bursts of diverging opinions. Nora makes quite an admiral case for herself, the hard choices she had made and the role she has subsequently assumed to inspire and motivate women. I commend Overbey’s forceful but never abrasive approach to the role.

 But it is Torvald’s and Emma’s responses that are equally credible. It is to Garman’s credit that we can see the gradual changes in Torvald’s perspective and a possible change of heart. Santiago is totally persuasive as Emma, a young woman whose more traditional values have shaped her life.

This play marks the directorial debut for Betsy Aidem and it is an impressive one. The action of this 90 minute play never looks studied but always appears spontaneous and bristling despite being set within a purposefully lack-luster entry room designed by Deb O. Thank you to costume designer Olivera Gajic’s for her fine period attire. Hnath may have planted a few period-questionable expletives into the otherwise sterling text, but they provoke laughs. Just as an aside: I had to attend a post-opening performance and was seated in the next to the last row. Their temporary theater has a nice rake with no obstructed view and I heard every word.

"American Son" at the Booth Theatre Opened November 4, 2018

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Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale
Photo: Peter Cunningham

I am pleased that “American Son” has found its way to the Booth Theatre on Broadway following its premieres at the Barrington Stage and then last season at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J. Sad and disturbing but also compelling, it remains on second viewing one of the more unnerving plays I’ve had to wrap my head around. With a new starry cast and a new director, the play’s message and its impact still resonate long after its conclusion.

Christopher Demos-Brown's one-act play is driven by a long-standing social imperative made more acute by the current political climate. But it is explosive not only because of the imploding situation we witness, but because of the complex and diverse nature and behavior of its four characters, each of whom reveal through their often disquieting rhetoric aspects of their own shortcomings.

Under the gripping direction of Kenny Leon, “American Son” goes to the heart of the matter with an unrelenting earnestness. Kendra Ellis-Connor (Kerry Washington,  an African-American, is worried, impatient and close to frantic. She's in the waiting room of a police station in Miami-Dade County, Florida (simply evoked by Derek McLane.) It is 4 am. She has reported that her just turned eighteen year-old bi-racial son Jamal left home that night in the Lexus registered to his father and not returned. Fearing the worst and not getting the answers to any of her questions from a polite and scrupulously conscientious rookie officer Paul Larkin (Jeremy Jordan) assigned to night-duty, her patience is at an end.

Kendra is increasingly unnerved by her failed attempts to reach her estranged husband. The young white officer appears somewhat naive in dealing with a crisis. His efforts to not agitate her and stick strictly to protocol provide moments of humor.

The officer unwittingly becomes a target for her frustration and her ill-advised digs and spurts of condescension. The arrival of Kendra's white and contentious husband Scott (Steven Pasquale), an FBI agent who left his home four months ago despite his devotion to their son, is welcomed but unsettling.

Irish and volatile Scott soon enough finds himself immersed in an emotionally heated confrontation with Kendra that culminates in a physical altercation with the unflinching by-the-books African-American Lieutenant John Stokes (Eugene Lee). Stokes loses no time asserting his authority and taking control of the situation. That there is only a minimum number of valleys between the many peaks of emotional eruptions make this otherwise well-written 90 minute play a little exhausting.

If Kendra's high-pitched tirades diminish our empathy for her, Washington’s emotionally centered performance is unquestionably as real as it is fierce. Best known for her lead role in the TV series “Scandal” and for her portrayal of Anita Hill in HBO’s “Confirmation,” Washington reveals Kendra as a woman who is both irretrievably abrasive and also unmistakably fractured by her failed marriage. Pasquale, whose impressive acting in a wide range of roles including “Junk,” “The Bridges of Madison County” is terrific as the initially even tempered Scott who  becomes curiously and even a bit implausibly unhinged in dealing with the officers. A scene in which Scott and Kendra attempt to review and revive the chemistry that initially brought them together strains credibility.

Jordan makes a fine return to Broadway after a six-years detour to TV as the inexperienced officer who decides to bend the rules and reveal there was, indeed, an incident. There is no pretense or posturing in Lee’s performance as the supervising Lieutenant who makes it clear that young black men need to "shut their mouth and behave" if they want to survive on the street these days.

While we can sit back and admire the stand that an educated self-empowered black woman takes in the face of law enforcement officers, we all have to acknowledge the grim reality that racial equality is still far from our reality.

“Smokey Joe’s Cafe” Opened July 22, 2018 at Stage 42, 422 West 42nd Street

Emma Degerstedt and ensemble
photo credit: Joan Marcus

It’s not that I wasn’t listening to the radio during the 1950’s and 1960’s, but I just didn’t think that such songs as “Baby Baby,” “Poison Ivy,” “Yakety Yak,” and “Shoppin’ for Clothes” were connected to composers. Now I know that. But I actually didn’t know they were until 1975 when I saw the first Broadway production of  “Smokey Joe’s Cafe.” After close to twenty-five years, a welcome revival is back Off Broadway. It is pure pleasure from the opening number to its rousing finale. 

It must be noted that it is nothing more than end-to-end songs and performer following performer(s) being simply sensational and backed by a terrific on-stage band within a spectacular cafe-bar setting designed by genius Beowulf Boritt. Three metal spiral staircases are prominent as are the neon-lit beer signs that call our attention with the huge well-stocked bar. You won’t fail to notice the strategically placed collection of vintage radios. 

Be assured that there is also plenty of room for this terrific ensemble to dance up a virtual cyclone under the expert lighting designed by Jeff Croiter.    

Perhaps because it has no famous (not yet) names to extol, no book, no discernible structure or continuity or point of view, this celebration of songs all by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller is a very unusual kind of entertainment. But it is also more than a valentine to the composing team, as it has the heart of something much bigger, more invigorating and satisfying than many of the more bloated high-tech productions now on Broadway. 

I don’t know that the show’s director/choreographer Joshua Bergasse has done to  give his performers the unstoppable and un-dimishing energy that is maintained during the show but I hope it’s legal. Without let-up, except to change the mood, the performers group and regroup to sing and dance and humorously cavort to practically the entire (???) canon of songs by the successful and prolific team who once provided massive hits for Peggy Lee, the Coasters, Big Mama Thornton and of course, Elvis Presley (“Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock”.)

Admirers of Leiber and Stoller will no doubt feel twinges of nostalgia. Purists may also feel their favorites are a bit compromised by their  reinterpretation or something like that. So what.  Who cares? They all sounded great to these ears and my eyes were treated to watching great performers giving their all to every song whether doing solo or as part of the ensemble.

 The most familiar songs “Kansas City,” “Fools Fall in Love,” and “On Broadway” had the audience in a state of rapture while the lesser (there really aren’t any) ones often commanded cheering....not a bad thing.  When was the last time you saw a musical in which every song in it filled you with joy and made you want more. I guess I should single out each of the thirteen performers and the almost forty numbers in which they stood out...but I’ll mention just a few I felt were most memorable. I’m giving a shout-out to Dwayne Cooper and Dionne D. Figgins for their comical and sultry “Don Juan;” Jelani Remy for making “Jailhouse Rock” an acrobatic show-stopper; zaftig Alysha Umphress emphasizing the “evil” in “Trouble;” Blonde bombshell Emma Degerstedt doing her best to “Teach Me How to Shimmy.”

The dancing throughout was sensational, particularly the sensually interpreted “Spanish Harlem.” A good point to mention the beautiful costumes designed by Alejo Vietti. The moving bandstand put the musicians in the light a few times but they really shone with a dazzling “Dueling Pianos.” Individually the singers, that included Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Kyle Taylor Parker, and Max Sangerman, also stood again and again as did John Edwards with his dramatically stunning “I Who Have Nothing.”  I’ll conclude saying this is a show that has everything. You need a story? Make one up.

"Half Time" at the Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn N.J. now through July 1, 2018

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Donna McKechnie  photo: Jerry Dalia
 


How often have we heard someone over sixty years old say, When you become a senior you become invisible? That may be all too true in some circles,but the seniors who audition to dance in the center court in the new musical Half Time are determined to make themselves visible in a most exciting and inspiring way.

Basing their musical on a true event and significantly on Dori Berinstein's documentary about the NETSationals, collaborators Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin (book), Matthew Sklar (music) with lyrics by Nell Benjamin and with Jerry Mitchell serving masterly as director and choreographer have devised a charming and disarming entertainment.

This musical heartwarmingly embraces rather than mocks the marketing gimmick as originally devised by the National Basketball Association to essentially give the spectators a laugh at half-time. Recruiting through auditions an eager team of still agile if also questionably able seniors to learn the physically demanding Hip-Hop routines, the management of the New Jersey Cougars do not have a clue what they are in for when push gets to shove.

The show basically allows the audience to follow the principal players,all seniors, through the process of learning the routines. Think of a geriatric A Chorus Line and you may get a glimmer of the anxieties and the issues that each recruit has to deal with in order to remain a value to the team. Part of the show's pleasure is seeing these geriatrics progress from pathetic to fantastic. Don't think for a minute that casting may have been a handicap. You won't find a slacker in this company of pros.

If you are looking for headliners,there is the oh so slick and suave Andre De Shields as a grieving widower; a hilarious Georgia Engel, whose born-to-rap character channels dual personalities; a sensational Lillias White, as a no-nonsense dancing grandma trying to keep her equilibrium while dealing with her rebellious granddaughter (an excellent Nkeki Obi-Melekwe). There is an exhilarating echo of the original A Chorus Line's Cassie with that role's originator Donna McKechnie, as a privileged, retired suburbanite who once danced in a Broadway show.

Though we are inclined to root from the start in anticipation of a rousing finale, Half Time does occasionally sputter and stall during the first half. It takes a little too much time for the nine principals to get through their obligatory getting-to-know-me posturing. Winning as they are, some are unfortunately stereotyped characters. Rising above this is Nancy Ticotinas a fiery Latina in the Chita Rivera mold who performs a sexy,show-stopping Paso Doble partnered by an also terrific Alexander Aguilar. De Shields is an audience favorite from the start and wins our hearts and also that of the delightful Engel singing and dancing to the musical's most memorable ballad "The Prince of Swing." It is surprising that he is the only male among the women recruits. A totally different type of male-persona would have added more diversity to the mix.

Sklar and Benjamin's bright and bouncy score fulfills its duties without being much more than that. That's with the exception of the above song written by Marvin Hamlisch, whose untimely death upended the original plan for him to compose the entire show.

The projected announcements of the number of days until show time slow the pace down. But kudos to the vivid projections throughout by designer Jason Lee Courson; also to sound designer Randy Hansen who made sure we hear the snappy lyrics.

The rehearsals are filled to the brim with Mitchell's often comically interpreted hip-hop dance vocabulary. For plot, there is a running conflict between Tara the team's coach (Haven Burton) and an NBA executive (Tracy Jai Edwards) over whether the aggressively rehearsed but determined team and their arduous routine should prevail — or be replaced with the old folks riding around in circles on scooters. We can easily guess how that turns out.

For the finale, director Mitchell fills the stage with some youthful dancers who do their best to keep up with the these hip-hopping seniors, as smartly dressed by costume designer Gregg Barnes in haute hip hop. David Rockwell's scenic designs, include the use of mirrors that pay notable homage to A Chorus Line. But it is that eye-filling finale set within a huge stadium replete with bleachers filled with thousands of cheering fans that make us glad the Half Time collaborators saw fit to have that Me-Too spotlight shine down brightly on these incomparable seniors.It's possible we could see this spirited troupe hip-hop their way straight to Broadway.