At This Theatre: The Eugene O'Neill

Over the years, I've been fortunate to have seen a variety of shows at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. With a play, new and revival musicals over the past 40 years of seeing shows there, "variety" is the best way to describe it. Fortunately for the venue, it's had a giant hit show there for the last 15 years; unfortunately, that means it has been that long since I've returned after seeing an early post-opening performance.

At This Theatre:

The Eugene O'Neill

This historic theater began life almost 101 years ago as the Forrest Theatre, and in 1945 was renamed the Coronet. Then, in 1959, it was renamed for playwright Eugene O'Neill. Over the years, dozens of shows have come and gone, starting with a musical called Mayflowers. In 1934, after years of short runs, the play Tobacco Road opened and stayed put until 1941; to this day, it is still one of Broadway's longest running shows. The 40s saw several original productions of Arthur Miller plays, including the very first Best Play Tony winner, All My Sons. As the Eugene O'Neill, the theater opened with a short-lived William Inge play, A Loss of Roses. Today, we'd have said the venue was cursed in the next several years of flop after flop. 

Then in the early 60s, luck seemed to change with back to back decent runs of Herb Gardner's A Thousand Clowns, and the now-classic musical, She Loves Me. Then the theater could have been renamed the Neil Simon, when it played host to a string of his plays, including the debut of The Odd Couple, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Good Doctor, California Suite and Chapter Two, among others. In 1983, the Eugene O'Neill was host to one of Broadway's most storied flops, the one-night failure, Moose Murders. The mid-80s brought another change of fortunes, with the long-running Best Musical, Big River, which is where I came in!

NUMBER OF SHOWS WE'VE SEEN THERE: 7

Big River, M. Butterfly, Grease! (1994), The Full Monty, Sweeney Todd (1995), Spring Awakening, The Book of Mormon

5 FAVORITE SHOWS WE'VE SEEN THERE:

Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1985)

Though the show opened in 1985, I didn't get to it until just over 40 years ago in 1986. What luck! A newcomer to the Broadway scene named Marin Mazzie made her debut as Mary Jane Wilkes. She was, of course, amazing. The whole show was pretty amazing, actually. One of my favorite stories of all time was made even more exciting and beautiful with the score by Roger Miller, and Des McAnuff's directorial debut (both Tony Award winners for their efforts). It remains, all these years later, one of my fondest Broadway memories.

M. Butterfly (1988)

Still one of the most stunning pieces of theater I've ever seen, this play of high drama, romance, espionage and sexual intrigue, was a sensation that earned every accolade it received. When I saw it, B.D. Wong was still mesmerizing as Song Liling, and John Rubenstein was a marvel as the duped Rene Gallimard. I remember sitting there, mouth agape throughout the play, dazzled not only by the brilliance of playwright David Henry Hwang, the music of Puccini, and the smart direction of John Dexter. The gorgeous scenic and costume designs of Eiko Ishioka and Andy Phillips' artful lighting design brought the whole thing together. Wong, Hwang and Dexter were all awarded 1988 Tony Awards for this thrilling piece of art.

The Full Monty (2001)

This was the show that made me fall in love with the musical talents of David Yazbek, who made his Broadway debut with this fun and affirming show with a book by the great Terrence McNally. This is also the show that brought the likes of Patrick Wilson, Jason Danieley and Romain Fruge to my attention, and gave me the chance to see such legends as Annie Golden, Kathleen Freeman and Andre de Shields in action. It was also the show that began my admiration of that barefoot conducting wonder that is Kimberly Grigsby. This show was my favorite of that season by a mile, even if The Producers took all of its thunder. I can't wait for the upcoming revival.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2005)

Needless to say, this Sondheim masterpiece is an all-time favorite of mine, and this unique John Doyle staging made it a must-see. Add in the great Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone as Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett and I couldn't get tickets fast enough. I don't think I'll ever forget the high comedy of Ms. LuPone prancing around playing the tuba, and the terrifying understatement of her pouring out buckets of blood as the body count rose. A complete departure from previous more lavish stagings, this minimalist approach somehow added to the thrills.

Spring Awakening (2007)

I first saw this modern masterpiece in its off-Broadway incarnation, and was both thrilled and dubious about it moving to Broadway. I loved it from the first seconds all the way through its tragic conclusion. Part of its charm, I thought, was the intimate, rustic venue at the Atlantic Theatre. Still, I had to see it again, and was happily surprised to see the nearly exact replica of the set on the O'Neill stage. My concerns vanished immediately when the show started and the young cast bounded on stage to begin. Literal books have been written about this show and its company, so I don't think I can add much. Suffice it to say, I saw this production several times over its Broadway run and several times in later years. I still love it so very much.