11/28/23: Gutenberg! The Musical!
What: Scott Brown and Anthony King's musical about two buddies who decided to write an unresearched, wildly fictionalized musical about the invention of the printing press. This production reunites the original stars of The Book of Mormon: Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells.
And? It's fine. It's dumb. Sometimes it's a fun dumb. It was clearly written by two straight guys, and I could do without the jokes about the fat character eating a lot of food ha ha ha isn't it funny to laugh at fat people eating gosh they have no self control, also have you noticed that fat people are unlovable. The jokes about German people being antisemitic (though I've been told were revised in the wake of the pogrom on October 7) are also not ... terribly funny to me right now. I wonder if I would have liked it better Off-Broadway.
 |
| Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad. Photo by Matthew Murphy. |
12/01/23: The Gardens of Anuncia
What: Lincoln Center presents a new musical by Michael John LaChiusa, a memoir for Graciela Daniele, who also directs and co-choreographs the show. It is a tribute to the three women who raised her in Argentina under Peron's oppressive government: her mother, her grandmother, and her aunt.
And? It's fantastic to hear a new LaChiusa score, especially one performed by such a talented set of performers as Priscilla Lopez, Eden Espinosa, Andréa Burns, Mary Testa, and Kalyn West (oh god, especially the stunning harmonies of Espinosa, Burns, and Testa). I think this show isn't quite finished yet, but its strengths are worth the rest of it. The magical realism, the family relationships, the scenic and lighting design, these are all effective. What is less effective is the attempt to bring in the pieces of Daniele's (or I should say Anuncia's) life after Argentina. It's thinner, it's without much grounding, and I'm impatient to return to the more visceral story in Argentina. I want to be shown, not told, and everything post-Argentina is just something told (well, not everything--the deer stuff is great). I think with a bit more tightening of the writing, this could be great.
 |
| Priscilla Lopez and Kalyn West as Older Anuncia and Younger Anuncia. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. |
12/02/23: Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors
What: A new campy adaptation of the Dracula story, by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen.
And? Sometimes fun, sometimes incredibly dumb. It has a lot tonally in common with The 39 Steps play adaptation (which also featured Arnie Burton, who continues to have a good time here), without being quite as good as 39 Steps was.
 |
| Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Jordan Boatman, James Daly, Ellen Harvey, and Arnie Burton as Harker, Lucy, Count Dracula, Dr. Westfeldt, and Van Helsing. Photo by Matthew Murphy. |
12/02/23: Life & Times of Michael K
What: St. Ann's Warehouse hosts Baxter Theatre Centre and Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus Production's adaptation of J. M. Coetzee's 1983 award-winning novel about an ostracized young man trying to find a safe place to call home under apartheid rule in South Africa, as adapted and directed by Lara Foot in collaboration with Handspring Puppet Company (who designed War Horse and Little Amal).
And? A distressing story, but stunningly told. Handspring are remarkably adept at designing puppets who seem to be alive: living, breathing, reacting, and with their own agency. And in conjunction with Yoav Dagan and Kirsti Cumming's projection design, director Foot presents an evocative and moving narrative, performed powerfully by the ensemble.
 |
| Nolufefe Ntshuntshe, Craig Leo, Carlo Daniels, Roshina Ratnam, and Andrew Buckland. Photo by Fiona McPherson. |
No comments:
Post a Comment