Margin Notes: Into the Woods

Andy Grotelueschen, Emily Young, Ben Steinfeld, Jennifer
Mudge, Claire Karpen, Patrick Mulryan, and Noah Brody.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Into the Woods

Seen on: Wednesday, 1/7/15.
Ticket purchased: Alas, full price was all I could find.
My grade: B-. A solid enough idea of a production undermined by some of its elements.

Plot and Background

The familiar fairy tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel are interwoven with a new tale of a childless Baker and his Wife attempting to undo a curse. The first act takes us through their various interwoven stories as they all journey into the woods to seek their goals, and ends on a happily ever after; the second act shows us what happens after the ever after. This musical, by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim, originally opened on Broadway in 1987. That production was immortalized in a televised broadcast of the original cast. It has been revived regionally and in New York a number of times since, and a film adaptation starring Meryl Streep is now playing in theaters. This production, though hosted by Roundabout, was created by Fiasco Theater, and features only ten actors.

What I Knew Beforehand

I know the show practically by heart, thanks to the DVD of the OBC (I've also seen multiple productions regionally and the movie adaptation). I loved Fiasco's production of Cymbeline in 2011 and 2012, which had only six actors and was an utter delight, and was very much looking forward to their next offering. I knew there would be some changes afoot here to accommodate the ten person cast, but I went in with high hopes.

Thoughts

Play: I have a great affection for Fiasco's joyful - and slightly chaotic - storytelling style. There's very much a sense of creation out of found objects, which gives a spontaneity to even the most carefully crafted moments. The Stepsisters' dresses can be two curtains on a rod; Rapunzel's tower can be a ladder; Milky White can be a man with a cowbell around his neck, squeezing an empty baby bottle (this last actually worked quite well, thanks to Andy Grotelueschen's sympathetic and funny performance). I've always thought that some of the most interesting staging and theatricality can come from having to solve problems with limited resources, and Fiasco is a fantastic illustration of that. There's something rather charming about the cast climbing onto the rolling piano as they sing the title song, and even something thrilling about the shadow play staging of the Giant's final attack at the end of the show (this may have actually been my favorite portrayal of the Giant I've seen). And with so much double-casting, quick onstage changes happen continually, and with some delightful results (I don't want to spoil the best ones except to say Florinda's transition to Milky White had me gasping with laughter, and the transition after "Witch's Lament" was haunting and lovely). The choreography within the songs itself was not always particularly dynamic or interesting, but staging of the show as a whole was exactly the kind of high-spirited controlled chaos I've come to expect from Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld.

Margin Notes: Constellations

(trying out a new format, bear with me)

Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson as Roland and Marianne.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Constellations

Seen on: Sunday, 1/4/15.
Ticket purchased: MTC's 30 Under 30 program.
My grade: A. A fantastic start to the second half of this theater season.

Plot and Background

We follow the many different permutations and possibilities of a relationship that spans parallel universes, time, and inner demons. Equal parts funny and moving, with clear transitions and a steady jog of a pace. American debut; premiered at London's Royal Court Theatre. Featuring the Broadway debuts of both Gyllenhaal and Wilson. Playwright Nick Payne's last NY show was the Off-Broadway If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, also directed by Michael Longhurst and starring Gyllenhaal, which ran at Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre in Fall 2012.

What I Knew Beforehand:

Pretty much nothing. Just the cast. Right before the show started, my friend told me it was about (see above) different permutations on a relationship. Apparently I had told her this months ago. Good job me!

Thoughts:

Play: God, I loved this. The structure of it, the story itself, the quickness and flexibility of the dialogue. It felt sometimes like a Meisner exercise gone horribly wrong - or perhaps horribly right. The structure relies largely on scenes being recycled - or re-attempted - several times through; sometimes with strong dialogue revisions, and sometimes with identical dialogue but vastly different tone and intent. And somehow it doesn't matter which version is the "real" version - I invested strongly in them as characters, in their relationship, whichever shape it took, and in what drew them together and apart. Wilson's character Marianne, a Cambridge theoretical physicist, has three semi-speeches which help illustrate the play's themes - the first, a whimsical theory that if you could lick your elbow you could live forever; the second, a discussion of the possibility of multiple parallel universes (multiverse), all based on different choices one could make, which both demands and denies free will; the third, that time - being the one asymmetrical concept in physics - doesn't matter on as fundamental a level as molecules - so there's no "more" time or "less" time but a sense that you have all of the time, the time past and present, with you always.

14 for '14! My Top Theater Picks

As I did last year, I've made a list of all the theater I saw in the past year. My numbers, while arguably impressive, are down a lot from last year: last year I saw 122 distinct shows (not counting repeats); this year, not counting repeats, was the tragically small number of 97. NINETY-SEVEN. Why was it so much lower? The easiest scapegoat could be the fact that in 2013 I visited London with my family and caught a bunch of theater, a trip I did not take this year. But it could just be there was less to see, or at least less to get excited about this year. I don't know. I know I spent close to the same amount of money on tickets, so as far as my budget's concerned, I'm on an even keel.

Firdous Bamji, Romola Garai, and Brenda Meaney in Indian Ink.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

When I was making my list for this year, some contenders were easy includes, but at the first culling, a lot made the initial list of 30 or so, merely by not being that bad. I think it was a weaker year, all told, at least in quantity. In quality, mind you, there were some truly stellar theatrical pieces (for those who see the list and decry my not including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I did include the West End production last year, and didn't feel right listing it two years running. That being said, the Broadway transfer was equally stellar and would have made this list otherwise, in the top five).

So without further ado, here are my Top 14 for '14!

My Increasingly Inaccurate Tony Predictions

Andy Karl as Rocky in Rocky. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

*a follow up to last year's post.

...as well as innumerable mini rants and opinionated declarations stated as fact. I didn't write that many reviews this season, though I did manage (yay me!) to see every Broadway show of the season (I'm pretty sure - in any event, I saw every nominated show). While I had a good time doing it, I do think this season was peculiar in a number of ways. There's no big blockbustery front runner this year, so I don't predict any nominated show getting a clean sweep of its nominations. And while I had a number of favorites, I don't feature many of them succeeding very far outside of New York. It's been a weird season. I'm not sure how else to put it.

It's a weird season, but there was a lot of talent - which means, of course, that there were a number of "snubs" too. I get into most of the ones that actually bothered me below (Realistic Joneses getting ZERO nominations just blows my mind, and I regret also the lack of recognition for either The Winslow Boy or my favorite brotp, the Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in their rep productions of No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot. And yes, I'm still surprised about Bridges of Madison County.)

So clearly there were shows forgotten or ignored that stood out for me, which means, of course, that I have nearly no credence when I make the following predictions of what will win and what should win. But this is my blog, this is my house, and in my house, I get to do what I want.

So without further ado, my predictions for the 2014 Tony Awards:

May Violets Spring: Not Just Shreds and Patches

May Violets Spring, by James Parenti (and William Shakespeare). Directed by Reesa Graham. Featuring Gwenevere Sisco, James Parenti, and Monique St. Cyr. Produced by Dare Lab, currently running at The Bridge Theatre through April 27th, 2014.

**Extended! Now playing at Joria Productions Theatre, April 30 - May 3.

Disclosure: This humble reviewer is friends with the lead actress, although she did not know that when she agreed to review this production. She'll try to keep objective, but it's hard when your friends are really talented.

"Am I to blame for all this blood now shed, or am I not, as I would fain believe, an instrument of those of stronger will?" If this were any ordinary production of Hamlet, the answer to Ophelia's cry of despair would be clearly that no, she is not overly culpable; she is a tool in the hands of strong-willed men - of her father, her brother, her erstwhile lover - a weapon they use against each other and against themselves. In Dare Lab's inaugural production, playwright James Parenti has capitalized on this dichotomous responsibility of Ophelia within the world of Elsinore with his deconstruction (or perhaps reconstruction) of Hamlet's story - this time from Ophelia's perspective. Parenti's Ophelia has a good deal more agency than Shakespeare's - helping Hamlet in his scheme to expose the murderous King, to fabricate Hamlet's madness, and to eventually escape Denmark for a quieter life. Such changes certainly make her a more interesting character, one with true strength and convictions, with ideas and creativity - but those elaborations come hand in hand with the culpability she later fears. This Ophelia is wise to the machinations around her, so when she submits to her father's instructions and rejects Hamlet's love in front of a listening Claudius and Polonius, or when she (spoilers!) fakes her own death in what she herself acknowledges could lead to Hamlet's real death, yes, there is some blood on her hands.

Parenti has taken liberties aplenty with his adaptation - not just supplementing Shakespeare's text with his own (a more or less seamless addition, though sometimes marred by too-contemporary sounding syntax, or a seeming purposeless shuffling of lines) - or doling out dialogue from other characters to Ophelia in scenes where she was formerly silent or absent. He's also borrowed, with a delicate hand, snatches of dialogue, here and there, from the entire Shakespeare canon. Rather than feel like a tiresome wink at the audience, however, these scraps of familiarity help guide us on our newly-lit journey down a old trodden path. So when Ophelia, hearing that Hamlet has slain her father, asks, "Can Heaven be so envious?" we feel, not just Ophelia's grief, but the echo of Juliet's as well.