A work unfinishing: 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.

6/06/24: The Outsiders

What: A new musical adaptation (co-written by former classmate of mine, Justin Levine!) of S.E. Hinton's novel about a group of greasers in 1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma, and their violent confrontations with the socs (socialites/rich kids).

And? Stunning stagecraft: Danya Taymor's direction, with Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman's muscular choreography, against the scenography of AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian, shaped by Brian MacDevitt's pinpoint lighting, all creates a visually striking and emotionally affecting production. The writing didn't quite do it for me, but this is still a very worthy production and adaptation of Hinton's novel. I've been thinking about the casting since I saw it. I can't speak for production intents in terms of the longer run of this show, but it's telling to me that Sky Lakota-Lynch, the actor originating the role of Johnny Cade (and he is TRULY excellent) is half-Native American (specifically Haliwa Saponi, as noted in his program bio). He and his ancestors are indigenous to this continent, and yet Bob, the white invader, the leader of the socs, keeps attacking him for crossing into his "territory"--and then, of course, Johnny is scapegoated for a violence he didn't start. (it's also no accident that the actor playing Bob also plays the Cop in the second act).

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.

6/07/24: Hell's Kitchen

What: The Broadway transfer of The Public's production of Alicia Key's autobiomusical about her life as a teen living in Hell's Kitchen.

And? It was okay. Biomusicals are rarely as strong narratively as fiction, but I appreciate that this one wasn't just about her career like a lot of them are. We had understudy Jade Milan covering the lead role of Ali, and she was absolutely terrific and charismatic, as was Brandon Victor Dixon as her deadbeat dad Davis. The standout though is Kecia Lewis as her mentor Miss Liza Jane: an unreal vocal range and so much emotive power when she sings, and such presence even when she stands there saying nothing. Camille A. Brown's kinetic choreography is stunning, especially as performed by this immensely talented ensemble.

Maleah Joi Moon, front right, as Ali, with the ensemble of Hell's Kitchen.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

6/08/24: The Wiz

What: The first Broadway revival of Charlie Smalls and William F. Brown's 1970s hit adaptation of The Wizard of Oz through a Black lens.

And? Disappointing. The production feels cheap, like something you'd see on a road tour, not something you'd pay Broadway prices for. The projection design looks like first draft AI work, the scenic design is lightweight, the choreo is lowkey rather than exuberant, and the whole thing feels so anticlimactic I actually heard the woman next to me ask "Is that it?" as the final curtain fell. The cast is trying, but they're given so little to work with. Everyone here deserved better.