4/01/25: John Proctor is the Villain
What: A new play by Kimberly Belflower, about the high school English class of a small Georgia community in 2018, currently rocked by a recent #MeToo revelation about one of the student's parents, the return of another student after an unexplained six-month absence, and the reading of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.
And? Parts of it are perhaps a bit on the nose (the title does rather give the game away, considering the payoff for it doesn't hit until two-thirds in), but perhaps that's appropriate for a play set entirely in a high school classroom. It still packs a hell of a punch, helped largely by a rudely talented ensemble (able to authentically bring back what it was like to be a teen girl who just wanted to have her inside jokes with her friends), and an epic climactic sequence. It was a great modern read on what is a standard high school text (raise your hand if you were also in your high school's production of it?). Is it an overly simplified read of Proctor? Probably, but that's also a very teenage thing, that absolutism. In any case, the larger sentence should be "John Proctor is the villain in Abigail's story." My friend that I saw it with remarked as we were leaving that the people who needed to see this play probably wouldn't (she made a similar remark when we left Prayer for the French Republic, and she was right). But in this case, I replied, "I needed to see it." Today, now, this year, I needed to see it.
What is true that the primary audience will probably be there for Sadie Sink, star of Stranger Things. Good news, she's fantastic, as is the rest of the less-famous cast.
4/03/25: Vanya
What: The Lucille Lortel hosts the New York transfer of the London hit, Simon Stephens' one-person adaptation of the Chekhov classic, starring Andrew Scott.
And? I forget sometimes how terrible most of the sightlines are at the Lortel. Oh well. Andrew Scott is heartbreaking and funny and astonishing and wonderful, and the adaptation is interesting, but it is still Chekhov, who's not my favorite. Still glad I saw it, as Andrew Scott is always worth seeing live.
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| Andrew Scott. Photo by Marc Brenner. |
4/05/25: Iolanthe
What: NYGASP presents the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta about politics and the fae.
And? One of the stranger G&S operettas, at least in terms of its deux ex machina, but Iolanthe really has some lovely music. The big patter song from this one ("When you're lying awake"/"The Nightmare Song") get four (!) encores, but little did I know I'd be hearing a fifth the next day (spoilers for Pirates!).
What: BAM hosts the Berliner Ensemble production of the Brecht/Weill musical about corruption, the celebrity of villainy, and the monetization of poverty.
And? This was my first time getting to see this show, and I didn't expect for my first time with it to be in German. But what an extraordinary production! The Berliner Ensemble is top-notch, director Barrie Kosky's vision is clear and sharp and clever, and I'm obsessed with Rebecca Ringst's stage design: an oddly-structured scaffold of platforms, ladders, and traps that, when they suddenly become the prison awaiting Macheath, seem like they've always been there waiting for him.
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| The cast of Threepenny Opera. Photo by Jess Shurte. |
4/06/25: Pirates! The Penzance Musical
What: Roundabout presents Rupert Holmes' adaptation of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta about duty (though as The West Wing would remind us, they're all about duty).
And? This is truly a lot of fun--everyone onstage is having a blast. David Hyde Pierce is fully in his element as the Major General, making a meal of every line with perfect diction. Ramin Karimloo is also rudely talented, though less of a natural comedian than some of his cohort (how do you compete with Jinkx Monsoon?). As the bright-eyed young couple of Frederic and Mabel, Nicholas Barasch and Samantha Williams are in glorious and earnest voice. I think the show can't always make up its mind whether it's trying to do G&S "straight" (as straight as one can do the kings of Topsy Turvy), or the heavily jazzy riff on it, with New Orleans-style orchestrations and heavily revised lyrics. It's still fun, but it's a bit of whiplash for G&S nerds.
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