My Procrastinated and Inaccurate Tony Predictions

Anthony Martinez-Briggs and Brenson Thomas in The Wilma
Theater's 2023 production of Fat Ham. Photo by Joanna Austin.

 Hi, this past year has been terrible for your friend Zelda. Like, objectively terrible and subjectively terrible and feeling like it got worse each month (bonus: I'm now on antidepressants and they're helping ... somewhat). Part of what this meant is I was very late to the game on getting tickets to see some of the shows. Some I skipped deliberately (The Heart of Rock and Roll, Spamalot; oh, and I guess I skipped the Broadway transfer of Days of Wine and Roses), some I didn't realize I missed the full run of (sorry, Doubt). Some I ended up seeing against my better judgement (Uncle Vanya, Cabaret). But yeah, here we are. I think my biggest excitement for this year's Tonys is the Regional Theatre award going to Wilma Theater, a fantastic Philly-based company who's been putting consistently good work online since 2020 so that those of us who aren't local can partake (I am a digital subscriber to their season). They're where the Pulitzer-winning Fat Ham started, and it's nice to see them get this big recognition.

Okay, let's do it!

What will win. Zelda's choice.

Best Play

Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Jocelyn Bioh

Mary Jane, Amy Herzog

Mother Play, Paula Vogel

Prayer for the French Republic, Joshua Harmon

Stereophonic, David Adjmi

This is such an unfair list. All five of these were great, both in the writing and the production. I think Stereophonic, with all its buzz, will probably win, but I'd rather Jaja's African Hair Braiding or Prayer for the French Republic win.

Sarah Pidgeon, Juliana Canfield, and Tom Pecinka as Diana, Holly, and Peter
in Stereophonic. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

Best Musical

Hell's Kitchen

Illinoise

The Outsiders

Suffs

Water for Elephants

Honestly, none of these really won me over fully, but this should probably go to The Outsiders.

Sky Lakota-Lynch, Joshua Boone, and Brody Grant, center, as Johnny Cade,
Dallas Winston, and Ponyboy Curtis, with the cast of The Outsiders.
Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Weekly Margin 2024, W23: Mother Play, Mary Jane, The Outsiders, Hell's Kitchen, The Wiz

6/04/24: Mother Play

What: 2nd Stage presents Paula Vogel's memory play about growing up with a negligent but charismatic mother, and her unbreakable bond with her brother Carl.

And? As a longtime fan of Baltimore Waltz, I was really glad to see Carl again. Seeing his stuffed bunny was a bit of a gut punch. Vogel is always so good at these adaptations of people from her life, showing both what makes them loveable and what makes them monsters (see: her molesting uncle in How I Learned to Drive). Phyllis is an awful parent. But you can also see why Carl keeps returning to her, why he wants her love so desperately. And oh, the love between Martha (Vogel's stand-in) and Carl is so powerful and full. Your heart breaks anew for the fact that he's gone, that he's long gone, even as you're grateful that Vogel keeps finding ways to bring him back, to keep him present tense. It's apt that the framing device for the play is the family's ability to pack up their lives and unpack them again with efficiency, each time they have to move home: Vogel expertly unpacks and excavates her memories of her teen years and beyond. The performances of the three leads--Jessica Lange, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jim Parsons--as they span many ages, are ones I feel lucky to have gotten to see (CKB will good at playing children until she's ninety). Jill BC Du Boff's sound design, paired with Shawn Duan's twitch-making projection design and Jen Schriever's precise lighting design, craft a careful space: real, precise, and yet with the exaggerations of childhood memories.

Celia Keenan-Bolger and Jim Parsons as Martha
and Carl. Photo by Joan Marcus.

6/05/24: Mary Jane

What: MTC presents Amy Herzog's new play about the mother of a two year old boy born with severe disabilities (he is unable to breathe on his own, or speak). Though she manages as best she can to maintain her optimism and silver lining approach to her life, things keep getting harder.

And? Stunning work, and absolutely heartbreaking. Rachel McAdams is perfectly cast as Mary Jane, a woman who takes the many challenges of managing her son's health in stride, with a smile that would feel foolish if we didn't know how hard-won it was. Also of special note is April Mathis, always a standout, in her dual roles as Sherry and Dr. Toros. I talk sometimes about spaces transforming, and how the audience can unconsciously crave that (I learned that from Tomi Tsunoda). The Herzog Doll's House adaptation last season demonstrated that principle ably. As good as Stereophonic is, I did spend the show hoping for a similar transformation, or recontextualization that never came. The transformation here, as designed by Lael Jellinek, is stunning. The world we thought we were in is revealed to be so much more fragile, floating on nothing, really, but hope and watered-down bubbles. And its final move, irrevocable, tells us where we've been, and where we've been headed all along. I'm avoiding giving spoilers but damn, it was a really good move.

Susan Pourfar and Rachel McAdams as Brianne and Mary Jane. Photo by
Matthew Murphy.

Weekly Margin 2024, W22: The Notebook, Home, Stereophonic

 5/29/24: The Notebook

What: The new musical adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel, about an aging couple looking back on their love story: Allie has Alzheimer's, and doesn't remember who Noah is, but he tells her their story in the hope of bringing her back.

And? I'm kind of annoyed that this was as good as it was, primarily because I don't like to give credence to Nicholas Sparks stuff (and I thought the movie was overrated). But this was good theater. Bekah Brunstetter's book works pretty well, Ingrid Michaelson's score is slightly more pop than musical theater, but it's tuneful, Michael Greif and Schele Williams's direction is effective, and the scenic design by David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis is mobile and unobtrusive under Ben Stanton's romantic lighting design. The use of the younger selves as memory echoes, effectively drawn with both the color palate of Paloma Young's costume design and the gesture work (choreography Katie Spelman), is the kind of theatrical storytelling I'm always up for. And it's especially heartbreaking to see that mirroring with Maryann Plunkett's aging Allie, unable to remember the selves she used to be. (Plunkett and Dorian Harewood absolutely deserve their nominations for their work here, my goodness)

Maryann Plunkett, Joy Woods, and Jordan Tyson as Older Allie, Middle Allie,
and Younger Allie. Photo  by Julieta Cervantes.

5/30/24: Home

What: Roundabout presents a revival of Samm-Art Williams's three-hander about a Black man in the Carolinas who leaves home after his imprisonment for refusing to fight in Vietnam, but cannot find peace in the new places he tries to call home.

And? Stunning work. Poetry and rhythm and three people so in sync that you trust them fully. A relentless yet kind story of this man's life, with a sweet healing calm at the end. Tory Kittles, Brittany Inge, and Stori Ayers are forces to be reckoned with, and I'm glad to be introduced to Samm-Art Williams's work, even if it unfortunately comes so soon after he passed away.

Stori Ayers, Tory Kittles, and Brittany Inge as Woman Two, Cephus Miles,
and Woman One. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Weekly Margin 2024, W20: Three Houses, The Good Person of Setzuan

5/14/24: Three Houses

What: Signature presents Dave Malloy's new musical, a loose adaptation of The Three Little Pigs, that sees three disparate individuals at a mysterious open mic night, sharing the stories of how they "went crazy" while isolated during lockdown in 2020/2021.

And? "My heart broke, and then the world broke, and then my brain broke too." Dave Malloy truly is a special voice in the theater, and I'm always grateful to see a new work of his. He's so adept at coming at ideas from weird angles, offering new lenses on things that are simultaneously relatable and entirely unfamiliar. His agility at dilating the experience of obsession and addiction, as demonstrated here and in Octet and Preludes, shows a person who knows of what he speaks. While this probably won't surpass Great Comet or Octet for me among Malloy's canon, I still loved it and am glad I saw it.

Mia Pak and Margo Siebert. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.

Streaming

• Wilma Theater's The Good Person of Setzuan.

Weekly Margin 2024, W19: Staff Meal, Sleep No More

5/07/24: Staff Meal

What: Playwrights Horizons presents Abe Koogler's new play about a mysterious restaurant, that is somehow a mix of meetcute, restaurant culture, vagrant culture, a demolished fourth wall, and the end of the world.

And? This play is so fucking weird and I absolutely loved it. I don't properly know how to talk about it without spoiling it, and it's so much better to go in with as little information as possible. Fantastic work from everyone involved, including the eerie scenic design of Jian Jung lit gloomily by Masha Tsimring, with uncanny valley sound design by Tei Blow, and a pitch perfect ensemble cast, both heartbreaking and hilarious, directed by Morgan Green.

Jess Barbagallo, Carmen M. Herlihy, Erin Markey, and Hampton Fluker as
Server, Server, Christina, and Waiter. Photo by Chelcie Parry.

5/11/24: Sleep No More

What: Punchdrunk's immersive adaptation of Macbeth and the Paisley Witch Trials: an installation across five floors of a warehouse with dance and promenade audience, flavored by the music and style of the 1920s, and the scores of film composer Bernard Herrmann.

And? Technically a repeat visit, but after over a decade of not attending: I came to say goodbye, as the show will be closing next month. I didn't go in with a set plan, but let myself wander the space and explore the quieter parts of the space. I got to see the ballroom dance twice, once from the lower level, and once from the mezzanine, as well as a number of solo moments I didn't remember from before. I saw the card game but never managed to catch the interrogation. I followed Catherine for a good spell. I had given up the idea of getting a farewell 1:1 and was fine with that, when -- I got the sixth floor 1:1! After all this time! I'd assumed it wasn't happening anymore, once they opened up the Club Car upstairs. I've learned my lesson a bit since the year when I posted every spoiler and secret I could uncover here, so I won't detail it here (but will privately upon request). But oh, I'm so grateful I finally got to experience it. A beautiful farewell. And my friend Sophia left with a kiss from Hecate on her mask.

The card game. Photo source.