"Broadway & The Bard" at the Theatre Row (at the Lion Theatre) at 410 West 42nd. Street. Ending limited run March 6

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Len Cariou (Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to discover how many of the most romantic and comical songs contained among the countless treasures in the great American Musical Theatre songbook can be effortlessly linked to the prose and poetry of William Shakespeare. The Bard’s plays, his rhapsodically inclined characters, including the rapscallions, have famously been the inspiration for many contemporary composers from Rodgers and Hart to Cole Porter to Lerner and Loewe to Bernstein and Sondheim and on and on.

It is also not a surprise to see how craftily and cleverly the links have been integrated and dramatized with an obviously deep affection for his subject by the terrific Canadian-born, Shakespearean trained seventy-six year old lauded stage, screen and film actor/singer Len Cariou (“Sweeney Todd,” “A Little Night Music,” “Applause,” “Teddy & Alice.”)

You may choose to swoon as you hear Cariou speak Orsino’s opening reverie in “Twelfth Night” - “If music be the food of love, play on” - leading so effortlessly into both “Love, I Hear” (from “A Funny Thing...”) and “Falling in Love with Love” (“The Boys from Syracuse”.) And what a wonderfully humorous jolt it is  when Henry V’s “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...” demands a little “Applause” (title song from the show). I could go down the list of the perfect segues that Cariou uses as he embraces the likes of Richard II, Iago, Petruchio, Benedict, Jacque and Prospero and on and on, but let the others be a pleasant surprise.  

Cariou’s singing voice may be a little frayed around the edges, but not so his bravura acting or the way he finds the essential emotional core of each song. Beautiful songs we have heard time and again such as Bob Merrill’s “Her Face” (“Carnival”) and “Lucky to Be Me,” and “It’s Love” both from the gorgeous Berstein, Comden and Green score for “On the Town.” resonate anew with Cariou’s impassioned interpretation and delivery.

Aside from deftly using fragments, soliloquies and asides from the Bard’s canon, Cariou also finds suitable bridges to personal anecdotes about his long and impressive career. But mainly this one-man show is a joyous eighty-minute excursion  through almost two dozen songs relating sometimes drolly but mostly divertingly in response to a brief scene or speech.

 

The setting created by Josh Iocavelli has the haunted-by-its-past look of a theater’s stage with its token ghost light, ropes, pulleys and various props but also with a stool (that is used) some photos and a bust of Shakespeare. The most notable prop is the piano which is expertly played by musical director Mark Janas, who contributes not only superb accompaniment but an occasional vocal assist.

As conceived by Cariou, Janas and director Barry Kleinbort, this Amas Musical Theatre production is modest and intimate by design but made memorable  by Cariou’s polished and personable performance. It is often emotionally affecting as it moves along making you forget how quickly the time has passed, even if you haven’t taken the time to “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”

The performance schedule for “Broadway and the Bard” is: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday at 8pm, Thursday & Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, Sunday at 3pm. There will be additional performances on Sunday, January 31 at 7pm and Monday, February 1 at 7pm. Tickets are $70 and available at Telecharge.com/ (212) 239-6200.

Noises Off

Jeremy Shamos, Kate Jennings Grant, David Furr, Andrea Martin, and Campbell Scott in Noises Off
(©Joan Marcus)

Noises Off

There is a good chance that this Roundabout Theatre revival of Michael Frayn’s amusingly crafted farce Noises Off will either put a smile or a frown on your face depending on whether you have or have not seen this play before. Be forewarned that more than one encounter with its madcap doings is likely to diminish your appreciation. Therefore my negative response to this production is based largely on seeing an ensemble of expert farceurs led astray by a director who apparently didn’t believe that less is more.

In it, we are transported across the sea and on to the stage of the Grand Theater in Weston-super-Mare, England. Originally produced on Broadway in 1983 with a subsequent revival in 2001, we again find ourselves planted in the middle of a sex farce called Nothing On.

A second-rate (to give them more credit than they deserve) troupe of actors is attempting, during a final frantic dress rehearsal, to tie up the loose ends (too many to list here) before curtain time. Helping them do just that is Lloyd Dallas (played with a formidably tortured tolerance by Campbell Scott). Tortured intolerance is, however, what I was feeling as I tried to respond to the inanities that ensue. Forgive me if I feel it still isn’t the uproarious entertainment that its premise suggests. However, we can not put any of the blame for any lapses of fun on this A list cast.

The play’s action subsequently moves to the company’s next stop on its provincial tour, viewed from a backstage perspective. Animosities, hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and a general disregard for their performing art become for Frayn’s imbecilic characters a zany excuse for a silent-movie-style charade of pratfalls, booby traps, and cleverly executed sight gags that spill over directly to the performance in progress.

As you might expect, innumerable bedroom, closet, and other extraneous doors have one thing in common, their faulty knobs, latches, and hinges. These are the attention-grabbing devices in designer Derek McLane’s impressively made-for-traveling set that reveals the living room of the Brent’s country home as well as the area directly behind the set in the half following the intermission.  

But be prepared for diminishing returns. That is unless you are tickled by the inevitable appearance and disappearance of naughty lingerie and fallen trousers, the split-second entrances and exits, as well as missed cues and misplaced props. Not to be upstaged is an increasingly menacing plate of sardines, a treacherous cactus plant, and an almost animated telephone receiver, that have all been called into service.

The fun of this type of farce is to watch the characters respond to the utter confusion in which they become engulfed. Out to get each other short of murder most foul, the troupe in the final scene is about to give a Wednesday matinee during the last leg of its tour. As members of the audience at the Municipal Theater, Stockton-On-Ties, we finally get to see a “regular” performance of Nothing On, as it hurtles toward self-destruction.

In charge is British director Jeremy Herrin, whose last effort on Broadway was the dull-as-dishwater English history Wolf Hall. Buthe  has shaped the farce even too broadly on its own terms allowing the play’s repetitive, protracted scenes overwhelm the best efforts of the actors. He succumbs to all the pitfalls in the purposefully booby-trapped script and fails to do right by the stellar cast. The wonderful Tony  Award-winner Andrea Martin has been sadly and heedlessly led astray as Dotty Otley, the troupe’s producer who is concurrently playing the role of a maid and having an affair with the juvenile lead. She sets the misguidedly over-the-top tone for the others as a close-to-senile bundle of insecurities.

Abetting the valiant Ms Martin with even less flair mostly involving back-stage flings are David Furr, as Garry Lejeune, Dotty’s romantic interest, who can’t complete a thought or a sentence; Megan Hilty, as Brooke Ashton, the director’s ditsy girlfriend, who drops her dress as frequently as her contact lenses and Tracee Chimo, as Poppy Norton-Taylor, the harried stage manager and director’s ex-love interest. Rob McClure, however, is rather endearing as Tim Algood, the terminally nonplused put upon assistant stage manager cum understudy as is Jeremy Shamos, as the dimwitted Frederick Fellow, who keeps insisting on plausible motivations for his character.

Although Kate Jennings Grant is less than grand as Belinda Blair, the company’s irrefutable grande dame, Daniel Davis (making his Roundabout debut) is a trifle grander as the alcoholic old trouper who wanders through the action with dazed senile assurance, a state that will undoubtedly be recognizable to more than a few members of the audience. I suspect it will take a few drinks before the show to put even a dazed smile on your face.

Noises Off

Roundabout Theatre Company

American Airlines Theatre, 22 W. 42nd Street

For tickets and information: roundabouttheatre.org.

Maurice Hines Tappin' Thru Life

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Maurice Hines

Maurice Hines Tappin’ Thru Life

This show may not be more than a gussied up Las Vegas styled lounge act, but its centerpiece Maurice Hines is a consummate song and dance man, an entertainer with a winning personality and an incomparable style that harks back to an era that has sadly disappeared. Famously/formerly partnered with his now deceased brother Gregory, Hines, at the age of 72, continues to deliver the goods that has made him a legend. While his dancing gets a back seat during the first half of his show - a trip down memory lane - in which he talks of his family, career, and his experiences/appearances with such stars as Judy Garland, Lena Horn, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, he segues gracefully into the more eagerly anticipated and even thrillingly danced portion of the show.

His warmly delivered narrative (written by Hines) is well constructed and serve as a bridge from one familiar song to the next. Polishing up the show on the road before landing at the largest of the New World Stages was a good idea, as there is a slickness to Hines’ delivery and to every musical number, all standards such as “Honeysuckle Rose,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” etc. One is easily convinced that Hines is having as great a time performing for us as the audience is in its response. While giving us glimpses into the racism that prevailed in all areas of show business, including nightclubs and films during the mid 20th century, he also uses the show to make peace with aspects of his past, particularly his 10 year estrangement from his brother.

These are enhanced with some lovely projections (by designer Darrel Maloney) mainly family photos of brother, mother and father and of the celebrities with whom Hines has worked. We can credit the show’s director Jeff Calhoun for the expert pacing and genial ambiance that is created. Bringing a youthful edge to the show are the 20-something John and Leo Manzari, and whose terrific routines bring an additional dynamic to the show. An additional treat is a rotating group of very young tappers. Twelve year-old Luke Spring stopped the show with his on point tapping at the performance I saw.

Backing up the entire show is Sherrie Marcle (drummer) and the The Diva Jazz Orchestra (nine female musicians) that revive for us the era of the big band in full throttle. The band stand and setting by Tobin Ost gives the show a sense that we are back at the fabled Paramount Theatre on Broadway. A really good feeling for a really good show.

Maurice Hines Tappin’ Thru Life (through March 13)

New World Stages 340 W. 50th Street

For tickets call (212) 239 - 6200  

Fiddler on the Roof at The Broadway Theatre - Review based on performance 01/07/16

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Danny Burstein
photo credit: Joan Marcus

Fiddler on the Roof           

On the one hand, Fiddler on the Roof is undeniably a classic of the American musical theater. On the other hand, as Tevye might ask if he was a kvetching critic and not a pious papa, “How many sunrise, sunsets can one endure during a lifetime?” There is no answer to that except that traditionalists are likely going to be delighted with this latest incarnation. Director Barlett Sher, who is also represented on Broadway with his stunning production of The King and I, has added a small but effective frame for a Fiddler that threatened to be carved in stone. In fact, this production has an animated fiddler (Jesse Kovarsky) who is imaginatively integrated into the entire show. To Sher’s credit, he has refrained from including shtick, milking for laughs (despite Tevye being a dairyman), and adhered sensitively to the musical play that Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock (score), and Joseph Stein (book) based on the witty collection of stories by Sholom Aleichem.

For those who feel that tinge of overexposure, let me assure you that this production, that includes original choreography by Israeli born Hofesh Shecheter, brings a refreshing new vision to traditional Hasidic and Russian folk dances while also retaining the spirit of original choreographer Jerome Robbins. This brings a renewed adoration and appreciation of a work that has indeed become a tradition. Humor, sentiment and philosophical wit abound in this poignant story of Tevye, his wife Golda, and their five daughters during turn-of-the-century Czarist Russia as they struggle with the conflicts between tradition and change. It could not be better served than by this fine company.  While warmly considering both Jewish body-language and inflection, Sher’s view of “Tradition” shows it to be more than just a way of getting through life for Jews. Above all it’s a celebration of life even under Czarist tyranny. And with its new short and subtle intro and coda, we see this newest Fiddler. as it applied to all oppressed people. 

Tevye, the humor-endowed, good-book misquoting dairyman, is played in an empathetically disarming demeanor by five-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein. There is gratifyingly little attempt on his part to be anything but a real human being struggling between traditional Jewry and the pressures of a father faced with the age old concern of marrying off his daughters.
Jessica Hecht is delightful as the sharp-tongued Golda, a tender soul hiding behind a tough matriarchal front. Among the excellent supporting cast, I especially liked the meekly ingratiating Adam Kantor as Motel, the tailor. Much of the delight and pleasure of this production comes from Sher’s staging and the way the company gracefully moves many of designer Michael Yeargan’s atmospheric mobile settings. But, as you know, there are many tears to shed along he way as the tragedy of the pogrom and of broken hearts weaves its way through the story. Be prepared to be thrilled once again by a grand and emotionally moving Fiddler on the Roof, surely one of the great and essential musicals of our time. Review by Simon Saltzman

Fiddler on the Roof  (opened 12/20/16)

The Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway

For tickets call (212) 239 - 6200

"Sylvia" Cort Theatre, 138 Wst 48th Street From 10/02/15 Opened 10/27/15; closing1/27/16

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Robert Sella, Annaleigh Ashford, Matthew Broderick


A Tony award-winner last season for You Can't Take It With You, Annaleigh Ashford is the prettiest, most cunning, cute, coquettish little flirt ever to be picked up in Central Park. She is no dog, but yes she is. . . actually a dog in A.R. Gurney's whimsical 1995 comedy Sylvia, a wonderful revival of which has opened at the Cort Theatre. As the abandoned mongrel affixed with the name Sylvia, Ashford uses her agility to twist, turn, leap and curl her body in more endearing and amusing ways than those she effected as the Sycamore family's klutzy ballerina in You Can't Take It With You.

Greg (Matthew Broderick) is the man who brings Sylvia back to his Manhattan apartment and where they develop instant crushes on each other. So starts a true and touching romance. It is easy to see why Sylvia has been a staple of regional and community theaters since its premiere. It is not only a delightful fantasy, but also a psychologically persuasive look at one man's mid-life crisis.

Sylvia's savior, the middle aged man that she thinks of as God, is played with an air of nebbish-like vulnerability by Broderick, a master of that facade. If this is a role that seems tailor-made for Broderick it is because Greg is also one of those susceptible-to-unqualified-affection characters with whom Broderick seems to be most in tune. We can certainly see in his face and unassuming demeanor how ripe he is for the attentions of an adoring, straggly-haired blonde who snuggles, sniffs and smooches with unstoppable vigor, Greg is easily seduced, and so are we.

Blinded by his immediate love for Sylvia, Greg brings her home to his New York apartment. Their romance is thwarted, or at least stunted, by his wife Kate, a woman whose apathy is immediately apparent. She is played by a terrific Julie White, whose talent and versatility have earned her a trunk load of awards and nominations.

Kate has an agenda that doesn't include Sylvia. Although she is attractive and intelligent, she is unwilling to compromise their carefully plotted now-that-the-children-are-gone middle years for a stray dog. . . that she calls Saliva.

Hardly a ménage-a-trois in the conventional sense, Gurney invests this unconventional love story with plenty of humorous dog-eared incidents and dialogue. Necessarily intrusive, but laugh-getting and certainly scene-stealing is the triple role-playing by Robert Sella. All four actors have been put through their paws and paces with a controlling leash by director Daniel Sullivan.To read the entire review please go to:

http://www.curtainup.com/sylviabway15.html