BROADWAY HEAT: The Championship! Round One

Well, this is it! After what has been an...odd...season, and after 11 individual competitions and well over a thousand votes, we are now ready for the biggest poll of the whole year:

The 2019-2020 Season

BROADWAY HEAT CHAMPIONSHIP

🔥🔥THE FINALISTS🔥🔥

Robyn Hurder Moulin Rouge!   Sam Leicht The Lightning Thief   Adrienne Warren Tina

Antonio Cipriano Jagged Little Pill  Adolfo Menas Cejas West Side Story

Colton Ryan Girl From the North Country

Brittney Mack Six   Matt Doyle Company   Tomas Matos Diana

Travis Waldschmidt Mrs. Doubtfire   Brendan C. Callahan Sing Street

🔥🔥CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THIS YEAR'S FINALISTS!🔥🔥

THIS POLL HAS CLOSED. THE FINALS START ON MONDAY, JUNE 1 AT 7 AM!

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Broadway Games: Password Alphabetics

Been spending some time at home alone watching old game shows. Password is one of my favorites. If you don't know the game, celebrities and their contestant partners give one word clues until the other guesses the "password." In the late 70's version, Password Plus, the winner of the game went on to a bonus round called "Alphabetics." That round had a series of 10 alphabetically ordered passwords, and the celebrity would give one word clues. If the contestant could guess all 10 passwords in order, they won $5000!

Well, I don't have any prize money to give away, but I do want to play! Here is a list of 10 theater related passwords, from A-J, that cover names, shows and other show terms. Can you guess all 10 with just the one clue provided?

Broadway Games:

Password + Alphabetics

LETTER	ANSWER	CLUE
C	?	Wilkommen

Example: The letter is "C." The clue is "Wilkommen." The answer is "Cabaret."

Good luck!

LETTER	ANSWER	CLUE
A	?	tomorrow
B	?	Dolly
C	?	outfit
D	?	Applegate
E	?	union
F	?	dreamed
G	?	bubble
H	?	Henry
I	?	Tony
J	?	pies

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Standing @ Zero: Harry Potter's Spencer LaRue

By now, this month's Standing @ Zero Hero would be a full two months into his Broadway debut. But, just because COVID-19 had other ideas, it doesn't mean we can't celebrate a new talent, right? The young man in question is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, and a Year 3 cast member of the New York Company of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Once he gets this show under his belt, we are willing to bet that Spencer LaRue will have a long, successful career ahead of him!

Standing @ Zero

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child's

Spencer LaRue

In addition to his upcoming Broadway debut in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 and 2, he also appeared at 54 Below in 2019 in the University of Michigan Senior Showcase. Regionally, he's been in two different productions of Disney's Newsies, as Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd, Disaster! with Seth Rudetsky, and Oklahoma!

Disney's Newsies

Oklahoma!

Disaster!

Sweeney Todd

U of M's Senior Showcase at 54 Below

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BEST OF THE DECADE: 10 Favorite Broadway Play Revivals

Yesterday, we began our series about the "Best" of the last decade, from the 2010-2011 season, through the just ended 2019-2020 season. Today, Mike and I name what we considered to be the 10 best Broadway play revivals. I thought this would be difficult since there were a lot of really great classics brought vividly, vibrantly to life, often with new urgency. Without further ado, here are our choices:

The Best of the Decade:

Jeff and Mike's 10 Favorite 

Broadway Play Revivals

10. King Lear (2019): This was a difficult production, with some head-scratching qualities and many non-traditional directorial choices. Nonetheless, some of the best shows are often the most "messy" and challenging. That was certainly the case here. And any chance to see the great Glenda Jackson perform is time well spent. The bonus was getting to see firsthand the talents of Ruth Wilson.

 

9. The Cripple of Inishmaan (2014): Mike and I are longtime fans of playwright Martin McDonagh, so when this play came to Broadway, we had to see it. Our estimation of the the talents of Daniel Radcliffe certainly grew after seeing his charming, devilish performance; his monologue stays with me still.

8. Twelfth Night, or What You Will (2013): What a thrilling production, done in the style of a traditional Globe Theater presentation. We sat on stage, which afforded a great view not only of the play itself, but the dramatic mechanics of the staging. Mark Rylance, Stephen Fry and Samuel Barnett were each superb.

7. Noises Off (2016): I remember this one vividly - I had stomach cramps from laughing so hard at the mayhem in front of me. The cast was perfection, including a delightfully daffy performance from Megan Hilty, as well as a crazy amount of physical comedy from the likes of Andrea Martin, Rob McClure, Daniel Davis and Jeremy Shamos. and how about that set design by Derek McLane??

6. The Boys in the Band (2018): An important play in the history of gay theater, this harsh piece managed to be both quaintly dated and sharply relevant. Under the sure hand of director Joe Mantello, this all-gay, all-star production was amazing. Talk about a superb ensemble cast! There truly wasn't a weak link. Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells and Matt Bomer did the heavy lifting, with excellent support from Robin de Jesus, Brian Hutchinson, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tuc Watkins and Charlie Carver. Unforgettable.

5. The Waverly Gallery (2018): This gripping memory play also featured a brilliant ensemble cast: Joan Allen, Michael Cera, and David Cromer all gave excellent performances. But the real revelation of this play was the debut of Lucas Hedges and the earth-shattering portrayal of the decline of a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease by Tony-winner Elaine May. Hers was one of the most realistic (and overwhelming) performance I have ever witnessed. I had zero sense that she was acting, so great was she. What a privilege to have seen it.

4. Three Tall Women (2018): 2018 was a hell of a year for play revivals! This amazing play was the fastest 100 minutes I've ever spent in a theater, I think. I don't even remember breathing, I was so riveted. Joe Mantello once again delivered a tightly directed production, with three women all at the top of their game - Tony-winners Glenda Jackson and Laurie Metcalf, and the woefully underrated Alison Pill. And that stage effect... wow!

3. The Normal Heart (2011): Given the current circumstances, The Normal Heart seems even more relevant than it did in 2011; in 2011 it felt just as relevant as it must have been in 1985 when it premiered. Great plays are like that, aren't they? Again, the ensemble brought together for this production was truly amazing. Lead by Tony-winners Joe Mantello (this time acting his ass off!), John Benjamin Hickey (heartbreaking) and Ellen Barkin (brilliant intensity), the cast basically pinned us to our seats by the sheer force of their passion for the piece. Lee Pace and Jim Parsons made confident Broadway debuts. The final tableau elicited sobs, and we were sent out of the theater ready to continue the fight.

2. The Glass Menagerie (2013): My favorite play of all time, I probably have unrealistic expectations for any production, but I had no complaints about this revival directed by John Tiffany, as notable for its style (that set by Bob Crowley...that lighting by Natasha Katz...that sofa...) as it is for its cast. Each actor brought something new and vibrant to roles very familiar to me, thus illuminating Williams' masterwork in exciting ways. All for actors were quite simply brilliant: Cherry Jones, Zachary Quinto, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Brian J. Smith. The next production I see will have a lot to live up to.

1. Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika (2018): I had the chance to see Millennium Approaches when it premiered in the 90's, but nothing prepared me for the life-changing event that was the revival. Alternately intimate and epic, this production was shocking, provoking and life-affirming. Marianne Elliott crafted such a mind-blowing experience it is hard to put into words. We laughed, we cried, we got angry. What an honor to see this company, including my favorite performance ever by multiple Tony-winner Nathan Lane, a riveting turn by Andrew Garfield (winning a much deserved Tony for his efforts), and jaw-dropping work from Lee Pace, Denise Gough, James McArdle, and Amanda Lawrence (as the Angel). I'm still in awe.

Honorable mention: Gore Vidal's The Best Man (2012)

#2324

BEST OF THE DECADE: 10 Favorite Off-Broadway Shows

In the midst of all the craziness, I completely lost track of the end of the 2019-2020 season! Did it even really end? Anyway, for the sake of argument, let's say it ended as scheduled. Normally, we'd do a series of "Season in Review" posts, but we missed more than we saw, so that's out. BUT, since I have maintained (Mike disagrees, but will play along) that the second decade of the Broadway 21st century started with the 2010 - 2011 season, that means that the last of the decade was the 2019 - 2020 season. And so, we have collaborated on a series of Best of the Decade lists.

First up: our 10 favorite Off-Broadway shows. We missed more than we saw, but what we did see was mostly terrific. Even so, coming up with just 10 was a challenge. Here's what we ended up with:

The Best of the Decade:

Jeff and Mike's 10 Favorite 

Off-Broadway Shows

10. Death Takes a Holiday (2011): With a gorgeous Maury Yeston score, and a cast filled with some of our favorite actors (Rebecca Luker, Julian Ovendon, Matt Cavenaugh, Max von Essen, Alexandra Socha, Linda Balgourd, Mara Davi, Jill Paice), we both really enjoyed this production. Disappointing that it didn't go further.

9. Here Lies Love (2014): Amazing how a completely immersive (a vibrant disco) production where you are never seated as the action moves around the room could seem both epic and intimate at the same time. Most theater goers would think that a collaboration between Fatboy Slim and David Byrne as a concept album about Imelda Marcos would be unlikely to begin with, but as a theater piece? No way! And yet, it worked - it was thrilling and fun. Under the direction of Alex Timbers, and with the talents of no less than Ruthie Ann Miles, Conrad Ricamora and Jose Llana, it was definitely an experience that will stay with us forever.

8. Carrie (2012): Like most musical theater fans, we always wish we had seen the Broadway production. When a revised version of the show came to be at MCC Theater, there was no way we were missing it. We loved it, and the cast recording remains a favorite that I return to regularly. The icing on the cake was the amazing cast, lead by Molly Ranson and the incomparable Marin Mazzie, both giving intense gorgeous performances. The rest of the company included several favorites: Christy Altomare, Derek Klena, Jeanna de Waal, Ben Thompson, Carmen Cusack, Wayne Alan Wilcox and Andy Mientus.

7. Passion (2013): We saw a ton of Sondheim over the last 10 years, and we had to see John Doyle's take on the master's most challenging and divisive works. Both of us had seen the Broadway original and were very interested to see how well it held up. I think we both enjoyed this intimate production even more. Ryan Silverman was new to us at the time, and we've sought him out ever since his riveting Giorgio. Melissa Errico was a lovely Clara, and Judy Kuhn's Fosca was a revelation.

6. Dogfight (2012): Somewhat unpopular opinion here: this is my favorite Pasek and Paul musical to date. A vibrant score, a compelling story and a top-notch cast conspired to give one of the most enjoyable, emotional evenings of theater we had. The show featured heartbreaking performances from both Derek Klena and future Tony-winner Lindsay Mendez, along with a superlative supporting cast that included another future Tony-winner, Annaleigh Ashford and Josh Segarra.

5. Pacific Overtures (2017): A lot of purists took great issue with this pared down John Doyle version. We both adored it, and still lament that no cast recording was made. The recent Sondheim 90th event brought it all back, with the charming performance of "Someone in a Tree" by revival cast members Ann Harada, Kelvin Moon Loh, Thom Sesma and Austin Ku.

4. Fun Home (2013): We were stunned and overwhelmed by the off-Broadway version on the show. And we were riveted by the performances of Michael Cerveris, Judy Kuhn, Beth Malone, Alexandra Socha and Sydney Lucas. Thank goodness this masterpiece had a further life. Spoiler alert: This is not the last time you'll see this title!

3. Little Shop of Horrors (2019): We adored this intimate, smaller scale production. What a joyous couple of hours! Christian Borle was perfectly crazy and over the top and Jonathan Groff was charmingly nerdy. And we got to see a star turn by a star of the future, Chelsea Turbin, as Audrey. I hope this show survives the virus.

2. Sweeney Todd (2017): The tiny "pie shop," the tiny orchestra and the tiny cast created one giant show! As brilliant as ever, the production was funny and actually scary. Being literal inches from Sweeney's razor during "Epiphany" was a thrill I won't soon forget. We saw the superb Hugh Panaro and, perhaps my favorite Mrs. Lovett of all time, Carolee Carmello. We are both so glad we didn't miss out on this one.

1. The Most Happy Fella (2014): Encores! did a beautiful job with this achingly beautiful musical. What a score! What a story! What a cast! Not just one of my favorite shows of the decade, this production is one of my favorite ever. Mike loved it, too. We were both so glad to see Shuler Hensley, Cheyenne Jackson, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Heidi Blickenstaff and a truly wondrous performance by Laura Benanti. Would love to see a big Broadway revival of this show!

Honorable Mention: Allegro (2014), Bare: The Musical (2012), Dear Evan Hansen (2016), Lysistrata Jones (2011)

#2323