Mostly Musical Theatre

A quick note on reviews – or, why I didn’t review your show

Just a reminder that I do not review every musical that opens in SE Michigan, but you can be sure that I will review every professional musical tour that comes through and all Broadway musicals in NYC each year.

I do not review community theater shows, or amateur theater production unless I specifically want to see the show. Then I might or might not write a review. In general, these will only end up with a review if the production was stellar. There is no reason to give a bad review to an amateur production, but there is plenty of reason to praise things that are above the norm.

I will never review shows done in inappropriate venues (I don’t care how good your cast might be in that blackbox production of Phantom of the Opera. I will not be seeing it.) I rarely attend these productions, and if I do, it is only to see a friend, or because a close friend is somehow involved in the production.

I never accept free tickets to review shows, and I pay for every production that I want to see. Frankly, there’s a lot I don’t want to see.

Forever Plaid gets Dio Theater off to a terrific start in new home (Review)

What could be better than dinner and a show? And if its a good dinner and a great show, it makes it all the better — and that is what you get from The Dio – Dining and Entertainment this summer with their first production in their new Pinkney-based home, Forever Plaid.

Chef Jarod has prepared a delicious buffet-style dinner which begins serving at 6:30. The Theater itself is in an old opera house, and its beautifully re-designed by owners Steve DeBruyne and Matthew Tomich. As such, it has great acoustics (in fact, they are so good you can’t tell when the actors are using mics and when they are singing live).

This isn’t the first recent local production of Forever Plaid — but it is probably the best. Mostly sung-through (but leaving plenty of time to develop characters for its quartet of male early-1960’s crooners “gone before their time” and returning for one last live show), the intermission-less production zooms by in record time, winding its way through two-dozen tightly harmonized familiar 60’s numbers.

What a cast! Steve DeBruyne, Daniel Clair, Benjamin Dennis, and Thomas Mate create terrific characters on stage, and their vocals are astonishing. Each shows broad range, and director DeBruyne has done marvelous development work for each one — each cast member is different in size, shape, character, facial expressions, and it all combines for a highly entertaining evening. It’ll be hard for you to pick a favorite, as they each have a moment to truly shine.

Cara Manor gives them snappy and tightly choreographed moves that look like they are right out of any real-life 60’s boy-group — don’t underestimate how difficult this material is — and the actors carry it off very well. Shelly Walker’s costume design looks snappy, and Matthew Tomich does super work with the sound and lighting. Eileen Obradovich’s prop design works particularly well in the Ed Sullivan sequence. Mix in two parts musicians (George Cullinan on piano who also has done very good work as Musical Director, and Benjamin Merte on bass) and you have a martini that is well-served shaken or stirred — or in this case a little of both.

A highly entertaining evening out smack dab in the center of Pinkney — for Ann Arborites, thats a 15 minute drive north and a 15 minute drive west, and its a pretty drive. Go. Its fun. Its delicious. And its another great production for this new professional theater company in Livingston County.

Forever Plaid runs through August 3rd. Tickets at: http://www.diotheatre.co or 517-672-6009 or at their box office 135 East Main Street, Pinkney, MI.

Paris off the beaten path

In my many many (dozens) of trips to Paris over the years, I’ve managed to wander around most of the city and surroundings. Friends always marvel at the things I tend to find around town — after someone asked me about that again last night, I thought I’d write an entry on some truly amazing things you will find “off the beaten path” in Paris.

One warning up front — you will want to google the hours of opening for most of these attractions, since they can be irregular.

1. Basilique St-Denis — Not to be missed, the crypt of the basilica is the “cemetery” for almost every French Royal dating back to, well, forever. The upper level has statues and memorials to them, while the crypt contains the mass grave for over 800 royals and their families, and a separate area has Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and Louis XVIII. Warning — this is a long 45 minute metro ride making dozens of local stops until you get to St-Denis. Go directly to and from the basilica, as the area is seedy (and has been for over 900 years).

2. Buttes-Chaumont — a simply stunning park built in what was once an old hillside Paris quarry — bring a picnic, sit on the hillside, and watch humanity pass by. Very few tourists venture here, so it’s a bit of a Parisian secret destination. There’s plenty of follies, a suspended bridge, even a castle in the middle! It will take your breath away.

3. Cimetiere des Chiens — Just on the northern edge of Pont de Clichy, this is the world’s first pet cemetery. Once on its own island, it is now landlocked. Its not huge, and its filled with wandering feral cats, but its peaceful and beautiful. Headstones range from the heartbreaking (“to my dear cat, my closest friend in life”) to the famous (Rin Tin Tin) to the ridiculous — but its a wonderful place to stroll and relax…and chances are you will be the only person there.

4. Cimetiere Picpus — here’s one that should be in every single guidebook everywhere, and is basically not listed in any of them, and which Parisians don’t even know exists — just south of Place de la Nation, this is the site of two mass burial graves of over a thousand victims of the guillotine in the French Revolution. A novice in the adjoining nunnery saw tumbrils arrive at night to dump the bodies, and eventually told families of the victims who bought the land and created a beautiful park and burial ground. There’s also a small chapel with the names of all the buried victims engraved. Its a sobering and very quiet place off the beaten path.

5. Chapelle Expiatoire — while we’re on the subject of the French Revolution, this is a beautiful chapel built in a small park just north of La Madeleine atop the location of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI’s original burial ground after the revolution. Its also a mass burial ground though there are no signs remaining of it far below the structure. Some consider this the most beautiful monument in Paris. Its in a lovely quiet park. Note that the interior with its monuments is only open Fri – Sun and only in the afternoons. You won’t find this in almost any guidebooks, but it has a dedicated local following.

6. Chateau de Vincennes — On the eastern border of the peripherique, this is a beautifully restored 13th century castle and donjon once used by royalty. It also holds the distinction of being the location that Henry V spent his last days in Paris, and were he was parboiled in the kitchen before his body was transported back to London. You can visit both the restored bedroom where he died of dysentery, and the kitchen itself. Its all surrounded by a (now empty) very deep moat, and you cross a (now stone) drawbridge to enter the complex. To the south is the more recent military barracks that were added in the 1700’s and a chapel with stunning stained glass windows — be sure to climb to the balcony for a great view of things, including close-up shots of gargoyles on the stone columns.

7. Chartres — skip Versailles and head to medieval Chartres a bit further west — The train stops smack in the middle of town. Start at the gorgeous cathedral with its stained glass, woodwork, and labyrinth on the floor — then head through the park in the back and down the stone steps into the medieval village of Chartres — wander along the Eure river on the rue de la Tannerie, grab lunch at one of the shops along the way and sit by one of the many picture perfect nooks and crannies along the way, and then wander back to the central cathedral area. Chartres also holds the distinction of having very little WWII damage, so what you are seeing here is real, not restored.

8. Le Pere Lachaise cemetery — this is the biggest and most beautiful of Paris’s cemeteries — and its a virtual village of the dead — with its steep hillsides, cobble-stoned steps, and many many celebs and historical residents of Paris buried here — Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Chopin, Gertrude Stein, Alice B Toklas, Proust, etc…but none more romantic than the dual grave of Abelard and Heloise (and if you don’t know who they are, you should be doing the normal tourist stuff, not the “off the beaten path” touring plan). Be sure to either print up a cemetery map before you leave, or purchase a map at one of the corner newsstands when you get off the bus or Metro. There are no maps inside the cemetery itself and you can be hopelessly lost here for hours without one. One of my favorite areas here is in the south east corner, where monuments are dedicated to the victims of the holocaust.

9. Memorial de la Shoah — the holocaust memorial and museum. From its creepy entrance, to its creepy conclusion (thousand of photos of children deported) this is a truly stirring memorial and museum to the victims of the holocaust. It really drives it home when looking at the photos, personal belongings, and reading the stories of survivors as well as those who did not survive and recognizing the exact places you have just walked on the street outside — how many people taking the RER from CDG to Paris know that Drancy/La Bourget train station that you pass was the original debarkation point for the trains headed to the death camps — ah, changes the way you look at that now, doesn’t it!….DO NOT miss this and leave plenty of time for contemplation at the eternal flame, or any of the overwhelming displays on the floors above. By the way, once you have visited, you will also become aware of the thousands of plaques on the buildings around Paris (especially the Marais and the eastern side of Paris) that indicate a home from which a Jewish person was sent to a concentration camp.

10. What have YOU found? Post it with a comment, and have fun exploring Paris away from the tourist crowds…

Blackberry Q10 vs iPhone 5 — Software does-in BB’s otherwise excellent Qwerty smartphone

UPDATED 7/17/13 —

The following review remains as is. On July 3, ATT rolled-out version 10.1.0.2030 — this was specifically updated to unblock calDav problems and to allow syncing to occur between Blackberry and iOS iCloud and to patch some security woes. It does not work automatically and you will have to add it manually (Google “How to sync your BBQ10 and iCloud” for step by step instructions). Note that once this was manually synced, updates were very slow — calendars would take 5 – 20 minutes to refresh and a good minute or so to repopulate each time you opened the calendar ap on the Q10 — unforgivable on a business smartphone. Similar sync delays occurred in contacts– I returned by BBQ10 to ATT on the 14th day of no-remorse returns. I must say up front that ATT was excellent in working with me, and took care of all upgrades/returns/etc with professionalism and care. I was very very sad to do so, almost tearful in fact, because I love the hardware of the BBQ10 so much, that keyboard is to die for. BBRY posted a tremendous loss in stock last week, and just the other day announced they are cutting their production of the Z10 and Q10 by 50 percent. Bad news for Blackberry and its fans, and for any hope of developers creating apps for them. I can not imagine that anyone but Blackberry die-hards will be happy with the Q10 at this point.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 6/24/13

Since the very first day of the original iPhone, I have been among its staunchest defenders, EXCEPT for the horrendous touch-type keyboard. For three years I carried around my Blackberry Bold along with the iPhone, which I used for everything except phone calls, texts, SMS messages, or e-mails. It was a pain in the ass. Ultimately, the iPhone won out completely as I gave up on carrying around two phones, let alone paying for two data plans.

So it was with VERY excited expectations that I became the proud owner of the newest Blackberry offering, the Q10 — the best of all possible worlds — a blazing fast processor, lots of storage, a removable battery, great photos, a super sharp 720 x 720 screen (even sharper than the iPhone 5’s retina display), and having both a touch screen as well as a full-Qwerty keyboard that is a dream to use.

So after real life use, what can I say? The BB Q10 is virtually unusable for the day-to-day user because software has not caught up to the tech — so far, the offerings are dismal. All of the built-in BB apps are superb — but for the Mac user: Blackberry 10 has built-in conduits for syncing to your iPhone iCloud account — unfortunately it DOES NOT WORK. Currently there is no way to sync your calendars, contacts (they sync once then never again), notes, or reminders. Don’t even bother — there are hundreds of pages of threads on this all over the web right now, and Blackberry really did in their Mac users.

The typing experience is superb — back to an easy error-free 65 WPM speed in less than 5 minutes of practice. A few new key combinations, and some screen swipes to learn, and off you go — everything else is familiar, and it looks gorgeous. The new message hub is great. And just start typing a few letters of what you are looking for and it instantly pops up that application open and ready to go (Apple could learn something here)….for example, type tex(t) and before you are three letters in, the texting app is open and ready to go. LOVE IT.

What do I not love? Well — the entire experience will be one of failure if applications don’t catch up as soon as possible. BB has been neglected for years by most developers, expecting a quick RIM death once touch phones took over. Well now that BBRY has big hits on its hands with the Z10 and the Q10, the developers have catching up to do — and here, there is a lot to do…any iPhone user has gotten used to the many apps that make life simpler, happier, more fun, or just plain old more organized. No such luck here. Because of the 720×720 square screen, older BB apps don’t work. Even “side-loading” Android apps (not an easy process) doesn’t work for all of them, only those that can run on a smaller square screen.

So what does that mean in the real world? Well, hang onto your hat, here are programs that DO NOT WORK or ARE NOT AVAILABLE for the BB Q10 as of this writing:

Mac Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Contacts, email settings, internet favorites do not sync at present

Evernote with all features (there is an integrated version that works with the new BB Reminders, but does not sync properly nor can any folders we shared, nor shared folders imported)

Facebook with all features (there is a simple flat app that presents timeline only, without any photo posting)

Facebook Messenger

Facebook Camera (there is no way to get photos into your Facebook uploads at present)

Any version of Slingbox Mobile or web-based access to it

Instagram

Pandora

Kindle

Zinio

Shazam

Square Reader (for accepting credit card payments)

Google Maps

Bento or other Database File progran

Passbook, or any format of it (If you have Starbucks cards on your iPhone, they won’t transfer to the BBQ10 — one workaround people have posted is to take a photo of your iPhone’s barcode, and use that photo when checking out at Starbucks)

My Disney Experience (now necessary to book fastpasses online)

Starbucks, Chase, TCF Bank, Paypal, eBay or other credit card program — I contacted Starbucks and was told in no uncertain terms that they “absolutely will NOT be developing a Blackberry app” — hmm.

Delta (There is a downloadable app, which does not open nor run)

Netflix, Hulu, or any other streaming-media software

ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO-Go or any other television streaming application

Siri (although a limited Voice Command program does allow you some siri-like command and search functions)

Most games that have you been playing on your iPhone — in my case ALL games that I had been playing on my iPhone

SO – be warned — this is a sleek, superb phone, and it is far more productive than my iPhone (any version including my current 5) has ever been. But the applications SUCK and without them, I can not recommend any iPhone or Android user switch back to the Q10 despite the superior keyboard. Its a deal breaker. No apps, no use.

For current blackberry users, this is not a no-brainer. Before you upgrade, be sure to check appworld.blackberry.com to see if the applications you currently use will be available on the Q10 — there are a LOT that do not run on the Q10 that you have happily been using on your other older blackberries — surprisingly so. Also many have complained because of the lack of a trackball on the new version – if that is important to you, do not upgrade.

If applications and syncing are of no interest to you, then the Blackberry Q10 is currently THE best offering with a full built-in QWERTY keyboard for all intents and purposes. Go get it now. That keyboard is AMAZING. For me, I am back to my iPhone 5. Other users might similarly want to hold off. For awhile, I was certain that new apps would be appearing relatively quickly — but it appears that is not happening. Existing apps have been getting some upgrades, but my personal contacts with Starbucks, Slingbox, Netflix have all yielded answers from them that they are NOT working on BB10 versions. That’s a shame.

Final Score Card Blackberry Q10 vs iPhone 5:

Keyboard – BBQ10 hands down

Size – tie

Feel in hand when using/talking/texting – BBQ10 hands down

User Experience – iPhone 5

Camera – iPhone 5

Video capability – iPhone 5

Media viewing – iPhone 5

Listening to Music/ease of use – iPhone 5

Software – iPhone 5 hands down (I have 140 apps on my iPhone 5, only 30 of them (or some version of something like them) are available on the BBQ10

Syncing/iCloud integration/Google integration – iPhone 5

Screen size – iPhone 5

Screen clearness – tie

Swipe/navigate experience – iPhone 5

Mapping – iPhone 5, not better overall, but because of Google Maps availability as well

Bluetooth/Wireless connections – tie, easier to manage on iPhone 5

Signal Strength on ATT network – BBQ10 by far

Telephone sound quality – BBQ10

Battery life – BBQ10 by days

Power management – BBQ10 (removable battery, compatible with all microUSB chargers and accessories)

Cases/accessories – iPhone 5

Durability – tie

Speed – tie

Memory – BBQ10 – more built in and expandable cheaply with microSD cards up to 64 gb

Price – BBQ10

Technical Support: ATT – iPhone far better….APPLE – far better overall…Blackberry – friendly but limited, most common answer from tech support “The Blackberry system doesn’t work like that” and “we are still working on that feature”.

WINNER: iPhone 5

Cedar Point Live Shows 2013 (Review)

Another summer of live shows is in full swing at Cedar Point, and it continues to offer the best overall live-park show entertainment outside of Walt Disney World’s theme parks. This year’s offerings are no exception.

Summer Daze at the Palace Theater in Frontiertown offers a front-of-the-park quality show at the back-of-the-park. This is the second year in a row for this super entertaining production that mixes in “summer vacation song” type numbers from Katy Perry to Broadway (kudos to whomever picked great songs from Pump Boys and Dinettes and Ragtime). This year’s cast is very talented and works well together. Musicianship, talent, and chemistry are at work here. The guys in particular dance much better than last year. This is a great place to grab lunch while watching the show, and the food options are much improved.

At the front of the park, the new “On Broadway” mixes-up a lot of Broadway standards in an awards-show format. The cast is strong, and they are given good material to work with here. Its the strongest front-of-park show at the Jack Aldrich Theater in many years. The production makes very few missteps and stars a fresh young cast of nationwide musical theater students in a production that includes songs from old favorites (Hairspray, Les Miz, and Chicago) while liberally sprinkling in lesser known tunes from My Favorite Year, and lesser songs from Jukebox musicals including Million Dollar Quartet and Jersey Boys (though that segment is a bit generic). The “You Can’t Stop the Beat” Hairspray finale is particularly well done. A costume parade is terrific here with instantly recognizable costumes from Broadway musicals (though the My Fair Lady costume represents the movie, not the stage version). Be sure to stop off and end your day with this production as it runs in the late afternoon early evening only.

There’s a fantastic cast in the Frontier Trail’s Red Garter Saloon at “Absolute Country” — its a shame you can’t make out a single word of what they are singing in the highly over-amplified poorly sound-designed ear splitting production. The kids are terrific — and they work very hard to shout their songs out over the high-volume semi-tracked (with live accompaniment) production. For country lovers, you will probably recognize most of these honky-tonk style pop country standards, but if you didn’t already know them, you wouldn’t understand a word of what you are hearing in this mic-mush production. This is also a return show, and it suffered the same mic-problems last season. While I would like to blame it on the accoustics in the theater I can’t — in the old days, performers did their show here WITHOUT any mics, and they were able to be heard by all. The problem here is the sound design.

All Wheels Extreme at the Aquatic Stadium offers its finest show to date. Gone are the old pander-to-the-guys-with-cheerleading-bimbos production values, and instead you now get a 25 minutes of purely stunt-driven high energy production with bikes, scooters, gymnastics, roller skates and a few surprises thrown in. All performed to high-energy summer hip hop and rock tunes, its a fun (and remarkably athletic) production that you shouldn’t miss. But kids, don’t try these stunts at home. Regular watchers of America’s Got Talent will recognize some of the folks in this group from last summer’s tv show. Note that this production is outdoors and is weather dependent. Also, do not sit along the “bird bombardment zone” (the second and third row around the seating area) where even after all these years CP hasn’t figured out how to eliminate the seagull droppings as they perch on the roof around the rim of the theater.

Also returning for another season at the Goodtime Theater is “Happiness Is…Snoopy” ice-skating show. This is the Point’s biggest indoor production with multiple set, costume, and lighting effects. Family friendly to a fault, the show is much improved over last summer’s offering, and the skating stronger overall. Half of the cast returns from last season, while a few newcomers help make things feel fresh and different. Don’t bypass this production, as much as they go out of their way to make it seem like its another Peanuts-pandering kids show…it is not. You’ll be impressed by the skating, and dazzled by the excellent stage design for this full-out ice show.

Luminosity (version 2.0 this year) returns to the Iron Dragon midway, and its a better show than last year. The song selection is better, and the singers stronger. The lighting is updated and the effects look great, and its a great way to end your day at the Point (the show starts at 9:30 and runs about 40 minutes, followed by dancing on the midway to a live DJ that rises from the stage). More people hung out to dance after the show this year, and the better placement (and expansion) of the bar-area behind the light booth certainly helps with the late night energy. You’ll recognize some of the folks you saw in other shows during the day as well. This is a much-needed improvement over the old laser lighting show, and it really sends you out of the park (or back to the resorts) in a great mood. Note that this production is dependent on the weather.

There are several other smaller productions geared toward the kiddees (all themed to Snoopy and the Peanuts gang) throughout the day. The peanuts characters make frequent appearances in Camp Snoopy, and they are more than amenable to taking photos with adults as well. Overall, this is a very strong season of live entertainment at Cedar Point — be sure to take some time out of your coaster-riding day to sit down and enjoy some of the great performers.

What I learned from Smash (if I didn’t know anything about theater)

If I didn’t know anything about theater, Broadway, or musical theater, here is what I would have taken away from the now-cancelled series SMASH which ended its run last night on NBC:

The girl that doesn’t act, look, sing, or dance like Marilyn will get cast as Marilyn because she was on American Idol.

Everyone lives in the theater district in NYC: nobody drives a car, let alone goes home to New Jersey at the end of the night. All cast members walk to work, they don’t take the subway, busses, taxis, or bikes. Nobody has to take the train home to Flushing, Westchester, or anywhere else for that matter. A few of the cast might live as far away as Dumbo in Brooklyn. They walk there.

The director makes all hiring and firing decisions, and he can decide what you will do on the Tonys without notifying anyone, in fact, he can make any changes he wants even seconds before the performance on live TV.

You can fully cast a multi-million dollar musical before you even have a script and score ready to go (although I guess Motown the Musical might have proven this to be true).

The director sleeps with every woman he wants to cast. Its just the way it goes. In fact the director sleeps with women.

Out of town theaters can become available for a pre-Broadway tryout with one phone call. They can have a full house at the first preview just three days later, including newspaper coverage.

You can move a mediocre off-Broadway show to Broadway, because theaters are instantly available, and you can do so overnight.

When a new director takes over a show, mostly he is in charge of how to make scene changes happen during intermission, and the union crew is available at his beck and call.

The new girl gets the role, even when not right for it, because she has “that certain something”.

A big finish will help them forget what came before — especially when its set to practically the same tune as the finale for Catch Me If You Can.

A major broadway director will drop everything and go to the aide of an unwritten mediocre-at-best Off-Broadway musical because he “believes” in his girlfriend’s judgement.

The Outer Critic awards take place in a small dining room with about 25 guests. Oh, and while we’re at it: you can pick up a dead person’s tickets and use them for your friends at the Tony’s.

Shows and major decisions made about them are influenced entirely by whom is sleeping with whom, because everyone cares about that.

You can add a new number to the show between matinee and evening, and have a complete new set and costumes ready to go for that performance.

Nobody uses body mics, there is no backstage crew, and there is no tech rehearsal necessary to make it just happen. Probably because the new director took care of all of that himself.

If you cast the right people in the leads, everything else will happen by itself. (That is only true in community theater).

If you need a really really really really really big movie star to play your lead on Broadway, bring in Sean Hayes.

You can just fire the best performer in your show (Will Chase) because the book-writer slept with him and the book-writer thinks its a bad idea for him to stick around. The book-writer can bypass union rules to do so, because the book-writer is the most important person in your artistic staff.

Speaking of book and score writing: apparently the shows write themselves because the writers are too busy sleeping around and drinking wine at the local bar. The latter is pre-requisite to take over the role of director for a major multi-million dollar musical.

There are no musical directors on Broadway. Music rehearsals don’t take place, just performance quality scenes, and the Musical Director apparently only conducts the orchestra.

And the coolest thing I learned from Smash….when you win the Tony for Best Musical, you can bring your just-out-of-jail boyfriend on stage with you to accept the award.

“Catch Me if You Can” tour review.

The non-AEA tour of the Broadway musical “Catch Me If You Can” makes its second local stop this week and next at the Fisher Theater in Detroit (It was at Wharton Center in East Lansing last month).

See my original review from the Broadway production for a more detailed review, but let me say that this is a very strong tour, with a very good (and VERY young) cast that works hard and delivers the evening’s highly entertaining production with no concerns about the non-union tour quality. Great performances are delivered by all.

The sets have been whittled down, but they are colorful and effective, though they rely more on video than did the original. Lighting is very colorful, and costuming is virtually intact from the Broadway production and everyone looks great in them, in particular Frank Jr. played by the stupendously talented Stephen Anthony (who, by the way for those who need to know these things does NOT take his clothing off for those scenes that Aaron Tveit made so memorable in NYC).

Overall, this is an electric ensemble cast — they are in character and spot-on entertaining throughout the 2.5 hour production, and there are many future Broadway stars among this (very good looking) cast, not the least of whom is Anthony. Recommended.

Ron’s Broadway Musical Awards 2012-2013 season

Best New Musical – Tie: Matilda and Kinky Boots

Best Revival of a Musical – Pippin

Best Director of a Musical – Diane Paulus, Pippin

Best Choreographer of a Musical – Chet Walker, Pippin

Best Book of a New Musical – Dennis Kelly, Matilda

Best Score of a New Musical – Cyndi Lauper, Kinky Boots

Best Actor in a Musical – Bertie Carvel, Matilda

Best Featured Actor in a Musical – Will Chase, Mystery of Edwin Drood

Best Actress in a Musical – Patina Miller, Pippin

Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Andrea Martin, Pippin

Best Costume Design in a Musical – William Ivey Long, Cinderella

Best Set Design in a Musical – Scott Pask, Pippin

Best Lighting in a Musical – Kenneth Pausner, Pippin

Best Broadway Tour of a Musical 2012-2013 – Anything Goes

Pippin Broadway revival (Review) — Spectacular

PIPPIN, revived by American Repertory Theater and opening this week at The Music Box Theater in NYC is, in a word, Spectacular.

This is turning into an exciting season: I feel sad because this year’s Best Revival of a Musical award would have otherwise gone to the excellent “Mystery of Edwin Drood” which I loved very much…but along comes the year’s other Best Revival of a Musical – PIPPIN, which I loved even more.

Re-staged (but incorporating much of Fosse’s original choreography by Chet Walker), director Diane Paulus sets the action in a circus-themed environment where Gypsy Snider of Les 7 doigts de la Main has created the circus stunts and effects. The circus performers are so well integrated into the ensemble cast of this production that you really can’t tell who is who — and that is Broadway magic.

Matthew James Thomas plays Pippin, and he is in excellent vocal and physical shape. He almost seems to mold himself from insecure nobody, to physical hunk before your very eyes. Patina Miller plays the Lead Player, and while it isn’t a definitive career move like it was for Ben Vereen, she is none-the-less perfectly cast and sings/dances up a storm. She is particularly good in the Fosse recreations within the “Manson Dance” and cakewalk sequence (which has been moved, inexplicably, toward the end of the show).

Terrence Man is a commanding King, Charlotte d’Amboise a wild-limbed but never out of control Queen Fastrada, and Rachel Bay Jones plays an endearing Catherine. Erik Altemus is an athletic and entertaining brother Lewis (among many of his other parts).

But that leads me to hand-her-the-T0ny Andrea Martin as grandmother Berthe. In the Irene Ryan role (and probably on stage a full 10 minutes in this production) she is going to walk away with gold come Tony night (and just about every other award night, mind you) for her trapeze-swinging performance. Its rare that you see a real showstopper these days, and this one does, and it deserves it. 66-year old Martin makes it look easy and with a wink and a smile she’s on her way. And talk about a show that everybody now knows: her sing-along is tremendous fun and I didn’t see a single person sitting around me that didn’t know the words! While Pippin is re-appearing in NYC again for the first time since the 70’s, it has been done by countless high school, college, community, and regional theaters for all these long years in between. I have personally directed it three times already.

There are some curious changes — in particular almost all the verses in “War is a Science” have been rewritten. New words are substituted in places throughout many of the “standards” which is a bit off-putting in a score that every man, woman, and child in the audience knows by heart. There is also an intermission added — which makes the under-two hour production now run 2 and a half hours and interrupts the flow, although as the Lead Player states leading into it “attention spans these days aren’t what they used to be.” Roger O Hirson’s book has been changed very little from the original, although some of the dialogue scenes in Act II which were so zippily played in throw-away in the original, here tend to drag on a bit.

Diane Paulus’s direction, overall, is fast-paced and clever. Things happen similarly to the Fosse original, and yet very differently at the same time — but never once in the evening does one feel that the show is far from the spirit of the original — and as things start to veer out of control in the larger dance numbers, she cleverly brings your eye back to the very original heart of Pippin still beating inside the modern staging…the hand claps and head turns are all still there in “War is a Science”…the aforementioned Manson Dance is there in its entirety complete with hand gestures and pelvic thrusts…the spear-carriers are there with their instantly recognizable stance…and once “On the Right Track” hits its stride about three quarters of the way through, you see a cast that not only channels Fosse, but excels in doing so and in some ways, outdoes the original.

In almost all ways, this new staging is superior to the original — its zippier, better focused, and better designed. The circus theme works well, and looks great on Scott Pask’s colorful set. Kenneth Posner provides excellent lighting, and Dominique Lemieux’s costumes take notes from the 70’s original, but create something all its own. She has better bodies to work with (the lithe thin lines of the original’s ensemble are here replaced by muscle in both men and women) and understands clothing flow to make it all look just right. Men’s shirts come and go throughout the evening, and women appear in various layers of clothing throughout.

And finally, oh that score. Stephen Schwartz’s songs stand the test of time – from “Corner of the Sky” to the stirring “Morning Glow”, the sing-along of “No Time at All”, and the lovely ballads “With You” and “Love Song” and all the tuneful rest. This is the way shows used to be written — lots of great songs strung together with creative choreography which made the whole greater than the sum of the parts it made of. Wink nod.

Highly recommended — and quite possibly one of the overall best musicals currently running on Broadway, new or revived.

Motown the Musical on Broadway review

Move over Mamma Mia and Jersey Boys, Motown the Musical has taken your place as audience favorite…and count me in. I loved it.
The book by Berry Gordy is weak: but the music is a dream. Rapidly directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and zippily choreographed by Patricia Wilcox and Warren Adams, the show barrels along over 67 Motown hit songs, some fully realized, some truncated.
The audience reaction throughout the show is ecstatic, clearly hitting an emotional note resulting in spontaneous applause, sing-alongs and shout-backs. This is probably the first rock musical ever aimed directly at 50 to 80 year olds. And boy, did the house love it at my performance this afternoon. And so did I.
The very talented cast is entirely interchangeable with the exception of the superb Brandon Victor Dixon as Gordy; Valisia LeKae as Diana Ross, and a heart-melting Charl Brown as Smokey Robinson.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not art. This is something different–a musical entertainment clearly meant to entertain and there is nothing wrong with that. Seen the afternoon after the nation sat rapt watching the capture of the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, the Act One finish to “War, What is it Good For” was absolutely stirring.
Motown the Musical is recommended. But its sold out through September so good luck with your ticket search.