Why Do Spoilers Suck? Because Art Is Always New

My latest essay is up at Art Times. Here's a taste.

A recent cover of Entertainment Weekly achieved a new low in spoilers. It blared out a big, juicy piece of information about a popular TV show. Yes, the episode had already aired, but nowadays, many people watch shows days, weeks, or months later. By waiting, do they waive the right to experience surprise and astonishment?

I get it that EW likes splashy covers; I get it that TV shows like free publicity. But couldn’t EW have announced, “Big, juicy spoilers inside,” instead? Yes, they could have. But, no, they didn’t care to, showing disrespect to the viewers, writers, and performers of this show.  READ MORE

Aladdin and Long Day's Journey Into Night: A Comparison

It's not atypical for me to see more than one play or musical over the course of the week, but it is rare that I see two shows back-to-back that are as different as Long Day's Journey Into Night and Aladdin, both of which I caught two weeks ago.

Or......ARE they so different after all?

Maybe I have too much time on my hands. Maybe I'm procrastinating, just a little, in the week leading up to a much-needed family vacation. Or maybe I've just got too much time on my hands and no real desire to fill it up by thinking about the news of the world. But for whatever reason, the more I think about these productions, the more they end up having more in common than one might assume. Both, for example, have actors and are performed before an audience on a stage in a theater. But wait! There's more!

Long Day has closed, so in lieu of a formal review, I offer you instead a brief comparison of these two Broadway gems:

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

1) Both shows are incredibly strenuous.
I read an interview with Jessica Lange recently during which she noted that she needed an exceptional amount of rest in order to perform the role of Mary Tyrone. No surprise, there: Mary is a meaty, challenging character who is onstage for most of a meaty, challenging (and very long) play, and Broadway shows typically run eight times a week.

The production of Aladdin is half as long, if that, but that doesn't mean it's a walk in the fucking park. Sure, Lange worked hard, but did she even once have to spin up from beneath the stage in a magical, whimsical poof of Disney smoke? Did she have to do cartwheels? No, she did not. You know who does, all the damn time? Tony Award© winner James Monroe Iglehart, who, as the Genie, has been doing that shit nearly every damn day, sometimes twice in a row, for the last two-plus years. Don't get me started on the wacky dancing he does, or the way he whips up the crowd. Lange is luminous and wonderful and knows how to work a crowd, too, but she would never have been able to pull off what Iglehart does--especially after her second or third trip up to the Tyrones' infamous spare bedroom.

How'd We Do? Show Showdown Tony Predictions Wrap-Up 2016

Our correct predictions are highlighted.

	Wendy	Sandra	Cameron	Liz
Best play: The Humans	The Humans	The Humans	The Humans	King Charles III
Best musical: Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
Best revival of a play: A View From the Bridge	A View from the Bridge	A View from the Bridge	A View from the Bridge	The Crucible
Best revival of a musical: The Color Purple	The Color Purple	Fiddler on the Roof	The Color Purple	The Color Purple
Best book of a musical:  Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
Best original score: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
Leading actor in a play: Frank Langella, The Father	Mark Strong, A View from the Bridge	Mark Strong, A View from the Bridge	Frank Langella, The Father	Mark Strong or Frank Langella (Liz gets ½ point here, since she guessed two.)
Leading actress in a play: Jessica Lange, Long Day’s Journey into Night	Jessica Lange, Long Day's Journey Into Night	Jessica Lange, Long Day's Journey Into Night	Jessica Lange, Long Day's Journey Into Night	Sophie Okonedo,    The Crucible
Leading actor in a musical: Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton	Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton	Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton	Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton	Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton
Leading actress in a musical: Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple	Cynthia Errivo, The Color Purple	Philippa Soo, Hamilton	Cynthia Errivo, The Color Purple	Cynthia Errivo, The Color Purple
Featured actor in a play: Reed Birney, The Humans	Reed Birney, The Humans	Reed Birney, The Humans	Reed Birney, The Humans	Reed Birney, The Humans
Featured actress in a play: Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans	Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans	Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans	Megan Hilty, Noises Off	Megan Hilty, Noises Off
Featured actor in a musical: Daveed Diggs, Hamilton	Daveed Diggs,        Hamilton	Daveed Diggs,   Hamilton	Christopher Jackson, Hamilton	Daveed Diggs, or Christopher Jackson (Liz gets ½ point here, since she guessed two.)
Featured actress in a musical: Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton	Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton	Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton	Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton	Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton
Scenic design, play: David Zinn, The Humans	Jan Versweyveld A View from the Bridge	Jan Versweyveld A View from the Bridge	Christopher Oram, Hughie	David Zinn, The Humans
Scenic design, musical: David Rockwell, She Loves Me	David Korins, Hamilton	David Korins, Hamilton	David Korins, Hamilton	David Korins, Hamilton
Costume design, play: Clint Ramos, Eclipsed	Michael Krass, Noises Off	Jane Greenwood, Long Day's Journey Into Night	Jane Greenwood, Long Day's Journey Into Night	Clint Ramos, Eclipsed
Costume design, musical: Paul Tazewell, Hamiltom	Paul Tazewell, Hamilton	Paul Tazewell, Hamilton	Paul Tazewell, Hamilton	Paul Tazewell, Hamilton
Lighting, play: Natasha Katz, Long Day’s Journey Into Night	Natasha Katz, Long Day's Journey Into Night	Jan Versweyveld, The Crucible	Jan Versweyveld, A View From the Bridge	Jan Versweyveld, The Crucible
Lighting, musical: Howell Binkley, Hamilton	Howell Binkley, Hamilton	Howell Binkley, Hamilton	Howell Binkley, Hamilton	Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Direction, play: Ivo Van Hove, A View From the Bridge	Ivo Van Hove, A View From the Bridge	Ivo Van Hove, A View From the Bridge	Ivo Van Hove, A View From the Bridge	Ivo Van Hove, A View From the Bridge
Direction, musical: Thomas Kail, Hamilton	Thomas Kail, Hamilton	Thomas Kail, Hamilton	Thomas Kail, Hamilton	Thomas Kail, Hamilton
Choreograpy: Andy Blanken-buehler, Hamilton	Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton	Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton	Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton	Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton
Orchestrations: Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton	Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton	Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton	Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton	Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton
Total correct	20/24 (83%)	16/24 (67%)	18/24 (75%)	17/24 (71%)

The Color Purple

The Color Purple has been well-reviewed all over the place, and I generally agree that it is a strong production of a moving show. But I have a serious ax to grind.

In Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple, the protagonist Celie, who has been breathtakingly mistreated from birth, comes to life when she becomes lovers with the vibrant Shug. Shug helps Celie reclaim herself--and introduces her to what her body can do. She teaches Celie about her "button" and its magic orgasmic powers.

So, silly me, when I saw that the song list included "Push da Button," I happily anticipated a lovely lesbian love/sex song.

And instead got a song teaching women how to please their men!!!!

In this version of The Color Purple, Celie and Shug's relationship is underplayed almost to invisibility. While the heterosexual couples bump and grind, Celie and Shug hug. While Harpo and Sophia's relationship is highlighted, Celie and Shug's is lowlighted. It's truly infuriating!

When John Doyle famously pared The Color Purple to what the New York Times calls "its essence," he missed its soul.

Wendy Caster
(P14; tdf ticket)

Show Showdown's Tony Picks (Not All of Which Are "Hamilton")

If you are a reader of this blog, we probably don't have to tell you that early June means the annual Tony awards. Even if you are not a reader of this blog, we also probably don't have to tell you that Hamilton is up for a record-breaking 16 awards, and that it will very well end up getting most of them. But wait! That doesn't mean the broadcast will be dull! There have been some remarkable shows and performances on Broadway (and beyond) this year, and we’re looking forward to seeing excerpts on tv--and finding out who wins in some of the non-Hamilton categories. Plus, who knows? Major upsets happen sometimes, so it's not over 'til it's over--or at least 'til Burr takes deadly aim.

Without further ado, then, Show Showdown's humble contributors offer you our Tony predictions--and much, much more!---after the jump and this fetching picture of James Corden holding a Tony and maybe talking or singing to it.

Universal Robots

Stephen Hawking: The real risk with AI isn’t malice but competence. A superintelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals, and if those goals aren’t aligned with ours, we’re in trouble.

According to an interview in the New York Times, the exceptional playwright Mac Rogers would seem to disagree with Stephen Hawking. He says, “If you know how long it takes to get a robot to cross a room, the last thing you’re scared of is that they’re going to turn against you.”

Cheek, Howard
Photo: Deborah Alexander

And it's true that today's robots seem unlikely to rule the world; robotic salamanders and vacuum cleaners just aren't the stuff of nightmares. Yet in the wonderful Universal Robots, Rogers shows us how we could end up in the world of Stephen Hawking's fears (and Bill Gates's and Elon Musk's). How? Tiny innocent step by tiny innocent step.

Rizing

The setting is familiar: a 12-step-program-type support group. A woman stands, says, "Hello, my name is Mica, and I'm Z-positive," and everyone else says, "Hi, Mica." Does "Z-positive" perhaps remind you of "HIV-positive"? It's supposed to. The Z stands for zenoplasmosis, an infectious agent that turns people into zombies in "post-zombiepocalypse America." Does the "zeno" remind you of "xeno," as in "xenophobia"? It's supposed to.

Rahn, Lathon, Spielmann, Sanyal, Aulisi
Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum

Jason Tseng's Rizing, directed by Emily Hartford and presented by the fabulous Flux Theatre Ensemble, exists as both an entertaining zombie drama and a less successful allegory for the treatment of HIV-positive people and (from the playwright's note in the program) "other people marginalized and oppressed by our hegemonic society: communities of color, Muslims, immigrants and refugees..."