Broadway Games: Anagrams - People Edition

Last week's game was such a hit, we thought we'd try another round of Broadway Anagrams. Instead of show titles, this week is all about show people!

Broadway Games:
Anagrams - People Edition

Since last week was kind of challenging, we are mixing it up by adding a new level to the game. Clues to what the anagrams are are in the right column. Match the clue to the anagram in the left column. Good luck!

1. Joyous Client                        A. She’s played two real-life people on Broadway.

2. He Hires Jargon                   B. We’ve been crazy for this choreographer for years.

3. Rude And Drawn                  C. He sings “Music, Money, Love” in New York, New York.

4. Wet Elf Boys                        D. They just won a Tony Award.

5. Nylon Actor                         E. She's a Tony nominee for From The North Country.

6. Sun Tan Morass                 F. Her look back is now theatrical legend.

7. A Medical Domain               G. He plays Arthur’s rival for Guenevere’s affections.

8. An Odd Coin Jar                 H. He’s the hunky Beau in Shucked.

9. Mean Arm Whining             I. She’s the “other” Anne Hathaway.

10. Mushier Tan Line              J. This young man earned a Tony nod for his debut.

STOP SCROLLING NOW UNLESS YOU ARE READY TO SEE THE ANSWERS!

1. Justin Cooley J                            6. Susan Stroman B

2. J. Harrison Ghee D                     7. Micaela Diamond A

3. Andrew Durand H                        8. Jordan Donica D

4. Betsy Wolfe I                                9. Mare Winningham E

5. Colton Ryan C                            10. Ruthie Ann Miles F    

Opinion: Is Fun Enough For a Good Broadway Musical?

Opinion: 
Is Fun Enough For a 

Good Broadway Musical?

 

 

The reviews I post are, I think, well-considered and honest. And I really enjoy getting your feedback. My favorite type of feedback might surprise you: when readers don't agree with me. Well, I'll be more specific. Even when readers don't agree with me, they are respectful and try to understand my views. Those are the kind I love, a dialog between true fans of the theater where differences of opinion are opportunities to learn, grow, and see things in a new way.

Then there are the ones where people are, well, mean. Accusatory. Insulting. It usually happens when I don't like a show. "You just didn't get it." "You like everything, so why are you dumping on this?" It's just as true when I like something where the court of social media has collectively turned up its nose at a show. You should have seen some of the emails I got when I liked Bad Cinderella.

But this time around, I really didn't like Once Upon a One More Time. Hell hath no fury like a Britney fan. Oh I heard it all. "You have no taste." "It was perfect. You must be old." (For the record, I've enjoyed Ms. Spears since her earliest hits when they actually came out, which does make me old, I guess.) But the most grating response, that I heard from multiple people, including a "legit critic" from a popular Broadway website, is that I don't like "fun" musicals. What??!!

Let me respond by saying when I see a new show, I assume I'll have fun. Maybe I need to explain this. For me, all musicals have the potential to be fun. Fun means that I was entertained. Maybe I laughed a lot. Maybe I cried. Maybe I was dazzled by big, splashy dance numbers, stunning sets and costumes. Or maybe I was awed by a sparse, but packed with theatricality, staging. My point is that Sondheim can be fun. Rogers and Hammerstein can be fun. An ABBA musical can be fun. So can a Britney Spears musical.

 

But is "fun" alone enough to make me love a show? Sure. Let's be honest, Mamma Mia and Moulin Rouge! are really meant to be fun diversions, and they are wildly successful musicals. Head Over Heels, the same thing, but not as successful. I loved all three, all for a variety of reasons, including the fact that they are simply fun. But they are all also very well staged. All are clever and even thought provoking. Their stories are simple but compelling, and their characters have depth, even in their silliest moments. None of these criteria are (in my opinion) in One More Time.

Although all of these examples are jukebox musicals - which seem to bring out the best and worst in theater fans - there are plenty of shows that are meant to be fun that are more traditional. The same year that Mamma Mia came to town, so too, did Urinetown and Thoroughly Modern Millie. The former was hilarious and irreverent, but it was also smart and clever, winning Best Book and Best Score. The latter was also meant only to be a fun extravaganza. It won Best Musical. I enjoyed all three - Urinetown checked all my musical theater boxes; Millie was a fun throwback (and the one I liked the least of the three). And yet it was Mamma Mia! that I saw an embarrassing number of times. I loved the music, the staging, and the characters. I was guaranteed to be swept away for two and a half hours.

Musical theater history is full of "fun" shows that want nothing more that to give audiences a good time: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Damn Yankees and Bye, Bye Birdie are great Golden Age examples. There is a reason that these shows are still produced and popular more than half a century after they were first produced. Every show doesn't even need to be a comedy to be fun. Look at Parade, The Band's Visit, Titanic. I loved them all and had a fun time at each. 

 

You see, fun for me is a show that makes me feel alive and better off than when I arrived at the theater. That means my mind, heart and appreciation for the effort have all been sated. I guess that the answer to the question posed in the title of this piece is no. Fun alone is not enough for a good Broadway musical.

For me it isn't. Maybe it is for you. I'm glad Once Upon a One More Time is there for you. And I won't call you names or call your taste into question.

2023 - 2024 Broadway Musical Logos: Here Lies Love

The second musical of this very new season has begun previews on Broadway at the Broadway Theater! What better time then to take a closer look at its show art?

2023 - 2024 Broadway Musical Logos:

Here Lies Love

Having seen this show a few years ago at the Public, I can already say that the current logo really does capture the essence of the production, and the color pallet this time around is a welcome upgrade from previous iterations. (You may have noticed that when I highlight things in our articles I often use a similar red, orange, yellow and purple combination frequently.) When you see how it all works together on the marquee, it really works! Somehow, it is a warm and inviting and gloriously disco dance party all at once.

Font-wise, these bubble letters that remind one of neon tubes fairly scream 70's-80's entertainment. They are simple, easy to read letters, and yet complicated enough to hold your gaze in those precious seconds where how key art is seen equals a purchase decision. Wisely, the powers that be recognize that, depending on the form and format of how the key art is arranged/used, color matters. 

The centerpiece of this key art, the mirror ball, signals a couple important things: era: disco, genre: dance party. And importantly, this is a musical. As far as the actual content, the entirety of the image reveals nothing about the subject matter. All you know is that it's a fun time period, and a musical whose title includes the word "love" sounds like a good time. Smart.

Let's be honest, David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim are likely more of a draw than the subject matter of Here Lies Love. Remember how I said, "the entirety of the image reveals nothing about the subject matter?" Well, that's not really true. For the savvy Broadway theater-goer who researches the shows they see, there's some pretty cool nods to the Philippines - locale of the show - cleverly hidden in plain sight. The national flag of the island nation includes an 8 beam sun and 3 gold stars in a triangle formation. Note that there are 8 beams of light emanating from the disco ball and three golden spots of light forming a triangle around that ball. 

And then there's the tagline: "The Revolutionary Musical Experience." What a great play on words! "Revolutionary" implies new, exciting, different. All great things for a show. It also implies an overthrow of a government, which the show is definitely about. The show is definitely one you experience - you are part of it. The tagline is one that lures you in and gives you an "in the know" smarts after you see it.

In short, this logo is pretty brilliant. It is vibrant and fun - it will look great on posters, magnets and t-shirts. And it is super intelligent.

If it only didn't look like a Corona virus model... 😉  Grade: A

A Dreamy Gas Bow: A Ram Sang

A Dreamy Gas Bow:

A Ram Sang

In honor of Broadway's newest Best Musical, we are going full Seth Weetis with today's game! 

Here are 10 anagrams that will result in the titles of Broadway shows. Figure out all ten and get a free rental and a soda at Skater Planet!

1. Nightlife Thing

2. No Wet Ruin

3. Ill Mob Cheer

4. Dot Whines Too

5. Granola Poets

6. Ship Array

7. Omit One Strength

8. Many Sneaked

9. I Lure Gun Moo

10. Frog Territory Lunch Month

STOP SCROLLING NOW 
UNLESS YOU ARE READY TO SEE THE ANSWERS!

A Dreamy Gas Bow:

Broadway Games:

A Ram Sang

Anagrams

1. Nightlife Thing - Lightning Thief

2. No Wet Ruin - Urinetown

3. Ill Mob Cheer - Be More Chill

4. Dot Whines Too - Into the Woods

5. Granola Poets - A Strange Loop

6. Ship Array - Hairspray

7. Omit One Strength - Something Rotten

8. Many Sneaked - Damn Yankees

9. I Lure Gun Moo - Moulin Rouge

10. Frog Territory Lunch Month - Girl From The North Country

ReDISCoveries: Bernarda Alba (World Premiere Recording, Part Two)

  ReDISCoveries: Bernarda Alba 
(World Premiere Recording, Part Two)

Catch up on Part One HERE

Jeff has kindly invited me to revisit and review some of the older cast recordings in my collection. Every other week or so, I’ll write about a new CD, offering some general impressions followed by my thoughts about each individual song. I continue this week with the 2006 World Premiere Recording of Michael John LaChiusa’s Bernarda Alba.

I recently read the play The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca, which is the basis of LaChiusa’s musical. The adaptation is quite faithful, but the musical expands on the action of the play in some interesting ways. In particular, it’s not possible in a play to assign each character an “I Want” kind of monologue without interrupting the narrative, but such a thing is entirely possible within the conventions of a musical, and LaChiusa takes full advantage of that. One literally has to read between the lines to know the personality of each of Bernarda’s daughters in the play, but in the musical this can be made clear in the span of a brief song. 

LaChiusa’s music for Bernarda Alba, along with Michael Starobin’s orchestrations, incorporate flamenco conventions that have likely not been seen or heard on many New York stages. A very busy percussionist isn’t the only source of pulsation, as members of the cast create their own rhythms though copious stomping. Another musician plays pre-modern instruments like the shawm, a double-reed woodwind that sounds as if an oboe were trying to drown out a trumpet played at full blast. Singers regularly make otherworldly barking and yelping noises, and syllables are spread over multiple tortuous notes. Be prepared for sudden outbursts that include all of these effects at once.

If this all sounds like a bit of a slog, the compensating rewards are well worth the effort. There is some striking and unique music here, along with a great deal of more traditional lyricism amidst all the apparent chaos. There’s not much plot until near the end, giving LaChiusa the opportunity to write a series of intensely character-based songs - and there are certainly some worthy characters in this show, each of whom gets a song or two to sing, with striking variation in style and tone. 

THE SONGS

I use a star (*) to mark the songs I particularly like, and my overall favorite gets two stars (**).

I Will Dream of What I Saw: All of the younger women are doing some ogling here as some young workers in the town walk to their jobs. Aside from contributing to the buildup of libidinous energy that will drive the remainder of the show’s plot, this song is fairly negligible.

**Poncia: This is my favorite vocal performance on the recording, and it’s a great, laser-focused piece of songwriting. Poncia (Candy Buckley) finally gets to speak her full mind about her boss Bernarda Alba, and she pulls no punches: she savors the day when she’ll get to “watch, oh so silently, the house of Bernarda fall.” The music and lyrics are equally chilling.

Limbrada’s Daughter: A neighbor’s daughter is about to suffer some terrible consequences for having a child out of wedlock, and Bernarda (Phylicia Rashad) seizes on the opportunity as a teachable moment for her daughters, intoning to the show’s most menacing music that “all women who lust in sin must die.”

*One Moorish Girl/The Smallest Stream: After the servants engage in some playful sexual innuendo (to some very beautiful vocal arrangements), Bernarda sings her final dirge of the evening, lamenting the costs of widowhood and of aging: “I no longer sleep a slumber too deep, for I have to be on my guard.” 

The Mare and the Stallion: In my least favorite song of the show, Bernarda’s daughters witness… well, you can probably guess what they witness just from the title of the song, and that’s the problem. It’s a rather too obvious way to set us up for the show’s (not to mention Adela’s) impending climax.

Lullaby: Amid the building household chaos at the hands of Bernarda, her mother (Yolande Bavan) returns to recall a simpler time when the two could enjoy time together. There’s nothing special about this song, but it’s a nice respite before the intensity of the show’s final sequence.

Open the Door: The music here is tense, restless, and insistent, as Pepe knocks on Adela’s (Nikki M. James) door. She resists at first, but ultimately surrenders to excitement and to mortal danger, effectively ending Bernarda’s reign over her own house.

Finale: Believing that Bernarda has killed Pepe, Adela has killed herself. Having learned nothing, but having lost all of her power, Bernarda insists fruitlessly that her daughters continue the charade: “My daughter died a virgin. And you will keep your silence. Silence. Silence.”

Next time I’ll discuss the 1999 off-Broadway cast recording of Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns.

REVIEW: The Light in the Piazza (Encores!)

Review of the matinee performance on Sunday, June 25, 2023 at New York City Center. Starring Ruthie Ann Miles, Anna Zavelson, Shereen Ahmed, Andrea Burns, Rodd Cyrus, James D. Gish, Michael Hayden, and Ivan Hernandez. Book by Craig Lucas. Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel. Based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer. Scenic design by Clint Ramos and Miguel Urbino. Costume design by Linda Cho. Lighting design by David Weiner. Sound design by Megumi Katayama. Music director Rob Berman. Choreography by Parker Esse. Direction by Chay Yew. 2 hours, 15 minutes with one intermission.

NOTE: This production closed following the evening performance on Sunday, June 25, 2023.

Grade: A+ 

The just-closed Encores! presentation of The Light in the Piazza is the perfect example of the joy and pain of the ethereal nature of the art form we love so much. It's that "capturing lightning in a bottle" thrill of witnessing a once in a lifetime moment, savoring the memory of it, and lamenting that it'll never happen again. The Adam Guettel - Craig Lucas musical, one of a small handful of masterpiece shows so far in the 21st century was given a miraculous revival by director Chay Yew, his creative team and a glorious company of actors. Some may disagree, but I found this minimalist (by necessity) version to be more wholly satisfying than the original.

Yew has carefully allowed the near-fantasy of the piece to walk hand-in-hand with both the melodramatic waves of emotion and the harsh intrusions of reality. It is at once otherworldly and grounded. From the dreamy opening ballet sequence (choreography by Parker Esse) to the trance-like movement of the company as they moved throughout the space, every moment was like a soothing sigh in the heat of summer. The staging was so expert and meaningful and yet unobtrusive; we all shared in a dreamlike existence for a couple of hours. The staging was aided by the scenic design of Clint Ramos and Miguel Urbino: a few well-chosen set pieces, floating statues and paintings, as well as a series of arches, instantly taking us to the breathtaking views of Italy, as well as Linda Cho's gorgeous mid-20th century costumes, vibrant and with striking silhouettes. David Weiner's wondrous use of light and shadow, full of warm, sunny shades and vibrant blues, added subliminal weight to the emotions of the moment.

Bringing this fable of mother-daughter triumphs, failures and growth to life is a stellar company of actors. How terrific it is that Encores!, given the short time between first rehearsal and final curtain, can assemble a cast of proven, beloved Broadway talent and first looks at a new generation at the same time. Where else can you find someone the caliber of Tony-nominee Michael Hayden in a bit part, or Drama Desk winner Andrea Burns in a comedic semi-supporting role. Both are outstanding, of course, the former bringing passive-aggressive conflict to the story, the latter bringing the show to a halt with shrieks of laughter from the audience and reveling in a character of remarkable strength. Then there's the quintessential Italian family headed by Burns and Ivan Hernandez, himself a sophisticated swirl of suave masculinity and debonair sensitivity. Rodd Cyrus is a riot of dimwitted youth and a smoldering sexuality that will help his character Giuseppe survive in life, and Shereen Ahmed adds fiery passion to every scene she's in as his wise-to-his-ways spouse, Franca. Together, the group is both familiar stereotypes and a family willing to grow together, all lovingly written and portrayed.

As the young love-struck Fabrizio, James D. Gish is so natural, so believable, you'd swear he really is an Italian boy with broken English. He wears his sincerity and heart on his sleeve. It is love at first sight for all involved on both sides of the proscenium. What a voice! What a presence! Here's hoping this marvelous young man gets roles he can sink his teeth into for longer than three weeks, and soon.

Everything you may have heard about Ruthie Ann Miles's bravura performance is true, and yet not praised enough. By turns fierce protector and terrified mother, she is a tower of strength, but always with the sense that she may crack like an ancient Roman statue at any moment. She sings the score brilliantly, and is very funny, too. I suspect that this a performance people will be talking about for years (even by those who didn't even see it); it is certainly on my very short list of definitive performances I've witnessed over the past four decades. I continue to marvel at the ever-expanding depth of her talents: can this really be the same human being playing the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd? And that look back - if you know you know - is rightfully already the stuff of theater legend.

Another very short list of mine is that of groundbreaking debut performances. This production just added a name to that list: Anna Zavelson. Before she even opened her mouth as she blew on to the City Center stage, I knew this force of nature is and will be a huge star. I'm talking Martin, Lansbury, McDonald level stardom. I'm getting tears in my eyes as I type this just thinking about what a privilege it was to bear witness to her work here. Every moment, every line reading, every glorious note she sang was pure perfection. It is this kind of talent that makes one really consider just why it is live theater that fulfills the artistic needs of my soul. Hyperbole? Not at all. This young actor transported me, broke my heart and healed it all at once. She is stunning.

The only flaw of this production is that it is over. Yet I have to wonder if an extended life for it might diminish the wonder. Lightning in a bottle should be kept a rare thing.

📸: J. Marcus

REVIEW: Once Upon a One More Time

Review of the evening preview performance on Saturday, June 3, 2023 at the Marquis Theatre in New York City. Starring Briga Heelan, Justin Guarini, Jennifer Simard, Adam Godley, Brook Dillman, Aisha Jackson, Amy Hillner Larsen, Tess Soltau, Nathan Levy, Ryan Steele and Mila Weir. Book by Jon Hartmere. Based on the music performed and recorded by Britney Spears. Scenic design by Anna Fleischle. Costume design by Loren Elstein. Lighting design by Kenneth Posner. Sound design by Andrew Keister. Projection design by Sven Ortel. Creative consultant David Leveaux. Direction and choreography by Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid. 2 hours, 30 minutes, including one intermission.

Grade: F

Well, I'm sad to report that the 2023-2024 Broadway musical season is off to a ...weak start. Last season's similarly themed Bad Cinderella looks like a masterpiece compared to the loud, ugly mess that is Once Upon a One More Time. I can't remember the last time I have felt such empathetic embarrassment for a cast. And there is another change-the-narrative/female-empowerment-with-a-quill-pen-and-a-jukebox-score a few blocks over from the Marquis that is vastly superior in every way. They even share a few songs, each done better by Anne, Juliet and company.

     

The only two (and I do mean only) things that save this from being a complete failure are the invigorating presence of Justin Guarini as Prince Charming and Aisha Jackson as Snow White, who dominate the stage when they're on, and create a vacuum when they're off. A triple-threat of singing, comedic timing, and, surprise, dancing, Guarini is, as the kids say, living his best life up there. He truly understands the assignment: use pompous arrogance and vapid thoughts to be, well, charming. Similarly, the sassy delivery of Jackson as she morphs from silly, wide-eyed princess to empowered queen is a delight, and when she sings... wow! She shakes the rafters and wakes the bored among us right up.

Briga Heelan has the unenviable position of playing Cinderella. There have been way too many Cindys lately, and she suffers in comparison. Mostly, it's the cringey material she has to work with. With its forced plot points, forced laughs and annoying vapidity she is, I think, a stand-in for Ms. Spears. This may account for her on-the-verge-of-dumb-blonde nasal tone and line readings. She's also the only person in the whole cast who sings like Britney, only without the aid of lip-syncing to prerecorded tracks and digital fixes. I mean, she's literally the only one like this, so being a stand-in must be why. Right? (I'm grasping at straws here.) The rest of the featured princesses are okay, I guess, but after a while, they seem to blend into one royal blob. (I don't think the woman next to me ever understood who the princess from Princess and the Pea was, and only when the actress referred to herself as Rapunzel, did she get that one. I quote, "That's who that is!? Bitch needs more hair!")

Another set of characters that have appeared in too many similarly themed shows are the wicked/evil/misunderstood Stepmother and Step-sisters. This go round, they are, respectively, played by Jennifer Simard, Amy Hillner Larsen and Tess Soltau. The sisters, here called Belinda and Betany, are a screechy, unfunny duo - I gritted my teeth every time they entered. (The audience did love it when the one sister screamed, "It's Betany, bitch!") Even the always wonderful Simard is not good here. Sure she gets big laughs and gets to sing an...interesting... version of "Toxic," all while swaggering around the huge stage sounding like a young All About Eve era Bette Davis. But I think the rapturous online preview reviews she's gotten have to do with her past accomplishments, and even more to do with the fact that she's such a pro that even the combination of bad material and her "couldn't care less" demeanor makes it seem like it's another winning performance. I've always been baffled when I hear people say, "So and so looks bored the whole time." Not any more. I've seen it for myself here.

The inevitable narrator character (Adam Godley) is more of an annoyance than sinister ringmaster, and the other inevitable character - Fairy Godmother - (Brook Dillman) is just as ridiculous. OFG as they call her, dressed like a 50's housewife, spews platitudes and woman power slogans like she's reading a grocery list; Dillman reminds me of the Agatha character in WandaVision in her campy delivery, but decidedly less effectively. Where is Jackie Hoffman when you need her?

Aside from the fact that a revival of the greatest fractured fairy tale musical ever was on Broadway recently, and two other, vastly superior versions trod the boards last season, book writer Jon Hartmere, Jr. had a good idea here. He could have made something really interesting. But the plot is repetitive - how many princess club meetings must we sit through where the same material is covered every time? And there are potentially interesting sub-plots that just stop - what about that damned magic quill ominously glowing in a bubble over the stage? The best relationship in the whole thing is between a gay dwarf and a gay prince, which is saying something given how tired that trope is. Worst of all, the book never matches the songs used beyond the first few lines of each blending into the dialogue - sloppy punchlines where the rest of the song barely has anything to do with the characters or plot. Each song is, however, an excuse to dance.

Renowned in the music video world and for the occasional theatrical dance piece, Keone and Mari Madrid certainly put their dancers through their paces. And it is when the dancers dance that the show really picks up. The first few are quite good, until you realize that they are painfully repetitive (like the book). The formations - circles into a line that breaks into a "v" - over and over offer only diminishing returns. It says something about the choreography when a segment of "Oops, I Did It Again" is done to the original video dance routine and the audience screams in adoration. (At least that choreographer is credited in the Playbill.) Two-time Tony nominee Jennifer Weber has nothing to worry about. The Madrids are also responsible for the direction, which is pretty basic staging coupled with a woefully apparent lack of understanding about theme and book tightening. More than once, I thought to myself that the actors are directing themselves to see what sticks.

Don't let the pictures or the B-roll clip fool you, design-wise, this is a wholly unattractive production with the best thing being the garish to excess lighting by Kenneth Posner, who seems to get that he has the lion's share of work to do, with a mostly bare metallic box as his canvas. The set, what there is of it, by Anna Fleischle, is neither fairy tale-like nor nightmarish enough, and that box she put it in is... Anyway, Loren Elstein's costumes show some promise at first, when they pay tribute to their Disney/Grimm counterparts, but fall apart in act two when the Princess 2.0 cavalcade begins - each coming out looking like they got hastily wrapped up in yards of sequinned material from the discontinued bin at Walmart. And why do these things always make female empowerment mean looking like hookers? I can't believe that the same guy (Sven Ortel) who did the stunning projections for Parade was responsible for the ugliness seen here. Andrew Keister's sound had one volume - loud.

In a one-quarter or less filled mezzanine on a Saturday night, the people that did come seemed to have a good time. I'm glad for them, really. They came for Britney and they got Britney. Loud and dance-y. But I know at least one group of people who were disappointed. The ladies next to me sang loud and proud with each song, that is, until a lyric changed. Then they stopped and picked up again when they knew the lyrics. "Why do they keep messing up the words?" They were less enthusiastic as the show wore on. Maybe it didn't matter to them that the songs had so little to do with the plot.

They say in the show that well-behaved princesses rarely make history. Neither do rotten musicals. If pop hits and girl power re-write is what you need, head over to the Sondheim and grab tickets for & Juliet.  

📸: M. Murphy